Stephen Mark Rainey

So far only read:

~ Laundry by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - 3*
Flash Fiction
Pretty "off-screen" dark. A child predator questions the mother of a young boy about "talking to strangers". "So you want that beautiful child to grow up in an atmosphere tainted at every turn by fear?" That line comes from the predator's mouth. ugh!

Another interesting line from the predator as their reminiscing about their childhood "... nobody I knew could save me, and everybody I didn't know wanted to hurt me."… (more)

This late Arkham House offering is weighed down by some real stinkers but there are enough classic stories by the likes of Wellman and Starrett as well as a few new stories notably by Joel Lane and Fred Chappell and Kealan Patrick Burke to carry the volume along.

These themed anthologies are always a dodgy affair since the theme always somewhat constrains the writers to begin with. Some of the stories end up merely name checking Poe's stories in a Where's Waldo fashion. I was tempted to skip over the less inspired fare but stuck to it since the volume is rather slim to begin with.… (more)