Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey

My usual rating for a short story collection is ⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. It seems there are always a few stellar stories, a few clunkers and then the middling rest. An obvious by-product of a work with lots of different authors.

But THIS COLLECTION. The anthology’s theme is the Frankenstein mythos - monsters as our creations, our rescuers, our tormentors and ourselves. I will admit to:

• actually getting the shivers,

• to saying out loud, “oh my god” or “ew” more than once,

• to side-eyeing the uncovered window by my bed a few times, and

• to feeling my heart sink into my stomach at least once.

Inside these pages are:

• Russian nesting dolls hiding a grotesque secret (Joanna Parypinski),

• a blank-faced mummy boy hidden away in a basement (Max Booth III), and

• a demon summoned to replace a bad mother (Bracken MacLeod).

There are viruses, science experiments, serial killers, and internment camps, too.

Theodora Goss gives us a sequel to Frankenstein that both honors and lifts the original. Josh Malerman, a gritty addiction story (ahem, werewolves). And, Laird Barron the weirdest and loveliest story about King Mingy’s bastard son, Larry, and a giant Ur toad.

You should read it as soon as possible.

(A review copy was provided by the publisher.)

Rating: 95/100

Pre-order it now for it's February 18, 2020, release at Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Books-A-Million