A haunted desert, consciousness rotting away, statues that move after dark, woods that kidnap and devour, beings that can erase you from memory with only their touch – all of this and more is found in the 23 short stories of the Weird Dream Society anthology.The blurb for Weird Dream Society describes the tales as “playful, whimsical, or dark, but always thoughtful and tinged with the inexplicably weird.” I agree with most of this, but I can’t think of many tales that I interpreted as playful or...

This collection of speculative fiction was published in order to support the refugee and immigrant center RAICES. In the introduction, the editor compares the treatment of present-day South American refugees to the way Jews were treated during World War II, which is an apt comparison. After all, FDR turned away thousands of Jewish refugees and sent them back to Germany due to fear that they would threaten national security. Many of them ended up dying in the Holocaust. Unfortunately, history is

I received a free ARC and I am leaving my honest review. The proceeds of this anthology goes to RAICES. While I appreciate the charitable intent, I didn't enjoy many of the stories nor were there

Not an easy anthology to read, not because it's not good but because it's often bleak. The works are often surreal and difficult, but very rewarding, and like the cause the anthology is raising money for, definitely worth facing and grappling with.Favorites include "Butter-Daughters" by Nin Harris, "They Said the Desert" by A. T. Greenblatt, "Crossing" by A.C. Wise, & "The Pyramid of Amirah" by James Patrick Kelly.

(This review originally appeared at History That Never Was.)Weird Dream Society: An Anthology of the Possible and Unsubstantiated in Support of RAICES, edited by Julie C. Day, is an anthology of weird speculative fiction stories that run the gamut from unbelievably surreal to quite believable. The twenty-three stories range in length and scope, but they come together to form a whole that is very evocative of the name “weird dream society.”The language throughout the stories is lush and descripti...

Weird Dream Society is a collection of short, weird stories. I love short, weird stories and was excited to read this but none of the stories really caught me and it ended up being an unpleasant reading experience. Each story left me hoping the next was better, but that didn't happen. Thank you NetGalley and Reckoning Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

I know that weird may at times be a rather intimidating moniker, but that each of the contributing authors was able to fully embrace it meant that the extraordinary became ordinary and the worlds and happenings far more unique and captivating. The short story format enabled even small ideas to be explored for their practicalities and implications. Moreso than the worlds, many of these stories left me sitting, quiet and pensive, contemplating what on Earth had just happened (in a good way.) This

The title of this anthology is apt -- most of these stories are strange and ephemeral and leave you filled with emotions and snatches of visions that you can’t quite shake. With the attention on statues right now, “And Sneer of Cold Command” by Premee Mohamed is worth the price of admission for this anthology. Everything else is a bonus.“Snow as White as Skin as White as Snow” by Karen Bovenmyer is a prose poem musing on the nature of princesses. “The Bricks of Gelecek” by Matthew Kressel felt v...

Thank you Netgalley for providing and giving me this opportunity to read this arc in exchange for a honest review. Weird Dream Society is a collecting of short stories. Sadly, these short stories did not entice me or have my mind reeling for the next exciting twist I was hoping for. I am a fan of weird and bizarre stories/fiction and these just did not do it for me. Each story is well written by each debuting author. The stories are okay but did not capture me. This is okay though because I was

trigger warning (view spoiler)[child abandonment, gore, internment, domestic violence (hide spoiler)]A child ascending to goodhood in a pyramid. A guy during a pandemic, patting his cat. Somebody on the run, a ghost: All this and much more you can find in this short story collection.This is a perfect example for speculative fiction short stories in the sense that you won't know what you'll be getting. Some stories could be contemporary, some are set in the distant future, some in a setting that

First i would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. First I want to say the introduction was beautiful. The cause the proceeds of this book go to is wonderful. I love short story collections and I love weird stories. Stories that aren't the typical status quo you find on every bookshelf. I live for stories that make you think. I love unreliable narrators. This book contains stories that have all of those things. Skin like carapac...

Weird Dream Society is a collection of twenty-three short stories that should most definitely be called weird fiction. In all honesty, the first few stories in this book fell flat for me. It’s one thing to be weird. It’s another thing to be pointless. (For example: a story with the title ‘Application for the Delegation of First Contact: Questionnaire, Part B‘ is literally a list of bizarre questions. That’s it. No answers. No reference point.)While a few of the stories had me shaking my head won...

Weird Dream Society by Julie C. DayGenre: Horror, Sci-Fi & FantasyPublisher: Reckoning PressPublish Date: 26 May 2020Star Rating: 3 starsThe ‘Weird Dream Society’ is as the tin says a book full of weird dreams from many different sources. I love dreaming, I love escaping into another world for a few hours and and not knowing whats going to happen but also being aware that I’ll get to wake up, so if it’s a nightmare that’s reassuring!Twenty three dreams live in this book, and as an anthology this...

A collection of super weird stories and all of them are from new-to-me authors, I'm guessing a lot of them are debut authors. There's horror, sci-fi, magical realism, post apocalyptic, dystopian, parallel universes and more. And like any anthology, I loved some stories, and didn't care for others, and skimmed/skipped a few that didn't grasp me at all.Some of the stories that stayed with me: The Ghost who loved a Mannequin, Crossing, Glasswort,Ice, Flyover Country, And Sneer of Cold command, The

I appreciate the concept of Weird Dream Society, but it just wasn't for me. That does not mean it is not well done, because it is. The writing is solid and it lives up to it's title, Weird Dream. The stories read like Weird Dreams and The basic theme is rather dystopian, which is not my thing. However, because this is more personal taste I'm not take off any stars based on that. I did enjoy The Ghost who loved a Mannequin quite a bit. I could really let my imagination go as I followed "ghost" ar...

‘Weird Dream Society’ is an accurate name for this collection. It is weird, in so many different ways and it makes for an interesting collection, that is incredibly bleak at times. It’s described as ‘whimsical or dark’, and I would say that it definitely leans more towards the latter, although not to the point where it was overwhelming or completely devoid of hope. The strongest stories in the collection, were those that were not weird just for the sake of being weird, but used the strangeness,

So many great stories. Weird, wild, and captivating. Beautifully edited.

I was given an ebook of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.This anthology of speculative fiction short stories is an effort in creativity, originality, and the ability to immerse one's self in worlds and lives that are not your own.There are a number of stories here that fell short for me; they did not meet the full potential of their ideas and while they tickled the imagination, it did not deliver much impact.There are also, however, a lot of extraordinary stories that...