Book Review: "Tales to Terrify" by PD Thompson

So you guys know how much I love a good independent horror anthology right? Well, it's even better now because at the time of writing this it is mid-September, which of course means that it's only a few weeks away from Halloween! Tales to Terrify was a book I got on my phone for free and I didn't really know what to expect. I don't know who P.D Thompson is, I didn't know what to think about some of the stories upon first read but the more I got into it, the happier it made me. So get prepped for another 'I am very happy for reading this and it made me grin like an idiot' review. Whoever P.D Thompson is, I would like to thank them - this was awesome in all the best ways.

The opening story, The Lurker, focuses on the same sort of thing as the 'Mothman' legend. Our narrator is looking out of his window and can see someone watching him, but he can't see the eyes. The worst part about it for him isn't even the watching, it's what happens when the person in the darkness starts getting closer. Yes, it moves and edges closer like that one episode of Doctor Who which scared the crap out of so many children. It's so simply written as well. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it and boy, did I not see that ending coming either - what even was that?

Another story I enjoyed was called Nine Lives. It is about a man who lives a fairly unassuming life, especially after the love of his life killed herself by jumping from a bridge right in front of him. He writes under a pseudonym and so, he can separate himself somewhat from his job as a mid-range romance author. Rejecting any form of psychiatric diagnosis for possible schizophrenia, he thinks about it for some time and realises he needs something more in his life. No, it's not a cat - even though the story is titled Nine Lives. It is the taking of nine lives. He is going to go on a random killing spree and nine people need to die. He cuts out newspapers to send messages to the police in a way that I can only relate to those weird messages that Bruce Wayne gets from the Riddler in Batman Forever. Honestly, the story was genuinely brilliant because again, you don't really see the ending coming - and what you think is the ending isn't really the ending.

Another story which was a little more sardonic than horrific that I enjoyed was called The Neighbourhood Has Gone to Hell. It is about a family that lives in a seemingly nice neighbourhood but they are next door to a bunch of cultish crazy people who make everyone's lives a living hell. Every Sunday, the crazy cult family rings church bells first thing in the morning, they sing loudly for hours and piss everyone off. They claim that they ring the bells for Jesus and so, our narrator decides to get his own back. He steals their goat - which he thinks they were planning to sacrifice in some weird ceremony. Other people in the town confirm his judgement - the family next door are strange and anti-social. He sees the husband carrying around a weapon. He learns of their son who is going to be released from prison and convinces his wife to watch from the bedroom window as a weird fire-ritual is performed. What he doesn't know is that there is something much darker here and there might actually be a reason the people next door are the way they are. God knows, someone needs Jesus. I absolutely loved how darkly comic this story was. It has a sarcastic and almost sardonic undertone which made it stand out amongst the other stories in the anthology.

The queen doesn't believe the palace is haunted but must save face, a strange town leaves a couple unable to escape it as there are no children, no phones and not even a single car in sight and the prince of darkness has a written communication with the earthly world. This anthology is full of great scares and atmospheric writing. But one thing I loved is that the stories were genuinely interesting to read.