Thursday, September 20, 2012

TOUCHED BY DARKNESS Anthology_Review

Touched by DarknessTouched by Darkness by Julia Kavan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of Touched by Darkness Anthology
5 Stars

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: DO NOT read this book at night, when alone. Foolish reader that I am, I WANTED something scary to read before bedtime, and when I read the list of authors included in this anthology, I knew my wish would be granted. I only managed to read four stories before sleep, and here’s my view of the first four:

“Evelyn Thayer”: I raced through this one with a wry smile, nodding my head and mentally cheering, “Go, Girl!”
“Teaching Man”: A powerful story of 19th century or earlier Frontier Mentality-and the repercussions of oppressions of the female species
“Stew”: oh boy! How do I describe my feelings about this one? POETIC JUSTICE RULES
“Masked”: THIS is the story I should NOT have read alone before sleep-SCARY!IMPLACABLE! Juggernaut quality! NIGHTMARE-PRODUCING!! I loved it!!

The remaining eight, read until I could scarcely keep my eyes open (but with multiple lights on):
“Trust Me”: weird, unexpected, but tasty and delightful
“In My Lady’s Chamber”: I’ve learned to expect from Catherine Cavendish subtle, escalating frights, and this story is no exception! Yes, it scared me-yes, I’ll probably have nightmares-isn’t that the point? Just one admonition: this story delivers a kicker ending comparable to the sting of a scorpion: just when you think it’s all over and finally safe-wham!!!
“The Dead Hate the Living”: in some ways, I was already inclined to agree with the title; but after reading this story, I can definitely see why-poor man!
“Dreaming, Not Sleeping”: If it’s true that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” what happens when beauty is only illusion, and illusion dissolves?
“Be Seeing You”: pure horror here; the first sentence made me jump out of my skin. By the last paragraph I could feel potential nightmares forming.
“Black Habits”: gory, graphic, unexpected horror-on a strong foundation of psychological horror founded in the Id’s conflict with guilt and shame
“Attachment”: quite a different approach, and a premise dealing with some aspects of the best and the worst of the human emotional continuum
“We Shadows Have Offended”: another horrifying story of implacability, a Supernatural force seemingly unconquerable, similar in category though not in rendering to “Masked.” Definitely a nightmare-inspirer. I keep shaking myself all over like a wet dog spraying water in an attempt to shake the memory of this story.

I reviewed this at the request of one of the authors in this anthology, Catherine Cavendish, who kindly provided me with a review e-book copy on Sept. 13, 2012, in exchange for my provision of a fair and impartial review.
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3 comments:

  1. I'm very excited to see your comments. I have this on my Kindle and have been waiting for a dark and dreary night...maybe I'll just dive in. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Mallory and many thanks for the lovely review

    ReplyDelete
  3. How about by day under the gray of looming clouds, and all alone...

    ReplyDelete

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