“ Read By Dawn, Volume 3“

Edited by Adele Hartley

Format: Paperback, 246 pages

Publisher : Bloody Books, 2008

One of my formative experiences in becoming a fan of horror fiction was the annual delight of the Pan Book of Horror Stories (for a wee bit of history on this fantastic collection and a glimpse at it’s gory covers have a look here). For a short period in the sixties and seventies this established itself as an outstanding collection of new and published authors and I for one have sadly missed it. It’s great therefore to see a new name as a contender for the Pan crown, that name, Read By Dawn.

This collection, now in its 3rd year, was established to tie in with “Dead by Dawn” the Edinburgh Horror film festival (details here). The film festival has firmly established itself as Scotland’s premier horror film festival since it’s inception in 1993.

Read By Dawn Vol 3 is a collection of 28 short stories by new and published authors and whilst it lacks any really big names it doesn’t suffer as a result. The quality of the stories throughout is top notch and the selection covers just about every gory crevice of the horror genre’s warped and twisted mind you could think of.

As always with a range of stories this diverse, favourites will vary, but just to mention a few of my own:-

  • Sonny Boy by Vanessa H Reid - The story of a gruesome family reunion.
  • What Will Happen When You are Gone by Jeffory Jacobsen - Watch out for cats next time you are house hunting
  • In The Cinema Tree With Orbiting Heads by Kek-W - Simply bizarre story about living in a tree.
  • The Devil’s Tavern by Alison J. Littlewood - Classic revenge ghost story.
  • Tinsel by Fraser Lee - A slightly different Christmas story.

These are just a few highlights from this excellent collection. Given the diversity of stories on offer ranging from gore to gothic and supernatural to sexy, I have no doubt that your selection of highlights may differ, but I am sure that you will agree, that in terms of overall quality there can be few collections that are as good as this one in the horror genre today. With 28 stories on offer and nearly as many contributing authors I fully expected to be disappointed by at least some of these stories but I can honestly say I enjoyed every single one. Editor Adele Hartley has done a superb job in creating a collection as consistent and entertaining as this one whilst ensuring the full range of tastes is catered for.

Here’s hoping Dead by Dawn’s success and festival curator Adele Hartley’s excellent efforts to compile a definitive annual collection of new horror short stories meet with the success they deserve and can establish Read by Dawn as a worthy successor to the Pan collection. I for one will be looking forward to next years efforts, and the next, and the next…..

Rating 4 out of 5