Sinister: Tales of Dread
Author: Billie Sue Mosiman
DM Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1492139645
Aug 31, 2013 PB: $12.99 eBook: $3.99
Review by Kat Yares
I’ve been reading Billie Sue Mosiman’s works for years. Her writing never lets me down for reading pleasure and Sinister: Tales of Dread is no exception. In most single author story collections, there are maybe one or two fantastic stories, one or two great stories and maybe a few good stories. Not so with Sinister. Each and every story in this collection is a gem and will have you wanting each to go on forever.
This collection of fourteen stories run the gambit of everything from pure horror to noir suspense. Each and every one can be classified as dark and some will play with the short hairs on the back of your neck as you read. Most of these stories were published in 2013 in a various anthologies, so this is your chance to get them all in one place.
The first short work in the book is the title story, Sinister, a rollicking little sci-fi stroy with a horror twist that I promise will leave you freaked out and looking at strangers just a bit differently. Heck, you might even look at your neighbors a bit differently also.
The next time you sit behind your computer, phone or table and talk on social media – you really need to think about who is behind the screen on the other end of the conversation. Mrs. Mosiman’s Transformed: The Kindness of Strangers is absolutely one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever read about social media and how vulnerable some people are when using it.
Out of the Sky is another quirky cross-over between dark and sci-fi that will bring up memories of the pod people. It’s just a bit more sinister than Invasion of the Body Snatchers every thought of being.
White Sculls is another favorite. Creepy and terrifying. It will leave you wondering just what kind of person could do the job that the main character, Boris, does in this tale. Because by the time you finish reading it, you will know that people like him exist.
I’m not going to go nuts here, giving you a rundown of every one of the 14 stories in the book. That would make this review far too long. Just trust me on this though, you don’t want to miss this collection. If you love horror and genre-bending fiction you would be doing yourself a disservice not grabbing this collection for your eReader or your bookshelf. You will not be disappointed – it’s that good.
