New Review! Eye of Fear Anthology, 4 Cranky Stars

This book is a collection of eight short stories, which explores the root of man’s fear. There was a time in my life when I used to watch suspense/horror films all the time and thoroughly enjoyed being scared out of my own skin. But I’ve always shied away from horror books because watching horror visualised by another person is completely different to reading it and letting your own mind create an image of what horrors it can produce. There is nothing more horrific than one’s own imagination at times.

When I picked up this book, I thought it was going to be about monsters or beings that strike fear. Man, was I wrong. It was worse than that! It’s more about personal fears, one’s own deep dark horrors. There is nothing worse than one’s own mind and man’s greatest enemy: man. Yep, we don’t fear animals, we don’t fear natural disasters, we don’t fear the unknown…we fear what other men can do to us or what we think they are capable of doing to us. It’s twisted and absolutely terrifying.

Experimental – this one is just wrong. I want to say s*ck but review sites might not allow the word. When I started reading it, I kept waiting for what was going to happen next. Waiting…waiting…then boom! Then…what? That’s just s*ck! I hated it but I loved it as well! It was the PERFECT start to the anthology.

The First Step – this one drew me in. I ached for Adele and hoped she would finally recover from the worst PTSD, which was brought about by an event straight out of a nightmare. I cheered her on when she finally took the first step to recovery and thanked the fates for that special someone who took her hand to guide her to the right path…then WHAM! A plot twist killed me! Man! I did not see that coming!

A Mind’s Undoing – this one broke my heart. As a wife and a mother…it-just-broke-me. Worryingly, I probably would have done the same thing.

Mark of Deceit – after the first three stories, this one threw me off. Didn’t exactly run the same wavelength as the previous ones, in my opinion AND it had a happy ending. More of a suspense/espionage short. Well-written but kinda veered off the theme a bit.

Unreal – this one took me back on track. The mystery of science mixing with human psyche always boggles my mind. How far would you go to get rid of your phobia? Would you subject yourself to this?

Jezebel’s Embrace – this one is similar to the second story in a way that it drew me in and made me wish for a better life for the main character. I was rooting for her to overcome her troubles until finally she found a better life for herself. Then like a sucker, a plot twist killed me again! Which one is real? One should think I’ve learned my lesson by now (smh).

Heaven’s Hell – this is a sad little story. Ernie was born with a golden heart. But she’s also a product of her upbringing and one can’t really blame her for the things she did in her later life. It was like watching a serial killer grow up and discovering why she turned out the way she did.

Touch of the Untouchables – now, this one is also out of context. But it was such a breath of fresh air from the nightmares brought on by the previous stories. It’s actually a love story and made me wish it was longer. I would have liked to see what would have happened next to Zak and Asha. Sounds like a good one.