It makes you think... [Tiny Nightmares edited by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto]

A collection of horror-inspired flash fiction, featuring over 40 new stories from literary, horror, and emerging writers—edited by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto, the twisted minds behind Tiny Crimes: Very Short Tales of Mystery and Murder.

In this playful, inventive collection, leading literary and horror writers spin chilling tales in only a few pages. Each slim, fast-moving story brings to life the kind of monsters readers love to fear, from brokenhearted vampires to Uber-taking serial killers and mind-reading witches. But what also makes Tiny Nightmares so bloodcurdling—and unforgettable—are the real-world horrors that writers such as Samantha Hunt, Brian Evenson, Jac Jemc, Stephen Graham Jones, Lilliam Rivera, Kevin Brockmeier, and Rion Amilcar Scott weave into their fictions, exploring how global warming, racism, social media addiction, and homelessness are just as frightening as, say, a vampire’s fangs sinking into your neck. Our advice? Read with the hall light on and the bedroom door open just a crack.

Featuring new stories from Samantha Hunt, Jac Jemc, Stephen Graham Jones, Rion Amilcar Scott, and more!

The one thing I'd like to say is that I'm looking now looking forward to the more expanded works from several of the writers included in this collection of short stories. But I don't know that I honestly can. Edited by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto, Tiny Nightmares is a puzzling read. For me the quality of individual stories ebbed and flowed. Some stories creeped and horrified with the realities of their horrors and the extreme potentials. Others were so abstract I was left confused, without a sense of story. Formats were experimental - text message conversations, shifting narrators, choose-your-own-adventure structures. 

I enjoyed a majority of the short stories, but I can't say any left such a lasting impression on me that I was inspired to find more from a respective author's body of work to read. Maybe vaguely the stories will stay with me. Maybe I should (actually I plan to) take note of included authors so that when their names next pass my eyes or ears I at least stop and go, hmm, that sounds familiar. But I think this was a fun, little anthology that at least made you think. 4 stars from me.

Tiny Nightmares is due for publication October 13, 2020.