Autumn Tales: A Horror Anthology

 

Back in late September I saw a Facebook post from a friend stating that his publishing company, Anatolian Press LLC, was looking for advanced review copy readers for an upcoming release. The one thing I love almost as much as writing books is reading them. Other than molding my own personal projects I have been fortunate to have been able to preview many books over the years providing various editorial guidance or merely providing a review such as the case with this latest effort.

    A few things about this book caught my eye. First, this was a horror anthology of short stories written by (at the time) eight different authors.This is obviously right up my alley as my life has been consumed with all facets of the paranormal, supernatural, and otherworldly for about half of my existence. The other wonderful thing about this book is that the authors and publisher are donating the royalties to help fight human trafficking.

    Human trafficking is a topic that many seem passionate about, but it also seems to get the cold shoulder from the media and is largely ignored by the public. It's a scary topic and it seems that if people can keep scary topics at arm's length, then it might not affect them. The problem is that it is affecting way too many people to be ignored. According to Collective Liberty, the organization where the royalties will be donated, over 40 million people were trafficked globally in 2018. Trafficking includes people for forced labor and sex and is happening closer to you than you might think.

    When I signed up to be a review reader, I knew a ninth author had been added which was Daniel Bautz. Dan had reached out to me over 14 years ago to be the first guest on his podcast, The Grand Dark Conspiracy. Months after that first interview, I returned once again to talk UFOs and cryptozoology as well as the Georgia Bigfoot hoax that was in the news. The following month Dan added a new segment to his monthly two-hour podcast called the Paranormal News Insider. After seven years with The Grand Dark Conspiracy, which later became Darkest Hours Late Night, my podcast went off on its own where I have endured more changes since.

    As of the debut date of the book, Autumn Tales: A Horror Anthology, it now boasts ten authors and ten unique stories. I was only able to read nine of these and I was not prepared for the content. Each story has its own feel since it is carefully crafted by an individual author. Each author injects their own passion for writing and each style makes this an even more enjoyable book to read. As you move story to story you feel as though it is being told to you by the author by the fireside and as each tale ends your attention moves around the ring to the next participant. It is a simple yet effective format for telling chilling stories.

    As a researcher of paranormal topics, I was thrilled to read about aliens, abductions, ghosts, Bigfoot, vampires, werewolves, and other topics within these stories. These fictional stories pull no punches, however, and describe the deepest fears associated with these topics through the careful weaving of storytelling, characterization, and setting. Each story provides a brutally honest view of the world and just as enjoyable is that each one has their own feel through culture and timeframe. The ghosts and other monsters are not perfect, they are not ones we would recognize through the many nonfiction books that describe them or internet pages written that provide categories of them, which makes them all the more evil and all the more perfect.

The book is available on Anatolian Press LLC, as well as Amazon for Kindle as well as on softcover and a special edition hardcover. The book makes its debut on October 15, 2022, just in time to consume it before Halloween.