Fantasy Book Critic: After Sundown anthology edited by Mark Morris

Official Author Website
Order After Sundown over HERE(USA) or HERE(UK)

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Mark Morris (editor) has written and edited almost forty novels, novellas, short story collections, and anthologies. His script work includes audio dramas for Doctor Who, Jago & Litefoot and the Hammer Chillers series.

FORMAT: After Sundown is 304 pages long and it contains twenty short stories. Published on October 20, 2020 by Flame Tree Press (a division of Simon & Schuster) it's available in an e-book and paperback format from most retailers.

With this anthology, Morris proves he has an eye for quality and his finger on the pulse of the horror genre. He has assembled a stellar line-up of some of the top names in the genre, as well as four new authors. After Sundown contains 20 original horror stories. While, officially, there's no common theme to the stories, I've found one. Most of them are gripping from the get-go.

I especially liked the opening story Butterfly Island by C.J. Tudor – it's fast, furious, and uncompromising. Set in the near future, it follows a rag-tag group of survivors looking for a haven on a seemingly deserted island. It's a horror anthology so it won't come as a surprise that things go wrong and people end up being blown up, sacrificed, and eaten. All in 19 pages! I loved the idea and the execution. And I want more.

Most of the stories are good reads in a disturbing way. Some dive deep into terror, some contain the supernatural and uncanny to further raise the stakes. Take Grady Hendrix, for example. In Murder Board, he plays with the Ouija Board theme. What if the board messes with people sitting over it and trying to send a subconscious message to the other? Expect unexpected.

Other standouts for me included Sarah Lotz’s That's The Spirit about a fake psychic who may not be so fake after all, and Ramsey Campbell’s creepy Wherever You Look that defies categorization.

After Sundown is a fine horror anthology. Filled with spine-chilling stories, it'll make your heart race nonstop. It proves horror has no boundaries. You can find it in both supernatural and non-supernatural stories. Highly recommended.

12:00 AM |

Posted by Łukasz |

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Labels: anthology, horror

2 comments:

Unknown said...: This sure has enlightened me more about this specific aspect. Thank you!
I've been curious about this book and your review has been helpful for me. I might consider buying this book.; October 20, 2020 at 9:46 PM
Yaroslav Barsukov said...: I agree, the review was great.; November 15, 2020 at 5:04 AM