Listen: The Sound of Fear - Edited by Elizabetta McKay

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Editor: Elizabetta McKay

Genre: Horror/Thriller Anthology
Rating: 3.2 stars.

A collection of ten stories special for three reasons:

1. Each is written by a trans/non-binary author.

2. Each focusses on the impact fearful “sound” can have. As the blurb says, the stories “explore the chilling, perplexing, terrifying nature of sound.”

3. Each supposedly belongs to the horror/thriller genre, thus making it a Halloween-suitable read.

The first two points impressed me. As a result of the authors’ orientation, it comes as no surprise that the stories are LGBTQ friendly and cover strong themes such as gender dysphoria.

Further, as the title indicates, each main character “listens” to “the sound of fear”. Every story involves some or the other sound, ranging from the mundane to the creepy to the outright eerie. I simply loved how sound is explored in this anthology, and how it isn’t forced into the content but is a natural part of the narrative. The “sounds” explored are also quite varied and go much beyond ghostly moans and howls.

The final point – the stories being “horror” or “thriller” ones – is where I was somewhat disappointed. I am no horror lover, and as a result, pick up this genre only when it comes in tiny instalments such as flash fiction or short stories or novellas. Regardless of the length, I still expect to be somewhat spooked if not scared out of my wits. When it comes to thrillers, I expect to be kept on tenterhooks while reading and to be blown away by the revelations at the end. None of this happened often in this anthology.

Horror/thriller means different things to different readers. To me, a good horror/thriller story is one that makes me go "What the heck!" at least once without grossing me out. (I don’t like unjustified gore. I am okay with it only when needed for the story.) I also enjoy it when I blaze through the story due to its sheer thrill/fear factor and am left hanging for more at the end. Only three stories matched up to these criteria. A couple of the stories were fabulous but they hardly met my definition of horror; they were more like dramatic fiction with a teeny sprinkling of fantastical elements that didn’t even scare.

On the positive side, there is a detailed list of content warnings at the start of the book. In addition, each story comes with its separate list of warnings. This approach is very helpful if you want to choose the tales to read based on your comfort factor.

As always, I rated the stories individually. These were my favourites:
  • Kill Your Darlings - Ridley Harker – Chilling and thrilling! The only story in the anthology that had me at the edge of my seat throughout. Docked off half a star as it was a bit too sexually explicit for my liking. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
  • Exhibition - Lauren Jane Barnett – Spooky to the core! Can't believe you left me dangling at the end like that, dear author! How could you? - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
  • Holy Water - A.R. Vale – A well-developed story. A better, more complete ending would have made it a 5 star for me. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
I want to make a special mention of:
  • Her Little Joke - Eule Grey - Too long for this collection and not scary enough, but a fascinating story nonetheless. Stories that make me laugh automatically disqualify themselves as horror/thrillers in my eyes. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟 as a light-hearted dramatic story, 🌟🌟 as a horror/thriller.
  • Bride of Brine - E.E.W. Christman – A well-written slowburn drama, almost functions like a noir. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟 as a dramatic fantasy, 🌟🌟 as a horror/thriller.
I only counted the horror/thriller stars for my average as that was the official intent of the anthology after all.

Allow me to repeat: horror/thriller means different things to different readers. So it is quite possible that this anthology might click better with you. It is an indie publication, and also an #OwnVoices work. It deserves support and readership. If you are looking for an unusual horror collection this Halloween, do give this a try.

3.2 stars, based on the average of my rating for each story.

My thanks to the authors and BookSirens for the DRC of “Listen: The Sound of Fear”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

PS: Don’t you just love that cover? It’s mind-blowing in its details! Each element on the cover links to a specific story. Thus all the tales are represented there. Kudos to the cover designer!

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