A chilling new horror anthology from the twisted minds at Sterling & Stone, featuring 12 spine-tingling tales from the studio’s most talented storytellers, including bestselling authors Sean Platt and David Wright, as well as masters of horror Sawyer Black and Ebony Graves.
Zombie Run by Jason Krumbine: A young woman stuck in a never-ending time loop relives the same day in a desperate attempt to save her boyfriend after he’s been bitten by zombies.
Judgment House by Ebony Grave: A college student is introduced to an immersive Christian-themed haunted house which may just end in a blood-soaked reckoning.
The Z.O.A. by Kim M. Watt reveals that the only thing worse than a zombie apocalypse might be the local Homeowners’ Association.
This collection of macabre and supernatural stories from Sterling & Stone won’t let you sleep easy — if you can sleep at all.

All the authors in this anthology were new to me except for Kim M. Watt and David Wright. There are twelves stories in the collection with Sean Platt, Kathryn Cottam and Ebony Graves contributing two stories each.

I thought six of the stories were very strong. Both of Sean Platt’s stories were immediately immersive, delivering situations and ideas that pushed me to question things. Kim Watt’s take on suburban zombies was funny. I enjoyed seeing her write without the constraints of producing a Cozy story. Sawyer Black’s ‘The Kiddies‘ gave the zombie apocalypse a gruesome twist that will stick with me for some time. B. K, Burns’ ‘Underfoot/Crawlspace‘ was an action-packed story of survival in the face of violence that has me rooting for Maddy, the teenage heroine. ‘The Heirloom’ by Kathryn Cottam was one of the scariest stories on witchcraft that I’ve come across.

Neither of Ebony Graves’ stories worked for me. I didn’t finish the second one. Her writing style turns me off. Kathryn Cottam’s ‘Echo’ felt like an outline rather than a story.

The other four stories delivered solid entertainment.

I’ve commented on each story below in the order they occur in the anthology.

ZOMBIE RUN by Jason Krumbine

Wow, what a great story to open the anthology. Jason Krumbine packed a lot into a short story and it was all good: .vivid, tense, action-packed. It was a sort of Zombie Apocalypse meets Groundhog Day. The ending was strange and unexpected but I liked it. It left me hungry for more. Just because it’s a short story doesn’t mean everything has to be neatly explained before the end. I think I’ll try out his ‘Defiance‘ series.

ECHO by Kathryn Cottam

I liked the plot. It would make a great short story. It hasn’t made a great short story yet because it reads more like an outline to get a publisher interested or a scenario pitch that may later become a script. It’s all tell and no show. And the telling is as engaging as a PowerPoint presentation on how to write fiction. There’s not a word of dialogue. I took a look at her novel ‘Bluebeard’s Bride‘ (2015). It looks fun. This made me wonder whether this story was some kind of experiment in form that I’m missing the point of..

THE DEVIL’S PUNCHBOWL by Ebony Graves

This one got a mention in the title of the anthology, so I was expecting it to be a centrepiece of the collection. It wasn’t. The plot was pedestrian – entitled white man gets his comeuppance in the form of body horror for disrespecting a site made sacred when recently emancipated slaves were imprisoned there and left to starve. The main character was a caricature. The prose read like a high school essay. I’m surprised this got included in the collection. I’m amazed that it was called out in the title.

THE KIDDIES by Sawyer Black

I liked this. An original take on the zombie apocalypose. A sort of ‘Gone‘ twist except not only have the adults gone but the toddlers are now killers. The description of a wave of mindless carnivore kiddies was both convincing and revolting. I liked the tight focus of the story as a personal journey. The ending was inspired. I’d like to read more by Sawyer Black. Even though I’m a Boomer, I’ve added his ‘Zoomers vs Boomers‘ horror novel to my Wishlist.

THIRTY MINUTES by Sean Platt

This is a clever, well-executed “What would you do?” story with a strange man offering to change a beleaguered waitresses life subject to an unusual and disturbing condition She has thirty minutes to decide what to do. This was tense, kept me guessing and left me deeply satisfied both with how the story was told and the resolution that was reached.

THE Z.O.A. by Kim M. Watt

That was fun – bloody and tense but fun. I’m enjoy Kim Watt’s books. I was curious to see what she’d write when she freed her imagination from the contratints of cosy stories. I love the result. The humour is still there. The intimidatingly ruthless old ladies are still in charge but there’s a little more chaos and a lot more blood. This is one of most ejoyable zombie stories I’ve read.

THE DEVIL’S SON by Sean Platt

From the beginning, it’s clear that something is badly wrong here. Something evil. But what? And what can or should be done about it. The answer depends on what you believe and the consequences depend on whether what you believe is true. This was tense and stimulating and I’m still in two minds about whether I have the right answer. I love that.

THE HEIRLOOM by Kathryn Cottam

Wow! That was a ride. It was dark and violent. There was child abuse, self-harm, and immolation and yet it remained a story about two sisters helping each other to survive. The supernatural element was a scary twist on a new idea. I loved that the story deviated from the “They’re doomed and nothing can help them!” trope that often makes me feel like I’m doing something creepy, like watching a dog fight, and gave me something just as scary but a little more hopeful.

Kathryn Cottam’s first story in this collection didn’t work for me. This one makes me want to read her back catalogue.

JUDGEMENT HOUSE by Ebony Graves

I didn’t make it very far into this one. The writing style doesn’t work for me. The language is clunky and overworked.

UNDERFOOT/CRAWLSPACE by B. K. Burns

An intense story told with skill. Violent and bloody but not in an exploitative way. It’s the night before Maddie’s eighteenth birthday when she’ll finally legally be an adult who can sign a lease, hold a job and take custody of her little brother. Maddie has a plan to escape from her abusive uncle. It’s a good plan but it didn’t anticipate the arrival of violent men looking for something her uncle took from them. What follows is a tense, desperate struggle for survival that had my full attention. I love how this was written:: vivid, tense and personal.

NO RETREAT by Percival Constantine

That was original and strange. I liked the suspense. The ending was a little abrupt and not entirely convincing but the idea is a good one.

ATLANTIS BLACKOUT by David W. Wright

That was intense. Action almost from the beginning. Great setting on a semi-submersible rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The situation is a sort of ‘Into The Drowning Deep’ meets ‘Alien’ but with an overlay of an abusive relationship that makes the story personal and adds even more tension.