My Two Cents (Book Review): HARVEST THE NIGHT: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FOLK HORROR

"Harvest the Night: An Anthology of Folk Horror" is a collection of short stories compiled and edited by C.M. Muller, the fifth installment in his themed horror anthologies series. For those unfamiliar, folk horror, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, "typically draws on themes of folklore, pagan tradition, superstition, rural isolation, or the sinister power of the natural world to create an atmosphere of dread, menace, or unease." Each of the fourteen stories in "Harvest the Night" serves as a travelogue to these dark, unsettling places, and the multitude of twisted horrors that lurk within them.

Muller has assembled an "Avengers: Endgame" roster of international talents within these pages, and each presents a unique and unforgettable take on the theme. My favorites of the bunch:

1. "And in the Firelight I Will Find You," by Luke F. Shepherd, in which a constable makes a bizarre and grisly discovery on a local beach, one that introduces him to a local legend called Penglaz the 'Oss.

2. "Our Lady of the Grain," by H.V. Patterson, about a pair of estranged sisters on a cross-country road trip, and the wrong turn in Kansas that leads them someplace that definitely isn't Oz.

3. "The Bone Maiden," by Douglas Ford, about a teenaged girl determined to keep an unusual family tradition alive, if only to spare herself her mother's grim fate.

4. "Like They Look at Stars," by K. Wallace King, about an aging TV actress longing to feel young, beautiful, and relevant again, who happens upon a resort town in Mexico that has everything she needs.

5. "Feathers," by Shannon Scott, a dark fairy tale in which the sisters of an unusual abbey struggle to preserve their peaceful ways of life, even as darkness knocks upon their door.

6. "The Skid-Steer," by E.C. Dorgan, which chronicles a woman's unhinged determination to prove herself among her new neighbors in a rural, wintry community.

7. "Haint-Blue and Weresnake-Green," by Lisa Moore-Smith, which is my favorite of the bunch, a dark, creepy story about a makeshift family seeking shelter from a storm beneath the crumbling eaves of a ruined antebellum mansion, and the sinister forces they find waiting for them there.

8. "The Darkness Inside Her," by Abigail Kemske, a twisted mix of body-, eco-, and folk horror.

9. "Tall Philip's House," by Katherine Traylor, another favorite, about a young woman who discovers urban legends about a sinister being laying wait in the woods may be more than just lore.

10. "The Last Straw," by Sam Dawson, the final tale in the collection, about a conniving young apprentice who discovers that his master's handiwork has a hive mind all its own.

If you're keeping count, yes, I really had 10 favorites out of 14 stories, and that's not to say the other four weren't well-written or entertaining. This is one of those rare anthologies where there really wasn't a bad story in the bunch, in my opinion. Each is beautifully written, haunting, evocative, and unforgettable. I'm definitely going to check out the other anthologies in the series.

"Harvest the Night" is available here.