Come Join Us By the Fire
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3.8 • 95 Ratings
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Publisher Description
Nightfire Books, a new horror imprint from Tor Books, is proud to present 35 audio-only horror short stories showcasing the breadth of talent in today's field.
Theresa DeLucci, editor of Come Join Us By the Fire, says, “We wanted this long list of stories to showcase the scope of modern horror, from the cosmic and Lovecraftian, the beloved undead tropes of zombies, ghosts, and slashers, to the more uncanny and internal terrors of isolation, lost love, aging, and one of the briefest, most distressing alien abduction stories you’ll ever hear (‘No Matter Which Way We Turned’ by 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Brian Evenson.)”
The authors also reflect the diversity of horror as a field, with selections from horror grandmasters such as Joe R. Lansdale; New York Times bestsellers like Richard Kadrey and Victor LaValle; exciting new voices including recent Bram Stoker Award winner Gwendolyn Kiste (The Rust Maidens), Cassandra Khaw, and Michael Wehunt; and literary crossover stars such as Carmen Maria Machado (Her Body and Other Parties), National Book Award finalist and winner of the the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.
There's something for every listener, so come join us by the fire and hear tales not to tell against the dark... but to embrace it.
Contents
“No Matter Which Way We Turned” – Brian Evenson
“Daddy” – Victor LaValle
“This Guy” – Chuck Wendig
“Flayed Ed” – Richard Kadrey
“The Pond” – Paul Tremblay
“Her Body, Herself” – Carmen Maria Machado
“The Girls in the Horror Movie” – Gwendolyn Kiste
“These Deathless Bones” – Cassandra Khaw
“It Washed Up” – Joe R. Lansdale
“Stemming the Tide” – Simon Strantzas
“Midnight Caller” – Stephen Graham Jones
“Black Bark” – Brian Evenson
“The Anatomist’s Mnemonic” – Priya Sharma
“Rabbit Heart” – Alyssa Wong
“The Beasts of the Earth, The Madness of Men” – Brooke Bolander
“Cold, Silent, and Dark” – Kary English
“When the Zombies Win” – Karina Sumner-Smith
“Harold the Spider Man” – Paul Tremblay
“Ponies” – Kij Johnson
“Black Neurology” – Richard Kadrey
“Beware of Owner” – Chuck Wendig
“The Vault of the Sky, The Face of the Deep” – Robert Levy
“Don’t Turn on the Lights” – Cassandra Khaw
“Wasp & Snake” – Livia Llewellyn
“Greener Pastures” – Michael Wehunt
“And When She Was Bad” – Nadia Bulkin
“El Charro” – John Langan
“Dream Home” – Kat Howard
“Spawning Season” – Nicholas Kaufmann
“In Sheep’s Clothing” – Molly Tanzer
“57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides” – Sam J. Miller
“Was She Wicked, Was She Good?” – M. Rickert
“A Life That Is Not Mine” – Kristi DeMeester
“That Which Does Not Kill You” – Lucy A. Snyder
“The Design” – China Miéville
Customer Reviews
Excellent Ensemble of Authors and Stories.
Solid four and a half stars that I was unable to present above- the rating platform does not allow for half or partial stars, only whole stars may be chosen. “And so it goes” Billy Pilgrim said to Kilgore Trout.
That said and out of the way, I found these dark campfire stories of various horror troupe, most interesting while equally entertaining; enjoyable. Like most horror short story anthologies, there are going to be one or two that doesn’t appeal to the reader. The more stories there are in an anthology the more likely this fact will come into fruition; along with a larger number of entries that we may find less than underwhelming. That’s perfectly normal and fine by me! With this collection of 29 attempts to chill, scare, thrill, spook, creep out, surprise; or just shock with unsuspecting twists for the target audience, I actually enjoyed all 29, even when the “creepy” “scary” “suspenseful” was nonexistent; in these cases like with Brian Everson or Chuck Windig- two of the best ever in the horror and disturbing genres, they made up for it in overwhelmingly uncomfortable narratives that are equally compelling while hilarious to a side splitting level! “This Guy” by Chuck Windig is an excellent example of that kind of story! While describing events and scenes that in any other situation would be intolerable, just too much; excessively gory, explicitly over detailed horrors- the most sick and wrong imaginable- we laugh! Laugh out loud while asking ourselves: “What’s wrong with me! This isn’t funny!” But oh it is, very much so!
A perfect book that allows us to Finnish a book; one of the short stories, before bed, on a break, on a walk; doing chores- whatever the case, we can listen to creepy, chilling or sick and wrong funny and not have to wait for the climax of the story. Every one of these are easy one sitting listens or reads! The narrators are outstanding; perfectly paired for the stories they’ve been asked to tell. I have listened to this book front to back, not skipping a single chapter/story at least ten or more times! That is significant because I have thousands of books with over a hundred anthologies that are very good, truly terrifying and fully engrossing- page turners to the satisfying end that I can read- not to mention the pile I have yet to open or download.
(These stories are disturbing and meant for a mature audience. This is not appropriate for preteens and most teens. For those with a more fragile or sensitive disposition (NOT A PUTDOWN OR KNOCK ON ANYONE!) this read is definitely not going to appeal to. Others will take offense unable to separate the fictional prose from their own personal ideations and relentless judgment of anything that does not align with or contradicts the confining dogma some are tethered to barbed with hostility, resentment, toxic feelings of intolerance and distain for the authors and the reader who hails these genuinely remarkable people; creative artistic genius…….
Awesome
Great stories by the campfire. Exactly what I was looking for.