BESTIARY OF BLOOD: MODERN FABLES AND DARK TALES edited by Jamal Hodge (Crystal Lake Publishing, October 04, 2024) Kindle Edition, 377 pages.
Snyopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .
We are all prey to this anthology of modern fables and dark tales.
Bestiary of Blood was conceived in a moment of revelation, born from the visceral experience of watching nature's savage ballet—lions tearing into flesh, hyenas gnawing bones, sharks thrashing in crimson waters. These raw spectacles gave rise to a chilling life and death are entwined in a grotesque dance, each feeding the other in a ceaseless cycle of transformation, creating…beauty.
This paradox is captured in its full glory in Bestiary of Blood, a modern anthology of predation's horrors inspired by the timeless tales of Aesop’s Fables, modernized for a more complex, unforgiving world. Exploring the joy in our hurts, the wrongs in our rights, and the suffering in the shadows of our light, Bestiary of Blood invites you to the intersection of human and animal experience, crafting dark tales that resonate with life’s endless cycles of transformation.
Written by 37 of Horror’s greatest writers, Including 18 Bram Stoker Award Winners, this anthology features diverse voices from every walk of life as they usher you through the darkest and most profound questions of the modern age.
My THREE-STAR Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
My usual practice when reading anthologies is to comment on the stories as I go, sharing my impressions and an individual rating before averaging the collection as a whole for a final rating.
BESTIARY OF BLOOD is so dense, with 56 entries including stories, flash fiction and poetry. If I commented on each of those, this review would be so long as to be intimidating and no one would want to spend the time to read it. So, I'm only going to comment on the stories that impressed me more than others.
I do like the theme as stated in editor Jamal Hodge's introduction. (Hodge's contribution to this collection is significant, as he has authored six of the entries.) He speaks of the animal kingdom: "the merging and shifting, giving and taking in nature . . . this strange horror and frightening beauty of life, using death, to give life. . . . . . "Surely, I could find correlations - metaphors - in their experiences that would explain the truths in ours. As Aesop had so masterfully achieved all those centuries before, but darker still, infused with the vibrance of horror. . . Silence of the Lambs meets Aesop's Fables."
Wow, that's an ambitious premise. Had I read that introduction while browsing in a bookstore, that would have been all I needed to prompt me to purchase this. We'll see if the challenge is met by the authors included in this collection. Hodge mentions that the book is divided into five sections with five themes. However, when I review the table of contents it appears that there are seven distinct sections.
There's a wide diversity of themes within, and the grouping of them within sections makes sense because the stories seem to share similar themes. (Violence, sex, family, loyalty, etc). However, there is not a single story featuring the same animals. Also, the range of animals featured is wide enough to keep things fresh: standard animals, unusual animals, plus insects and aquatic life - even microbial life. There are also some factoids about these creatures included that provide interesting asides. The stories range in length, and the anthology also features poetry.
This was an interesting anthology, although not what I normally come to expect from Crystal Lake Publishing - - which is usually straight-up horror. These are fables for the most part, the majority of them providing a moral - - and that doesn't always make for a horror story. For that reason, this may be the weakest anthology (in my opinion) in the Crystal Lake stable of great works. Still, it's worth checking out.
Here are some reading notes . . . . . .
September 17: I'm currently reading in the first section labeled A DEATH FOR LOVE. "Best Mother Ever" by Edward Martin III takes place inside a barn and features a young spider, also a first-time mother, anxiously awaiting the emergence of her children from the egg sac. It's short and sweet, and very vicious. FOUR STARS.
September 18: In the next section labeled HUBRIS & HUMILITY the standout story (which reflects the section theme perfectly) is "Cypress Whispers" by Lee Murray wherein some decisions regarding reincarnation need to be made more carefully.
September 26: The final story in HUBRIS & HUMILITY reflects the main premise of the anthology perfectly. "Eye of Mirrors" by Patrick Thompson is an Aesop's fable-like story of a fox consumed by his vanity. It has a moral and a dark touch in the ending.
September 28: The sole story in the PROTECTORS & TRUTH SEEKERS section that caused me discomfort (and therefore had an impact) was "The Revelation Of Dogs" by Edward Martin III. It deals in brutality towards dogs (so be forewarned if you can't stomach that) and ends in an equally brutal but justifiable way.
I was provided a digital advance review copy of this anthology by the publisher without obligation. I wrote this review because I wanted to.
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