Richard Chizmar Editor
Shivers V
Reviewed by: Mario Guslandi © 2009

Cemetery Dance
USA First Edition Trade Paperback
ISBN -13 978-1-58767-201-9
329 pages; $ 20.00
Publication date: January 2009
Date reviewed: 04-10-2009

Index:  Horror Fantasy  Science-Fiction
 General-Fiction

The horror anthology, that rara avis virtually disappeared from the catalogs of the major publishing houses, fortunately still thrives in the world of small, independent press.

Shivers, edited by Richard Chizmar, now at its fifth installment, is a fortunate, consistently good series offering, at (ir)regular intervals, a tour of what the current horror scene produces, in terms of short stories, from both sides of the ocean.

Volume V assembles twenty-two new tales plus a couple of poems. As always no space is wasted to provide either an introduction (actually, we can do without it) or any information about the authors (which, sometimes, is a pity), possibly to emphasize that what counts is only the fictional content. No themes are imposed, no topics are banned, so the reader can just enjoy the stories.

Of course, as with any anthology, not everything is top notch and not everything will please anyone, including this reviewer who likes solid, no-nonsense storytelling and he’s generally weary of ‘brilliant’ literary experiments aimed to amaze and impress the reader.

If you share my feelings, then make a note of the titles I’m going to mention and decide by yourself if 50% of so of very good stories is a high enough percentage to make an anthology worth its price.

The editor has been so smart to bookend the volume with two excellent tales, “The Albright Sextuples” by Norman Prentiss, a delightful yarn disclosing the secrets of a happy family with six twins, and the stupendous “The Acquaintance” by Kealan Patrick Burke, The latter is an insightful, powerful piece told with admirable restraint and perfect measure, depicting the return of an Irish ex-convict to his hometown to meet with a cold, terrible vengeance from a forgotten past.

I’d be tempted to declare that story the highlight of the volume, but then I’d be unjust to the other contestant, Robert Morrish’s “Each Step I Take Is In Darkness”, the terrifying account of a cave exploring expedition and of the frightening ,lethal encounter with a bunch of wild, murderous creatures.

Sarah Langhan contributes “The Burn Victim”, a gentle story where a man and a woman realize how much they care about each other after a dreadful adventure in the desert.

In the entertaining “Forever Gramma” by Mick Garris an old grandmother comes back from the dead in an unexpected manner, while in “Good Fences” Scott Nicholson nicely explores the problems of a troubled neighborhood. Brian Freeman provides “One More Day”, a captivating, chilling tale of revenge and punishment where culprit and judge are linked in a terrible way.

Graham Masterton, a master storyteller, spellbinds once again with “Dog Days”, a splendid story of passion and tragedy with a dark, horrifying ending.

Nicholas Kaufmann creates an effective, grim allegory where love wounds become physical sores(“Mysteries of The Cure”) and Simon Clark pens “Pondlife”, an upsetting dive into childhood’s memories unearthing forgotten horrors.

Steve Vernon’s “The Forever Long Snake of Olan Walker” is a compelling, well written tale of black magic, while Rick Hautala’s “True Glass” is a quite enjoyable apologue where an apparently ordinary piece of glass reveals what people really are behind their human masks.

The other writers, whose contributions you might like more than I did, are Robin Furth, R Patrick Gates, Cody Goodfellow, Del James, Ronald Kelly, Nick Mamatas, Stewart O’Nan, Sarah Pinborough, Al Sarrantonio, John Skipp, Steve Rasnic Tem, Chet Williamson.

See you at Shivers VI...