Book Review: RAMPAGE ON THE REEF anthology

RAMPAGE ON THE REEF edited by Jay Alexander (Dead Sea Press, June 2022) Dead Seas, Volume IV: An Anthology of Aquatic Horror. Trade Paperback, 312 pages. ISBN #9781915272157 

Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . . .

Aquatic horror gets speculative and colourful in this thrilling collection of sixteen salty tales. Rampage on the Reef, the fourth volume in our Dead Seas series, explores the weirder side of oceanic horror and gathers everything you loved about the first three books into one terrifying collection.

A crash-landing on a remote island leaves its survivors without hope of rescue. A terrible infection spreads from coral to man - and beyond. And a young couple's relaxing afternoon on the beach is interrupted by murderous weeds... 

All this and more in sixteen fantastic tales from Robert Mammone, Nick Roberts, Kat Clay, C.F. Page, Ksenia Murray, Kenzie Jennings, Art Stanton, Alex Grehy, Emmie Christie, Julia C. Lewis, Jeremy Megargee, Jim Horlock, Emma Kathryn, Jayson Robert Ducharme, L. Pine and Connor Boyle.

 

My Three-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     As themed anthologies go, this one fits the billing - - - aquatic horror - - and is the fourth such volume from the Dead Seas series. Of the sixteen stories of various lengths included, four exceeded my expectations. Eight stories met my expectations; and four stories fell short. 

     The stand-outs are "Voodoo Bay" by Nick Roberts (an author on my watchlist); "The Globster of Cape Frankfurt" by C.F. Page; "Of Water Turning Into Sea" by Emma Christie; and "Sheena" by Connor Boyle.

     Also of note were "Reef" by Kat Clay, "The Weeds" by Ksenia Murray, "Slaughter Bay" by Art Stanton, "Revenger Of The Vampire Sea Snail" by Alex Grehy, "Beneath The Glass" by Julia C. Lewis, "Saltwater Girls" by Emma Kathryn, "A Threnody for the Last Syreni" by Jayson Robert Ducharme, and "Static In the Waves" by L. Pine.