Fading Light - An Anthology of the Monstrous - Edited by Tim Marquitz

4 of 5 Stars

Tim Marquitz has put together a beautiful anthology "firmly rooted in the imagery of H. P. Lovecraft and the stark atmosphere of Stephen King's The Mist."

The content is wonderfully captured in Jessy Lucero's brilliant cover art.  I was thrilled when Tim offered to allow me to read an advance copy of or his effort, but when I saw the cover, I couldn't wait to see what was inside.

The initial story, "Parasitic Embrace" by Adam Millard, is very true to the editor's stated vision, with a huge volcanic eruption leading to an ash cloud covering Great Britain and bringing with it much more than darkness.  Well writen and very effective.

One of the things I love about an anthology like this, is getting to sample new writers.  Sure there are some stories in here from folks I've read before.  People like Gene O’Neill, William Meikle, Nick Cato, Gord Rollo (loved his entry, "Friends of a Forgotten man." - A truly creepy story involving leeches), and others.  But, some of the best stories in this collection are from people I've never read before, like Stephen McQuiggan's "A Withering of Sorts."  A really disturbing tale with a Pied Piper feel to it and my favorite in the collection, from Stacey Turner, "Born of Darkness."  Wow.  What a story, worthy of being expanded into a longer piece.  It's about darkness blocking out of the sun and a little girl who shows up at Cassie and Jeb's door, they take her in and care for her even though she cannot speak.  Darkness, Light, Good & Evil.  It's all there in this beautifully crafted short.

There are all kinds of stories in Fading Light, a number of them deal with the darkness above, a couple with the darkness below, a fear of losing gravity, leeches, body-snatching, wars, Kraken, plagues, (did I mention leeches?), comets and more. 

And if you get the e-book, there are some pretty cool bonus stories.  One that I greatly enjoyed was "Torrential" by Regan Campbell.

Truthfully, not every story knocks it out of the park, but most of them do.  This is one collection that is well worth your time and money.  Be on the lookout for this one, real soon.

Warning:  The entire anthology is recommended for mature adults.  There is some profanity and plenty of disturbing images.