Shining in the Dark

He spent his time reading
by Hans-Åke Lilja | Horror |
ISBN: 9781982132872 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 1/4/2021
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Monday, January 4, 2021
I got this softcover at Toadstool Books. It's an anthology in honor of the tenth anniversary of the web site Lilja's Library, a fan site about Stephen King and his works. The anthology includes Poe's classic "Tell-tale Heart" as well as more recent stories by some of the genre's greats. My favorites include:

"The Net" by Jack Ketchum and P. D. Cacek: this one's a cautionary tale about hooking up via the internet - with several riffs on the different viewpoints, what the characters are thinking vs. what they imagine the other is thinking. And, as this is a horror anthology, it gets pretty grisly by the end - though, for me, it's those early bad-vibes-online bits that are scary.

"Aeliana" by Bev Vincent: a mix of feral-child, mean streets, and vampirism, with some poignant twists as the title character communicates with a recent victim.

"An End to All Things" by Brian Keene: this one's wrenching, as it deals with real-world pain at the tragic and too-soon loss of a loved one - and it plays out against the grieving character's wishes for some kind of world-ending catastrophe that will erase all the pain.

"Drawn to the Flame" by Kevin Quigley introduces boys who seek out a house-of-horrors that their folks have forbidden them to visit. Turns out the place is run by a trick-loving host who tempts the boys farther away from the main event and into a true house of horrors...

"The Companion" by Ramsey Campbell has a man seeking out an abandoned fairground - and having an increasingly unnerving ride on its Ghost Train. [Campbell's form of urban horror always gets to me!]

"A Mother's Love" by Brian James Freeman is about a man whose aged mother needs more care than he can provide; this one's got a nasty little twist to it.

"The Keeper's Companion" by John Ajvide Lindqvist opens with delightful descriptions of a boy who gets into D&D and other tabletop RPG games with his friends, seguing to "Call of Cthulhu" and on to creating his own campaigns. (I was a long-time gamer and DM myself, and still like to dip in for one-shot games when I can, and I loved the setup.) The story winds through the juvenile relationships and social stresses - and results in the main character attempting to summon a Lovecraftian horror to grant his wishes... Yeah, something of a departure from the way the games work in the real world (thankfully!). As often happens, access to that kind of power has a bad effect on our hero - so perhaps the twist at the end is quite fitting...

Released 3 yrs ago (2/11/2021 UTC) at Post Office Bookswap Shelf (UBCZ), 353 Middlesex Rd. in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I plan to leave this book on the book-swap shelf in the Tyngsboro MA post office lobby. Hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Heads Shoulders Knees Toes challenge, for the embedded "shin" in the title. ***

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