7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
And Now For Something Completely Different..., September 21, 2003
I can't decide what I like better: horror novels or collections of horror short stories. Short stories usually read faster, and they often contain stronger shocks than a novel because the author has to deliver the goods within the space of a few pages. Novels are great because the reader often gets better character development and multiple plot threads. I guess I can keep reading both types of horror literature and quit worrying about which one of the two is superior, although after reading Al Sarrantonio's collection of horrific gems, entitled "Toybox," I am giddy about short stories right now. It is difficult to describe why I liked this collection so much, as there is little in the way of the type of gory violence I always look forward to with a horror book. Despite the absence of sauce, this book is well worth reading for literate fans of the horror genre. Apparently, Sarrantonio has written tons of novels and stories over the past two decades, but I am a little ashamed to admit that this is the first book of his I have stumbled over. The introduction by Joe Lansdale effusively praises Al Sarrantonio's work as some of the best the horror field has to offer.
The first thing I noticed about this author's stories was the intricate yet whimsical writing style. On more than one occasion, I felt as though Sarrantonio must have channeled Dr. Suess while he wrote his tales, not in a literal sense, but more in how the stories bounce along in a pithy, sing-song way. The fact that many of these stories use children as the main characters also reminded me of the author of "Green Eggs and Ham." Stories that fall into this category include "Pumpkin Head," a strange tale about an unpopular classmate with a horrible past, "The Corn Dolly," a haunting yarn about a young boy who finally attends the festival in the local village and learns a disturbing secret about his long gone father, and "Wish," a primer about being careful about what you wish for in life. A sizeable part of this collection deals with the hopes and dreams of the young, with yearnings that usually end with catastrophic consequences once they come true. Several of the stories are amazingly short, barely more than three or four pages, but Sarrantonio's adroit use of the English language makes these shorter than short tales as satisfying as a sprawling novel.
Towards the end of the book, a few stories took on a darker, more ominous tone. Although I found most of the stories in the book entertaining, I soon discovered I preferred these tales. "Children of Cain" is probably the best entry in this part of the book, an account of two boys who end up sharing a murderous passion with devastating results for those around them. Then there is "Richard's Head," about an introverted genius and the repercussions of a relationship gone sour. "Red Eve" is more of a science fiction/horror story about the futility of the human race to advance beyond its disastrous limitations. "Pigs" relates the adventures of Jan, a man living in communist Poland who must flee for his life when he learns the authorities are after him.
Sarrantonio's "Toybox" is definitely not your standard horror fare these days. Few authors in the genre achieve such amazing results with the English language, let alone write stories that possess a sort of wide-eyed innocence while at the same time delivering shocks. I wouldn't go so far as to say any of these stories actually scared me (I rarely find stories or novels that spook me these days), but they are decidedly different due to a lack of gore. In fact, most of the stories imply rather than show any carnage. That's not a bad thing, but if you like horror tales with lots and lots of gruesome descriptions, you may not have much fun with Al Sarrantonio.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully eerie, December 30, 2003
This review is from: Toybox (Hardcover)
I have been reading horror fiction for most of my life. I am a rabid Lovecraft fan, and have read hundreds of novels and short story collections. I consider myself discriminating, only reading the best in horror fiction -- the stuff that really scares the hell out of you and makes you fear the dark.
That being said, this is now my favorite short horror story collection. The unsettling feeling that these stories leave you with will linger for quite some time.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BRADBURY FOR THE NEW MILLENIUM, February 11, 2004
Here, then, are some of the best stories from TOYBOX:
"Pumpkin Head": a little girl at a Halloween party is not what she seems.
"The Man with Legs": A girl and her brother go on a bus trip and find more than they are looking for in a house that looks like a white spider.
"Roger's Head": a man's head begins to grow and doesn't stop as his two friends desperately try to save the world.
"Red Eve": Halloween in the far future when humans live on a glass shell in the sky above a burned out Earth. But vampires have survived.
"Boxes": the last story, which rounds out the book nicely as the cover closes.
But all the stories are good, these are just some of my favorites.
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