Straightaway, it should be noted that with his debut collection Greener Pastures, Michael Wehunt positions himself among an elite group of contemporary Horror/Weird Fiction writers that are producing work that is vital to the continuation and expansion of the field, moving it into the true realm of the literary where it has sometimes resided and always belonged when done properly.And this is work properly done.There is a ripeness to these tales, a lushness and a perfume, even in the face of grit...

When I was a kid, I fell is love with A Wrinkle in Time. I read it over and over and over. I loved it so much, that it inspired me to try and write a book myself (I think I was 9 years old). I called it Away We Go, wrote an amazing first chapter, and then realized that it was essentially a variation of the first chapter of A Wrinkle in Time. So I stopped. No big loss to the literary world. Over the years, a handful of authors have affected me in the same way; they've been so incredibly good that...

Wehunt is very creative and highly imaginative

Greener Pastures is simply OUTSTANDING! This is literary dark fiction at its finest. These stories almost all deal with heavy themes like loss, grief, and loneliness and yet, they're all distinctly different from each other. A lot of them reminded me of the stories of Robert Aickman, Laird Barron or Thomas Ligotti, but I actually liked Wehunt's tales more than those. I've been thinking about why that is and here's what I've come up with: Laird Barron and Thomas Ligotti are both fantastic with da...

I had high expectations for this collection of stories seeing as it had such glowing reviews. Sadly I was left a bit disappointed and wanting more. Don't get me wrong, there were stories that I very much enjoyed. But the ones I didn't enjoy outweighed the ones I did. The shining star of this collection for me was "October Film Haunt: Under the House". It was SO deliciously creepy, it actually made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and was just downright terrifying. This is what I wanted

Literary horror that reminded of what I enjoy about the writing of regional American writers like Daniel Woodrell and William Gay, or in Brian Evenson's horror stories. Sensitive and sensory writing with some terrific descriptions, and simple but poignant insights. Always surprising and never predictable. One of my favourite horror stories in recent times sits in this book too. I wanted it to be a novel. 'October Film Haunt: Under the House.'

It's absolutely shameful that I'm just now getting around to writing a review for such a brilliant collection of short stories. And a debut collection at that! But the truth is, I read Greener Pastures while on Thanksgiving vacation in San Francisco last year, and by the time I got home I was jet lagged and overly full from too much holiday food. The holidays are a busy time of year, and this review slipped through the cracks. That's why I'm making a point to write it now, long past when I shoul...

Beside Me Singing in the Wilderness ★★★★Unique vampire story. It reminded me a little of the origin in Byzantium. It should be expanded into a novella.Onanon ★★★Weird and inexplicable. Greener Pastures ★★Reads like a lesser Twilight Zone story.A Discreet Music ★★Oh Kee Doe Kee. It's an LGTB weird and inexplicable story.The Devil Under the Madison Blue ★★★Sad incest tale about doing what you have too.October Film Haunt: Under the House ★That was SO BORING. I can't even be mad about the dogs bec...

“You ready to go into the mouth? It goes far and maybe all the way to forever.” I wanted to read a collection of good horror stories during the Halloween season and while this wet my palette, I was also treated to some of the best writing that I’ve seen during my reading this year! While each story in here is undoubtedly horror, there’s a poetic, romantic tone to the prose, giving the stories a texture and a weight that I haven’t seen in the genre in a while. While the stories do vary

Each of the eleven stories in this richly textured collection is drawn from a wide range of color and depth. While each story has a skeleton of its own making, the details are left to the reader to discover within his or her imagination. These gems contain levels of darkness and mysterious beauty which coalesce to form a nimbus around the heart of each tale. The interpretations and final details are drawn by the reader. Highly recommended.

It's official! I love, love these collections of stories from one author, especially if they fall inside the horror genre. I've read quite a few this year and this one is a standout among them. I believe this is Wehunt's debut collection, so for a fresh out of the gate offering, I'm very impressed. Michael Wehunt will be one to watch.Some highlights of the collection for me was reading a story that got under my skin titled, "Greener Pastures" and then transitioning into a story that had me cryin...

Michael Wehunt's writing in Greener pastures is beautiful. His stories are both delicate and powerful, simple yet strangely complex. There's some kind of magic at play in his words and I feel quite haunted by these stories. I hope there are many more stories to follow this excellent collection.

4 stars

I'm trying to be sparing with 5-star reviews, but, well, 'Greener Pastures' deserves it. This collection does not have one off note. I devoured every story, which must make me some kind of masochist because they hurt. Some of them hurt a little, some hurt a lot. Often heartbreaking, occasionally infuriating - if you can get through 'The Devil Under the Maison Blue' without at least one surge of unwelcome but undeniable bloodlust then you are a better person than I.Stories such as 'Beside Me Sing...

This year I’ve been lucky enough to come across several noteworthy short story collections. Greener Pastures is one of those. Comprised of eleven quiet tales that take on the genre “weird horror,” these stories seep into the skin and take root in the marrow. This is not a collection which yields its fruits easily. One must work for it. I found myself skimming a bit last night as I grew tired and I realized things were going over my head. I had to reread a few passages. That wasn’t the book’s fau...

*** The following is an excerpt from my review on This Is Horror ***When we think of weird horror fiction there are several names definitive of the subgenre that we tend to think of. Names like Robert W. Chambers, H. P. Lovecraft, and Clarke Ashton Smith come to mind, as does Arthur Machen to some degree. But this is a new generation and there is a group of contemporary authors who are taking the weird in new, previously uncharted, directions. Authors such as Kelly Link, Brian Evenson, Nathan Ba...

Reading GREENER PASTURES is much like listening to a dark and full-bodied symphony, the swelling chords rising and dipping like waves, like currents of air, drifting like cloud patterns and then striking down like hard lightning filled with demonic laughter, before inexplicably soaring heavenly once again. Perhaps the word is operatic, but symphonic sounds more correct because it's closer to poetry, and while these stories are bursting with passages of genius prose they don't hide behind it, the...

With stories in publications like The Dark, Nightscript, and Shock Totem, Michael Wehunt has been making a name for himself and his own brand of dark, weird fiction. I hadn’t read anything of his before this, but if Greener Pastures is any indication, readers have some fantastic stories to look forward to. It’s a highly impressive debut collection; chock-full of imaginative plots, flesh and blood characters, and universal themes, all delivered through prose so lyrical it practically sings.Highli...

This collection has been on my tbr for quite some time. Mainly, because… I rarely read short story collections or anthologies. Thankfully, my reading habits have changed and I’ve been able to “read” loads of collections by listening to their audiobooks. This collection by Michael Wehunt blew me away. There’s a mixture of loneliness and grief, skin-crawling creepiness and the far-out strange and peculiar weaving it’s way throughout each story. Wehunt was able to create a top-notch, debut collecti...