Rating: 
Summary: A second try that worked out good
Review: The first Bentley Little book that I read was The Walking...and I was less than impressed. I thought that it had a poor ending and that it didn`t really do anything but rehash already-done-a-thousand-times witchcraft themes. With The Collection, however, Little has made me a fan for life. Most of these 32 stories are so unique that at times I just had to shake my head. Some fall squarely into the horror genre, for example "Bumblebee" or "The Woods Be Dark." These make up about half of the book and should more than satisfy the traditional horror fan. The best stories, though, are the weird ones that make up the other half; the stories that say `what if` and make us think about ordinary life in a new and disturbing way. Little`s mini-intros succeed in putting the story into the proper context by letting us know how the story came about and what its intentions were. "The Phonebook Man," "Llama," and "Roommates" are great examples of these. While most of the specific situations are highly implausible (especially in "The Washingtonians" and "Colony"), they are fun to read and make you step back and think about the general themes. My favorite story has to be "Confessions of a Corporate Man," in which the intra-office skirmishes between coworkers are blown all out of proportion into something approaching WWIII. I literally laughed out loud BOTH times I read it. Some of the stories try too hard and read kind of thin, and so I took off a star. I thought "Lethe Dreams" didn`t make much sense and "The Mailman" was just dumb. All in all, this is a great book and introduction to the author. It isn`t high literature with deep-thinking, conflict-driven super characters, but it does have a certain twisted intelligence that makes this book loom menacingly over a crowded genre. After reading this, I immediately started looking for other Bentley Little books to buy (next will be The Store I think), and to me this is the sign of an entertaining author.
Rating: 
Summary: Sickening
Review: The first story in this collection was enough to nauseate me. A young boy is murdered by having a shovel blade jammed in his back--sick enough for you? If you're the type of creep who enjoys "writing" like that, this is the book for you. If you're part of the 99.9% of humanity that would be repelled by stories such as this, save your money. For a decent horror collection that won't make you want to throw up, get Stephen King's "Night Shift" instead.
Rating: 
Summary: WHERE'S THE HORROR????
Review: THIS BOOK IS GOOD IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A FEW LAUGHS. BUT IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BE SCARED AND COMPLETELY TERRIFIED THAN THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU. I SUGGEST MAYBE STEPHEN KING'S "NIGHT SHIFT".
Rating: 
Summary: The Collection
Review: This is a great collection of short stories with a little bit of everything for the reader. If the reader is looking for a "thinking persons" horror story try: THE WASHINGTONIANS and COLONY. If your looking for a little humor with your horror try:
LLAMA and ROOMMATES. And if your looking for just plain good old fashion horror stories try: THE MAILMAN, MAYA'S MOTHER and THE SHOW.
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