Review of “Tales of the Undead: Hell Whore”

Tales of the Undead-Hell Whore is the first in a series of anthologies, with this one specifically having as its theme devilish women.  The overall title “Tales of the Undead” is perhaps a bit inaccurate, since many of these stories have nothing to do with the undead, but the subtitle is certainly more of a description of what is included within its pages.  In some stories, this association is obvious, while in others that association to evil women is a lot more subtle.

It is often difficult to provide a review of an anthology because almost without fail, they are a mixed bag.  A consistent theme often allows for a more comprehensive overview-each author provides a story to the mix that sticks to a sometimes loose, but understood guideline.  TotU-HW does have a theme, but it runs the gambit with stories of vampires, ghosts, demons, witches, Satan, human-animal hybrids, werewolves, ancient gods, sexually voracious women, and even more of a mix of swirling horrors.  And that isn’t even mentioning the poems, which are as diverse a lot as the short stories.

There were some gems in this book from my perspective, including “Entre of the Damned” and “Girls are Icky”, both appreciated for entirely different reasons, and of course some stories that did not click, which I will admit is more due to personal preference rather than the quality of the work, at least in most cases.  The writing styles here are quite diverse, with everything from the delicately subtle to in your face.  I enjoyed “Who F&*ked Up Kelly Yesterday?” because I have a taste for bizarro horror, while I know that there will be plenty of folks who would be repulsed by this story’s audacity.  There were a few stories that I felt that the writing was a bit rough, with both the story itself and the way the author telling it making it feel forced and hard to get through, but there those were only a select few out of this bunch.  There were some sagas that felt incomplete to me-either telling instead of showing and letting the tale reveal itself, or in one case where the writing style seemed a bit forced and awkward- like the author was providing a summary rather than providing the reader with the story itself.

Anthologies are journeys where the road is both smooth and bumpy at different times.  Rarely do you find a short story compendium where every story hits the mark.  But finding a short story or poem you really enjoy and that will stick with you makes the journey through the good, the great, and the bad worthwhile.   Tales of the Undead-Hell Whore is such an anthology.

Tales of the Undead: Hello Whore can be found here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BLR40A2/ref=cm_cr_thx_view