Borderlands 3 (Borderlands Series , No 3)

Rating:
Summary: Why is it the best books are always the hardest to find...
Review: This book (actually all 4 volumes of the Borderlands anthology series edited by Thomas F. Monteleone) is unconditionally one of the best anthologies in the genre... although initially attracted by the cover art (dark and subtley psychotic), this (these) book(s) is (are) this schizophrenic fiction is wearing off on me) the one I just can't seem to put away for very long... the one I simply can't bear to lend out for fear of never regaining it for one more read, one more trip into the darker recesses of the human psyche, the farther, dimmer reaches of surreality, as administered by the hands of some of the most talented writers in contemporary dark fiction - especially considering the fact that this series is seemingly out of print now (2001). So much more than a simple cross-section of current horror / dark fantasy, the works contained within Borderlands defy simple categorization, utterly devoid of tired stereotypes and cliches. These stories will make you shudder, they will make you think, they may even occasionally make you laugh, but they will most definitely make you question reality and your own sanity... they will go beyond (most) everything else that has come before. Buy this book (and any other in the Monteleone-edited Borderlands series that you can get your hands on), borrow it, steal it, beg the publisher to reprint it... do whatever you have to do to add this collection of literary gems to your experience of dark fiction. Along with the perennial Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, this is the most essential collection that the field of horror / dark fantasy has to offer.

Rating:
Summary: essential reading
Review: This is the strongest collections of horror stories I've read in years-- out of 21 short stories, there are perhaps two that are less than great, "A Stain Upon Her Honor" by John Ames and "Horror Story" by Whitley Strieber. This is all the more remarkable because all the stories are new. What I liked best is that the stories don't rely on gore for their effect, but get their chills from the twisted psychology of the characters or situations. A must-read for any horror fan.

Rating:
Summary: essential reading
Review: This is the strongest collections of horror stories I've read in years-- out of 21 short stories, there are perhaps two that are less than great, "A Stain Upon Her Honor" by John Ames and "Horror Story" by Whitley Strieber. This is all the more remarkable because all the stories are new. What I liked best is that the stories don't rely on gore for their effect, but get their chills from the twisted psychology of the characters or situations. A must-read for any horror fan.