Anyone who reads this website knows that I am a big fan of author Ronald Malfi.
I rank his novel Black Mouth as one of the finest horror stories of the past decade. For his latest release, Malfi has compiled five novellas that show he can tackle many different types of horror.
Skullbelly is the story of three missing girls in a small rural town. Given the tried motif of a town with a secret, this story builds up nicely but then ends quite abruptly.
Next up The Separation shows how Malfi resonates with readers of Stephen King with is writing of characters. There is a personable quality that makes these characters engrossing and drives the story.
The highlight of this anthology is The Stranger, a truly harrowing tale that sees a stranger lot themselves in a man’s car outside a motel. This one is extreme body and psychological horror at its finest. It’s truly horrifying and will stay with the reader.
After The Fade is Malfi’s attempt at some doomsday horror mixed by with body horror. A girl collapses in a bar with giant bug attached to her, which triggers a series of events that feel like the world is truly ending before our eyes. This one also has a fantastic sting in the tail which will have readers chuckling, when they thought it couldn’t get any more bonkers.
Closing out this anthology is Fierce, which pits a teenage girl and her mother against evil forces that are and aren’t human following a car accident. This once again shows Malfi’s strength in writing deep and engrossing characters. This one is very much a coming-of-age story in a horrific scenario that feels like there is no escape.
Conclusively They Lurk is another winner from Malfi giving readers a varied yet entertaining collection of stories that are perfect for late night reading.
They Lurk by Ronald Malfi is available now from Titan Books.
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