I love that these are horror stories from some of the best YA writers working today, some of whom don't normally write horror. Each story takes inspiration from films, books, or music, and half the fun is seeing if you can guess the source.I rated the stories as I went along:Nova Ren Suma's "The Birds of Azalea Street" 5 starsCarrie Ryan's "In the Forest Dark and Deep" 3.5 starsCat Winters' "Emmeline" 4 starsLeigh Bardugo's "Verse Chorus Verse" 4 starsMegan Shepherd's "Hide and Seek" 5 starsDani...

Spoiler-free review!Since this is an anthology, I'll be splitting the review up by story first, and then give my overall thoughts at the end!☠️ THE BIRDS OF AZALEA STREET - Nova Ren Suma ★★★☆☆A group of teen girls observe mysterious incidents going on at their creepy neighbor's house, and decide to investigate.The prose was very lovely and gave way to some haunting imagery, but overall the story was pretty boring and unmemorable.☠️ IN THE FOREST DARK AND DEEP - Carrie Ryan ★★★★★An incredibly twi...

Updated 10/26/2015I'm not usually a huge short story fan, but this collection? Oh man, this one was fantastically creepy. Sure, there were certain stories I liked more than others, but I thoroughly enjoyed every story in this collection! Cat Winters and A.G. Howard's were my top two. Just look at this first line from A.G. Howard's: "The first time the wrens sang at night was three years ago, when I used a rusty saw to cut off Pa's left foot." How can one not be hooked in by that line?!While the

I’m genuinely surprised by how much I loved this collection as a whole. I’ve never been one for short stories and I hadn’t heard the best things about this one to begin with, but I thoroughly enjoyed this! My ratings for each individual story are as follows:THE BIRDS OF AZALEA STREET - 4 starsIN THE FOREST DARK AND DEEP - 4 starsEMMELINE - 2 starsVERSE CHORUS VERSE -3 starsHIDE-AND-SEEK - 2 starsTHE DARK, SCARY PARTS AND ALL - 1 starTHE FLICKER, THE FINGERS, THE BEAT, THE SIGH - 1 starFAT GIRL W...

Exact average rating: 3.5 starsWhat a fantastic anthology! Loved it. Some of the stories were phenomenal and there was only one I actively disliked. Overall, I'm very impressed with how original and strange some of these stories were. I feel like the authors really dared to do something different here. Although none of these short stories truly scared me, I still found them to be creepy and eerie. If you're in the mood for something fitting for Halloween, definitely pick this one up.The Birds of...

This was absolutely AWESOME. There was one story here that I really didn't enjoy, but every single other one was good. There were a few here that were incredible. I think in general, stories that feel more human are my favorite. I always love stories where the good guys triumph, but are pretty devious in how they actually win. I love stories that are terrifying and desperate but end with hope. I LOVED how many stories here fit that category. I loved how these stories were dark and terrible but d...

I originally read this in 2015. Someone recently asked me if I ever reviewed this so when I came here to get the link to it, I read through my old review and realized that I didn't remember most of the stories but my reviews made them all sound so interesting. So I picked it up again, this time listening to the audiobook (which I recommend!). My favorites were the same. Below is my original review with a few notes where my thoughts changed during my re-read. The quick version: This was the perfe...

why is there no introduction to this collection? am i the only one who appreciates a good intro to set the mood and drum up anticipation for what's to come? the only thing we get here is some flap-copy, which i never read, so when i got to the end of the first story and there were these upside-down bits, i was like whaaaaat??? and then i read the flap copy.which informed me that all the stories in the collection have used one or more books, movies, television, or songs as jumping-off points to e...

Really enjoyed this one! I have a full video review where I rate each short story coming next week!

I'm not going to sit here and give you the low down on every single story in this book. You can read that in all of the other reviews. I am going to talk about or leave the names and authors of some of my favorite ones. The Bird Of Azalea Street by Nova Ren SumaI loved this one right off the bat, it's actually the first story. It's about a creepy dude that does evil things to the birds and has a creepy, lustful fascination to the girls in the neighborhood. But. . . sometimes, karma man, karma. T...

3.434 stars(I calculated it lol) Sooooo, this took me 85 years to read and even though all of these stories were considered thrillers, barely any of them were thrilling. Only 1(one) actually scared me. As far as anthologies go, this was a good one; it featured many well written, entertaining stories by a plethora of outstanding authors. I wouldn’t exactly call many of these stories thrillers or horror as they were advertised, but I enjoyed them about as much as I do any story in short story coll...

So... this sound potentially badass, no?

I wanted to get more in the Halloween mood, so I thought this anthology collection would be perfect! I also, low key, wanted to read this because I just finished Crooked Kingdom, and now I have to read every sentence Leigh Bardugo has ever published. Seriously, I'm desperate. Verse Chorus Verse ended up not being my favorite, but I was still left speechless at how good this anthology collection was! Dare I say, this might be the best anthology I've ever read? It is for sure the best I've ever r...

"Not all monsters are filled with darkness." The Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Ren Suma - 4.5 starsWow, what a great start for an anthology. The moment I started this one, I've already got the eerie feeling and the creeps. I've got totally nervous, thanks to the compelling writing-style and vivid description and story-telling of Nova Ren Suma.In the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan - 4 starsAt first, I thought this will be meh but few pages later and after it dawned to me what the fuck is

Buddy reading with the lovely Bunny We'll be reading a bunch of short stories every week until Halloween (starting next monday) :D The Birds of Azalea street by Nova Ren Suma:. 4 Stars I was surprised by how good this story was! A fantastic start to the collection. I was so close to being put off by the birds because of Magonia but in the end I really enjoyed this story. In The Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan: 5 Stars*gasps* This one you guys! Emmeline by Cat Winters: 3 StarsCreepy histo...

Honestly, this is one of the best YA anthologies I've ever read. Normally I can pick out one or two strong works amid a bunch of mediocre ones but, in this case, there was only one story I didn't enjoy. I think Suma's remained my favourite throughout but I also absolutely loved Marie Lu's creepy closet girl. So many great stories here, all inspired by various movies, books and music.The Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Ren Suma5 starsThis was a fantastic start to the collection. The author's eerie...

I really enjoyed this anthology - though I wouldn't personally have put it in the horror genre as very few stories were terrifying or truly creepy. Regardless, it impressed me immensely and gave me a bunch of new authors I want to read more from now!My favourites short stories were by Nova Rensuma, Megan Sheperd, Jay Kristoff and Marie Lu.Serious props to April Genevieve Tucholke for putting this collection together. The stories all felt placed very specifically, and I appreciated the true mixtu...

3.5 out of 5 starsThis is a great anthology that I recommend for fans of light horror. I came waiting to be severely terrified, but I wasn’t. However, I thought most of these stories were quality writing, and some of them were a bit disturbing. I’m glad I read it and I hope you do too because it’s one of the best collections of short stories I’ve ever read!Reviews for each story:The Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Ren Suma: 4 ½ starsCreepy atmosphere, even creepier writing. Nova Ren Suma’s st

*2.75 stars*1) THE BIRDS OF AZALEA STREET by Nova Ren Suma -★★★.5 / 5 2) IN THE FOREST DARK AND DEEP by Carrie Ryan -★★★★ / 5 3) EMMELINE by Cat Winters -★★.5 / 5 4) VERSE CHORUS VERSE by Leigh Bardugo -★★.5 / 55) HIDE-AND-SEEK by Megan Shepherd -★★★★.5 / 56) THE DARK, SCARY PARTS AND ALL by Danielle Paige -★.5 / 57) THE FLICKER, THE FINGERS, THE BEAT, THE SIGH by April Genevieve Tucholke - ★.5 / 58) FAT GIRL WITH A KNIFE by Jonathan Maberry -★★★.5 / 59) SLEEPLESS by Jay Kristoff -★.5 / 5 10) M

EDIT:I have to put the name of the short stories and their respective authors to help my fellow readers know what kind of awesomeness does this book have. GIF from Cat Winter's Tumblr blogThe Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Ren SumaIn the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan Emmeline by Cat WintersVerse, Chorus, Verse by Leigh BardugoHide and Seek by Megan ShephardThe Dark, Scary Parts and All by Danielle PaigeThe Flicker, The Finger, The Beat, The Sigh by April Genevieve Tucholke Fat Girl With A