Spread: Tales of Deadly Flora - Edited by R.A. Clarke - ★★★.¾

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EDITOR: R.A. Clarke
GENRE: Dark Speculative Fiction Anthology.
RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: An anthology of ten stories about botanical horror. Think plants going crazy in a horrifying way! Enjoyed this wild ride.

This anthology of ten stories comes with an uncommon theme. We have seen tales where animals go rogue and turn against humans. But how many times have we seen plants and trees given the same “active agent” role and offering humans a taste of their own medicine? We consider only fauna when we think about other living beings; flora is always ignored. Not anymore. 

The editor’s note at the beginning lists the system the book uses for trigger warnings – very helpful. The foreword by horror-thriller writer Holly Rae Garcia offers the right introduction for this collection. I love how she didn’t shy away from naming her favourite stories, because most guest writers toe the line and praise every story equally. This candid approach is so much better! 

Not all of the stories are set on earth. However, all of them involve some or the other element from the plant world, whether leaves or spores or trees or even protists such as algae. The genre is speculative fiction rooted in horror, so most of the stories have an underlying sound of dread and threat. These aren’t horror in the paranormal sense but in that slowburn feel of impending doom. 

I enjoyed the variety of the stories. Though the theme was common, the approach of the authors made many of the stories a delight to read. Not all of them end the happy way, but all of them definitely end in the most suitable way for their plotlines. 

As always, I rated the stories individually. Half of the ten stories reached or crossed the four star mark, while most of the rest were around the three star point. In other words, almost all the stories were either good or great. The path taken by a few of them is guessable but that doesn’t spoil the fun. 

FWIW, I compared notes with the foreword after I completed the collection. All of Garcia's top four titles were in my list as well. These were my favourites: 
🌱 Black Thumb - Alyssa Beatty: Such an imaginative premise that is wacky and yet feels real. Creepy, curious, captivating! - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

🌱 Seedling - Katie Ess: A dystopia that is so farfetched and yet feels believable. Dual timeline used to great effect. Unsettling from start to end. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

🌱 Blood & Thorns: A Family - Andrea Goyan: A complicated saga exploring mother-daughter relations in an unusual way. Loved the imaginativeness and the bittersweet ending. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

🌱 Tears of Green - Alex Grehy: Another dystopian story, almost as equally creepy as ‘Seedling’. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟

🌱 The Bubble - R.A. Clarke: One of the creepiest stories in the book. I simply didn’t want to continue reading this because it felt so claustrophobic! - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫


Definitely recommended to fans of speculative short fiction. You might start looking at your plants with a little more respect (and possibly, a little more fear) after reading this book. 😁

3.7 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each tale. 

My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, Page Turn Press, and editor Rachel Clarke for a complimentary copy of 'Spread: Tales of Deadly Flora', and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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Blurb: 

GREEN THUMBS BEWARE! Plants are beautiful, peaceful, abundant, and life-sustaining...

But what if something sinister took root in the soil, awakening to unleash slashing thorns, squeezing vines, or haunting greenery that lured you in? Perhaps blooms on distant planets could claim your heart, hitch a ride to Earth on a meteor, or simply poison you with their essence. Imagine a world where scientists produced our own demise in a lab, set spores free to infect, even bred ferns to be our friends only to witness the privilege perverted. When faced with botanical terror, will humanity fight to survive, or will they curl and wither like leaves in the fall?

Read ten speculative tales ripe with dangerous flora to find out.

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Website: www.pageturnpress.com

Instagram: @pageturnpress

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Check out this book:

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This has been a stop on the #SpreadTalesOfDeadlyFlora blog tour conducted by Rachel's Random Resources. (@rararesources) Thanks for stopping by!


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Want some other interesting books with trees and plants in an active role? Try these:

🌳 Jeremy Ray’s The Houseplant – A lovely short story from a houseplant’s perspective. A must read.

🌳 The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak – Honestly, I didn’t like this as much as I had expected, but the historical details are excellent.

🌳 The Lightning Tree by Lene Fogelberg - First in a series about nature taking revenge against humans. Fascinating concept but better for YA readers.

🌳Fractured Oak by Dannie Boyd – An amazing dual narrative mystery. Strongly recommend this one.

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