The best stories among the 35 set in workplaces in this volume, the second such anthology released in recent months by Whisper House Press, skillfully highlight the breadth of horror. Barry Charman\u2019s \u201cThe Ghouls\u201d is a timely tale about the catastrophic impact of misinformation specialists on society. \u201cCute Aggression\u201d by Emily Flynn-Jones details the increasingly unhinged actions of a merchandiser haunted by a cartoon rabbit (\u201cAll day, Bella Bunny stares at me with her too-wide eyes, adorable button nose, puffball tail, stubby limbs, and blank space where a mouth should be\u201d). Adam Rotstein\u2019s \u201cOoh That Smell\u201d focuses on what occurs when food is left in an office refrigerator for far too long. \u201cSecond Amendment\u201d by Robert Bagnall describes the bloody outcome when a designer\u2019s shooter game works too well. Rose Skye\u2019s \u201cAlignment\u201d follows a man whose life gets taken over by a popular app. \u201cKoschei\u2019s Thread,\u201d by E\u00f3in Dooley, debates the morality and effectiveness of cryogenics. John Mahoney\u2019s \u201cSlacker\u201d centers on a gruesome discovery made by a prison librarian. \u201cWhere\u2019s My Meds?\u201d by Andrew J. Pixton, shows what happens when two creatures can\u2019t get the drugs they need at a recovery center. Lisa Morton\u2019s \u201cWhen Darkness Comes\u201d reveals how one man attempts to combat ignorance following an alien invasion. And in \u201cStick to the Script,\u201d by PW Interrobang, a new customer-service rep learns the hard way what lurks below the surface of his company\u2019s toys. Editor Capone has done a masterful job, as this multifaceted collection offers something for everybody. There\u2019s a variety of lengths, from one page to 15. Even readers who usually avoid the genre can find well-crafted stories that they can savor that depend more on suspense than scares. That doesn\u2019t mean that hardcore horror fans won\u2019t find the gore and frights they seek, as there are plenty of those. More SF-based horror (\u00e0 la the film Alien) would have added to the spectrum provided by the anthology. Still, the modern horror called technology is prominently featured in this vivid compilation. This is a gripping compendium to curl up with on a spooky night or a haunted holiday.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The best stories among the 35 set in workplaces in this volume, the second such anthology released in recent months by Whisper House Press, skillfully highlight the breadth of horror. Barry Charman\u2019s \u201cThe Ghouls\u201d is a timely tale about the catastrophic impact of misinformation specialists on society. \u201cCute Aggression\u201d by Emily Flynn-Jones details the increasingly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}