Prolific genre writer Ronald Malfi is back with a collection of short stories that span across three decades.
As a big fan of Malfi’s long-form stories, I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone. When it’s great you can’t put it down, but there are quite a few forgettable entries into this anthology.
The big issue here is that a few of the stories don’t seem to have any conclusion and just kind of end. Whereas sometimes this is a cause for reflection and deeper thinking from the reader, here it’s just confusing.
On a brighter note Malfi does add in two stories set around Halloween which are fantastic, especially Under The Tutelage of Mr. Trueheart, which really captures the mischief and magic of the best night of the year.
The House on Cottage Lane details a trick or treating prank gone wrong, with some haunting consequences.
Malfi breaks new ground with the borderline erotic horror Painstation, which sees a man mildly obsessed with a sex worker drawn into a dark and kinky world where there may be no escape.
Discussion Concerning the Ingestion of Living Insects is Malfi’s body horror entry, which sees a soldier forced to face his previous actions and pay the price.
A slight misfire from one of my favourite horror authors.
We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone by Ronald Malfi is now available in various formats from Titan Books.
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