Pareidolia is defined by Merriam-Webster as being “the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern…the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness." The authors assembled here all presented a wide range of different takes on this theme... each with horrifying undercurrents. The stories that stood out to me explored the quiet horror in the liminal spaces surrounding... the ocean in “Just Beyond the Shore” by Elizabeth Beechwoo...

And I continue to study this Edwards story itself as well as the whole of this important anthology in a similar open-minded way as ‘you’, fathoming whether I shall ever get to the bottom here of the aesthetic, religious, political, historical and literary-noxious mythos of pareidolia, ‘NOXious’ being the word that has now suddenly, as I write this in real-time, been derived from reading the Toase above, earlier today. And — by dint of this massive book in particular, as assisted by a shorter Par...

3.5 StarsReview to come, sending this one to SCREAM Mag.

*** Review copy purchased online from Nightscape Press *** With stunning artwork from Luke Spooner, this horror anthology from Nightscape Press features such a wide swathe of talented and diverse authors, and it is definitely not the same old parade of the “usual suspects.” It deviates from relying on the formula of using a few “big names” to sell the anthology, mixed in with mostly less widely-known authors. Readers with their pulse on who is doing some of the best work in the genre right now o...

Several stand-out stories here:8x10 by Duane Pesice & Don WebbHello by Michael Wehunt (never thought I'd read a horror story about a Lionel Richie song – and that it would actually be creepy)The Little Drawer Full of Chaos by Annie NeugebauerWhen the Nightingale Devours the Stars by Gwendolyn Kiste

A very full and enjoyable anthology. Some of my favorite stories were “Hello” by Michael Wehunt, “Gardening Activities for Couples” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, “Sincerely Eden” by Amelia Gorman, “Merge Now” by Kurt Fawver, “The Little Drawer Full of Chaos” by Annie Neugebauer, and “8 X 10” by Duane Pesice and Don Webb.

Great anthology! This collection has a lot of awesome short stories. My favorite one is The Nightinggale Devours the Stars. although every tale is a great part of this book. I look forward to reading more collections like this in the future!

Some unique and intriguing weird fiction I wasn’t familiar with most of the authors in this anthology, but they and the editor have made a standout collection of short stories. They were memorable enough that I looked up several of the writers’ other works (ex., S. P. Mitkowski), planning to read them soon. As “weird fiction” tends to do, the plots and story endings are often enigmatic—you’re not quite sure what is going on. Par for the course.

An excellent group of short horror stories! There wasn't a single story here I didn't like and some blew me away, especially Laird Barron's and Gwendolin Kriste's. I only wish I knew how to pronounce the title!

After several months, I’ve finished reading Nox Pareidolia, an anthology of strange tales edited by Robert S. Wilson. The tales in this collection explore perception and what lies just beyond our understanding, ranging from the surreal and unsettling to the outright terrifying. On the whole, I enjoyed the vast majority of the stories presented, with a few of those I particularly loved noted below:“When the Nightingale Devours the Stars” by Gwendolyn Kiste is about a small town that helps bring a...

New artistry from great voices, perceptions old and new, interjecting the reader into new zones, taking you to the precipice of fears, perplexities, and realms colliding, a phenomenon of weirdness and horrification before you with pareidolia.These tales that follow are the ones that worked from me and reviewed of the many in the collection.Watch Me Burn with the Light of Ghostsby Paul JessupStarts with rabbit masked killers, there be no run rabbit, instead rabbit coming to folks of a town in mas...

I admit, I skipped around a bit in this anthology. I specifically picked it up for Zin E. Rocklyn's contribution, after reading her gorgeous story "The Night Sun" on tor.com, but since the stories are specifically not attributed to authors (only titles are given in the table of contents), I started at the beginning. I'm glad that I did, because otherwise I would've missed some real gems.The strongest story in this collection is, by far, Michael Wehunt's "Hello." To say much more about it would b...

I'm not going to lie but a few stories in and I was only feeling a little ho-hum about this anthology. Don't get me wrong, the writing was strong, the art excellent, and the stories creative, but I just wasn't connecting. Then comes Michael Wehunt's excellent, "Hello," and everything seemed to click.This is a very wide-ranging collection. The horrors within each story taking us on their own unique path. But I assure you, there is a lot in here to love. And a lot of new authors to discover. Stand...

An absolutely stunning collection of literary horror. This anthology blew me away. I generally shy away from anthologies because they can be so hit or miss. A single story in an anthology that I dislike can make me feel uninspired to keep on reading. Not the case for this one!Every story here was quality, with several stand out selections. My favorites were the stories from Gwendolyn Kiste, S.P. Miskowski, Annie Neugebauer, and Kristi DeMeester.If this collection has a theme, it’s “ambiguity.” T...

On my DNF list. I honestly didn't make it through more than two stories. Just not my cup of tea.

They oscillate.The good ones in here are excellent, hence the four stars. If you like weird fiction or horror, I'd definitely recommend this one, just be aware that some of the shorts in here are a bit...bland. Not bad, just "meh," so to speak. If nothing else there's some great art in here. The greatest weakness that keeps cropping up consistently is that quite a few of these have weak endings. That being said, the good ones are interesting and weird and have some excellent imagery. This was fu...

I liked this collection a lot.One of my favorite things about it was how much the stories required me to think. Within the timespan of just a few pages I'd get lost in these elaborate and abstract worlds. The downside of that was that I tended to get lost in my own head as much as in the stories, and when I finally put the book down they had all blended together into a single sort of conceptual nightmarish dreamscape.It wasn't until after I finished that I had the notion maybe I should have read...

An anthology of the perceived images, masked otherness, sadness and ghosts. Packed with well recognized writers for horror fans.My favorites:Watch Me Burn with The Light of Ghosts -Paul Jessup Immolation - Kristi DeMeester Lies I Told Myself - Lynne JamneckUnmoored - Sean M. ThompsonThe Past You Have, The Future You Deserve -K.H. VaughnThe Room Above - Brian EvensonSalmon Run - Andrew KozmaWhen The Nightingale Devours The Stars-Gwendolyn KisteIn The Vastness of Sovereign Sky -S.L. Edwards