Babbling Into The Void

I've been on a bit of a fantasy kick lately, and I'm always on the hunt for new horror, so the premise of a collection of horror-meets-sword-and-sorcery stories leapt out at me. Despite what seems a straightforward setup, there is a huge variety of story in Swords in the Shadows -  in tone, setting, genre, and quality. I love short story collections for just this reason - the diversity, the sense of turning over the page to something completely new. So let's jump in to some of these stories. It shouldn't be any surprise that Hailey Piper's story, Wolfen Divine , is a standout. This is writing on another level. These few pages are crammed full of evocative worldbuilding, compelling action, a masterful character sketch, explorations of predation, survival, and love in desperate circumstances - suffused with tension and culminating in an anguishing emotional climax. Stephen Graham Jones is a writer that (shamefully) I've not read for all that I've heard about h