Other Voices, Other Tombs

Edited by Bhrel & Sullivan.

OTHER VOICES, OTHER TOMBS is an anthology packed with unsettling stories from the finest independent authors in the horror genre. This collection runs the gamut of styles, including everything from literary horror to creepypasta. Ania Ahlborn, Kealan Patrick Burke, Michael Wehunt, Mercedes Yardley, and Gemma Files are widely considered some of the best authors working in dark fiction right now. Also included are stories from NoSleep Podcast legends: Gemma Amor, JD McGregor, and Michael Whitehouse. OTHER VOICES, OTHER TOMBS is a must-read for the Summer and Fall of 2019!

This book is a general horror anthology, but there is a light summer theme. Kealan Patrick Burke leads off the book with a throwback tale that takes place in the summer of 1989. Two boys uncover a terrifying entity while exploring an abandoned swimming pool in “The Second Hand”.

“Uncomfortable Gods” by Michael Wehunt takes place entirely on the grounds of the sleazy 40 Winks Comfort Lodge. Husband and wife, Den and Karen, are sidetracked on their way to the beach by Den’s horrible toothache. Den leaves Karen in the motel room for longer and longer periods to deal with his toothache, eventually Karen is forced to uncover what is leading Den astray. A psychological tale with wonderfully gruesome imagery. Worth multiple reads!

Gemma Amor leaves it all on the hot tarmac in “Three Lanes Deep”. A long, sweaty traffic jam forces Lucy to leave her car in search of a place to relieve herself. She encounters friendly strangers who offer her a cold drink and a place to go to the bathroom–then all hell breaks loose.

“The Switch” by Cameron Chaney takes place at a summer camp. Fans of the Lindsay Lohan star vehicle The Parent Trap should appreciate Chaney’s light homage, and his heinous twist.

Astute readers will certainly be sweating Kevin Lucia’s oppressive “A Circle that Ever Returneth”. A man takes a job beneath his perceived status in life at a bottle and can redemption center, and soon realizes he’s being ground down to nothing by the repetitive tasks and mind numbing interactions with his co-workers. This story is a proper lost episode of The Twilight Zone. Jordan Peele, take note.

There are other non-seasonal themes that run through the book like Ania Ahlborn’s take on the difficulties of early motherhood in “The Governess”, featuring one of our favorite storytelling devices, a malfunctioning baby monitor; Mercedes Yardley’s “Urban Moon” which deals with a mythological reinterpretation of violence against women and a major problem with social media.

A woman must cope with the emotional difficulties of her occupation as an end of life nurse for a young girl in a hospice center, in Garza and Lason’s “Fly away, little fledgling.”

There are many more fantastic stories from incredible authors like Gemma Files’ apocalyptic “This is How it Goes”, Mike Duran’s folk horror, witchcraft infused “Bury Me in the Garden”, poor choices made by a woman on a snowy stretch of highway in Upstate New York “Alone in the Dark” by J.D. McGregor, Michael Whitehouse’s government cover-up on a remote Scottish isle in “Forget the Burning Isle”, C.W. Briar’s horrific children’s POV regarding bad behavior in “Can We Keep Him?”, and Caytlyn Brooke’s take on psychotic teenage angst during prom season, with her tale “The Red Rose”.