Rating: 9/10 ★
Synopsis
What sinister beings live behind the mirror’s reflection? Can the apocalypse bleed from the pages of a notebook and into the real world? What terrible cost must be paid when one steals from the realm of dreams? These are just some of the questions presented in this beautifully illustrated collection of the macabre.
The Coffin Maker, your host and guide, presents twelve ghastly tales from two of the most gifted voices in modern horror. Curtis M. Lawson (DEVIL’S NIGHT, BLACK HEART BOYS CHOIR) and Joshua Rex (THE DESCENT, THE INAMORTA) weave the beautiful and the grotesque into rich tapestries, both chilling and fantastic. Sometimes hopeful. Often bleak. Always overbrimming with darkness.
Equally inspired by the gorgeously illustrated editions that made you fall in love with horror as a child, and the golden age anthologies of Rod Serling and EC Comics, each dread tale features an introduction beautifully rendered by celebrated artist Luke Spooner. THE COFFIN MAKER’S BOOK OF DARK TALES is a must-read for fans of classic and contemporary horror alike.
Review
As a fan of Curtis Lawson's books such as his Bad World series, Devil's Night and The Devoured, I was intrigued what an anthology of dark supernatural tales by him and horror vet Joshua Rex would look like. What it turned out to be was an engaging collection of stories that run the gamut of themes and outcomes, some of which are personal and limited in scope, and some of which have world altering consequences.
Both authors bring their own unique voices to bear, and what we get is a collection of stories ranging from seeing a couple escape from a cult and the effect it has on their lives, to a camping trip in the woods, where the darkness of those woods comes from an unexpected source and has tragic and horrifying consequences from the campers. There are stories dealing with cosmic horrors brought to being through a lost author's journal in a kind of meta commentary on the power of imagination, and stories about the horrors that lie on the other side of the mirror.
These stories and more make up this collection, and I have to say, there is not a weak story in the bunch. The characters are shockingly well rounded for short fiction, and the pacing and plots are taut and engaging. Some of the stories are straight up horror, and some are more suspenseful and atmospheric, and they all work regardless. While there is a grim, foreboding feel to the book overall, there is humor sprinkled throughout, and I was shocked that every story didn't end with death and ruin, but with hope or redemption instead in some. This collection is one I would recommend to anyone looking for well written, engaging stories that let ones dark imagination off the leash.
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