Before I found this in Waterstones, I'd read a couple of Thana's short stories and found them positively Bradburyesque. That's a major compliment in my eyes. I was actually priveleged to land a story of mine in the same collection as Thana - 9th Black Book of Horror Stories. Her's is possibly my favourite in that book.
There are no real stand out stories in this collection. I say that for the best possible reason. Out of the 16 stories in this book, there's not a bad or even a mediocre one in there. This is a consistently excellent collection.
The Curtain - This feels like the opening chapter of an amazing underwater creaturee novel. I really wanted to read more, wanted to read about the beast turning against the small village cut off from civilisation by the storms. Unfortunately, this is only a short story. Maybe the novel could happen in time - hint hint Thana
The Coal Man - A rather unique childhood bogeyman returns to haunt our central character. The source of the bogey and the revelation of the deeply hidden family secrets are as shocking and scary as the presence itself.
Antlers - This has some truly nightmarish imagery. This is no longer Bradburyesque and has become much more visceral and unpleasant than Bradbury ever went. And that's a good thing. House hunting turns into a terrifying ordeal for a young woman. This story really creeped me out. My only objection would be that I find it difficult to sympathise with characters who say they don't like cats.
The Cutting Room Floor - Things take a serious turn into gore terrirtory in this story. A kink/fetish model accepts a job that goes further than she's ever gone before. But it's not blood and guts for the sake of it. Thana puts us dead centre in the mind of our lead character, making this a truly nightmarish read.
Ultrasond Shadow - My jaw literally dropped when I reached the end of this story. We hear the account of a pregnancy gone about as horribly wrong as you could imagine. The iages at the end of this are truly insane and a fantastic take on a hoary old idea.
The Death of Dreams - this one takes a sci/fi fantasy turn. A machine that can read people's dreams makes life for a living nightmare when their nighttime thoughts are made public. The ending is grtim indeed.
The Pier - I certainly don't want to take a trip down this pier at any time of day or night. Thana shows us she can give us as cionvincing a male protagonist as she has done with the ladies who've been front and centre for the rest of the book so far.
The Scouring - some more impressively grim imagery in this one. A woman takes her young son to see the white horse carved in the hillside. It's a decision she soon regrets. The local legends tell strange tales about this white horse. But they couldn't possibly be true could they?
A Time of Choice - Is it giving too much away to compare this to a particularly famous Angela Carter story - in theme at least? An unusual coming of age story, that probably has the closest thing to a happy ending in the entire book. Still impressively nasty.
Pigs - A pair of illicit lovers taking a walk in the hills take shelter in an old shack when they're caught in a freak rainstorm. This is probably the most unpleasant story in the book. Good stuff. Almost enough to put me off my bacon sandwich later, But not quite.
Strange Games - This one is much more subtle and psychological than the preceding stories and demonstrates that Thana has an impressive range to the fears she can evoke.
Bruised Fruit - another dose of body horror. A woman begins starving herself after she thinks she's been infected/infested with something by her sister in law. The whole process of starvation feels very very real. This is an incredibly intense bit of writing.
White Roses, Bloody Silk - and now it's time for some period horror of a diferent variety from one of the earlier stories. The style switches to a Victorian comedy, but with a grim edge that becomes grimmer as the story moves on. The image on the front of the book does not do this story justice.
Stolen To Time - We're almost in Jonathan Carroll territory in this story. A model finds herself losing her memories the more she's photographed. Eerie and wonderful storytelling.
And finally - the title story - From Hell to Eternity - a modern take on the Jack the Ripper tale. gory and fun with a pretty good twist to the tale. A fine way to finish the book - almost.
We also have some fascinating story notes on the origin of each of these stories.
One of the best single author collections I've read in a long while. I hear she has a novel coming out soon so I will certainly be getting my grubby hands on that. The only complaint I have about this book is that the font choice on the ToC is too big and looks a bit amateurish.
An easy 8/10 for this collection.
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