Publisher – Fox Spirit

Published – Out Now

Price - £8.99 paperback or £3.99 Kindle

This dark but uplifting collection of Young Adult novellas …if for everyone who has ever been brave enough to confront their childhood fears.

A few weeks ago, I was wowed by Anne Michaud’s stunning short story collection Girls
& Aliens and for my Christmas reading I have been catching up on her other collections from Fox Sprit released this year. Pleased to report that this monster focused series is a very strong collection of horror tales that while aimed at young adult I think most horror fans will enjoy.

In the collection we have

Death Song – Liz and her alcoholic father live on the outside of a US town based on an alleged haunted lake. One where a monster resides and its purely a coincidence that people from outside town disappear. But it is a secret that the townspeople all refuse to admit to each other that there is an awful lot of coincidences with dead bodies found months later. I love how Liz’s voice was captured as a working class young woman who since the mysterious death of her mother finds life has got incredibly hard but she doesn’t give in easily but often holds in a huge anger and sense of loss; so much so she eventually decides to leave the lovely Jo her best friend and crush…but death brings her back and this time the town’s secrets may be waiting for her. I also loved the sense of a town built on something evil that corrupts the town and the story also has that uncomfortable idea that some things exist no one can truly escape.

Black Dog – This I think is a tale that I need to first warn the reader covers self-harm, mental illness and suicidal thoughts but it is incredibly powerfully written from the perspective of Scarlet a woman fleeing her life in the US. Her self-harming has been discovered by her friends and lover and she is arriving in London with an idea for a whole new life. But a huge red-eyed black dog is chasing her, and a voice is telling her she is worthless. Despite my appreciation of the writing this is the one tale in the collection I didn’t enjoy as much as the ending I felt although painted as a victory could easily be read as not a woman beating a monster but mental illness claiming the life of a young woman. But it is very haunting.

A Blue Story – This story is an interesting rift on an old fairy tale. Katherine is a few months from college and needs a job to tide her over. But she lives in a small impoverished US town that is rapidly shutting down everywhere and people are leaving left, right and centre. But now the town is seeing a huge rise in pet disappearances and Katherine must choose between working in the pet store and helping the weird man who now lives next door with rare orchids in his locked-up basement. It moves from desolation of a teenager seeing her tow die to an eerie sense that something is watching Katherine to a very tense final showdown. Excellently written and I also liked that Katherine being trained in martial arts was no weak heroine getting in danger.

Dust Bunnies – Christiane and her sister Vera have had a few years of loss; their parents died in a car crash and their last relative their frail but lovely Grandmother has now passed away in her native Germany. The pair head across the Atlantic to take care of her personal belongings in her apartment block but Christiane is hesitant because she remembers the feeling that under the bed in her guest room was a huge monster. I loved how this story manages to both give you an unsettling tale of monsters; strange experiments and yet also includes first love and the ability to show mercy.

We Left at Night – This is a post-apocalyptic situation that Romero would be proud of. Brooke’s violent dad and their lovely dog have vanished as several people are increasingly doing around the US. Her mother and brother are watching the news seeing the situation escalate and now people are being warned not approach strangers as the military prepare evacuations. Now though strangers are gathering around the family home. This is my favourite story in the collection that combines a tale of domestic violence into an escape for freedom. The story has excellent scary set pieces, sacrifices and losses that will grip you as you want the remaining family to survive the night in a world that is falling apart. Fantastic!