A British traveler has an unusual tour of a Belgian cathedral. This is a quietly unsettling Aickman story, with the weirdness building gradually with each morbid piece of artwork in the cathedral…
“The Reaper’s Image” by Stephen King
An antique mirror displays an image of the Grim Reaper to some who gaze into it, causing them to disappear without a trace. This is an enjoyable weird tale that bridges the…
“The Botany of Desire” by Betty Rocksteady
A young man’s life takes a turn when he discovers mysterious flowers growing from his apartment’s walls. Enjoyably weird and dream-like.
“The Unsettled Dust” by Robert Aikman
An officer of an historic trust stays in an old manor house occupied by a pair of sisters, a wistful ghost, and a lot of dust. Like most Aikman stories, this one…
“Something Is Coming” by Betty Rocksteady
A woman feels herself being watched, at first in quietly uncomfortable ways and then in horrifically terrifying ways. This is a delightfully creepy story full of paranoia and dread, playing with themes…
“Tiny Bones Beneath Their Feet” by Betty Rocksteady
A representative of a feral cat rescue group visits an unusual colony of cats and their reclusive caretaker. This is a dark and twisty little story; it didn’t go quite where I…
“It’s Easy to Shoot a Dog” by Maria Haskins
A girl and her dog return to a witch’s forest cottage where she made a dangerous bargain ten years before. A fairy-tale-like story that pulls together a few of Haskins’ favorite themes…
“The Guitar Hero” by Maria Haskins
The surviving members of a rock band attempt to exorcise an entity from one of their heroes. This story has an interesting spin on the typical possession story; it plays with the…
“And You Shall Sing to Me a Deeper Song” by Maria Haskins
A cyborg soldier encounters a peaceful village in peril in a post-apocalyptic landscape. There are some interesting ideas in this story – the enhanced “singers” as a weapon, the robot war, the…
“The Further Adventures of the Invisible Man” by Karen Joy Fowler
A boy takes subtle revenge on his bully with the help of his mother and her misfit friends. This is an enjoyable story for characterization and voice; not quite what I was…