4.5 rounded up.
This collection was my first Keisling and from the first page I knew I had found a literary voice that I would enjoy, some authors are very upfront about what you're getting into with their book, Keisling is one of them.

A few of the stories came across as "the capitalist deity will eat your soul" kind of tales, The Smile Factory chief among them, to my great delight. Speaking of Smile Factory, that story contained some absolutely magnificent lines for the office worker soul such as (view spoiler) and (view spoiler). That being said, it's not an aggressively in your face thing so if that kind of criticism isn't your jam you'll still be able to enjoy the stories.

There's a couple revenge fantasies and a couple of stories that confront religious trauma and religiosity in general.

A few of the stories felt very familiar to the point where I wondered where I might have read them before and in one instance, I was absolutely certain that the story was in another anthology, by a different author. In my reading notes I also marked 2 of the stories as "I'm sure this one was an SCP story at some point" (the strange radio station one and the magic show one). Considering that I've encountered Keisling's name in author notes/dedications I think that this sense of familiarity is proof that I have seen his shadow and influence in other people's work.

The variety of themes made for a consistently engaging read and while some stories seemed to be part of a larger narrative every story came across as a completed work.

When this book started, I was a little skeptical about the book. I thought it would not deliver on the reviews given to it but boy was I wrong. Everyone who has reviewed this book has said great things about it. And there is a reason why. It just delivers exceptionally on all the tropes it writes and adds an entry worthy of rereading in a genre that is loved by many. If you haven't read it, instead of going to goodreads or amazon to read a prompt, just start reading. You will get a much better experience of the book if you go into it without knowing anything about it. Believe me. I went into it without knowing much and I loved it. So, listen to me and just start reading it.

*Got the book arc through Netgalley. Not in association with the author or the publisher. My own honest review.

I absolutley LOVED Devils Creek by Todd Keisling (if you haven't read that, I strongly (somewhat aggresively) urge you too!) so I was so happy to receive an eARC of this anthology of short stories, I'm struggling to pick a favourite as they are all absolute gems, I enjoyed every single one although I thought it was cool (do people still say cool these days, I'm old) there was a story set in Devils Creek! I love this authors writing style and I highly recommend this and at the risk of sounding like annie wilkes this collection has solidified that he's now a favourite author, thanks netgalley and cemeterydance for the arc

Cold, Black, & Infinite was a terrifying, mesmerizing assortment bite sized terrors without a single dud in the line up.

Short story collections, especially in the horror genre, are something of a favorite of mine at this point, I've read several such collections but this one had a little something extra that set it apart. I was continually impressed with just how good these stories were; the ideas were extremely clever, the execution was adept, and the writing style was equal parts evocative and chilling. Usually in short story collections I'll find there are one or two tales I don't really connect with or flat out don't like. However, this was not the case here. Sure, I had favorites, (Y2K, The Happytown Yuletide Massacre, and Annie's Heart is a Haunted House) but every single story was a pleasure to read, a twisted, chilling little tale to enjoy, oozing with style and atmosphere. This book reminded me of being a kid and coming across my first Goosebumps, or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in the school library, each story was that good and that frightening.

I'd recommend this to just about anyone who likes horror fiction or short stories, it's an exemplary model of both. There are some pretty heavy topics and themes however, but the author has kindly added a list of content warnings in the back of the book for readers who may want to use it.

This is, by far, my favorite anthology I've read so far this year. The author uses his words like the finger knives of Freddy Krueger, luring you into his nightmare world before slashing away at your psyche.

If, like me, you're a fan of his novel Devils Creek, you'll also find a few easter eggs from that book. One story takes place in that world, in those woods, and let's us know that the evil cult still has demonic things in store.

One of my favorite stories is a slasher with a brilliant "didn't see that coming" Twilight Zone -ish twist that left me with my jaw hanging.

Corporations run by eldritch gods, zombies, slashers, and even dark sci-fi are all included here.

I would be extremely hard pressed to find a story that I didn't like and that's a rarity in anthologies. This might be the first time my top ten horror books of the year includes an anthology. It's just that good.

I give it my highest recommendation.

Keisling is a brilliant story teller. I love his shirt stories, but I'm a novel reader at heart. The longer, the more immersive, the better. Son while this was a great book to read to get a taste of what his novels are like, I need more Mr. keisling.