Anthology Review: Whispers from the Abyss ed. by Kat Rocha

Whispers from the Abyss by Kat Rocha
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This anthology solidly delivers an array of Lovecraft inspired tales. Accordingly, horror and the supernatural permeate the collection, though humor and historical fiction are well represented, too. Thankfully, most tales share a fresh perspective rising above mere Lovecraft fan fiction. The best of the bunch carve their own path through the mythos to great effect.

I’ve separately reviewed and rated each of the collection’s component stories, giving top honors and 5 stars to Erica Satifka’s “You Will Never Be the Same”, an imaginative horror-sci-fi in which humans break dimensional boundaries for the sake of interstellar travel at the risk of their sanity.

My 4-star honorable mentions include: Greg Stolze’s “Iden-Inshi”, a humor-thriller that devolves into a horror-sci-fi. Two others which ply humor to great effect are Martin Hill Ortiz’ “Nutmeat” which imagines a parasitic takeover and James Brogden’s Monty Python worthy “The Decorative Water Feature of Nameless Dread”. Two works of historical fiction shine through in Corissa Baker’s “The Deep” which reimagines the Irish Famine as a slow supernatural horror and Jason Andrew’s “Fear and Loathing in Innsmouth: Richard Nixon’s Revenge”, a fun detective noir. Finally, Lance Axt’s “Henry” shows a young boy succumb to the sci-fi tales he reads.

Also included are:
Almand, Nicholas–“Leviathan”–3 stars
Barrows, Brandon–“Suck It Up, Get It Done”–3 stars
Black, Charles–“Horrorscope”–3 stars
Brown, Stephen–“The Thing With Onyx Eyes”–3 stars
Bundschuh, Mason Ian–“When We Change”–3 stars
Crich, Kelda–“Stone City, Old as Immeasurable Time”–3 stars
Fifer, Chad–“Afraid of Dobermans”–3 stars
Finney, Josh–“Death Wore Greasepaint”–3 stars
Finney, Lee–“Give Me That Old Time Religion”–3 stars
Fultz, John R.–“I Do the Work of the Bone Queen”–3 stars
Hemphill, J.C.–“Pushing Back”–3 stars
Jeffreys, Tim–“The Well”–3 stars
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia–“The Sea, Like Glass Unbroken”–3 stars
Pratt, Tim and Greg van Eekhout–“Secrets in Storage”–3 stars
Provine, Jeff–“The Floor”–3 stars
Rocha, Kat–“The Jar of Aten-Hor”–3 stars
Sharp, Jonathan–“Nation of Disease: The Rise & Fall of a Canadian Legend”–3 stars
Ulibarri, Sarena–“Other People’s Houses”–3 stars
Wise, A. C.–“Chasing Sunset”–3 stars
Detwiller, Dennis–“Waiting”–2 stars
French, Aaron J.–“My Stalk”–2 stars
Mamatas, Nick–“Hideous Interview with Brief Man”–2 stars
Stickel, W. B.–“The Substance in the Sound”–2 stars
Wunner, Nathan–“The Neon Morgue”–2 stars
Black, Charles–“The Last Tweet”–1 star
Tallerman, David–“My Friend Fishfinger by Daisy, Age 7”–1 star

I received this anthology directly from 01 Publishing through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com. I’ve also reviewed the companion anthology
Whispers of the Abyss 2: The Horrors That Were and Shall Be
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[Check out my other reviews here.]