Nothing Good Happens After Midnight: A Suspense Magazine Anthology - Various - ★★★.¾

AUTHORS: Various

GENRE: Suspense Anthology

PUBLICATION DATE: November 17, 2020

RATING: 3.75 stars.

I love short story anthologies. Creating an impact within a few thousand words is such a difficult job and only a really talented writer can master this art. So when you see the writers' credits on this book with Jeffrey Deaver as the editor, you know you're in for a treat.

"Nothing going to happen after midnight" is a suspense anthology, with every story having one thing in come: it deals with things that happen after midnight. Jeffrey Deaver describes the book in his introduction as a "volume of suspense stories describing incidents of the curious, the eerie, the disturbed, the violent that occur in that netherworld after the witching hour..." The stories are pretty distinct from each other in the type of thrill they offer. You get a suspense thriller, an atmospheric thriller, a horror thriller, a psychological thriller, a police procedural, .... So you never quite know what to expect from the next story. However this also leads to some disappointment. As some of the stories are quite slow-paced because of their plot structure, they are quite drab to read, especially if they come after a pacy, nerve-wrecking one.

As each of the thirteen stories is by a different author, I'll begin by the individual reviews. I found the following stories fabulous.

CELL PHONE INTOLERANT: I found myself actually empathising with the lead character of this story. Maybe you'll discover a bit of your deep dark desires in him too. Read it to know why!

ALL ABOARD: Not much thrilling as it is interesting. A casual overheard conversation leads to an amusing outcome. This was a fun read that builds up thrill in a very different way.

GONE FOREVER: One of the best stories in the book, this talks of the aftermath of a mass murder. The suspense is unveiled in the course of the police investigation, so it amps up the shock factor by not telling you much at the start and slowly revealing what happened.

NIGHT SHIFT: A newspaperman on the night shift receives a call from a person saying that he will be going in a killing spree the next day. What would you do if you were in that journalist's place? Unlike what you think, most of the action in this story takes place on the phone and yet it is captivatingly done.

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF DEATH: A midnight party in the cemetery goes drastically wrong for a group of teenagers. It takes the classic popular kids vs. geeks tussle and adds a scary effect to the same. Good story in idea, could have been better in execution. But a nice read nonetheless.

A CREATIVE DEFENSE: This is sheer brilliance in writing. If you ever consider an anthology worth a read for a single story, then this is that story. You won't be able to let this story go long after you complete it. I'm not revealing anything more about this story. Just read it!

AFTER MIDNIGHT: A story in two distinct parts, this one offers a retake of Cinderella in two different time settings. While not thrilling in the conventional sense, the story is still gripping enough.

TONIC: Heard of people who would do anything, literally anything, for money? Well, you have a whole bunch of them in this story. The plot is quick and the twist is shocking.

ATM: One thing I definitely didn't expect in this book is a sweet story. But that's what ATM was to me. It has suspense, yes, but nothing of the scary or apprehensive kind. I loved this "fantastic" story.

Everyone knows that in an anthology, not all the stories would be at the same level. I consider a short story collection worth reading if it has at least 75% interesting stories. This book has 9 great stories, just about making the cut. So it's definitely worth reading. As long as you remember that every story offers a different kind of suspense, you'll enjoy going through a book where much happens only after midnight.

**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review and the above opinion is completely mine and completely honest.**