Harare Review of Books

350 pages.

Expected publication date: Sept 1, 2023 (Cemetery Dance Publications)

Fiction anthology.

This collection of horror stories leans towards actual horror rather than the creepy or strange: the occult, body horror, child-eating and child death, graphic descriptions of zombies eating people, and the like. Also themes like rape and suicide. It’s really for those who have a taste for that kind of thing, so steer clear if you don’t.

However, as with most short story collections, there were good stories, and ones I didn’t enjoy. The spooky story We’ve All Gone to the Magic Show was really interesting, although bewildering (which is fine, as it’s part of a larger story). 2.45 To New Xebico was very cool: who hasn’t had that feeling of weirdness and out-of-time-ness in a bus station or airport in the wee hours of the morning? Anything could happen. Solve For X has a wonderfully creepy child, although the ending was terrible (spoiler: mauling of a toddler). I liked the structure of The Smile Factory, about the everyday horror of corporate life. My favourite, though, is the delightful Midnight in The Southland, about dead-of-the-night talk radio, and a ghost ferry.

The main reason for my rating of ⅗ is that the writing isn’t always tight, and there’s a dependence on gore to carry the story forward. As this is not my favourite genre, you may find you get more mileage from this collection than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Cemetery Dance Publications for access.