Another great collection of short stories that will be published shortly after the new year. For me the shining stars of this anthology are Kelly Armstrong and Lee Thomas. In "Invitation To the Game" Vivienne is up for a promotion at work. Normally that would be a good thing, but this company is anything but normal.In "Torn" Eleven year old Maggie didn't come home when she was meant to and the sheriff finds more than he is looking for when he sets out into the woods to find her. Luther's Bend is...

Dark Screams: volume nine serves up another six slabs of horror goodness with stories from Kelley Armstrong, Stewart O’Nan, Taylor Grant, Jonathan Moore, Peter Straub and a novella from Lee Thomas.As far as the series goes it's a bit of a mixed bag, with Grant's The Dead Years and Thomas' Torn the real highlights. Both are excellently crafted chillers that make this well worth a go. The first is a dark, twist-filled story of a man who meets a woman that looks identical to his childhood love that...

3.5/5 starsDark Screams: Volume Nine is an anthology with six horror stories. This is not a genre that I normally read. But Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite authors. So I knew that I wanted to read her story included in this anthology.The six stories in this horror anthology are:1)INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley Armstrong2)SUMMER OF ’77 by Stewart O’Nan3)THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant4)THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore5)VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD by Peter Straub6)TORN by Lee ThomasM...

Can appearances be deceiving? Can they be deadly? How? "That is the theme of the stories in this anthology.the short stories are written. They kept my attention even when someone was knocking at the door. They left, I kept reading. My favorite story was "Torn." I have enjoyed this series very much. I hope they continue this series.Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The...

My love of horror shorties continues! As with most volumes of Dark Screams, this was a mixed bag of dark, creepy and intense stories that had by far the most gore. There are definitely two standouts here that are what pushed this rating up to 4 stars.'Invitation to the Game' and 'Torn' had me engaged right from the start. Well written, imaginative and disturbing from start to finish.I'm a huge fan of this series and look forward to the next set of shorties to escape in.ARC provided by NetGalley

Hydra and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Dark Screams: Volume Nine. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.Dark Screams: Volume Nine is one of my favorites in the series, as the offerings in this book are both scary and complement each other well. My favorite short story is Invitation to the Game, as it is about one woman's loss of control of her own life. I was also a big fan of The Blackout, for its elements of horror and surprise. Put th...

There are a few gems in this volume but some of the other stories really missed the mark. Invitation to the Game and The Dead Years were exceptional. The Blackout had a cool plot but wasn't a smooth read for me. The remaining shorts didn't cut it.

Another great iteration of the Dark Screams anthologies. This lot has a great mix of stories, and all were rather dark and disturbing. I loved it!Kelley Armstrong's Invitation to the Game: Vivienne gets an invitation to play a game, and it's an offer she can not - and will not - refuse.Summer of ‘77 by Stewart O’Nan is short, but effective. All I could think the whole time was that this was very Bundy-esque.The Dead Years by Taylor Grant makes you rethink scientific breakthroughs - and wish the

DARK SCREAMS: VOLUME NINE was a ton of fun! I was most especially impressed with the last entry TORN by Lee Thomas. I'm not even going to get into what TORN was about because I think it should be related exactly as the author intended. I will say that even though this is a longer story than I usually care for in an anthology, it kept me riveted, it was original and I LOVED it!THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant was another original entry and this one had a science fiction bent to it that I enjoyed. I...

I received an advance reader copy (arc) of this book for the purpose of providing an honest review.Another exciting “car” added on to the dark horror train that is Dark Screams … now up to Volume Nine. This was probably my favorite of the anthology series so far … four great stories, one really good story and one utter junk … seems to me that’s a reasonable ratio of good to bad!This anthology includes these stories:—Invitation to the Game by Kelly Armstrong. This seemed, to me, to be a deft mash...

3.5Dark Screams: Volume Nine comprises of 6 horror stories of which Invitation to the Game by Kelley Armstrong and The Blackout by Jonathan Moore were my favorites.

INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley ArmstrongOK for starters, I enjoyed the different, more sci-fi than horror approach to this one. ***SUMMER OF ’77 by Stewart O’NanVery individual writing style, but didn't do much for me. **THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor GrantThis one also had a touch of sci-fi. A fascinating and very frightening glimpse into a possible future. ***THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan MooreSubtle and very creepy, though not really suspenseful as it was clear from the beginning what was going on her...

I love horror but for some reason I don’t usually have a lot of luck where horror anthologies are concerned. Thankfully this was one of the better ones I’ve read. My favourite story was by Kelley Armstrong. As has been the case with this series, one story takes up about half of the book; this time it’s Lee Thomas’ Torn.Invitation to the Game by Kelley Armstrong - 😱😱😱😱When you’re offered a promotion at this company you receive an invitation to the Game. Only no one knows what the Game entails unt...

I love horror stories, and have read most of the volumes in this series. It is always a pleasure to read these collections.INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley ArmstrongDefinitely one of my favorites. Probably because I like the concept so much. An evil, all knowing corporation that asks absolute obedience from its employees. Vivienne is up for promotion at her company, and all she has to do is play a game. Everyone who wants to move up plays the game. How ambitions is she really? SUMMER OF ’77 by S...

Dark Screams: Volume Nine edited by Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar (Hydra, January 2018) includes three new stories and three stories originally published in Cemetery Dance Magazine. Since the editors of Cemetery Dance edit this anthology series, it’s easy to see how they’re able to put out dozens of anthologies in just a few years and edit a magazine, too. They have twenty-five years of reprints to choose from and only need to add three new tales to create an anthology.There are four o...

Provided by Net Galley for an honest review. This was a weaker addition to the series with only one story that really out shined them all for me and that was The Dead Years by Taylor Grant. I wish was longer than it was, it started off interesting and took a dark turn and then, got even darker. Great story, strong and tense throughout and nice surprises. The other one I had read previously, and that was Torn. The longest of the additions to this volume and fairly predictable horror yarn with a "...

I love these collections of creepy, demented stories. Each volume seems to improve on the last. Volume 9 features six horror stories:Invitation to the party - Kelly Armstrong. Vivienne comes home from work one day and finds an invitation waiting for her. Not just any invite.... The Invitation. An announcement from her employer that she is being promoted to an executive job. But first, she will have to play The Game. This story puts a new spin on the horrors of the corporate world. Great story!Su...

I find it harder and harder to find a decent horror novel that doesn't rely on gore to scare the reader and is at that genuinely scary but some of the stories in this novel certainly went a good way to filling that horror void inside me.INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley ArmstrongOf course I love Kelley Armstrong she is one of my absolute favourite authors so it was no surprise that I was won over by this short story, I suspected foul play at the beginning but what I expected was completely differ...

Dark Screams,Volume Nine, edited by Brian James Freemen and Richard ChizmarI received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.This latest anthology of six select horror stories may be the best Dark Screams volume yet! Stories range from downright creepy to thought provoking (In spite of the blood and terror!)In "Invitation to the Game," company employees lust for promotions that bring money, perks and status, but also discover there is no return once you surrender. The "Sum...

Another great book of horror-filled stories to keep you awake as you listen to the night sounds and glance at dark shadowy corners of, DARK SCREAMS: VOLUME NINE.Our first story titled, INVITATION TO THE GAME, by Kelley Armstrong, opens with an envelope on the kitchen table. Without opening it, Vivienne puts it in her laptop bag and continues on with her day, and doesn't think about it any more until later on that evening. Will she open it and find out who it is from and what it is for? Or will s...