First off I adore this cover and applaud the designer. It caught my eye immediately.This is a large volume of horror at over 400 pages. While I can't say I fell in love with every story, it surely has something for every horror lover. My favorites of the bunch were "Sob In The Silence" which was a story of murder. "Dead Sea Fruit" a very strange tale about the Ash Mouth Man who can make you waste away with a kiss. "Closet Dreams" which was about an escape of sorts from a most vile predator. "Lon...

ShallaballahMark Samuels3 out of 5 starsIt's a decent story, but ultimately forgettable. It wasn't completely clear what was happening--the guy kidnaps celebrities and operates on them, only to kill them? It didn't make much sense but had a decently creepy atmosphere.Sob in the SilenceGene Wolfe4 out of 5 starsA wonderful little revenge story! I hoped for a little more description about the ghosts and the haunting, but I was still happy with the plot. A smite creepy and decent emphasis on the vi...

This book is a great variety of contemporary horror stories, spanning from dark fantasy to psychological thriller to crime. I appreciated the work the editor did in finding threads in how the stories were ordered.These stories are the darkest of dark and are not for the faint of heart. I actually had to read them over a longer span of time, interspersing with other types of books. My favorites were the stories from Laird Barron, Caitlin Kiernan, Nathan Ballingrud, and Mary Rickert.

I received the ARC from Netgalley. Thanks, Netgalley!I guess this averages out to 3.5? I'm too tired to do the math so a 3 it is.Holy crap this book took half my life to read. It says it was only 432 pages long but I Do NOT Believe It. There are sooo many stories. Too many stories. No one needs to read this many stories about nightmarish scenarios all in a row. I’ve always felt these Datlow collections were overstuffed and steered clear of them for years but this one got me with its tantalizing

4 stars--I really liked it. Perfect for fall horror reading.A lot of the stories in this book are very distressing. They upset me. And this is exactly what I want from horror stories. This collection includes a diverse group of stories, and though some weren't my taste, they were all excellently written.There are 24 stories here, so I won't review each one individually, but I'll mention a few of my favorites by name. * “At Night, When the Demons Come” by Ray Cluley: this was probably my favorite...

Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror is the newest addition to prolific editor Ellen Datlow’s catalog. This anthology combines a wide range of genres; everything from the every-day contemporary horror, paranormal horror, to end of the world horror. The variety manages to add depth to the collection as a whole and keeps the reader guessing in terms of what to expect next. There is easily something in here for everyone.This collection is comprised of many big-name authors such as Margo Lanaga...

Excellent anthology. Highlights for me included, but were not limited to:"Closet dreams" by Lisa Tuttle - terrifying as well as upsetting and sad, like several of the other stories in this collection. "The Goosle" by Margo Lanagan - again, quite dark-sad, but also a wonderfully grim take on the Hansel and Gretel thing."Lonegan's Luck" by Stephen Graham Jones - fun horror, making a traditional snake oil salesman in the old west into something rather more sinister."Shay Corsham Worsted" by Garth N...

** “Shallaballah” by Mark SamuelsStarts off really strong, outlining the scenario: a well-known celebrity is in the strangely dingy offices of a surgeon-to-the-stars who's rumored to be a provider of not-quite-legal services. But his results are legendary. Still, something seems off about the whole thing... As a matter of fact, the whole place is downright creepy-as-hell. The ending didn't really do it for me though - it suddenly gets a lot more vague and abstract, with implications that I thoug...

3.5-4 starsAn enjoyable collection of “horror” stories. I put horror in quotes because most of these stories I wouldn’t consider as just the horror label. Some sci-fi, drama, bizarro fiction, but nothing that I really considered scary or anything. Some stories I enjoyed more than others, and to be honest this one fits more with the middle of the road anthologies. The stories that truly stayed with me, and made this worth reading for me were “Our Turn Too Will One Day Come” by Brian Hodge, “Dead

Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-review...NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!I decided that instead of rating this book overall, it would be better to rate each individual story, so that’s what I’ve done. Obviously I had to rate the overall book so I actually calculated the average of all the ratings lol. Shallaballah by Mark Samuels1 starNot a good start to the book for me. I was over the stitched up face appearance, creepy hospital, shady operations kind of horror story long ag...

I received an advance review copy of this anthology from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.If you are following current horror fiction you really need to pay attention to anthologies like this one. Many of the current cast of heavy hitters are here, certainly the new wave of authors. Also, the stories in this anthology, even the ones that I really didn’t like, share a literary quality that elevates them above pure genre fiction. In other words, these folks are firs...

It is very rare to find an anthology where you like all the stories. Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror is no exception. I didn’t like all of them. It’s all right, though. Some of the stories I did like introduced me to new to me authors. The settings and the themes vary and are all over the place, so the only thing they all have in common is some nightmarish situation the characters got into. It could have been their own fault in some cases. The stories aren’t all told from a good guy p...

There were a few standout stories in this. Some stories were just okay, but my favorites were probably:Closet Dreams -- thank god this story came toward the beginning of the anthology because I wanted to give up on the book until I read this.The Shallows -- I gotta be honest, I'm not so sure I knew what was going on in this story but I liked reading it. That Tiny Flutter of the Heart I Used to Call Love -- interesting storyline involving dolls, I found it pretty disturbingInterstate Love Song (e...

2.87 starsI will admit that it was the cover that got my attention. And while some of the stories are dreadfully wonderful, some of them are too complicated, boring and/or disgusting (one of them was so disturbing that I skipped it altogether).But do I recommend this? Yes, I do. Considering the time of the year, and the fact that you might enjoy more stories than I did, I say you give this anthology a try.Also, I enjoyed the snippets of information about the authors before each short story. 1....

Did it really take me almost three months to read this!? Yes. Yes it did. I fully admit to being a slacker and getting distracted by a multitude of other books, and I can't binge read anthologies.However, I did enjoy always having a scary short story option right on hand. Some worked and some didn't, but looking at Nightmares all together, it's a strong anthology. Definitely not for binge reading, but for those looking for a great selection of spooky reads, for Halloween or just for general spoo...

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!Since this hasn't been released yet, I'm going to skip all the spoilerish stuff and the Story by Story gush or other reaction, and instead pick out some of my absolute favorites and otherwise tease some of the best ideas and themes for the rest, because I'm gonna be honest... the whole book of horror tales was rather fantastic. I mean, it should be. This was a cherry-picking of the last ten year's best horror stories from some of the biggest non-stratospheric name...

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Final rate: 2.5 starsOut of the 24 stories, I only liked 8 stories and these are:- Sob in the Silence by Gene Wolfe - Our Turn Too Will One Day Come by Brian Hodge - Dead Sea Fruit by Kaaron Warren - Closet Dreams by Lisa Tuttle- Lonegan's Luck by Stephen Graham Jones- That Tiny Flutter of the Heart I Used to Call Love by Robert Shearman- Shay Corsham Worsted by Garth Nix- Ambitious Boys Like You by Richard Kadrey The rest are eith...

Shallaballah by Mark SamuelsWeird and I didn't completely understand it. I'm not big on surreal-like stories.1.5 starsSob in the Silence by Gene WolfeI liked it okay, but wasn't wowed. I feel like there was a missed opportunity and that the ending was too abrupt.3 starsOur Tun Too Will One Day Come by Brian HodgeFolklore and horror equal an interesting tale. I'd read more from Brian Hodge.4 starsDead Sea Fruit by Kaaron WarrenSo far the best in the book. Perfectly paced and pretty darned creepy....

Note: This review originally appeared on New York Journal of Books (http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-...).For over three decades, genre fiction’s reigning editor Ellen Datlow has helmed nearly a hundred anthologies, including the acclaimed Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series (co-edited with Terri Windling, from 1988 to 2008) and The Best Horror of the Year (2009–). Datlow has put out some of the highest-quality horror anthologies in the market, but also humbly states that she’s no expert o...

I hate trying to come up with a star rating for this book since, looking at what others here have said about this book, it just goes to show that horror is indeed in the eye of the beholder. This time around, there were far more stories I liked than stories I didn't, and in the latter category, it was pretty much based on personal preference. The few stories I didn't care for go way more into real-life horrors than I care to go in fiction; these are likely better suited for readers who like thei...