A forged mask that communicates with the dead, a cable repairman called to investigate an empty field…or so he thinks, a father-son DIY project not quite working as intended, an excavation going horribly awry, and a blacksmith called to do the bidding of an old god.
An unfortunate series of events, indeed…
These infernal souls, and many others, are all part of the Fear Forge—the first edition of Horrorsmith Publishing’s debut anthology series. It features tales told of cursed smelters, haunted crafted objects, and the degradation of relationships forged within the fires of vengeance. For these authors, fear has forged with the mundane, turning simple rings, rockers, and candles into ravenous blacksmiths of destiny that have doomed us all.
Featured Authors:
Alex Reid – “Iron”
Alexa K. Moon – “Find a Penny, Pick It Up”
Andre E. Harewood – “Life Masks”
C. M. Forest – “Born of Death”
D. W. Hitz – “The Trophy”
D. W. Gillespie – “Mostly Alone”
Eddie Generous – “The Chosen Sword”
E. L. Giles – “A Eulogy of Love, Blood, and Iron”
Edmund Stone – “Emily”
Garrett Rowlan – “Death Whisperer”
J-F. Dubeau – “The Ozymandias Crucible”
Jennifer Claywood – “The Art of Fear”
John Kiste – “The Darwell Curse”
Justin Boote – “Forging a Partnership”
Michael H. Hanson – “The Forge”
Nat Whiston – “Lock and Key”
R. C. Hausen – “Nowa Kuznia”
Simon J. Plant – “Grandy’s Rocker”
Theresa Jacobs – “The Sculpture”
Thomas K. S. Wake – “Vestiges of Humanity”
Tim Borella – “Serasthes”
George Jacobs – “The Pit of Heaven”
Dark bleatings, my beloved tribe! I have an anthology from Horrorsmith Publishing for you today. It was submitted to me *quite* some time back and it might be taking me a while to catch up, but by the power of the Almighty Horned One, I’m finally catching up!
I enjoyed many of the stories in this book, and some not so much, as is the case with most anthologies. I think the mark of a good selection of stories is that there’s something in there for everyone, and not necessarily that everything has to be for every reader, so overall I think it succeeds as a worthwhile read. I have some mad enthusiastic ravings, but let me quickly get my one criticism out of the way first.
I don’t think I like the theme as a theme for a whole collection of stories – let me explain. I’ve submitted to ghost, vampire, and zombie anthologies, as well as some with truly weird and bizarre themes (such as “must be an interpretation of The Great Flood” or “must be about organ donation…. somehow”. I quite enjoy themes but as someone who has worked on an anthology, it is an unbelievably difficult task for the editor. One of the trickiest things I found while going through the second round of submissions for a ghost-themed anthology I worked on was that there were loads of absolutely brilliant stories but unfortunately, many of them revolved around the same type of plot (for example, we had four or five amazing ghost detective stories that all deserved to be in the book, but then the book would have been too samey so we had to ultimately reject four of them).
I did find that in places, this anthology felt a bit samey sometimes, especially when it came to stories about actual forges. I admit that I – very unfairly to the authors – formed a sort of subconscious bias to stories about forges after reading a couple of them. Those plots quickly became a hard sell. I am very sorry for that – I didn’t really realise I was becoming increasingly difficult to please until I finished the book.
However, there were some AMAZING stories from authors that used the theme very creatively, and like I said, overall I did enjoy this. So, here are my Top 3 favourites!
LOCK AND KEY by Nat Whiston
What a bloody beast of a story! I’ve found myself saying this a few times recently, but honestly – the Clive Barker-esque feel of this one! A guy with problems sleeping because he’s plagued by terrible nightmares finds someone who promises – through extremely unusual methods – that they can rid him of his sleep woes. All he has to do is step through a door….
The story just kept getting bigger and bigger, the details unravelling in such a perfectly-paced way. Can’t talk about the ending because of spoilers, but holy crap – I LOVED IT.
FORGING A PARTNERSHIP by Justin Boote
Hehehehehehehe. What a deliciously karmic tale. A serial killer, who is also a blacksmith, disposes of his victims by burning their bodies. But it appears, he realises AFTER burning a particular body, that he picked the wrong victim this time. Absolutely brilliant.
MOSTLY ALONE by D.W. Gillespie
A guy lives in a house that’s haunted by many ghosts. It’s a family home that has been passed down a few generations, and the conscientious former residents kept a book with details about all the ghosts, ready to hand down to the next person. This is one of the most unique stories in the anthology.
As usual with an anthology, this one gave me some awesome new (to me) authors to keep an eye on!
If you’d like to get your hands on a copy or check out the publishers, there are some links below for you:
Happy Goat Horror 
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