Antonio Simon Jr’s opener Water, Ice and Vice is a Twilight Zone-esque cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for, as two college students discover a fridge that offers the possibility of fulfilling any vice.
Routine By Mia Bravo is a stand out story as a man’s OCD spirals out of control with bloody consequences. Despite the obvious reasoning for his escalating condition, I enjoyed his descent into madness.
The Pied Piper’s Appetite by Rich Phelan follows the tale of a competitive eater whose gluttonous appetites go further than just food. A likeable tale that borders on noir and surprises throughout as things get more and more messed up and a sinister agenda comes to light.
Highlights from volume two include Toll Road by Antonio Simon Jr (again) in which a kidnapper finds himself on a literal road to hell in tale of bizarro noir.
Boxed, by Brian Cassiday turns up a Hitchtockian heat as a group of strangers find themselves trapped in a lift with a plague of zombies waiting for them on every floor. A tense, enjoyable romp that keeps turn the pressure up until the inevitable bloody finale.
The Enormous Turnip gets a twisted horror retell in We all ate the White Flesh by Chris Lynch, in which a band of starving pioneers find themselves inundated with a food which turns out isn’t as favourable as first thought.
The narration by Wyatt S Gray is suited to each story, although I had a giggle at his attempts to read stories set in the UK; it just doesn’t sound right when and American tries to pull of English sensibilities. Twenty very different tales make up these eclectic collections. Not every tales hits as hard as the last, but they’re all written well, and some will entertain more than others, but there’s definitely something for everyone. Some surprising tales from some up and coming writers that you should definitely keep an eye (and ear) out for.