Book Review: IT CALLS FROM THE FOREST anthology

IT CALLS FROM THE FOREST: AN ANTHOLOGY OF TERRIFYING TALES FROM THE WOODS, VOLUME 1  (Eerie River Publishing, April 2020)  Kindle Edition, 386 pages.  ASIN # B0821XQF1

      Overall, I rated this collection THREE STARS out of a possible FIVE STARS.  A detailed summary with explanation for my evaluation follows. Almost 40% of the stories in this anthology rated above Three Stars.

     Before the pandemic, publishers were super-conservative when it came to buying fiction from less-established writers. Stick with the familiar and the best-sellers only, it seems. I hate to imagine what it will be like once things open up again. Small press publishers are the best outlet for the new writers of the future. For that reason, small press anthologies that collect stories from a variety of writers deserve a bigger audience than they might be able to attract. 

     IT CALLS FROM THE FOREST offers 24 tales of varying length and styles. Only three stories failed to meet my standards, while eight stores were promising enough to investigate the authors further.

     The best story of the bunch is "Forest Man" by Holley Cornetto.

     As is my habit with most anthologies and collections, I'll review this story by story using this 5 point rating system: Three stars is the medium rating, meaning the story was satisfactory and met my expectations. Four stars indicates the story was above average. Five star stories exceed my expectations, so much that the story is worthy of best-of-year consideration. Two star stories are below average, and did not meet my expectations. One star stories don't entertain or engage or don't seem to fit well within the collection's themes.

1) "A Wail Of A Tail" by Emma K. Leadley made me wonder if the author thought of the title first and then wrote the story to fit. A hunter fires at prey hidden in the brush, and manages to shoot off it's tail. He'll soon meet the rest of the body, of course. THREE STARS.

2) Some teenage boys discover a rock-thing in the woods and suspect it of alien origin in "The Thing In The Woods" by D. R. Smith. Strange things occur which leads to a grim resolution. Really enjoyed this one, wish there was just a bit more of an outcome. FOUR STARS.

3) "The Hike" by E. E. W. Christman. Steph goes looking for girlfriend Becca in the cold Oregon woods the morning after a verbal fight. However, Steph isn't the only one hunting for a companion. A little predictable, but the writing was crisp and moved me through the story. THREE STARS.

4) "When the sun goes away, the wolves come to play . . ." Too long to be considered flash fiction but too short to engage the reader sufficiently, "Only Snow" by Clint Foster offers a little background and then skips right to the climatic scene. That's disappointing. TWO STARS.

5) New business owner Benny returns to his hometown, gets reacquainted with Marsha who he lusted after in high school, and gets invited to a camping trip with promises of sex. In "Carhaze", writer Dale Drake mixes in some erotica with the horror, a nice change-up at this point in the anthology. However, it might have more impact if the characters were more likable. THREE STARS.

6) "Knotwork Hill" by C. W. Blackwell reads like a purplish noir thriller with dark elements. It's very engaging and gets stranger as it moves forward. Ex-cops, witch legends, and cultish Celtic rites. This would be a five star story if not for the improbable ending. There are limitations to writing in first person. FOUR STARS.

7) In "Lazarus' Respite" by Michael Subjack a middle-school boy abused by bullies finds an unusual solution to his troubles. FOUR STARS.

8) A group of teens meet every summer during family vacation at a lake resort in "Forest Man". They take a hike in the woods, find a cave with an odd tree-like formation, and then they start disappearing individually. Twenty years later, some of them return with chilling and disturbing results. This story hit all the marks. FIVE STARS.

9) "Return To The Woods" by G. Allen Wilbanks.  A prisoner charged with the murder of his family has a special connection to a monster in the woods, a monster he claims is who really killed his wife and kids. THREE STARS.

10) Michael D. Nadeau utilizes some Irish folklore in "The Lady In The Woods", where a tourist enters a forest of legend, and has a serous injury. Alone, and unable to move he encounters a mysterious woman and is offered a choice that will determine his future. THREE STARS.

11 + 12) Tim Mendees contributes two FOUR STAR stories. In "A Matter Of Recycling" an introverted lad who spends his leisure time exploring the woods discovers a clearing where a wounded badger is quickly consumed by strange insects. Curious to learn more, he brings roadkill to the clearing and enters into a pact with the insects that will see him into adulthood and beyond. In "Rouse Them Not" a Druidic wassailing ceremony involving leaving spiced toast in trees takes a nasty turn when two mischievous twins decide to make an offering to the two graveyard apple trees they were warned to stay away from.

13) "Dig" by Elizabeth Nettleton. Be careful who you dig up your past with. THREE STARS.

14) "Pumpkinface" by T. S. Hurt is more of an excerpt or scene than a full story. Four high school chums share campfire stories about a serial killer and then meet him in person. TWO STARS.

15) "Neumack Woods" by N. M. Brown did not end to my satisfaction. Two eleven-year old boys decide to sneak out at nighttime and see if the rumors about the Woods are true. This is more of a campfire story, maybe one that should have been told in "Pumpkinface." TWO STARS.

16) "Thirteen" by Craig Crawford is narrated by the wraith-like hermit trapped in a wooded cabin some 100 years prior by a druid. He needs to lure hikers inside to feed from their essence. Will he finally succeed in ensnaring enough victims to gain release? Chilling. THREE STARS.

17) "Automatic Contamination" by M. A. Smith held my interest for awhile, but it's too inconclusive to be scary, or even different from a score of similar missing person with adults not believing the kids' stories. TWO STARS.

18) There are parts of "Interference" by Matthew A. St. Cyr that are very inventive in this mysterious, and intriguing yet frustrating story. The frustration comes from too many unexplained events as a young couple take too long on a hike and have to descend a mountain in darkness, with injuries occurring. I don't want to state my many questions about this story because it would end up spoiling it. This is one for the reader to decide. For me, it's worth THREE STARS.

19) An isolationist enters a park after closing for uninterrupted camping. The more cuts and scrapes he endures, the more he hears the voices. "Getting Away From It All" by Greg Hunter raised some questions that go unanswered, yet I'm giving it FOUR STARS mainly for inventiveness and creepiness.

20) The title of "Fairies In The Forest" by Jason Holden tells everything you need to know. Except, these fairies are not friendly, as Alex and son Warren soon find out. THREE STARS.

21) A middle-aged nature lover takes a mid-week break to visit an historic Chicago park in "The Von Brunner Woods" by Evan M. Elgin, hoping to have the isolated acres all to himself. He encounters an odd stranger on the trails, and fears for his life. THREE STARS.

22) "Jodie's Spot" by Mark Towse. A teenager enters a mysterious misty part of the forest where he believes his equally nature-loving sister disappeared a year earlier and has an encounter with Mother Nature. THREE STARS.

23) Two poachers stalking a wounded bear in "Seita" by Thomas K. S. Wade become the prey when the bear becomes indestructible in a strange area of the woods where spirits dwell. FOUR STARS.

24) In "Hollow Woods" by Brian Duncan a father and daughter move from Arizona to Florida. The teenage girl gets invited by her new friends to a wilderness park with a beach. Rather than a swimming trip, the girls want to hike to an off-the-trail area to check the validity of some folklore amid rituals and sacrifice. FOUR STARS.