Nathan Carson

My review is based on an advanced, 100 copy, limited release

Starr Creek is a fast-paced, fun, compulsively readable novella from emerging author Nathan Carson. It tells an interweaving series of tales about shady backwoods lowlifes, some day-tripper teens, a biker gang, a couple of kids up to no good, and an inexplicable cargo cult, and that's all before stuff really starts getting weird. It's set in rural Oregon in the early 1980's, but never gets mired down in ticking off pop-culture show more references for 'authenticity', anything mentioned in that vein is organically part of the story, told from the perspective of someone who really lived through that time. The strange concepts start coming fast and furious about midway in, and there are fun allusions to a lot of literary and film tropes including having the kids find and befriend an alien, underground labyrinths, ancient-astronaut-theory spliced with local legends, and the inevitable and climactic showdowns that the whole town shows up for. All the while the bizarro mash-up meter is going right off the charts. Definitely a big recommendation to fans of fresh, funny, and inventive spec-lit stuff. show less

In 2025, I read 13 horror anthologies. This is also the second anthology I’ve read this year re: PNW horror, and it’s by far the best.. I loved 11 of the 13 stories. My favorites were:
THE PHANTOM OF THE PARAMOUNT by Nathan Carson
THE MAJESTIC by J. Nathan
DELIVERY by J.D. Simpson
PLACES WHERE NO LIGHTS SHINE by C. F. Page
WILD DOGS by Brie Williams
THE ACKERMAN LODGE by Ilan Jones
BAIT by Bec Stranger