Piercing the Darkness Anthology: A Charity Anthology for the Children’s Literacy Initiative Paperback – February 9, 2014

I enjoyed a lot of the stories in this collection. It is a veritable powerhouse of modern horror authors. Brian Keene, Joe Lansdale, and Tim Waggoneer to name just a few have contributed stories to this anthology. As with all short story collections, some of them are really good and some are not. I only found myself bored/unsatisfied with two or three stories, which given the number of tales gathered is not bad at all. If you enjoy a wide range of horror stories and styles, then this collection is a perfect fit for you.

Who better to raise money for the Children's Literacy Initiative than readers and writers? I imagine if they had a dime for all the times we've laughed and cried, gone to places far away, been too scared to sleep without a light on, fallen in love (or lust), learned something we didn't know, or a host of other things that reading has given us over the course of our lives, every child in the country, and beyond, would have books and resources to instill a lifelong love and practice of reading. Showing both dedication and generosity, the authors contributed top notch stories for this anthology.Some of what's inside-Joe Lansdale tells the story of a very bad entity with a love of razors and a taste for blood.Christopher Golden's story is about Teddy, a young boy whose father was killed in Korea. He comes home from school one day to see the spector of a gunfighter entering his house. Teddy doesn't know it yet but he's going to be in for the biggest fight of his young life."Haven", by Kealan Patrick Burke, has a young man named Tommy coming home to bury his mother. Spending time in the abusive home he grew up in isn't going to go as he expected. Not at all.In "Dealing With Mama Lila" by Sandy Deluca, a dead husband, a gypsy curse and an angry ex mother-in-law make life difficult for a widow."Obedient Flies" by Greg F. Gifune blew me away. What you think you know, you don't, and what you don't know will shock you. This was a very dark surprise."Cannonball Lycanthrope" by Janet Joyce Holden illustrates how the changing seasons can sometimes be murder.In Mary Sangiovanni's "Letting Go", a man's memories of a lifetime of misdeeds haunt him. Literally."Shadow Chaser" by Simon Wood. A man's murderous half tries to force a reunion and ends up setting him on a new mission."Dance of the Blue Lady" by Gene O'Neill is a beautiful poignant story about love, loss and magic.I enjoyed all of the stories in this large collection. Spirits, zombies, werewolves, good people, bad people, and much more....there's something for everyone.

I've read many anthologies... Some better than others; but I was truly disappointed with this one.A few of the stories were actually quite good but seem to be more like chapters of bigger stories. I hate investing myself in a short story, to be completely engaged, and to be left hanging at the end. So many of the stories had that feel...unfortunately.The one story that stands apart from the rest is GORD ROLLO's offering. That was a MUST READ!!!! That story deserves more than 5 stars....excellent!

ALL star line up! It doesn’t get any better than this, in Piercing the Darkness you have the likes of Joe R Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, F. Paul Wilson, Elizabeth Massie, Lucy A. Snyder and way too many more to list! This anthology edited by Craig Cook was put together to benefit The Children’s Literacy Initiative. Twenty Eight amazing stories some previously published, some written just for this collection, all superb!The Children’s Literacy Initiative works with schools to help children become better readers. Their goal: “to close the gap in literacy achievement between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers.” A very worthwhile goal indeed!Gord Rollo introduces us to 'Timothy Meeks'. It is said in the Bible that the meek shall inherit the earth, but Timothy doubts that it was him the Bible was talking about.'Cooked'by Jonathan Marberry is a sweet story of revenge but not in the telling, the telling is love.In 'Quiet Bullets' by Christopher Golden we find that death comes in all forms and for 10 year old Teddy it’s a cowboy dressed in black.'The Fierce Stabbing and Subsequent Post-Death of Scooter Brown' by Jeff Strand shows us that saying sorry isn’t always enough; no matter how much you’re willing to pay!Such a sad tale is found in 'Searching' by Monica J. O’Rourke.Ever wonder how the seasons change, why does Spring creep in slowly one year and hits us full on the next? Check out 'Cannonball Lycanthrope' for Janet Joyce Holden’s take on the weather.Brian Keene’s 'The Viking Plays Patty Cake' reminds us that no matter what, family matters.C. Dennis Moore really knows how to leave you feeling squeamish. If 'Pest Control' doesn’t creep you out, then I don’t think anything ever will.There are so many more great stories all of which deserve praise. Please pick up a copy, you won’t be disappointed and you will be helping a worthy cause. I must also note that this was a brilliant move on Craig Cook’s part. What better way to raise awareness for literacy than through literature. Enjoy!

One of the best horror anthologies I've read in a long time. Every story is a gem, but My favourites were the stories by Joe Lansdale, Brian Keene, Jonathan Janz and Gary Braunbeck. This is a must for any Horror fan.

Who can say no to an anthology that benefits such a great cause, is reasonably priced and has a who’s who table of contents? Not this guy. To sweeten the deal, a few authors provided all-new, never-published stories for a grand total of twenty-eight tales of horror.As is the case with most anthologies we all have favourites we gravitate to, but in this particular collection there is not a single bad story. For example, this was the third publication of this particular Christopher Golden story and it’s still as good as the first time I read it. Gene O’Neill’s story is also the title of his latest collection and the story hit me just as hard as it did the first time. Kealan Patrick Burke’s and Greg Gifune’s stories are reprints but they’re those stories that stay with you and resonate on a very personal level. Ronald Malfi, Sandy Deluca, T.T. Zuma, Tim Waggoner, James A. Moore, Jeff Strand, Monica J. Moore and a few others all offer new stories.Whether it’s monsters, ghosts, memories taking physical shape, abusive parents, gladiatorial dystopia, paranoid ramblings of an apocalypse survivor, facing your past, longing for a better future, a deadly infestation, tragedy of a boy trapped in a man’s body, gypsy curse etc. every story is winner. Some of the best talents working the field got together to support The Children’s Literacy Initiative.

In dieser Sammlung gibt es unterschiedliche Geschichten, manche gefallen mir besser als andere, aber immerhin, eine Geschichte des Meisters of Texas Gothic Horror ist auch enthalten

I found a majority of the stories to be quite boring. There are a few that were excellent but not enough to justify buying the entire book . However since the proceeds went to a worthy charity I'll just shut the hell up.