Vampires, Zombies and Ghosts, Oh My! (and Other Creatures of the Night Stories) An Anthology [NOOK Book]

Excellent story telling

Surprisingly, I very much enjoyed this Anthology, not being a Zombie fan and all. The stories flowed nicely and as in all short stories, there was a beginning and an end. The stories didn't leave me hanging with multiple questions and this I liked. "Palliative" by Chantal Boudreau was definitely my favorite story. I have always enjoyed Chantal's writing style and her incredible ability to put together stories (in record time) that compel the reader to turn the page. If you read any of her work, you'll want to know what happens next. I was also intrigued by Carol J. La Valley's The Bone Flute Maker and TW Brown's The Twins. These two authors were both strong contenders for my reading pleasure. I would definitely like to read more of their work in the future. Congratulations to all the other contributors of this book. Your stories were well worth reading and a big "thanks" to Eva Paludan, for putting this Anthology together. Well done!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An excellent paranormal anthology

What makes an anthology a good one? One answer might be that all the stories in it are good. I contend that's only part of the answer. A good anthology should bring the reader a variety of stories, styles, and voices. This anthology of paranormal stories from No Tree Books certainly does that.

Now, to be honest, the quality does vary somewhat among them. Some are excellently written, while others are less so. Nevertheless, several gems in here will likely please even picky readers.

Before I comment on specific stories, I do want to say that I felt this anthology could have used a heavier editing hand. There aren't a lot of errors, but I was surprised at some of the ones that slipped through.

The opening piece, "All The Delicate Things," was a pure delight to read not only for the story, but for the excellent use of present tense and its close third-person point of view that shows off the author's skills as a writer. The only thing that marred it was in the opening, the last sentence in the first paragraph: "He tries to sit, but an unseen force holds him." The character has just awakened, but it's impossible to tell if he's standing and trying to sit down or if he's lying down and attempting to sit up. This same confusion occurs a few paragraphs later. But, honestly, that was the only thing that pulled me out of the story, and it might just have been me. In any case, I was quickly back into it.

While "Baron Blood" was a decent story, I found that the writing didn't flow smoothly, which made it difficult to read in spots. It could have benefitted from better punctuation, and I felt that the exposition (even though the descriptions were good) was a trifle heavy-handed. This made the story dag a bit in the beginning.

I found "The Twins" somewhat disappointing. I'll admit that I don't get the allure of zombie stories, but even so, this one fell flat for me. I struggled to find any true sense of character or conflict in it. It came off more as an obligatory zombie-eating-flesh piece with the gratuitous zombies begetting more zombies theme and very little story.

"The Bone Flute Maker" is pure brilliance, however. It's filled with inner turmoil and is sure stay in the reader's mind long after it has ended. Following that is "Palliative," another zombie story--yet this one I found to be well done. And I loved the inventive twist on vampire stories that Michael O'Connor gave us in "Late Night Shopping."

A. J. Kirby's "Third Degree" puzzled me. The writing is excellent; the author's sensory descriptions are superb and give the whole piece a highly tactile feel for the reader. But unless I missed something, I couldn't understand how this story fit into this particular anthology.

Taking the reader into the home stretch are two sweet, romantic pieces: "Love's Transformation" by Donna Collins, and "Pandora's Boxes" by the editor, Eve Paludan. Both helped give the anthology a balanced feel.

But the final story "The Night Knows Me Well" by J. R. Rain demonstrates true writing skill. Rarely do I see a first-person narrative done so well.

In summary, I applaud the editor for putting together one of the better collections that I've read in a while.

Killer tales....literally!

Wickedly spooky, this anthology is a must read for the supernatural enthusiast. The authors have spun some seriously nail biting stories that are sure to keep you up at night and sleeping with the lights on!

Huge kudos to the author of "Pallative" for creating a zombie tale that you can really sink your teeth into:)

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