Rating: 
Summary: Give this one a pass.
Review: Amazon seems to have eaten my previous review, so here we go again:
I am a big fan of horror anthologies and can usually find a few stories that I enjoy but not here. The stories are an uneven mix and mostly sub-par with no real scares or originality.
Those looking for something a little more "on the dark side" are encouraged to look something from the "Borderlands" series.
Rating: 
Summary: Not exactly darker...
Review: As John Pelan's previous anthology DARKSIDE was one of the best collections of horror I've ever read, I couldn't have been more excited to see a second volume. Having finished it, I have to confess to being a little disappointed.
The book starts off with a handful of strong entries. Edo van Belkom's story concerns harbingers of death that only one woman can see. Simon Clark presents us with a woman with the ability to exact supernatural vengeance on those who have betrayed her, only now the betrayal comes a little too close to home. Brian Hodge, in a story of the quietest horror, shows us that not only can you go home again, but that you have no choice in the matter.
There is a lot of variety in the stories presented. Some are quite strange. Tom Piccirilli creates a character with most unusual appetite. Lucy Taylor explores an interesting psychological concept that I wish had been explored just a little further. Mehitobel Wilson's entry appears at first to be an agoraphobe's nightmare, but is soon revealed to be something much more sinister. Joel Lane provides us with a touching story of lost and found love, although the ending is a bit bewildering. There are also very good entries from Caitlin Kiernan and Ann Schwader, whose tale builds up a strong feeling of impending doom while leaving the mystery intact.
As probably should be expected, there are a number of weaker entries as well. Poppy Z. Brite once again tells of rock stars and vampires in a heavyhanded allegory (fans = bloodsuckers...get it?) David Silva recounts the genesis of a killer in a history that contains no surprises. Pelan's own story drags on far too long and is also predictable. Richard Laymon, as usual, caters to the lowest common denominator in a story that simply isn't very good. And Brian Keene's submission uses a concept that is so played out in the milieu of horror fiction that I can't believe it still finds its way to print.
As with most anthologies, you've got to be prepared to take the bad with the good. This one's previous installment, unfortunately, set my expectations to be quite high. I still recommend picking this one up, but it's just not as good as it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly darker...
Review: As John Pelan's previous anthology DARKSIDE was one of the best collections of horror I've ever read, I couldn't have been more excited to see a second volume. Having finished it, I have to confess to being a little disappointed.
The book starts off with a handful of strong entries. Edo van Belkom's story concerns harbingers of death that only one woman can see. Simon Clark presents us with a woman with the ability to exact supernatural vengeance on those who have betrayed her, only now the betrayal comes a little too close to home. Brian Hodge, in a story of the quietest horror, shows us that not only can you go home again, but that you have no choice in the matter.
There is a lot of variety in the stories presented. Some are quite strange. Tom Piccirilli creates a character with most unusual appetite. Lucy Taylor explores an interesting psychological concept that I wish had been explored just a little further. Mehitobel Wilson's entry appears at first to be an agoraphobe's nightmare, but is soon revealed to be something much more sinister. Joel Lane provides us with a touching story of lost and found love, although the ending is a bit bewildering. There are also very good entries from Caitlin Kiernan and Ann Schwader, whose tale builds up a strong feeling of impending doom while leaving the mystery intact.
As probably should be expected, there are a number of weaker entries as well. Poppy Z. Brite once again tells of rock stars and vampires in a heavyhanded allegory (fans = bloodsuckers...get it?) David Silva recounts the genesis of a killer in a history that contains no surprises. Pelan's own story drags on far too long and is also predictable. Richard Laymon, as usual, caters to the lowest common denominator in a story that simply isn't very good. And Brian Keene's submission uses a concept that is so played out in the milieu of horror fiction that I can't believe it still finds its way to print.
As with most anthologies, you've got to be prepared to take the bad with the good. This one's previous installment, unfortunately, set my expectations to be quite high. I still recommend picking this one up, but it's just not as good as it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: Is this the state of modern horror writing? Uh-oh.
Review: I picked up The Darker Side with the hope of exploring new, young authors in the horror genre. Unfortunately, if these writers are representative of current horror trends, then the whole genre is on the verge of collapse. The anthology's first story was the best, and there were occasional authors who showed a flash of talent, but overall, the stories alternated between boring and horrible. There was nothing remotely frightening or disturbing in any story in the book. Instead, many of the authors seemed to devote their energy to creating "adult" (i.e. poorly written sexual) material or over-the-top and substandard descriptions of murder instead of creating a decent story. At times, I wondered how these stories could be a credit to an author's reputation. If you want chilling and effectively written horror, there's always Poe and Lovecraft. Unfortunately, no author in this compilation comes close to their abilities.
Rating:
Summary: Is this the state of modern horror writing? Uh-oh.
Review: I picked up The Darker Side with the hope of exploring new, young authors in the horror genre. Unfortunately, if these writers are representative of current horror trends, then the whole genre is on the verge of collapse. The anthology's first story was the best, and there were occasional authors who showed a flash of talent, but overall, the stories alternated between boring and horrible. There was nothing remotely frightening or disturbing in any story in the book. Instead, many of the authors seemed to devote their energy to creating "adult" (i.e. poorly written sexual) material or over-the-top and substandard descriptions of murder instead of creating a decent story. At times, I wondered how these stories could be a credit to an author's reputation. If you want chilling and effectively written horror, there's always Poe and Lovecraft. Unfortunately, no author in this compilation comes close to their abilities.
Rating: 
Summary: An Intriguing Stew of Stories
Review: I recognized the editor of this horror anthology, John Pelan, from his various associations with goremeister Edward Lee. I have never read any of his stories, however, until I cracked the cover of "The Darker Side," a gruesomely fascinating collection of stories from some of the best writers in horror working today. "The Darker Side" assembles a list of fresh stories from Edo Van Belkom, Simon Clark, Tom Piccirilli, Mehitobel Wilson, Charlee Jacob, Lucy Taylor, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Poppy Z. Brite, Tim Lebbon, and a host of other authors. Overall, there are twenty-seven meaty stories to sink your teeth into, and many of them are winners in every way. Sometimes, I think that horror anthologies are the best way to go for new horror fans that don't know many of the authors in the field. Heck, I read a ton of horror books and I am STILL discovering excellent writers in this genre. Anyway, this collection offers a smorgasbord of horror stories sure to entertain and sicken a reader. THE BEST: Maybe it's just me, but I think Charlee Jacob is one of the best writers in the business. Her novels are cathedrals of poetic language wrapped around unbelievable sequences of gory violence. The story Jacob contributed here, "The Plague Species," will stand out in my memory for some time to come. Residents of a Greek island are shocked to discover a shocking loss of various body parts. It turns out that an invasion launched by residents of this island against the neighboring island of Timnah resulted in a horrific curse with gory implications. The language is pristine and the conclusion surprising. Mehitobel Wilson wrote "The Mannerly Man" to show us a world where political correctness has run amok. In this tale, people can kill anyone who offends them, for any reason, but can only do so once. A person who goes beyond their one freebie faces automatic execution at the hands of the police. The problem with this system is that a person never knows who has killed someone and who hasn't. It's amusing in the extreme to see how people bow and scrape at the slightest thought of stepping on another person's toes. In fact, even going outside presents a whole host of dangers. Shikhar Dixit's "Asian Gothic" deserves special mention if for no other reason than for writing a tale that takes place in India. Something is seriously wrong with Suraj Mahal, a house in the town of Patna. This haunted house possesses the ability to wreak bloody havoc on its residents by causing the narrator's family members to commit suicide. There's more to it than that, of course, but I like the idea of unconventional horror stories that go outside the western world. THE WORST: David Niall Wilson's story about a painter, "The Whirling Man," bored me to tears with its descriptions of an artist and his encounters with a model. This guy creates some type of painting about colors squirting out of a woman's heart or some such thing. I read this a while ago and forgot about it the minute I finished it. "The Whirling Man" is just too nonsensical for my tastes. "The Night City," a joint effort by Wilum Pugmire and Chad Hensley, isn't that long of a story, but it didn't make much sense. Some weird guy visits a nightmarish, polluted city in order to experience the dark delights such a place puts on display. The descriptive language succeeds in conveying a degenerate atmosphere, but I just never really caught on to what the characters were up to. This one is definitely a "pass" on subsequent readings of the book. There are many other stories of varying degrees of quality in the collection. I wouldn't want to leave out Edo Von Belkom's story, "Do You See What I Fear," about a woman who, after undergoing an operation, rapidly comes to understand how death works in the real world. Poppy Z. Brite writes a story about the soul draining aspects of fame, and Tom Piccirilli strikes gold with his weird contribution about a guy that eats people's souls. I got a kick out of Pelan's entry, about the sinister implications of taking a hobby WAY too far. On the other hand, I didn't care much for Joel Lane's "After the Flood," a story about a basement full of water that holds people's memories. Ultimately, "The Darker Side" was a mixed bag for me, containing a few stories I didn't care for more than balanced out by great yarns of purest gold. If nothing else, I discovered a few names I think would be well worth pursuing in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: THE REAL DEAL
Review: I won't bore you with what I did or didn't like, that couldn't mean less to anybody. Let me just take a minute and tell you what this is and isn't. This isn't Gramma Walton's favorite ghost stories. This is what it says it is-Horror. Adult writers dealing with adult themes in an adult way. If you want pretty little metaphors dressed for Halloween in rubber masks, bed sheets and plastic fangs, take a walk this ain't for you. This is Horror, the Dark(er) side of life. No sugar coating it doesn't come wrapped in a colorful candy shell. It isn't junk food for your brain or the "Friends Halloween Special". It is the ugly, nasty side of life we all know is out there, but don't always let into our hearts and minds. This is life on the hard side 101. Read the newspapers, watch the TV news, this isn't Disneyland we live in. The world is all too often a mean and unpleasant place. These are the people who know that and want to tell you all about it. They know it, they think about it, they write about it and they want to come into your home, invade your place of comfort and scare the [pants off] of you.. Will it disturb you? Of course, that's the point, that's what they do. Scare you, shake you up, make you think. You can't hide from the Dark Side it's a part of life, but you can enjoy it x 27. Take home a slice, roll it around the brain a bit and get a taste for the real deal. If real life horror with the gloves off is your thing? I think you'll like it.
Read it. Enjoy it. And when you come back wanting more, don't worry, the world will still be dark and these people will still be writing. 'Cause that's what they do.
Rating:
Summary: THE REAL DEAL
Review: I won't bore you with what I did or didn't like, that couldn't mean less to anybody. Let me just take a minute and tell you what this is and isn't. This isn't Gramma Walton's favorite ghost stories. This is what it says it is-Horror. Adult writers dealing with adult themes in an adult way. If you want pretty little metaphors dressed for Halloween in rubber masks, bed sheets and plastic fangs, take a walk this ain't for you. This is Horror, the Dark(er) side of life. No sugar coating it doesn't come wrapped in a colorful candy shell. It isn't junk food for your brain or the "Friends Halloween Special". It is the ugly, nasty side of life we all know is out there, but don't always let into our hearts and minds. This is life on the hard side 101. Read the newspapers, watch the TV news, this isn't Disneyland we live in. The world is all too often a mean and unpleasant place. These are the people who know that and want to tell you all about it. They know it, they think about it, they write about it and they want to come into your home, invade your place of comfort and scare the [pants off] of you.. Will it disturb you? Of course, that's the point, that's what they do. Scare you, shake you up, make you think. You can't hide from the Dark Side it's a part of life, but you can enjoy it x 27. Take home a slice, roll it around the brain a bit and get a taste for the real deal. If real life horror with the gloves off is your thing? I think you'll like it.
Read it. Enjoy it. And when you come back wanting more, don't worry, the world will still be dark and these people will still be writing. 'Cause that's what they do.
Rating:
Summary: Pelan does it again!
Review: It's a well-known "fact" that anthologies sell poorly. It's even more widely known "fact" that readers won't buy an anthology that doesn't feature a name (think King, Koontz or Rice) author. No doubt this "logic" has kept many a decent anthology from even getting out of the planning stages. It's fortunate then that The Darker Side avoided this sad fate. John Pelan has assembled a diverse, winning collection of stories from veterans and newcomers alike, an anthology that should appeal to a broad audience. And the book doesn't suffer at all from the lack of 600 pound gorillas among the ranks of it contributors. Although there are several outright misfires (entries from Tom Piccirrilli, Charlie Jacob, Wilum Pugmire/Chad Hensley and Shikhar Dixit were will leave you scratching your head) and a couple of near misses (old dependables Richard Laymon and David B. Silva seem to be merely going through the motions), there's plenty here to merit your attention. The anthology is book ended by two excellent stories, opening strongly with Edo Van Belkom's "Do You See What I Fear?" a tale in the tradition of The Twilight Zone, and closing with Tim Lebbon's "Hell Came Down," the story of a mage on the trail of an apprentice whose magic threaten to bring about apocalypse. Other standouts include Brian Hodge's "Pull," a story that says you don't need to go home again, because home is always a part of you, James Dorr's "Pets," guaranteed to make you call an exterminator immediately after you finish, Mehitobel Wilson's tragicomedy of manners "The Mannerly Man," Lucy Taylor's "Unspeakable," about the long term effects of sexual abuse, and Pelan's own "Armies of the Night," a tale of obsession which recalls aspects of Stephen King's short story, "Battleground". As good as, if not better than its predecessor, the well received Darkside, The Darker Side will likely generate its share of nominees for both the Stokers and International Horror Guild awards for short fiction, if not its own nomination for best anthology. Not every story will appeal to every reader, owing to the wide range of styles and subject matter, but most readers will find something to suit their tastes.
Rating:
Summary: Pelan does it again!
Review: It's a well-known "fact" that anthologies sell poorly. It's even more widely known "fact" that readers won't buy an anthology that doesn't feature a name (think King, Koontz or Rice) author. No doubt this "logic" has kept many a decent anthology from even getting out of the planning stages. It's fortunate then that The Darker Side avoided this sad fate. John Pelan has assembled a diverse, winning collection of stories from veterans and newcomers alike, an anthology that should appeal to a broad audience. And the book doesn't suffer at all from the lack of 600 pound gorillas among the ranks of it contributors. Although there are several outright misfires (entries from Tom Piccirrilli, Charlie Jacob, Wilum Pugmire/Chad Hensley and Shikhar Dixit were will leave you scratching your head) and a couple of near misses (old dependables Richard Laymon and David B. Silva seem to be merely going through the motions), there's plenty here to merit your attention. The anthology is book ended by two excellent stories, opening strongly with Edo Van Belkom's "Do You See What I Fear?" a tale in the tradition of The Twilight Zone, and closing with Tim Lebbon's "Hell Came Down," the story of a mage on the trail of an apprentice whose magic threaten to bring about apocalypse. Other standouts include Brian Hodge's "Pull," a story that says you don't need to go home again, because home is always a part of you, James Dorr's "Pets," guaranteed to make you call an exterminator immediately after you finish, Mehitobel Wilson's tragicomedy of manners "The Mannerly Man," Lucy Taylor's "Unspeakable," about the long term effects of sexual abuse, and Pelan's own "Armies of the Night," a tale of obsession which recalls aspects of Stephen King's short story, "Battleground". As good as, if not better than its predecessor, the well received Darkside, The Darker Side will likely generate its share of nominees for both the Stokers and International Horror Guild awards for short fiction, if not its own nomination for best anthology. Not every story will appeal to every reader, owing to the wide range of styles and subject matter, but most readers will find something to suit their tastes.
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