Borderlands 1

While there were some great stories in here - "The Calling" is pretty great, likewise "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" and "Stillborn" - overall there was way too much sex in this collection for me. Not even necessarily sexualized violence, but sex and then something horrific. I'd forgotten that was Such A Thing in 80s/90s horror.

I have the paperback version in my collection, but I must have never read it--because if I had, I would have remembered it. I have read a couple of the stories before, certainly Poppy Z. Brite's and Joe Lansdale's, which have appeared elsewhere. I won't review story-by-story, because this is just something you need to discover for yourself. Suffice to say that Monteleone succeeds almost completely in his ambition to create an anthology of stories that don't fall into the conventional categories of horror. There is something to entertain, frighten, amaze, and disgust just about every reader between the covers of this book. The one thing the stories have in common is that they are all well-written. Many of them will stick with you--even show more the ones you wish would not. show less

I didn't have high hopes for this, given that I picked it up in a terrible hospital bookshop (~20 shelving units of cards, calendars, gifts, kids & Christian fiction; 1 unit of actual books, most of which were not-my-type).
However, this was pretty good, McGilloway sprinkles his prose with pretty language, and memorable characters. The Borderlands of the title were described well, straddling Northern Ireland and Eire after the Troubles, calmer on the surface but still a melting pot of petty rivalries under the surface. I liked the depiction of Devlin's relationship with Miriam, formed at school and here heading into car-crash territory felt convincing as an evocation of small town history from which one can't escape. Overall a satisfying show more read. show less

I had this paperback in my collection for many years before finally reading the newly released ebook version. It is a very memorable set of stories. I have read a couple of the stories before, certainly Poppy Z. Brite's and Joe Lansdale's, which have appeared elsewhere. I won't review story-by-story, because this is just something you need to discover for yourself. Suffice to say that Monteleone succeeds almost completely in his ambition to create an anthology of stories that don't fall into the conventional categories of horror. There is something to entertain, frighten, amaze, and disgust just about every reader between the covers of this book. The one thing the stories have in common is that they are all well-written. Many of them show more will stick with you--even the ones you wish would not. show less

The 1st of the Borderlands anthologies, this contains 25 stories edited by Thomas F. Monteleone. I'll digress on a few of my favorites here. I will say first that my LEAST favorite was Nancy Holder's "Glass Eyes". Francis J. Matozzo's "On the Nightmare Express" started well but ended in a foreseeable manner. Bentley Little's "The Pounding Room" was most exquisitely surreal. Michael Green's "The Raw and the Cooked" should keep you away from fastfood. John Shirley's "Delia and the Dinner Party" was my FAVORITE ONE HERE! Lee Moler's "Suicide Note" sucked--should have been his real one. Nina Kiriki Hoffman's "Stillborn" was my 2nd favorite story here. T.E.D. Klein's "Ladder" was refreshing, yet antiquated. Jack Hunter Daves, Jr.'s "His show more Frozen Heart" was nice and gloomy. Thomas Tessier's "Evelyn Grace" was my 3rd favorite here and will leave you with a lingering waft. LOL. Karl Edward Wagner's "But You'll Never Follow Me" brought up some moral questions in a cool way. Joe R. Lansdale's "By Bizarre Hands" was interesting though I grow weary of crazy preacher stories--though his was good. show less

Such a weird crazy bunch of short stories. I did like the majority of them.

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/xOyzZVd24wM

Enjoy!

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