Dark Furies is an anthology of stories about strong women and the supernatural horrors they face. While the concept lends itself to Buffy: The Vampire Slayer pastiches, this volume mostly avoids that tendency and remains an intriguing mix of horror and fantasy fiction.

There are several truly fine, fun and spooky stories by writers such as James Chambers, Adam Knave, Jan Ruhk, Rose Fox, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, and Patrick Thomas. While it might be fun, dissecting them all is not a task for a review of this nature. I, however, was especially struck by two of the stories and will concentrate on them.

Michael Amorel's "Trapped in Remission" is a story that lingers, much like the tale's antagonist. A mix of shamanism and science, this story poses a researcher facing a deadly flesh eating disease, which may actually be supernaturally aware. At times sad, profound and terrifying, this story proves to be the most effective tale in the anthology.

On the other hand, CJ Henderson's "Bring More!", proves to be the most off-beat and hilarious story. When a pair of real estate men, who specialize in picking up haunted properties, stumble onto some serious spooky problems in the town of Providence, they soon discover that their own efforts are sorely lacking. Soon, they uncover the truth: The bad tidings in Providence may very well pose the end of the world as we know it, and they decide to call in their big gun. Can a plucky Chinese fortune-teller convince an unhappy though talented chef to triumph? I dare not reveal the ending.

The greatest treat of an anthology is that, much as that hoary advice from Winston Groom's most famous character advises us, "you never know what you're going to get." Should a morsel prove to be either too sweet or bitter for our taste buds, it is an easy enough task to press through to the next.

Dark Furies is a fine anthology, which offers a wide variety of story types. While a few of the flavors offered were not my preference (I might go so far as to call two of the offerings 'stinkers'), the truly good stories were each worth double the price of admission. This volume is a must have for fans of the many shades of darkness.

Dark Furies, edited by Vincent Sneed
262 pages
Die Monster Die Books
Released August, 2005

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