I feel like it’s really hard to rate anthologies. While I enjoyed most there were some that I liked not so much. They were definitely all creepy in their own right.

Short stories are definitely hit or miss with me. I loved the cover and was excited to jump into the stories. Unfortunately, they were mostly misses for me. I just couldn't get into the vibe and didn't really enjoy the writing.

A strange, eerie, enchanting and grotesque collection of short stories perfect for the spooky Halloween season! What a great collection!

*will go live 22/10/2019*
Haiku #1 by Vincent Baverso

I’m not a haiky type of girl, however, I can say that this one got me thinking.

A Check-Up for Mr. Bangles by Michael A. Arnzen

This story has some odd parts (a testicle check on a doll? Really? That’s your idea of humor?). However, it was a short and fun read. It wasn’t very creepy, but it was creepy nonetheless.

Haiku #2 by Vincent Baverso

Interesting take on Autumn!

A Walk in the Park by Frank Oreto

This story reminded me of the creepypastas I used to read when I was younger so, if that’s your kind of thing, you’ll like this.

Haiku #3 by Vincent Baverso

I think this is a reference to Hansel and Gretel? Not sure though.

A Storybook Halloween by Kevin M. Hayes

Really fun short, creepy from the beginning to the end.

Haiku #4 by Vincent Baverso

Haiku on ghosts? More, please!

From the Deep by Larry Ivkovich

Another great short story. It’s creepy and has some mystery too.

Haiku #5 by Vincent Baverso

These haikus haven’t been creepy, however, I thin they’re making me fall in love with this type of poetry.

Dead Dog Gone by Katie Pugh

This has to be the cutest story I’ve read in a long time. Now, I need more Bentley in my life.

Haiku #6 by Vincent Baverso

This made me think, which is nice.

The Author by Karen Yun-Lutz

This is a parody of Poe’s The Raven, which happens to be one of my favourite poems of all time. In this version, Lutz describes a writer’s journey. The Nobel reference was a bit odd for me but, overall, this is a nice poem.

Haiku #7 by Vincent Baverso

This one’s a little on the nose, but it’s still nice.

Coney Hijinx by Joe Coluccio

This story is quite bizarre, as I read I repeatedly asked myself how many drugs Coluccio was on whilst writing this. However, this is also an entertaining read, its oddity made me forget about life for a little bit.

Haiku #8 by Douglas Gwilym

This one is odd, it left me thinking for some time about what monster this could be about.

Halloween Haiku by Douglas Gwilym

This is a bunch of haikus put together. They vary in theme, so there’s a haiku for everyone.

Haiku #9 by Vincent Baverso

I don’t really understand this haiku, maybe I need to read more…

In His Own Blood by Jon Carroll Thomas

This story wasn’t very interesting to be honest. When it comes to horror, we need to connect with the characters to get scared, and that didn’t happen here.

Haiku #10 by Vincent Baverso

More monster driven haikus, please! This one didn’t need to be so much on the nose, but it was still quite fun.

To Bridge the Night by Brandon Ketchum

To be honest, I didn’t find this interesting. The main character was a douche and it was obvious tht the lady was a ghost.

Haiku #11 by Vincent Baverso

This is an interesting take on witches, which is nice.

The Sandbox Singularity by Thomas Sweterlitsch

This story was quite creepy, I loved it.

Overall, this was a nice book. Some stories were better than others but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy them.

Rating: 3.5 stars

1. A Check-up for Mr. Bangles by Michael A. Arnzen – 4.5 stars
This is a short story about a girl, Cindy, who asks her father to check her doll, Mr. Bangles. I loved the growing terror and the gory climax. If you have this book, I recommend checking it out.
2. A Walk in the Park by Frank Oreto – 4.5 stars
This story was about an adult man looking for the child-like fear we all feel when we’re young. It was an interesting story with an equally interesting finale. I recommend it.
3. A Storybook Halloween by Kevin M. Hayes – 3 stars
This story was about a man, Dimitri, who finds a girl alone on Halloween dressed as Little Red-Riding Hood. Fittingly, both end up running from a giant wolf. I didn’t like this story as much as the other ones but it was still enjoyable.
4. From the Deep by Larry Ivkovich – 3 stars
This story was about a girl who discovers she’s not a human but a member of another ancient race, a Daughter of the Sea. The first thing I noticed was how the writing style and vocabulary contrasted with the previous stories. This one was more complex and flourished, but that doesn’t mean the story was better. The plot was predictable and not as exciting as the plot from the other stories. It had potential but was not as well-executed as it could have been.
5. Dead Dog Gone by Katie Pugh – 4 stars
In this story, a Necromancer adopts a dog from Hell. This was such a lighthearted story, so unlike the others. I liked it.
6. The Author by Karen Yun-Lutz – 2 stars
This story was written in the form of a poem and, as suggested by the title, it is about an author trying to write a poem. I did not like this one as much as the other stories. I don’t read a lot of poetry, and maybe that’s the reason, but I didn’t find this story interesting.
7. Coney Hijinx by Joe Coluccio – 4.5 stars
This story is about a man who is kidnapped by human-sized bunnies. It was a lighthearted and somewhat amusing story. It didn’t have much depth but it was still a fun story to read.
8. Halloween Haiku by Douglas Gwilym – 4.5 stars
I loved this haiku! It had some interesting verses. I recommend it.
9. In His Own Blood by John Carroll Thomas – 4.5 stars
This story was shorter than any of the others but it was intriguing! If you have this book, check it out.
10. To Bridge the Night by Brandon Ketchum – 3.5 stars
This story was about a guy who tries to seduce a witch. It was fun and entertaining so, if you have the chance, check it out.
11. The Sandbox Singularity by Thomas Sweterlitsch – 3 stars
This story was weird. It was about a man who was running and hurt his knee. It was not the worse story but it could have been better.

A quirky and thrilling selection of horror stories with fitting drawings. Short and engaging. I would love to read more.

A nice light read of short Halloween stories the one I cared for the best would be the little girl in the red hood. Many of these stories you could read to kids while sitting around the fire

I enjoyed most of the stories and poems in this anthology. All of them are Halloween themed and short. Like any anthology there are some gems. These scary stories can be read at any time of the year and more than once. Enjoy these quick reads.

The first Write or Die group anthology is designed to give you a serious chill. Some stories are terrifying, some unsettling, all make you wonder if the writers need a hug.

An entertaining collection of stories, poetry, and artwork written for Halloween by a writing and critique group called Write or Die in Pittsburgh. As with any short story collection, some are better than others, but I'm not saying my preferences- you decide for yourself! A good indie title, shows a lot of promise!

These are really entertaining short scary stories. My favorite is the stray Halloween puppy one, but all were definitely worth reading! I hope that they come out with a volume two someday....

A great compilation of eerie stories and poems. A fun read for sure and one that can be read by a wide variety of ages.

I absolutely love short story collections and I have just recently begun to journey into the flash fiction category. Flash fiction is quite new to me, but I can tell how incredibly difficult it must be to write and I have a tremendous amount of respect for authors who can accomplish this well. This particular collection is quite mixed, as were my opinions on the stories. While these writers have a great deal of talent and that remains clear throughout, I personally felt that not all of these stories worked well in this abbreviated format. Topic-wise, each one was unique and creative but definitely quite hit-or-miss.

This collection begins with an extremely inventive forward which is a fantastic hook. It is a humorous and entertaining take on the creation of the Write or Die (WorD) writing group—the writing group that has brought us this work. This story combines fictional events with background information on the origins of WorD. All the other stories are interspersed with creepy haikus written by author Vincent Baverso as well as darkly stylized pen drawings. Both are wonderfully imaginative and fit extremely well with the overall theme of the collection.

For the rest of this review, I will go into some more specific—and still spoiler-free—details about each of the individual stories themselves as well as my thoughts on them.

A Check-Up for Mr. Bangles by Michael A. Amzen (4.5/5)

In this first story, a daughter asks her father to check on her doll because she believes it is dying. The father, of course, plays along and begins the check-up, finding most things normal—until he begins to feel around the stomach. This story was definitely one of my favorites from the collection. Amzen’s characterization was fantastic and he used a great amount of detail that truly carried the tone of the story. He established solid characters with a realistic child-parent relationship as well as a convincing setup to the story. It was very short but was still extremely creepy, and Amzen builds suspense well within such a small period of time.

A Walk in the Park by Frank Oreto (3.5/5)

In this story, we follow a middle-aged man who decides to take a walk down a dark path through a seemingly empty park one night. It is near Halloween and he wants to feel scared in a way he has not since he was a teenager. Initially, he is met with disappointment as his plan does not produce the desired reaction. Then, he passes parents and a child who all seem normal at first—that is, until he notices the overly large heads and sharp teeth.

I found Oreto’s detail and world-building to be absolutely fantastic. The story had a very distinctively eerie tone and atmosphere. It was very short of course and was somewhat predictable. There was not much time to build up too much suspense, but it was still quite enjoyable overall.

A Storybook Halloween by Kevin M. Hayes (3/5)

A man named Dimitri is out volunteering for the Neighborhood Watch on Halloween and finds a young girl named Lucy standing in front of one of the houses on his street. Lucy is dressed as Little Red-Riding-Hood and appears to be lost. She tells him she has been followed by a wolf all night, and soon one appears from the bushes and begins chasing them down.

Like all the other stories so far, the writing and descriptions were great. The atmosphere of being out trick-or-treating was present at the start, but I felt that it was lost by the end. It was as if the entire neighborhood ceased to exist when the wolf entered into the story. Nonetheless, the wolf’s pursuit itself was still intense and harrowing. In my opinion, the ending was a bit too full of twists that took place within a few sentences of each other. It was unexpected but maybe a bit much and too confusing for the story’s length.

From the Deep by Larry Ivkovich (1/5)

It is All Hallows’ Eve and Alanalla Steadman tells us that she has experienced a dream state that has allowed her to realize what she truly is and where she comes from. She grew up in a normal human family, adopted when she was young, but her life has been built completely on lies. Now, she sees images of treasures, ship-wrecks, an undersea civilization, and the race that she belongs to. This night, Alanalla is going to embrace her destiny and rejoin her people.

This was definitely my least favorite story within the collection. The writing is detailed but incredibly flowery and a bit over-the-top. I could see this potentially fitting the character’s voice and personality to some extent, but it is taken a little too far and sounds too pompous. Personally, I was just not a fan of the plot itself. The length was definitely not sufficient enough to tell it and it felt far too rushed. It also was not overly creepy or spooky and it did not feel like a horror or Halloween story in any way.

Dead Dog Gone by Katie Pugh (5/5)

Nancy is really good at three things: making pancakes, necromancy, and getting rid of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She loves Halloween and always prepares early in the month. On Halloween, she leaves one of her cleaned-out cauldrons outside her door filled candy for the kids and then sits inside to wait for Death. Death is one of few people who she ever lets into her house, mainly due to her collection of curious wares and potions.

Nancy dresses up as if for a date night since it is their tradition to get together on Halloween. However, this year things change when a small puppy with two horns appears in her cauldron among the candy, frightening all the trick-or-treating kids away. She takes an immediate liking to it and decides to keep the puppy despite the dangers brewing as Death tells her that hellhounds have escaped into the world.

I would have to say that this was one of my absolute favorite stories from the collection. The start is very strong and extremely attention-grabbing—it definitely pulled me right in. I loved the character of Nancy and the way Death was depicted. The characterization was phenomenal. The writing was quirky and charming, and Pugh created the perfect atmosphere and tone for the story that she told. This one was more light-hearted and silly and I loved it.

The Author by Karen Yun-Lurz (4/5)

This story was written in verse, which was a unique and interesting change to mix in with the regular short stories. It was a rewriting of “The Raven” and focused on this author’s experience trying to come up with a new piece of work for the Write or Die (WorD) group. It tells of the struggles to begin a piece of writing and the process as ideas form in one’s mind. Then, she moves on to the editing, rewording, and perfectionism that inevitably follows.

This was such a creative take on the original poem and matched up with it very well. This poem was humorous and over-dramatized, which I loved. Yun-Lurz did a great job of blending in the theme of being a writer at work while staying faithful to the classic. The way she personified aspects of the writing process—like writer’s block into an imp that came to pester her—was very clever.

Coney Hijinx by Joe Coluccio (3.5/5)

A man named Rufus sees someone dressed as a rabbit walk into his local tavern and, as this is, of course, a very curious sight, he decides to follow and talk with him. The rabbit-man insists that he is not in a costume and Rufus notes that he speaks with a cartoonish voice. When Rufus asks what he is, the rabbit-man’s name sounds like a bunch of odd letters and clicking sounds, but he then says he just goes by Claude. Rufus follows Claude and gets in a car with him for a very strange journey down a rabbit hole and into another civilization entirely.

This was yet another extremely quirky story which I definitely liked. I will say, it felt very random and left me with quite a lot of questions. I would have liked a little more detail and set up but, as this is flash fiction, I understand why it was not in the story. The writing was light and clear and the characterization was solid. The author did a decent job creating this story in the constrictions of the short length. Overall, it was really weird and I enjoyed it.

Halloween Haiku by Douglas Gwilym (5/5)

The format changes here from short stories/flash fiction to haikus, which I absolutely loved. Having this poetry interspersed with the full stories worked extremely well in this collection. The work found here is a series of creepy and dark haikus that are perfect for Halloween. Gwilym conveys an eerie atmosphere and conjures up detailed images in such a small number of words. This section was a nice change of pace and served to enhance the atmosphere of the book as a whole.

In His Own Blood by Jon Carroll Thomas (3/5)

In this story, our narrator is summoned through a book and into an ancient artifact. He is arriving to meet his new master—a necromancer—but things do not go as planned. This is about all I can give in terms of a synopsis for this one. It is by far the shortest of the stories as it is only a few paragraphs in length. However, the author does a great job of establishing the tone and voice of the narrator very quickly. The writing is very strong and uses a lot of detail. It is hard to judge something this short, but it definitely left me wishing there was more. And the last few sentences were gruesome and really packed a punch.

To Bridge the Night by Brandon Ketchum (3.5/5)

While stumbling drunkenly along Betsy Ross Bridge, Tyler comes across a woman dressed in a Victorian outfit. He starts to talk with her and finds that her manner of speaking is very old-fashioned and out-of-place. The lady asks where he goes to university and their talk turns quickly to the bridge they are standing on, as well as the new parking lot of the school, both of which have recently been completed. They were both built on land that previously consisted of cemeteries and, mid-conversation, Tyler finds the woman suddenly becoming quite angry.

I personally thought that the characterization was very good, particularly with Tyler. Ketchum definitely captured his drunken attempts at flirting and generally how a guy Tyler’s age might act decently well. I also quite liked his writing and storytelling style. The story was a bit predictable but still engrossing and I think that Ketchum did a good job making a complete story within the small amount of space he had. It still felt rushed, but it was a solid story overall.

A Sandbox Singular by Thomas Sweterlisch (2/5)

This story begins with a guy named Reggie who has just woken up and is stretching in preparation for a run along with a number of other runners. Immediately we get the sense that this is not the world we know, as Reggie refers to other people as “organics” and speaks about how everyone is not only running naked but that they all have visible burns on their skin from acid rain. It is established that runners who accumulate the most laps win the day and that this is some sort of task he and the others have been assigned to do. The curiousness of the situation hits its peak when the point-of-view of “the Mother” is worked in—a mysterious, omniscient being that wipes away all motivations and pleasures from those she watches over.

The descriptions of the characters and most of the environment were very detailed, but I was not a huge fan of this story. There were way too many questions left in the end and not in a good way. Rather than leave me imagining the possibilities, it felt incomplete. I understood parts but, since it was so short, there were a lot of things that never made sense and never got explained. It was mysterious, but some aspects of it did not seem to fit with others. I could comprehend what was literally happening within each moment. However, it really did not make much sense overall and I lost interest. I love weird stories, but this was a bit much for the short length.

Etymology of WorD by Diane Turnshek (3/5)

In this final story, one of the founders of the Write or Die group describes how all the participants came together and helped each other for many years with writing critiques. She speaks about how it began with her hosting a gathering for anyone interested in joining a critique group and that many more people showed up than she had expected. They remained a group that was open to the public and had very few but strict rules to focus themselves.

They welcomed all writers and supported each other through everything, whether it was the publishing process or work just written for fun. By 2011, many members had left due to moving from the area or because of various other commitments and it was disbanded in June of that year. It sounds like it was an absolutely wonderful group that did so much to bring like-minded individuals together and provide the strength and support that they all truly needed.

Overall, I had some varied feelings about this collection, but it made for a fun, quick read that I did enjoy for the most part, especially as a pre-Halloween read. Short stories are always nice to have around to mix in amongst a long list of full-length novels. As I said before, I believe these particular stories would be classified as flash fiction, so the collection as a whole is extremely short. While I do not think that all of the ideas present here worked as well as they could have if they had been fleshed out into longer stories, the great amount of talent and creativity housed within these pages is very recognizable.

This anthology was okay. There was just not enough excitement or interest to make me want to finish. I ended up DNF.

Knee Deep in Little Devils is an interesting little collection of short stories, artwork, and haikus. From what I gather, it's put together by a group of writers and friends who meet biweekly to share work and inspire one another, which gives the anthology something unique. That said, I found it to be hit-and-miss overall. I wasn't a fan of most of the artwork, and the haikus felt out of place, strange, and like empty place-holders.

As for the stories, while half or so of them were 3-star reads or less for me due to lackluster plots or writing that I couldn't get into, a few were absolute gems! My particular favorites were the first two stories, A Check-Up for Mr. Bangles and A Walk in the Park. The first of these stories follows a father whose little girl is convinced her doll is dying, and he finds some peculiar things when examining the toy. The second story is about a man walking through the park late at night, determined to find anything to be afraid of, and it really is a fun reminder of how hard we horror fans might try to frighten ourselves sometimes. The other story I wanted to mention is Dead Dog Gone, a surprisingly adorable story about a woman who finds a hellhound on Halloween and decides to keep him as a pet.

Altogether, Knee Deep in Little Devils is a mixed bag, but if you're looking for some fun flash fiction to entertain yourself with on Halloween, I think it's worth giving a shot.

Thank you so much to WorD Publishing-pgh for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I liked the cover, the title and the first page of the story by Joe Coluccio. Everything else, I'm sorry to say, I didn't like at all.

A great book of short stories and poems perfect for Halloween. I'm not sure which was my favorite but I loved that there's something for everyone. Different authors and a wide range of styles make this book fun. I received this book from Net Galley and the publisher for a honest review and no compensation otherwise. The opinions expressed are my own.

ARC Copy...it was a decent fall/Halloween season horror read. A bunch of short stories and poems all in little Fall's night bit sizes.

Overall, this wasn't a bad anthology, but most of the stories are way too short and the punchlines also fell short in some. I liked the idea of A Walk in the Park, but the implementation of the basic idea (a 40-year-old wanting to relive similar kind of fears he had when he was a child) wasn't too good. Dead Dog Gone was also super cute, nothing memorable, but it was one of the best stories. I actually liked the haikus! Even though I'm not a haiku fan at all. My favorite story of the collection was The Sandbox Singularity - I loved the idea and the story, too, had a great flow from beginning to finish.

The editing was pretty bad, though; don't know if this will be changed before publishing, but it certainly SHOULD be changed. Make the text justified, use the same structure and font color in every story. Stuff like that.

A very quick, varied and digestible anthology to be sure to put anyone in the mood for Halloween. The stories and verses in this book cover quite a lot of ground so it's highly likely there'll be something in here for anyone to enjoy. The illustrations are very fun as well.

Was bit surprised by how much I liked it.

This was an ARC in exchange for an honest review. With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.