Delicious darkness in these tales. Writing review for Sci Fi and Scary to post this week.Here’s my full review!These “16 Tales of Dark Fiction” make up such a good collection. Almost all of these stories were 4 or 5 stars for me and for this review I decided to highlight my favorites. A Case Study in Natural Selection and How It Applies to LoveFor me, this was the best possible introduction to the collection. Engaging writing, a beautifully developed post-apocalyptic world, and a unique premise,...

THAT WHICH GROWS WILD renews my faith in well-written, entertaining collections of short stories! Great book all around, 16 tales of the weird, scary, beautiful, and a range of other emotions. All the stories are unique, different samples of the author's imagination. Good recommendation for this, especially "Certain Sights of an Afflicted Woman," which rings true for today; "Last Days of the Gunslinger, John Amos" (weird western, cowboys vs monsters); and "Dreams of a Little Suicide", heartbreak...

Eric Guignard knows his way around the short story. Both in editing and writing, he’s consistently involved in the best short story collections and anthologies. That Which Grows Wild is consistently great. There is so much depth of storytelling here. This is the second collection I’ve read recently where I realized that I’ve read many of the stories before, but found myself rereading them anyway, they’re that good, and reading them in this order, it’s almost like hearing a song you like on the r...

I love short stories. I find that great authors shine when presented with the limitations of a short story. You only have so many pages to explore a topic and I love that the really good ones always leave me yearning for more. Whether it's an anthology or a collection all by the same author, it gives you the ability to sample various themes and narrative styles.Typically, a collection of this magnitude finds me relishing some stories and yet bored with others. In the case of That Which Grows Wil...

I’m currently reading this: THAT WHICH GROWS WILD by author Eric J. Guignard and Wow, this author is amazing! This is a collection of short stories and so far they are all written well and they keep your interest entirely. They are dark stories but not really horror. More emotional, and thoughtful fantasy, or whats called speculative fiction.The first story is near-future about teens finding love as the planet overheats. Then the next story is about a Western gunslinger who protects a group of c...

https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpres...(copy from @ericjguignard and voluntarily reviewed)Every story in this collection was a treat. I love horror fiction and have been consuming it since I was probably too young. I read Misery by Stephen King when I was ten years old. Like a lot of horror fans, I have my tastes. I love dark fiction. I love ghost stories and haunted houses and sinister goings on. I’m not a fan of gory horror or blood-letting for the sake of it. Thankfully, That Which Grows Wil...

"It's not really sushi 'cause it's not from the sea."-quote from A SERVING OF NOMU SUSHISo this collection of short stories from Eric J. Guignard just further establishes why I'm such a fan of short stories. And I should clarify, not just any old genre of short stories but horror/dark fiction specifically.The sixteen tales here range from weird/speculative like, MOMMAto paranormal like, FOOTSTEPS FADING IN THE DESERT to whatever crazy genre A SERVING OF NOMU SUSHI would be (one of my favorite st...

Eric J. Guignard’s collection was recommended to me, and I’m glad it was. Gives me new hope for horror fiction, being his writing can be smart and thoughtful, with only hints of horror sometimes, and still be engaging. Theres no explicit material, no stereotype monsters. Just good stories, good writing. Hoping for more of his work to be made available.

Eric Guignard has written a subtle and superlative collection of speculative horror worthy of The Twilight Zone. All of the stories are great but my favorites are the poignant and action-packed "Last Days of the Gunslinger, John Amos," and the slow-burn creep factor of "Momma."Guignard sets his stories all around the globe and the plots range from psychological to monster horror, vampire to Weird West. There is something for everybody.If you want a night filled with chills, read this collection....

That Which Grows Wild is an exceptional collection of deeply moving, often chilling stories, each with their own unique voice that transports the reader into a world only Eric J. Guignard could imagine. My favorites were set in a rustic past ("Last Days of the Gunslinger, John Amos" and "Momma") and told in such a wonderfully authentic voice I would have been content to stay in that world for the entire collection. But then I wouldn't have been shocked by "Last Night...," "Those Who Watch on Hig...

[Disclaimer: Review copy received from author in exchange for honest review]I was excited to read this short story collection by Eric J. Guignard, who is as brilliant a writer as he is an editor. I also found the cover art to be amazingly good and to set the tone for the collection. Many stories were of the post-apocalyptic variety, which while not my cup of tea, were still written very well and I enjoyed reading through them.Highlights for me included “Last Days of the Gunslinger, John Amos,” w...

This is the second time I have read Eric J. Guignard’s work and to say I am impressed would be an understatement. I am in awe of his writing abilities. Guignard appears to be able to write about anything and somehow has a knack for making it twisted and horrific along the way. This deliciously dark collection ranged from just about everything, from gunslingers, creepy families, grief and loss, Sasquatch legends and the strangest sushi you’ve ever heard of. This was my personal favourite. (A Serv...

4.5 StarsI used to have trouble with short stories. I used to hate the idea of starting over or meeting new characters every 20 pages or so. That is no longer the case. The short story collections that I have read this year have been amazing and the shorter bits of fiction are starting to become my favorite. This is a crazy good collection of 16 stories. The themes are all over the place and really, minus a quick brush with werewolves, kind of keep away from those standard horror tropes. For me

I love short horror stories, and what a perfect title for this collection of 16 dark tales. That Which Grows Wild encompasses myth, urban legend, and fairy tales for grown ups that could make the Brothers Grimm shiver. The author conjures up worlds where spontaneous combustion is the norm, a never ending full moon allows werewolves to prowl as they please, and the voices of long lost loved ones call to you from sink holes. There is a re-imagining of beauty and the beast, where Belle is ugly on

The first thing that caught my attention was the wonderful cover art for this collection. The roses are very much growing wild; they look similar to my mother’s attempts to growing roses, hers are always crazy explosions of color and thorns. The more I thought about it, the more I found this cover fitting for horror tinged stories. My mother always told me that you could do everything right from a gardening standpoint, but without a little blood, the roses would not grow. She had to pay a price

Full review coming soon, excellent collection of traditional horror short stories. My favorites included "footprints Fading in the Dessert," and the Western story "Last days of the Gunslinger." Guignard is a excellent writer, I was already a fan of his editing work and glad to check it out.

Stellar collection of short fiction stories. Some of my favorites were:*Last Days of the Gunslinger, John Amos, where it’s a cowboy gunslinger vs. alien creatures, in a flood. *Certain Sights of an Afflicted Woman, where a woman with an infected eye is able to see germs, and tries to avoid them during the plague that kills everyone else.* A Serving of Nomu Sashimi, the most horrific meal of childhood darlings* Last night, where a perpetual full moon causes perpetual werewolvesAnd all the other o...

I usually find that when reading a collection of short stories, some of them are great, some are okay and some miss the mark. I was thrilled to find that I was happy with all sixteen tales in That Which Grows Wild.The book begins with A Case Study in Natural Selection and How It Applies to Love. I’m a huge fan of dystopian and apocalyptic tales and this one adds human combustion to the mix. The fact that the author made it seem like something that could actually occur was like sprinkles on an ic...

This collection begs the question “What is horror?” I’m not going to hazard an answer, except to say this is my kind of horror. It reminds me a lot of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. One story in particular (“Footprints Fading in the Desert”) seems intentionally reminiscent of the 1st season episode “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim.” I’m not suggesting that Guignard’s stories are derivative, only that they are apparently sprouted from the simple-but-effective formula of posing outlandish “what if?” questions wi...

Eric J Guignard’s writing is dark and beautiful and I am in awe of his writing voice. I hardly know where to begin in reviewing his collection That Which Grows Wild. By the end of the first story, I was entranced, bewitched, and a bit in love with the book I held in my hands. I immediately gave thanks for the physical edition. “Shelf-worthy,” I mumbled aloud.“What?” said my husband.“The book,” I replied.“That good?” he asked.“Yes,” I replied. “It really is.”He patted my arm and went back to his