Figures of Fear

I received a copy of Figures of Fear: An Anthology from the publisher in return for an honest review.

I originally planned to read this anthology one story at a time between my other books but once I started I couldn't stop. I enjoyed most of the stories but some more than others. My favourite has to be Beholder, closely followed by The Night Hider, my least favourite being The Battered Wife.

This is a great collection, it's dark, twisted, gruesome and well worth a read.

1: Ex-Voto - Short and to the point, with some squeamish cringe factor. I can't say it was great, just ok.

2: What the Dark Does - That was creepy. I was terrified of the dark as a kid and I remember my imagination running away with me convinced that things were coming alive in my room. This story creeped me out, don't read this one in the dark and don't leave it too late to turn that light on.

3: Saint Bronach's Shrift - You need to be a special kind of stupid to build this kind of hideout, seriously.

4: The Battered Wife - Hmm I wasn't so keen on this one at all.

5: The Night Hider - A nice spin on a classic tale. It was a pleasant surprise to see where the twist in this one went. Great story!

6: Underbed - Well that was a story and a half, there's no end to what a childs imagination can come up with. Very cleverly done and full of imagination.

7: Night of the Wendigo - I enjoyed the lore behind this one but it felt a little short for everything it was trying to say. Great story though.

8: Spirits of the Age - I wouldn't class this one as having any scares or fear factor at all, for me personally anyway.

9: Witch-Compass - Be careful what you wish for, what you have may not be perfect but things could be a lot worse. Boy did this guy show his true colours and get way more than he bargained for.

10: Resonant Evil - Curiosity can have devastating results. A dark and twisted story on how some ones senses can be manipulated to see, feel and experience something that's not actually there.

11: Beholder - This has to be the most twisted and gruesome story in the collection. I was cringing at parts of this one. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but what if someone was to steal that beauty? How would you get it back?

Scarlet's Web Blog: http://scarletaingeal.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/review-figures-of-fear-anthology.html

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1070907979

BookLikes Review: http://scarletaingeal.booklikes.com/post/1016694/figures-of-fear-an-anthology-by-graham-masterton

AmazonUK Review: N/A Review option not available on Amazon yet.

Amazon Review: N/A Review option not available on Amazon yet.

I am always ready for something new from Graham Masterton and was happy to have a review copy of his upcoming anthology, “Figures of Fear.” It took me a little while to finish the book as I read the stories between reading longer books but was very happy with the stories as I made my way through the book.

In “Figures of Fear,” Masterton presents eleven stories centered on the figures that haunt his personal nightmares. Some of these are old tropes that play upon the fears of people throughout time and have been recounted in numerous stories while others are relatively new and fresh imaginings from a master of the horror genre. Regardless of the figure’s age, they are all uniquely terrifying and presented in Masterton’s signature style.

Taking a look at a couple of the best stories in the anthology, I would basically give the nod to a pair of stories as my favorites as I really cannot choose between the two. “Underbed” is a very good story about a boy who likes to slip under the covers at night and explore another world in his imagination. As everyone knows, imagination is boundless but what happens when one slips across the boundaries of reality and the only thing left is imagination? Masterton manages to capture both the joy and the fear that are a part of childhood and that is why this story was so effective. I can remember entering the world of make believe after the lights were off and have fond memories of some of those times. There were other times, however, when I did not know what the odd noise in the dark was and my imagination turned the experience from euphoria to terror. “Underbed” captures both of those elements in its few pages and makes for a memorable reading experience.

“The Night Hider” tells the story of what could be a haunted wardrobe until it is revealed just which wardrobe this is. You see, the wardrobe in question is the very one that led to C.S. Lewis writing “The Chronicles of Narnia” and its power is very real. That does not mean that the source of the wardrobe’s power is the sort of thing that would inspire children’s books. I really enjoyed this story for a couple reasons. I always liked C.S. Lewis so it was interesting to read a story that featured the wardrobe set in the real world. I also liked the way in which Masterton ties the tragedy of the past into the inspiration of Lewis. How the wardrobe with its past tragedy led to Lewis writing a series of books based on religion and morality creates an interesting side note to the story that gave Masterton plenty to work with. This is a very well written and deep short story.

Those two stories are my favorite of the anthology but I enjoyed all of the other stories as well. “Witch-Compass” is a very wicked and also wickedly funny story in which Masterton pulls no punches in slinging the story toward its shocking conclusion. “Spirits of the Age” is almost a sentimental tale bordering on a haunted soap opera that had me wondering where the horror was and then -- there comes the horror crashing in. “Resonant Evil” is another story of a haunting (of sorts) that starts out as less than a terrifying tale before the truth is learned. I thought that the ending to this was a little bit obvious but still enjoyed it a great deal. “Figures of Fear” is definitely one of the better short story anthologies (and possibly the best horror anthology) of the year and well worth reading from cover to cover.

I would like to thank Severn House and NetGalley for this advance review copy. “Figures of Fear” is scheduled to be released by Severn House in February, 2015.

So very creepy.