John F.D. Taff is a well-respected purveyor of horror fiction, his short stories have received numerous nominations over the past handful of decades. Tor Nightfire launched in 2021 as a horror-focused imprint of Tor books, a much welcome and – dare this reader say – needed imprint. Who better to curate what aims to be* a seminal horror anthology, showcasing a variety of voices across the breadth of stories that can reasonably be described as horror? Well, I’ve only come to know of Mr. Taff’s work very recently, but his resume seems to indicate he might be the right person to spearhead this project. I’ll provide a few thoughts on each story, with a running account of the anthology’s statistics. If the story worked for me it gets a point, if it didn’t no points, and some stories got a half a point.
Dark Stars, edited by John F.D. Taff, is a tribute to horror’s longstanding short fiction legacy, featuring 12 terrifying original stories from today’s most noteworthy authors.
Within these pages you’ll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harboring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You’ll encounter terrible monsters―both human and supernatural―and be forever changed. The stories in Dark Stars run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown―possibly unknowable―threats.
It’s all in here because it’s all out there, now, in horror.
Dark Stars features all-new stories from the following award-winning authors and up-and-coming voices: Chesya Burke, Ramsey Campbell, Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, John Langan, Livia Llewellyn, Josh Malerman, Usman T. Malik, Priya Sharma, and John F.D. Taff.
Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley, Dark Stars also features an introduction by Josh Malerman and an afterword from original contributor Ramsey Campbell―a poignant finale to this bone-chilling collection.
The Attentionist by Caroline Kepnes tells the story of sisters, obsessed with boys, of course. What happens when they draw the attention of a slightly older man; however, isn’t what they want. I felt a little disconnected from this story, to be honest. The narrative felt fractured, and I can’t say I connected fully with the characters, but I appreciated the ending.
Statistics: 0/1 (This one didn’t work for me)
A Life In Nightmares by Ramsey Campbell is not what I would call a happy story. Duh, the word “nightmare” is in the title, but it made me think of the adage of how we see our lives flash before our eyes before we die, but with a much darker spin.
Statistics: 1/2 (This one really worked for me)
Papa Eye by Priya Sharma is more a hopeful story than I’d expect to encounter in a horror anthology. There’s some darkness to it, sure, but my reading of it is that it is more of a fantasy story. A good story, but I don’t that it is all that dark and horrific. Then again, juxtaposed against the previous story Campbell, almost anything would be more hopeful.
Statistics: 2/3
Volcano by Livia Llewellyn takes place on a college campus in the Northwest. The protagonist, Calliope Juno Emerson, is a person who seems to have commitment issues and an aversion to the sun. She takes a job as a seamstress with her college with another student. Her boss tells her not to go into a specific door that has been a mystery to the facilities department, and she shouldn’t open it. Need I say more? This was a gripping story.
Statistics: 3/4
I’m not too acquainted with the work of Stephen Graham Jones, but I of course know of him. All the Things He Called Memories is another story that isn’t exactly upbeat, much like Campbell’s story. Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones powerfully plays with the sense of being trapped. Bo and Marcy live together, Marcy is a psychologist and Bo acquiesces to being a study subject so she can continue her work. Bo has a job repairing upholstered furniture. (Oddly, the second character who sews). Things spiral downward from there and it is difficult not to look away.
Statistics: 4/5
Chesya Burke’s Trinity River’s Blues tells of a young woman whose birth caused her mother’s death. She sees dead people, maybe because of that? Maybe she’s been haunted her whole life. Burke does a nice job of revealing the layers of this particular haunting, leading to an emotional conclusion.
Statistics: 5/6
Alma Katsu is an author I’ve wanted to try for a while and The Familiar’s Assistant has me even more eager to giver her novels a try. This is a vampire story and told from the perspective of a character who wants to become in thrall to the vampire. I couldn’t help be reminded of Guillermo from What We Do in the Shadows, but there’s a much darker undertone.
Statistics: 6/7
John F.D. Taff, who serves as the editor of the anthology, contributes what I thought as one of the more powerful stories: Swim in the Blood of a Curious Dream. Taff has been spinning stories for a few decades and has award nominations to show. This tale takes joint custody of a child to a relatively dark conclusion, but how he gets there is ethereal and powerful. This is another story that has me very curious and eager to try more work from the writer.
Statistics: 7/8
The Sanguintalist by Gemma Files is part detective story, part dark tale. I’ll admit, this was the story I connectws with the least, but I like the world and character revealed in the story. It feels like there’s more to what can be told with both.
Statistics: 7.5/9
Josh Malerman might be the biggest name in this anthology and his story, Mrs. Addison’s Nest, is a bizarre journey through different points of view and questions of memory. Another dreamlike story, or rather subtle nightmare, that left me unsettled at times. The story didn’t work for me completely as I found some trouble latching onto the narrative, but it had some potent elements.
Statistics: 8/10
Challawa by Usman T. Malik is a creepy ghost story that plays on some Indian myths and folklore. There’s a story about an ash-bride who haunts a region and our main characters find themselves searching for the source of the tale. A good narrative that smacks you in the end in a good way.
Statistics: 9/11
Enough for Hunger and Enough for Hate by John Langan is another unsettling story. This one might be the closest to a monster story in the anthology and played with perception in a potent way. The sense of unease builds quite nicely, which leads to a pulse-pounding confrontation. I now understand why Mr. Langan is such a respected purveyor of dark tales. Another writer added to my to-read list.
Statistics: 10/12
The great thing about anthologies like this for many readers is that it provides exposure to a variety of writers, in this case an even dozen. As you can see by my statistics on the last story, the anthology fared quite well for me. Even the stories that didn’t work for me proved to be interesting in some ways. I’m quite eager to dive into more fiction from the writers on display here, including Langan, Malerman, Campbell, Katsu, and since reading this anthology I’ve already purchased, read, and thoroughly enjoyed Taff’s The Fearing.
*Picking up what I hinted at earlier, I think Dark Stars largely succeeds in its aims to be, a seminal horror anthology. Time will tell if it will be looked upon in the same way that Kirby McAuley’s Dark Forces (the inspiration for the anthology) is, but Taff should be extremely proud of this project and his efforts. Equally as important, as a first anthology from the burgeoning Nightfire imprint, the book is a darkly lit standout.
Highly recommended
© 2022 Rob H. Bedford
Hardcover | May 2022 | 368 pages
https://tornightfire.com/catalog/dark-stars-12-terrifying-tales-of-horror-john-f-d-taff/
Author Web site: https://twitter.com/johnfdtaff
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
