The Horror Anthology of Horror Anthologies by DF Lewis, editor; Megazanthus Press ; 2011; 323 pgs; £10,00 UK

After completing ten volumes of his famous Nemonymous series, Des Lewis continues his  activity as a brilliant  anthology editor with a new enterprise entitled “The Horror Anthology of Horror Anthologies”, a volume assembling twenty brand new tales revolving around  fictional  horror anthologies and the unpredictable, horrific effects they exert on the unfortunate people who happen to possess them or read them.

The task is not as easy as it may seem and praise must be given  to the various authors who put their efforts in the making of stories apt to  fulfill the editor’s request.

Needless to say, some have succeeded and some have failed, but this is the rule of the game in any anthology. A bunch of the stories included in the book did satisfy this reviewer very much.

Daniel Ausema’s  “Tree Ring Anthology” is possibly the most original of the contributions, an offbeat piece where a tree’s life and the horrors surrounding it,  are reconstructed by means of the analysis of its rings.

“The Apoplexy of Beelzebub” by  Colin Insole ( an extraordinary emerging talent) is a marvelous, dark tale in which a researcher perusing the city archives unearths past tragedies and disreputable events involving her own family.

Joel Lane provides “Midnight Flight”, an excellent, melancholy  story ostensibly about a man trying to retrieve an elusive horror anthology read in his childhood, actually a story  about loneliness, ageing and the endless quest for the meaning of life.

“Horror Stories for Boys” by Rachel Kendall is a gloomy tale of hate and pain, featuring a man visiting his dying father and bringing back grim childhood memories.

In the creepy, superbly crafted “The Fifth Corner” by E Michael Lewis, the manuscript of a terrifying ghost story ( and much more than that) lies hidden within  a very sinister car.

Reggie Oliver’s contribution (“Flowers of the Sea”) is even darker than his previous work , a masterly told story of desperation, helplessness and loss of identity with a deeply unsettling horrific taste.

The stories by Mike O’Driscoll and  DP Watt are arguably the ones more strictly in keeping with the theme of the anthology. In  the enticing “The Rediscovery of Death” O’Driscoll describes how the owner of a small imprint happens to assemble a collection of unpublished stories by famous writers ( but things are not quite what they seem…).  Watt’s “All His Worldly Goods” is an excellent, solid piece of fiction where a copy of Montague Summers’ “The Supernatural Omnibus” ( that anthology really exists! I got a copy on my shelves…) keeps haunting a lonelybookshop clerk.  A great mix of horror and nostalgia.

The other contributors are: Colleen Anderson, Dominy Clements, Rhys Hughes, Nick Jackson, AJ Kirby, Tony Lovell, David Mathew, Christopher Morris, Rosanne Rabinowitz, Clayton Stealback,  SD Tullis and Mark Valentine, whose stories may suit the readers’ taste more than they suited mine.

In short, a massive, original anthology well worth reading and warmly recommended to horror fans.

—
Oct 9, 2011

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