Review: Tales from The Lake Vol.4

Tales from The Lake Vol.4 by Joe R. Lansdale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: TALES FROM THE LAKE, VOLUME 4. Edited by Ben Eads.

Every single title I have read from Crystal Lake Publishing (many), whether Anthology, single author collection, novella, or novel, has surpassed excellence. Here in the newest Tales From the Lake Anthology are 24 stories of exceptional quality.

"When the Dead Come Home " by Jennifer Loring . I love a story which brings an unexpected ending, a twist, a surprising denouement. I especially love a story which speaks truth to power, which brings revelation to suffering characters so that they can say, "So THIS is what really happened, THIS is the cause of my tragedy; I'm still suffering, but at least I know why, and now I can choose how to act." A story like this brings closure to me as reader.

"The Folding Man" by Joe R. Lansdale. I had first read this quite some time ago, but you know what? Today it is no less frightening. The implacability! Some horrors you just can't escape.

"Go Warily After Dark " by Kealan Patrick Burke. Every thinking human ought to be terrified of war. But even the imminence of the bombing didn't terrify me as much as what's in that basement.

"To the Hills" by T. E. Grau. Oh my. I am all over chills from this story. What a powerful impact. The end of the world is here--or is it?

"Everything Hurts, Until It Doesn't" by Damien Angelica Walters. Very New Weird--in this story, pretty much everybody wear masks, and nobody speaks truth--until it's too late.

"Drowning in Sorrow" by Sheldon Higdon. Almost nobody wins here: not the fish, not the boy Simon, not his mother. Yet the story is so beautifully written, and so heartfelt, and the character evolution is so seamless. Anger can't carry us forever; eventually, like entropy, psychological decompensation sets in. Then we are either able to face what we remember; or we aren't. A terribly beautiful and beautifully terrible tale, this is one of my favourites in this volume.

"Whenever You Exhale, I Inhale" by Max Brooks III. Another favourite. This story reaches heavenly heights, crashes into the depths of Hades, and climbs up yet again. Mr. Brooks puts character behind the face of hate, and may well demonstrate, "Love Conquers All." Beautifully conceived and written.

"The Withering" by Bruce Golden. In a society in which "thought is deed," even imagination can be adjudged heresy. I thought of Galileo.

"Grave Secrets" by JG Flaherty. I adored the Lovecraftian flavour! Finely written, with a definite implacability, nearly inescapable. The illusions promoted by whatever otherworldly forces are present in and around the community of Rocky Point are akin to the glamour used by the Fae, and exactly as effective at trapping the unwary.

"The End of the Hall" by Hunter Liguore. Not your usual haunted house story, but oh how well it all fits together. Heart-pounding and heartwarming.

"Snowmen" by David Dunwoody. Almost dark fantasy rather than dark horror; perhaps even grimdark. A puzzler, which kept me pondering through the story, and after.

"Pieces of Me" by T. G. Arsenault. A forest similar to Japan's Suicide Forest at Mount Aokigawa, but this one empty of bodies. The explanation isn't pretty--but it is implacable.

"Neighborhood Watchers" by Maria Alexander. What a great {scary!} story, especially reading just one week prior to Samhain. We've all heard of, perhaps participated in, "Neighborhood Watch" associations, in which residents cooperate to keep aware of strangers and potential trouble in their area. In this story, the Neighborhood Watch is something else! It's essential, it's lifesaving--and ignored at one's own risk. The entities these neighbors guard against are otherworldly--and they don't play.

"The Story of Jessie and Me" by Michael Johnson. I think sometimes we forget that any apocalypse is going to mean danger. There's going to be death, and killing, and starvation and lack of water, plague, fighting over resources. This story reminds us, but it also vivifies the resonance of the human spirit. Even in an apocalypse, some can exhibit compassion, love, kindness, treating others as important. I came away, not with despair, but with hope.

"I Will Be The Reflection Until The End" by Michael Bailey. Occasionally the world is gifted with an Old Soul, and while the world benefits, the Old Soul, so much more advanced, suffers from human failings but also from environmental damage. All things, after all, are living. This story is a beautiful expression of this principle.

"The Honeymoon's Over" by E. E. King. This story ably combined heartwarming and sad--until the end, when it mutated to frightening. For reasons I won't divulge in order not to spoil the story's impact, I found it personally unsettling. In fact, I thought about it during the night, in between sleeps--puzzling and pondering. Likely I shall not be the only reader so affected.

"Song in a Sundress" by Darren Speegle. Too good to be easily encapsulated, this tale is poignant, encouraging, and definitely frightening.

"Weighing In" by Cynthia Ward. I do prefer my horror implacable (what fun is it if the horror is escapable?) and here the danger takes a form perfect for its setting. I really enjoyed it.

"Reliving the Past" by Michael Haynes. Scary! (quite) Sad! Excellent! "The house that could not die" ....

"The Long Haul" by Leigh M. Lane. Immensely sad. Cryable. Implacability mixed with avoidability: "if only I'd known...."

"Dust Devils" by Mark Cassell. Really wildly imaginative in its construct of horror. Definite Lovecraftian Mythos overtones both in the specific monstrousness, and also in the admonishment between the lines that too much attempt to gain knowledge will drive humans mad...or dead.

"Liminality" by Del Howison. A pointed example of "Pride goeth before a fall," or alternatively, no matter how convinced you are of your own superiority, think again--your pride will cost you--permanently.

"The Gardener" by Gene O'Neill. I was torn between sympathy for the young-boy-who-was, with his sad childhood, and anger and dismay at the adult consequences. Very unexpected denouement.

"Condo by the Lake" by Jeff Cercone. Nothing but sadness coupled with horror here. Well done, and the horror is demonstrably implacable. One of my favourites.
















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