I've really come to love anthology books over the last couple of years. They feel like they're quicker to read than full length novels, they usually have a great variety to them, and they can help you discover new readers. One of the best things about anthology books is that they tend to present a range of different authors. This will mean that if there's a particular story or style that you just don't get along with you'll probably find the next story in the book to be different enough to be an improvement. When you come to an anthology that is all from the same author, however, I sometimes get a little worried. I mean, what if I don't like their style or way of writing? That's a whole lot of short stories that could end up being not my kind of thing.
When I came to Jon Richter's Disturbing Works I did have a little trepidation. Not only was this an anthology all from one writer, but one that I've never read before. But I shouldn't have worried one bit. Not only is this easily one of the best anthologies I've ever read, but it's very firmly in my top ten books of the year so far.
As the title may suggest, the stories included in this collection are disturbing, all of them having some kind of horror element to them. What really surprised me the most, however, is how each story seems to draw upon a different type of horror theme; and how they varied so much that I could have easily thought that they came from very different minds. It doesn't take the whole book to realise that Jon Richter is an incredibly talented writer, one that's able to slip into these different styles with ease and produce incredible quality.
'The Pit' is the first of ten stories offered in this collection, and very quickly sets a tone for the whole book. Set in a town where the local council is in negotiations with striking refuse collectors, the town has descended into a toxic nightmare of rubbish and rot. Uncollected waste sits in the streets, decomposing around peoples homes and workplaces. Whilst people have begun to throw their rubbish in the local quarry, nicknamed the pit, it's not doing much to halt the spread of disease and infection. The story is gross. Richter manages to create an atmosphere that's so disgustingly real that even reading it makes you feel a little dirty, almost like you've been infected through the pages. As the story goes on more disturbing things begin to be revealed to the reader, and it makes you truly hope that your own town never has to go through anything like this.
'Polaris' is a great little monster horror story that reminded me a little bit of 'The Thing'. Set at an abandoned mining station in Antarctica, it's filled with creepy atmosphere and haunting visuals as a small group of explorers attempt to track down a mysterious creature that has been killing local wildlife. Despite not getting long with the core cast of characters they're very quickly and very clearly defined, consisting of a pilot, a tracker, a hunter, and a cryptozoologist. The story relies on slow burn and mounting tension rather than in your face horror, and this makes it one of the creepiest stories in the book. As the story progresses we get a few answers as to what might be happening on this remote island, but never get any definitive answers. By the end of the story I was so fascinated with this thing hunting the main characters and just wanted to know more. Of all the stories in this collection this is the one that I wanted longer with. Not just more to this story, but a whole book to itself. Hopefully this could be something that Richter will revisit one day in the future.
'Leviathan' tells an intriguing period piece, written through a series of journal entries. It follows a reporter who has been assigned to follow a record breaking deep sea diving attempt, where a scientist and a rich explorer are attempting to descend deep beneath the ocean in a new submersible. The change in writing style, to one written in journal form, reminded me of Victorian era stories such as 'Dracula', 'Frankenstein', and even a little bit of Sherlock Holmes. 'Leviathan', however, is set later than this, in the mid 1930's. Because of this setting and the focus on travelling beneath the ocean, and the prevalence of tentacled sea creatures, it did bring a little bit of Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos to mind. I really enjoyed this story thanks to these nods to other literary styles and settings, and found its slow burn thriller style approach to be incredibly engaging.
Many of the stories in this collection felt like takes on some of the best known horror themes and tropes, and 'Endurance' was quickly identifiable as Jon Richter's version of 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' or 'Wrong Turn'. Set during an extreme endurance race around a remote mountain, the lead character finds themselves stumbling into the territory of a group of frightening mountain folk. Very much in the vein of the films previously mentioned, they're mutilated, twisted versions of humanity out to hunt, kill, and eat their fellow man for no other reason other than their personal endurance. Despite not being a particularly likeable lead, the battle for survival overrides what comes before, and leads you to start actively rooting for someone who just pages before seemed like a complete arse hole.
These are just a few of the stories presented in the book, and some that jumped out at me as being particularly good. Despite highlighting these ones, I would say that every single on of the ten stories presented here are equally as good. The quality of writing is consistent throughout, with engaging and varied characters, interesting themes and settings, and interesting takes on some of the best loved horror stories. I'm confident in saying that if you like horror this book will definitely make you happy. There may be some stories that you like more than others, but Id find it hard to believe that any of them would fail to keep you entertained. Luckily, there's a whole other volume like this one that I haven't read, but will definitely be checking out now.
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