Customer Reviews

Read By Dawn: Volume II

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Love good horror, and Rayne's Hall The Bridge Chamber is one of the best.

I was surprised and disappointed that, the "Curator" (cute!) did not list the authors' names - at horrorworld.org, I read about Read by Dawn and agree with Mario Guslandi - authors and bios would have personalized the anthology. I feel this detail gives credibility to the story and connects the reader to the story/book. When I first opened the book, titles seemed empty as if written by ghost writers.

While browsing some of the authors, I found out about Katherine Patterson's editorship of AlienSkin and NocturanlOooze, that would have been nice to know in her bio.

Overall, the quality of reading was superb - I did enjoy some stories more than others but I would want to read the other books in the series.

Lessons by Katherine Patterson - love the plot, so simple, and then the ending!

Frankie by Matt Wedge - the PoV of the boy was so engaging and then same thing, the ending!

The Sutherland King by David Hutchinson - I wanted to know the recipe too, love the ending.

Evangline by Andrew Wilson - love and hate this because of the premise of the story which, hating it, is oh so true, yes, love this one too.

The Bridge Chamber by Rayne Hall - my favorite, SCARY, like the other reviewer, I want to know what is in the chamber, and yet, afraid, fantastic story building. The bio of the author would have helped but I searched and found her story, "Pancakes", in Flashquake 2005-2006, another must read. Then I found out this story received a Honourable Mention in the 'The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror 2007' compiled by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant.

I am now searching for books written by Rayne Hall.

Saw a friend reading this and I read a couple of pages. Got my own copy and I am glad I did. Fantastic stories. The selection contains all kinds of horror. Superb imagery - and horror has to be conjured in the reader's mind to build up the mood, and most of the stories did that to me. I have a few favorites already and I'm not done reading - Lessons by Katherine Patterson, The Bridge Chamber by Rayne Hall. So far, my favorite has to be The Bridge Chamber - the build up and the ending were superb, I wanted to get out too, and I also wanted to know about the Chamber! - actually re-read that story, writing was so well-crafted. I'm searching for other short stories or books written by Rayne Hall.

It's very difficult to find a good anthology of horror, but you'll definitely be happy with this one!
I really recommend the first book Read by Dawn I since it has my favorite stories- and I'm a little bias since it was my first love- but this second book is a great close second in my favorites based on story diversity and general intrigue.

I can't really list any of the story titles off the top of my head at the moment, but just know that I keep this book near my bed for a quick fix (even to reread) when I'm in the mood for something creepy or gory.

Two of the other reviews cite stories that are in Volume 1 of this series, and should not be on this page! It creates a LOT of confusion for the buyer, especially since there is no table of contents to view. It's a great horror story collection, but do not expect to find stories such as "The Bridge Chamber" and "Lessons" in this volume because they are in the first volume!!! Reviewers - please be careful and make sure you are reviewing the correct book on the correct page.

This anthology is full of variety. Most every tale is dark in tone and packs a visceral punch, but the inspiration behind each story is different and it makes for a great package. Never mind that I'm in it; I was laid up in the hospital when I got my copy, and READ BY DAWN II made the time fly. Not a dull moment!