Today's review is for "Tales Of Nightmares" a collection of horror stories loosely based on nightmares from various authors and edited by Loren Rhoads. All of the offerings are well written and intriguing. Some more than others, of course. I really enjoyed reading Bill Bodden’s “The House on River Road,” about an urban legend and haunted house and "Elle a Vu un Loup" by Loren Rhoads. Both short stories had me thinking about them long after I read them.

Unfortunately for me, there was included a story called "“Glue and the Art of Supermodel Maintenance", which is pure torture porn and I could find no redeeming qualities to it. I wish the editor had not included the story. It has nothing to do with nightmares, and to me, is just gratuitous violence against women. I almost stopped reading the collection when I came across this one. It was so disturbing to me-and not in a good horror story way- I have to take a whole star away from my review. It's like a movie having a dead dog to stir up the feels. I don't need to read about torturing women to enjoy a good horror yarn.

Other than that, I found the collection enjoyable and readable. I recommend this book to horror readers with a caveat to skip over "Glue" if torture porn does not appeal to you.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Automatision Press for the chance to read this ARC.

Wow. Okay, I had really low expectations before I started reading this, especially since I don’t know any of the authors despite their numerous accolades, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved all the stories! They’re all so good, and I’d love to read more from this collective in the future!

A perfectly curated short collection of stories that can be read in one sitting, Tales of Nightmares is chockfull of delightful creepiness. I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite, since I honestly loved them all. Sometimes, anthologies have one or two duds, but these are all fantastic. The Dark Watchers by E.S. Magill is as atmospheric as it is disturbing and Jennifer Brozek’s Twenty Questions has a twist that, even if I saw it coming, left me speechless. Some are more uplifting than others, but they are all perfectly plotted and with great character development (the short story Achilles’ Heel). I could list all nine tales but, really, they are all great and highly recommended for all readers. Whether you’ll be able to sleep is another story…
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Automatism Press!

Tales Of Nightmares edited by Loren Rhoads is the second book in an anthology series and was a real treat. I
Anthology/story collections are usually problematic for me--are they as good as the best story, as bad as the worst story, or an average? Luckily with this anthology it doesn't matter-- all of the stories are well done and entertaining. I think, also, the fact that the book isn't a back breaking sized tome of over written "short" stories also helps it a lot.
Weston Ochse "Glue and the Art of Supermodel Maintenance" is a squirm inducing body horror that still has me cringing, but probably my favourite story in this collection was Angel Leigh McCoy's "The Haunting of Mrs. Poole" with it's near perfect pacing and tension.
The Wily Writers Collective plans on doing this as a 6 book series. Tales of Nightmares is "Book 2 of a 6 book series of anthologies presented by the Wily Writers collective. The first book, Tales of Dread edited by Lisa Morton, appeared in June 2022. Tales of Evil, edited by Angel Leigh McCoy and Alison J. McKenzie, will come out in August 2022, followed by volumes edited by Yvonne Navarro, E.S. Magill and Bill Bodden, and Weston Ochse. All the editors have stories in each of the other volumes."
Thank you to #NetGalley, #AutomatismPress, and the Wily Writers Collective for the ARC of #TalesofNightmares.