I almost never review novels for 2 reasons.  1) My editor hates it when I send her scathing attacks full of vitriol and rage, because the novel isn’t any good, and I had to read the whole thing; and 2) the really good novels don’t get reviewed by me, ‘cause I’m just Simply Jack . . . and the great authors neither know my opinion, nor care about it.

So, it was with some degree of trepidation that I agreed to review Darkness Ad Infinitum.  Granted, it’s not a novel, but it is a full-length, book-size thingy.  It’s made up of 15 short stories by varied authors – all of the stories are “horror.” (I disagree, as some were simply dark or fell into the fantasy genre.)

Bottom line?  I don’t regret taking on this assignment.  Like all collections of short stories, the quality, style, morals, language, tricks, whatever varies from story to story.  This means you’re not getting one big review – instead, you’re just getting a broad view of what I thought.

And, I liked it.  The stories tended to range towards the more twisted. (I particularly enjoyed “Smudge.”)  The quality ranges from high school to horror savant, but the real attraction I had (and you will, too) to this collection is that they’re flat out weird.  The authors of these tales put together some wacky scenarios in some pretty ridiculous worlds that, although maybe not always fun, were definitely compelling.

But, wait, there is more!  There is some hidden art in this baby that I rather enjoyed.  This adds to the fun, and gives a bit of a breather between what I consider rather intense tales.

This book has collected some of the creepier tales I’ve read, has some neat (infrequent) art, and the writing is consistently “good,” with some deviation towards “great,” and some deviation towards “so-so.”  Overall, this is a great collection of creepiness, and I highly recommend it to any future cannibals or wack-a-doos.