...a collection of short horror stories that entertain and frighten in the time it takes to boil water for tea. It brings together established horror writers — Samantha Hunt and Brian Evenson among them — with those who have published only a story or two, and the result is thrilling in its variety. With so many authors, it is inevitably diverse, the stories representing a wide range of horror, everything from the speculative to the political, the playful to the eerie to the visceral and terrifying. The editors, Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto, chose stories that deliver a huge emotional impact, their power directly inverse to their word count.
This is an exquisite collection of short stories perfect for spooky season, with 42 gems of flash fiction carefully curated by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto to offer readers nearly every variation on horror on the popular market today. Whether you prefer a classic ghost story, a near-future dystopia, or a far-future tale of space horror, you’ll find something to your liking here ... an excellent treasury of short horror fiction that belongs on the shelves of every reader who enjoys a good little scare.
Some who prefer to consume more uplifting content in troubling times may find the book ill-fitted for 2020, but if like me horror is a genre you hold near and dear, Tiny Nightmares is a great collection to escape into. Topping out at nearly 300 pages, but containing more than forty stories, Tiny Nightmares lives up to its title. Although the fleeting, unresolved nature of some of these narratives may posit that not every piece is suited for the less-than-1,500-words format, many of the grotesque, campy, and dystopic stories in this collection, once read, stay with you ... The collection contains a robust variety of refreshingly bizarre ‘creatures-lurking-in-the-dark,’ tales ... Although in the current climate a collection often driven by a fear of the future may feel inappropriately thrilling, Tiny Nightmares is balanced by supernatural, viscerally terrifying stories that strum strings less tied to reality.
At just over three hundred pages, this is an anthology that might at first seem intimidating, but each story is less than fifteen hundred words, and the forty-two stories fly by. Even if one doesn’t tickle your fancy, it’s over so quickly that you can move on to the next with no hesitation. The artwork at the “head” of each section is penned by Nieto herself, and the understated, black-and-white prints are stunning additions to the anthology. There is so much beautiful, fantastic prose in this anthology ... There are so many astonishing turns of phrases and details in these very small stories ... This anthology is also one of the most diverse I’ve seen in horror ... This is very clearly an anthology that was crafted with love of the genre. Nothing makes a horror writer seeing that happier—to know our genre is being treated with such attention and care. The words, the illustrations, even the cover—everything works together to make Tiny Nightmares a must-read[.]
In 1500 words or less, 42 authors of both horror and literary fiction surprise, scare, and confound in this outstanding anthology ... Some have a Twilight Zone feel to them ... While some of the stories will leave readers wanting more of the world the author created, most are perfectly suited to this short form. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.
In this masterful anthology, Nieto and Michel bring together 42 chilling works of flash fiction that capture terrors both supernatural and mundane ... In fewer than 1,500 words, each of these vivid, visceral tales engages with horrors with striking immediacy. This carefully crafted and genuinely scary collection is sure to impress.
...guaranteed to inspire nightmares ... These are achingly brief but exquisitely crafted fragments of horror, some real, some imagined, and some incomplete ... There's quite a lot of body horror, too, so squeamish readers are forewarned, but fans of innovative horror films like Get Out and Us will have a blast. Sick and twisted and troubling: Reading it is like stumbling on an old horror movie on TV in the middle of the night.
...fascinating, compelling, and entertaining ... this anthology is an evil delight ... A better entry into the world of horror as it stands today would be hard to find.
