This is a varied and dark collection of (as far as I can ascertain) previously unpublished fiction. They are all very well written and poignant, humorously scary (Cthulu meets Santa's elves), and all around good stuff. I've always had a particular fondness for collections/anthologies because short fiction is spare and technically challenging, so you get a better feel for an author's expertise with the form. Short fiction is less of a time commitment as well, so if one story is not working for you, there's another piece readily available in a few pages. Anthologies are also a rich source for finding new authors so you can search out their other works. Most of the authors included here were familiar, but there were a couple who were new (to me).
It's unclear from the publishing info available online, but the eARC I received has a handy interactive table of contents. I hope the ebook release version does also. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. Presumably that feature will carry through to the final release version.
The stories varied between 3.5 and 5 stars for me with the average weighted toward the 4 star range. All were high quality and worth a read; nary a clunker in the lot.
Four solid stars. It would make a great holiday gift for your Book Flood recipients.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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