Wicked Abandoned
A New England Horror Writers Anthology
Edited by Rob Smales and Scott T. Goudsward
Published by Wicked Creative, LLC  (September 25, 2024)
Reviewed by Carson Buckingham

All I have to say is that New England sure grows a bunch of great writers! Wicked Abandoned is one of the best anthologies I’ve read in a long, long time. I can truthfully say that there wasn’t a clinker in the bunch—I thoroughly enjoyed every single one, whether poem or short story.

Some standouts for me were:

“Ghosted?” by Kristin Dearborn—A woman with low self-esteem is meeting the guy she’s been corresponding with online for the past six months. The meeting place is an abandoned cabin deep in the woods…what could go wrong?

“The Space Between” by Daniel G. Keohane—A global anomaly has altered 1/3 of the human population on the planet.

“House of Horrors” by Chad Anctil—Gotta love those abandoned amusement park stories, complete with abandoned fun houses…and whatever is in them…

“Rigby” by Christopher Kelly—Not so scary as heartbreaking, about a pandemic plague and a man and his dog. Beautifully written.

“Shisa Hachiko” by Trisha J. Wooldridge—This story is tied as my favorite one. A Japanese ghost story. A lonely American artist is befriended by a clerk at the local 7-11, a stone statue, and a little girl. Subtle and just marvelous!

“The Road to Heaven is Paved with Bad Intentions” by Laura Cooney—A great story about how abuse alters us.

“The Secret of St. Augustine” by Aaron White—This is the other story that tied for my favorite. Where “Shisa Hachiko” was subtle in its scares, this is one of the most outright frightening stories I’ve ever read. Two teens meet an old friend in an abandoned town at an abandoned warehouse to party. One takes an unfamiliar drug that results in a run to the nearest hospital—one that you never want to be admitted to—better to die in the parking lot. I literally had nightmares after reading this one. Great job, Mr. White! I’m tough to scare.

“Look Before Backing” by Jeffrey Thomas—a man discovers a Grumman mail truck abandoned deep in the woods, and still full of undelivered, old mail. He can’t resist opening some of it and discovers that what results is far worse than committing a federal offense.

In conclusion, I urge you to buy a copy of this book. It has already taken a place on my bookshelf alongside my other favorite books that I shall read again and again. You will be hard-pressed to find a better anthology than this one. I am looking forward to more of the New England Horror Writers’ work, and am going to make it a point to snag the other anthologies that they’ve released.

6 out of 5 stars Highly, highly recommended.