Beyond the Bounds of Infinity

Beyond the Bounds of Infinity is a decent anthology, with more good stories than bad ones, although I'd say it's about a 70/30 split between good and bad. Good writing all around, but some stories were just clearly better than others.

My favorites in the bunch:

The Eye of God by Rachel Searcey
24 Points by S.A. Cosby
Cracks by Mary Sangiovanni
Gyges by Vaughan Jackson

Overall I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it.

I have a weird relationship with anthologies. I usually find my way to them because they include a story by an author I love that I can’t find anywhere else. If I’m lucky, I find another couple of stories to enjoy, then drag myself through the rest. By the end, I decide it wasn’t worth the effort. Until the next time a favourite author is included in one.

It’s Mary SanGiovanni’s fault that I’m here. I’ve loved everything I’ve ever read of hers and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read something new. It didn’t surprise me that I loved her contribution to this anthology. What did surprise me was that I didn’t find a bad one in the bunch!

Sure, I enjoyed some more than others but I didn’t dislike any! I don’t know if that’s ever happened before. It was actually difficult to pick my favourites. In the order you’ll find them in the book because they’re all so different and I can’t rank them…

Fractures of Her Reflection by Amanda Headlee

If Dava doesn’t tap her bedroom door three times, bad things will happen. Her therapist doesn’t understand this.

The horror when people with preconceived ideas don’t trust your judgement about what your reality looks like. When professionals believe that their expert opinion trumps your lived experience. When validation comes at a cost.

“Does this have something to do with awakening?”

Effigies of Monstrous Things by Pedro Iniguez

Mario just wants his kids to be able to live in a home without mould. It’s clear his landlord isn’t going to fix the problem so Mario has decided to investigate for himself.

The horror when, no matter how hard you try, you’re stuck in a loop. Of being a single parent and doing your very best but not being able to get ahead. The illusion of safety. The injustice when people in authority abuse their power.

“The sculpture is nigh complete…”

Cracks by Mary SanGiovanni

Billy shows his classmates the rock he found in the woods. It’s a pretty rock. His classmates also like looking at the rock.

The horror of being the only one who can truly see what’s going on, understanding the gravity of it and knowing that the someone who needs to do something about it is you.

“Don’t make it harder to play the games.”

I am so glad I read this anthology. I have renewed hope for the ones my favourite authors will make me read in the future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Raw Dog Screaming Press for the opportunity to read this anthology.

Beyond the Bounds of Infinity subverts cosmic horror's historic bigotry and uplifts diverse voices.

I really enjoyed the variety in this anthology. There's existential horror, body horror, eco horror, and more.
In my opinion, the most disturbing tales combine very real horrors marginalized people face with otherworldly elements.

As with most anthologies, some stories resonated with me more than others. Live Free or Die by Danny Brzozowski hit me especially hard as an openly queer trans man.

Thank you to RDS Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read this book for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.

Well, that was quite a journey. It was my first time diving into the horror genre and I did not disappoint.

I figured that an anthology was the best place to start and I was right, I loved so many of these stories! Some of them definitely kept me up at night... I'm looking at you 'Effigies of Monstrous Things' and 'You Have Joined the Livestream' 🫠

Thank you to RDS Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Diverse, creepy, weird - in a good way!! No seriously, I’ve been thinking about this collection for days.

I feel like I went on a JOURNEY here. All of the writing was great. Obviously, some stories stood out more than others, but I did truly enjoy them all.

Some worth note:
- Effigies of Monstrous Things
- Live Free or Die (!!!!)
- Cracks

I also think that the origins of this anthology are really freaking cool. This started with a kickstarter?! I mean… that alone was enough to justify the read to me. I will definitely be recommending this to some friends!


A big thanks to the publisher, NetGalley, and these fantastic authors for this ARC!