Book Review: FANTASTIC TALES OF TERROR

FANTASTIC TALES OF TERROR: History’s Darkest Secrets (Crystal Lake Publishing, October 26, 2018 release date) Edited by Eugene Johnson. Cover and Interior Artwork by Luke Spooner.

Fans of horror fiction can hardly go wrong by picking up any of the many Crystal Lake anthologies. I’ve read many of them over the last several years, and find them always to be premium quality, including many stories worth a second reading, and very affordable in both digital and print versions. Although FANTASTIC TALES OF TERROR fell a little short of my lofty expectations, it still fits the Crystal Lake template and is worthy of your consideration.

Inside this new collection are nineteen original stories and five reprints, all tales of alternate history involving a supernatural or secretive element. As a different kind of themed anthology, the title FANTASTIC TALES OF TERROR doesn’t give a true indication of the contents. Too often, the subtitle goes unnoticed or is actually shortened on some listings. Some readers may pass it by, thinking it just another in a long list of horror story collections, and that would be a shame. Some indication of the true nature of this collection should have been included in the title, to at least give readers a better hint of the contents (maybe HORRIFIC SECRETS OF HISTORY or SUPERNATURAL HISTORIES, etc. . .)

While I did not enjoy every single story in this collection, I did appreciate the creativity on display and diversity of themes within. All of the authors deserve recognition for their clever twists on historical events. Some of the events referred to are well-known, while other stories revolve around historical or pop culture figures of the past - some significant and some trivial. An introduction to the anthology is provided by horror film icon Tony Todd. There are biographies and additional credits for each author in the end-piece.

Among the facts of alternative history I learned while reading are the revelation that Bela Lugosi became a vampire trainer after his film career ended; what really caused the sinking of the Titanic and the crash of the Hindenberg; Edgar Allan Poe was really a police informant; elephants never forget (I already knew that, but not why); what sparked the imagination of Ray Bradbury; Harry Houdini ran afoul of Chthulu cultists; there were vampires at the battle of Little Big Horn; werewolves got to the moon first; both Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland encountered famous murderers; the unlikely muse of a famous painter; what started Ambrose Pierce reflecting; how Elvis really spent his latter years; Tesla’s influence on a modern tech weapon; how George Washington survived the harsh Valley Forge winter and the bad habit he developed; what forced Annie Oakley to become a sharpshooter; how Disney really filmed Snow White; David Bowie was an alien before he became a rock star; Teddy Roosevelt’s connection to weird native American mythology; that Buster Keaton was a documentarian and not a silent comedy star - which would make him the father of reality television; what really killed the dinosaurs; and other bits of trivia.

The reprinted stories (only two of which I had read before) are all stellar, the best tales in the collection. Joe R. Lansdale’s “ Bubba Ho-Tep” is the real standout, always good for producing howls of hilarity no matter how many times I’ve read it. Close behind Lansdale is Bentley Little’s conspiracy-laced distortion of American History in “The Washingtonians.” Also worthy of multiple readings are “On A Train Bound For Home” by Christopher Golden, “The Secret Engravings” by Lisa Morton, and “The Return Of The Thin White Duke” by Neil Gaiman.

Of the original stories selected for this volume, only “Mutter” by Jess Landry is worthy of a spot on the pedestal besides Lansdale, Little, Golden, Morton and Gaiman. However, nine stories are above average, with only one real clunker in the remaining stories of which eight are amusing but fall a bit short of expectations.

These are the other stories that impressed me: “The Deep Delight Of Blood” (Tim Waggoner), Unpretty Monster (Mercedes M Yardley), “The Custer Files” (Richard Chizmar), “La Llorona” (Cullen Bunn), “The London Encounter” (Vince A Liaguno), “Gorilla My Dreams”(Jonathan Maberry), “Sic Olim Tyrannis” (David Wellington), “Rotoscoping Toodies” (Mort Castle), and “Lone Wolves” (Paul Moore).

Interesting but lacking in either a dynamic resolution or significance were “The Tell-Tale Mind” (Kevin J Anderson), “Topsy Turvey” (Elizabeth Massie), “Ray And The Martian” (Bev Vincent), “The Girl With The Death Mask” (Stephanie M Wytovich), “Red Moon” (Michael Paul Gonzalez), “The Prince Of Darkness And The Showgirl” (John Palisano), “Scent Of Flesh” (Jessica Marie Baumgartner), and “The Great Stone Face Vs The Gargoyles” (Jeff Strand). I only regretted reading one story, “Articles Of Teleforce” a tale of Tesla by Michael Bailey related through a series of letters, documents, and correspondence that is tedious, boring and lacks emotion.

Overall, there’s much to appreciate here. With a digital copy being offered for just $3.99 on Amazon, it’s hard to pass up.

I was provided an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.