LOGAN VS. NEED

Logan reviews Ruth Anna Evans’ new horror anthology of stories you NEED in order to exist!

TITLE: NEED: Horror Stories You Can’t Live Without. 

AUTHOR: Multiple Authors

GENRE: Horror Anthology

PAGES: 216

FORMAT: E-book

PRICE: $3.99 e-book pre-order.

To Need? There are a lot of things that fall into this well of feeling. Needing is not undying wanting. It is not an inkling of being. Need is raw and powerful. It is an overwhelming necessity, completely absolute. You need water and food. You don’t need an iPhone. It can be lived without, this cannot be said for needs.

This was the premise and theme of Ruth Ann Evans’ new Anthology NEED: Horror Stories You Can’t Live Without. In this tome Ruth has collected a wide arrangement of stories, spanning different sub-genres of horror. All of them pack a punch, and leave you with a feeling of dread, that fills you with darkness. Leaving you haunted by the stories long after they’re gone. 

Some of the stories are from well-known names that are easy to recognize. Clay McLeod Chapman, Judith Sonnet, and Mark Townes being the most prevalent, and they came in swinging.

Clay’s story a mask of me examines the need of a teenage boy to be like everyone else. 

Judith’s, We Do Without plunges you into a zombie apocalypse and examines two brothers that will do anything for each other. Even one last home horror movie.

Marks Evergreen Terrance shows a man’s unquenchable need for another person. Showing the darkness such things can lead us to.

Along with them are some rising stars such as Tyler Downs with Agreeable Grey. The story is a throat punch of what addiction can be, and how people mask. 

There are also some newer names that have written some fantastic stories for this collection. 

First being Rebecca Burgess, her story is a fantastic representation of an OCD like need. Pick is the first story I read from her. It is incredibly well written and really hits the anxiety one can feel.

Next Sunflower by R.S. Mott really grabbed me. I never thought someone could write a horror story from the perspective of flowers, but this was utterly terrifying. 

Same can be said with Maryann Chappell’s “Jackster” the use of the perspective of a cat was incredible. I was genuinely scared for the cat and could never imagine the same thing happening to my three cats.

The last two that stuck with me were Going Live by A.C. Hessenauer, and Hey, Katie by Justin Hunter. Both were incredibly well written, and both broke my heart.  Both exemplified an almost passive need, and the twists at the end of each will rip your heart out. 

I wish I could go over every story in the Anthology in detail, but that would take me all day. 

Ruth has put together an incredible set of stories. Each will make you think of the needs in your life in a whole different light. 

Check out these fantastic stories on June 10th, just be warned there will be fear, and it will make you question what you really want.

Logan Patrick has earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, and author of The Disappearing of Three Forks, and has been included in the Horrorzine. As well as a collection, Marked: Tales of S.T.A.N.G.E., Logan has a background in theater, from acting to directing. As well as a play that is still in development.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.