Strange Tales of Terror

This ambitious but uneven anthology, collected by Bram Stoker award winner Johnson (Drive In Creature Feature), brings together 17 horror shorts. While the stories themselves range from merely average to genuinely chilling, the commitment to showcasing the versatility of the horror genre is admirable. These tales span a wide variety of subgenres, from Lucy A. Snyder’s dark, science fictional opener, “Rainbow,” set on a meteor-struck Earth where animals have turned monstrous under the influence of aliens, to Gary A. Braunbeck’s grounded and all too realistic “Dead Hearts and Rag Dolls,” in which the horrors of elder abuse are laid bare in considerable detail. Less successful are the shorter pieces, among them Christopher Sartin’s “Dog Days,” a brief poem that attempts horror-comedy—a pet dog becomes a werewolf and attacks the mailman—but falls flat. Still, horror enthusiasts who are willing to wade through some duds will be pleased to find such an expansive array of talent—and may even find some new favorites. (Dec.)