Epeolatry Book Review: Shadowplays, ed. Peter Coleborn and Mike Chinn
Disclosure:
Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.
Title: Shadowplays
Author: various, ed. Peter Coleborn & Mike Chinn
Genre: horror
Publisher: PS Publishing
Publication date: 1st October, 2024
Synopsis: From an old regional theatre on the English coast to a Hollywood sound stage, an odd audition in London, by way of a sad and lonely hotel that attracts a series of strange residents. And much else too. Here are reflections on the nature of truth, how fiction and childish verse can impact reality, and the dangers inherent in retreating from that reality. Photographs and hauntings. Loss and longing. Just how lucky is it being lucky. Strange revenges and even stranger curses.
These nineteen tales of skewed everyday existence, divorced from the outwardly mundane world, demonstrate that all is not quite how it at first appears. These small, uneasy dramas play out in the shadows, in the twilight, hiding from the rational world.
These stories embrace the Shadows.
Anthologies of short stories remain my favorite type of horror fiction, for at least two reasons: first, because my suspension of disbelief doesn’t last long enough to make me fully enjoy horror novels and, second, because they give me the opportunity to appreciate not just a variety of themes and atmospheres, but also of narrative styles. The present book did satisfy my expectations as a reader. As a reviewer my task and my privilege are to pinpoint the stories that I’ve found most compelling. Here they are.
“Stigma” by Paul Kane is an insightful piece of fiction featuring a man whose “stigma” deeply bothers other people and severely influences his own life.
Gary McMahon contributes “Ever So Quietly, Ever So Softly”, a deeply unsettling tale of psychological horror depicting the weird behavior progressively affecting the members of a normal family.
Steve Rasnic Tem provides “I is for Infestation” yet another of his disturbing stories, revolving around an old man with a declining eyesight, whose new house is invaded by an invisible but overwhelming infestation.
“Begbrook” by Tim Jeffreys is an ambiguous, subtly disturbing piece about a pool in the woods where strange things happen.
Told by the manager of a hotel, the bittersweet “December’s Children” by John Linwood Grant reveals long gone sad secrets occurred in the life of one of the guests.
Reggie Oliver’s “South Riding”, although not quite memorable as some of his previous stories, this one effectively produces shivers and discomfort by depicting a penniless actor finding a job in the theatre of a remote Yorkshire resort.
Other contributors include: Stephen Volk, Ray Bradbury, Rosanne Rabinowitz, Nancy Kilpatrick, Robert Bagnall, Colleen Anderson & Tom Johnstone, Gail-Nina Anderson, Marion Pitman, Bret McCormick, Garry Kilworth, KC Grifant, Wendy Purcell, Joanne Anderton. Enjoy and be scared…
/5
Available from Amazon.
