Happy Goat Horror

Does time heal all, or does it just repeat itself time and time again? Only time will tell. Travel through time with this star-studded line up featuring nine chilling stories of horror through the ages.

Dark bleatings, my timeless tribe! Got a little snack of an anthology for you today, let’s skip right in!

Cody – by Jared Grace (1800’s)

What a great opener! The story of Annabelle meeting her true love when he saves a child, by shooting someone. When he tells her why he carries a gun, he scares her with a story about a hideous beast that killed someone dear to him. Besides the terrifying description of the beast – it sincerely made me joyful because it freaked me out! – I loved this story because I can’t stop thinking about it. I wish I could tell you more but I’d be spoiling it, but there are layers to this one. Great horror story on several levels.

Earth Stood Hard As Iron, Water Like a Stone – by DE McCluskey (1900-1920’s)

Great story. A wealthy man commissions an infamous artist to create a very particular piece, in “dedication” to his wife, and the powerful men that enjoy watching her. The title of this anthology, Timeless, is particularly effective in the case of this story, since it seems to be about the eternal hypocrisy shared by the most powerful. The men change, but their attitudes never seem to. TW for some racist (in context) language.

Bottles and Bruises – by Laura Bilodeau (1920’s-1940’s)

A group of rebellious women, sick of the treatment they endure from men, decide to take a bunch of them out, including their husbands. Do they get away with it? You’ll have to read to find out!

Clockwork – by D.L. Winchester (1940-1960’s)

What a weird story! I think it quite accurately captures the emerging fear of technology through this time period, even if the technology in question is analogue clocks. Eli, a former military service member, works in a clock-making factory, and things take a weird turn when a clock that can’t possibly exist turns up. It was fun and I had no idea where it was going.

What a Trip – by David Hardy (1960-1970’s)

I really liked the concept for this one and did mostly enjoy how the story was told. It’s not a favourite because there’s some sexual stuff that I found really crass (but if you know me, you know I’m an insane prude when I’m reading). I was a bit confused at the end but this was an entertaining story about the perils of mixing drug trials and recreational drugs.

Amaze Your Friends, Terrify Your Enemies – by Brennan LaFaro (1970-1980’s)

What a great story. Arnie, a school kid, has a dreaded “show and tell” coming up in class, and he doesn’t want to be embarrassed by bringing in something boring. More than that, there’s a girl he wants to impress and a boy he wants to get even with. With the aid of something that promises a “real” ghost, ordered off the Internet, Arnie comes up with a plan…

Great set up, believable characters, and a satisfying and spooky ending.

What’s to Come – by Rob Bilodeau (1990-2000’s)

This story depicts the road from curious kid to cold-blooded killer, and I found it a tough read because it involves animal suffering. I mean, it does also include human suffering, but I’m more prone to getting very upset about a cat’s murder than a person’s. Am I okay?!

My Last Day at Willow Creek High – by William Joseph (2000-2020’s)

Major gun violence TW because this is about a school shooting. We follow Mary through this horrific ordeal, but there’s more to it than the already horrifying premise. This is one of my favourites in the anthology.

The Beating Heart of Colony Three – by Timothy King (3000’s)

Aliens meets The Ruins in this futuristic scifi-horror, and it’s a great time! I burst out laughing in the first paragraph because Mormons were mentioned and I have JUST seen The Book of Mormon, so I kept reading the dialogue as song verses. I snapped out of that pretty quickly when the horror ensued though.

Overall, I think this is a good read. I enjoyed all of the stories and very much enjoyed the theme. As we move through different decades, the authors did a great job of capturing their specific time frames in their characters and themes.

If you’d like to check it out for yourself, I’ve popped a link below for you:

TIMELESS

Bleeeat!