Elizabeth E. MonteleoneCritiques

F/SF

Contains:
Foet / F. Paul Wilson --
The Chrysalis / Lois Tilton --
Breeding ground / Francis J. Matozzo --
Love doll : a fable / Joe R. Lansdale --
Apathetic flesh / Darren O. Godfrey --
The potato / Bentley Little --
Saturn / Ian McDowell --
Androgyny / Brian Hodge --
Sarah, unbound / Kim Antieau --
For their wives are mute / Wayne Allen Sallee --
Dead issue / Rex Miller --
Down the valley wild / Paul F. Olson --
Taking care of Michael / J.K. Comeau --
The atonement / Richard Rains --
Peacemaker / Charles L. Grant --
Stress test HR51, case #041068 / Stanley Wiater --
Churches of desire / Philip Nutman --
Sweetie / G. Wayne Miller --
Romance unlimited / James S. Don --
Sipping / David B. Silva.

I bought this book several years ago solely for the Stephen King tale, which I had already read when I came to read the entire book this year. The front cover promises tales of Madness and Terror, and personally that was left wanting.

I am an avid horror reader and have read many tales on madness (those by Kev Hammond in particular are exceptional) and I didn't find any of them in this collection that were madness or terror filled, but maybe I am a little desensitized or my taste too specific.

I did find off-kilter, surreal, altered perception stories, which were interesting and intriguing.

There were a few memorable and enjoyable stories in there, like Prisoner 392 by Jon F Merz and One of Those Weeks, by Bev Vincent. But to believe that because these stories are in included in a 'From the Borderlands' collection they must be exceptional, I think is a little extreme. Other than being able to list well known writers on their cover, I felt there were many story collection in this genre just as good as these.

I picked this up because of Stephen King, and his novella "Stationary Bike" really resonated with me on many levels. The rest of this collection is a big ol' meh. Not to be a jerk, as I certainly can't write at all, but I would like to see how bad the entries that weren't chosen were! A story like "All Hands" is the type I like least - no explanation at all for what occurs in it! And "Rami Temporais" is a closely disliked second type for me - the explanation exists in the story, but it makes no damn sense! "N0072-JK1" is just plain confusing and totally not worth reading at all! Ok, I'll stop there. It was just a disappointing collection for me. The end.

The stories in this book are... well, honestly, I didn't enjoy them much. So many different authors, yet all the stories seemed to have rushed or vague endings with no real conclusions. Quite honestly, this book was a disappointment to me.

This was my first introduction to the Borderlands anthology series many years ago and the stories left an indelible impression on me. The stories are typically of the disturbing variety of horror and more wildly imaginative and polished than most. For example, you will find a man who falls in love with a potato, a disturbing new fashion trend called Foet (short for foetus), and a blow-up doll with ambitions.