"Darkness Echoes" af L. A. Starkey, m. fl.

Titel: Darkness Echoes   Forfatter: L. A. Starkey, m.fl.   Udgivelsesår: 2015   Forlag: J. S. Marx Publishing

Til info er bogen er gratis til Kindle. Jeg var så heldig at vinde et eksemplar i paperback i en Goodreads giveaway.

SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH VERSION

Dette er en dyster Young Adult novellesamling, bestående af seks noveller skrevet af seks forskellige forfattere.

’Til Death Do Us Part’ af L. A. Starkley er den første historie. Det er en creepy og mystisk teenage love story, som er en både spændende og snigende uhyggelig spøgelseshistorie, om at turde være sig selv, uanset om det bliver anset for at være cool eller ej. Den handler om Jen, som udefra er den typiske populære pige, men i virkeligheden interesserer hun sig mere for gys og det paranormale, og er hemmeligt forelsket i sin nørdede ven Zack. Hun får ham overtalt til at tage med i byens hjemsøgte sindssygehospital. Men det er som om, der hele tiden er noget, som ikke stemmer…

’Witch Moth’ af Kelly Hall handler om Kitty, som føler sig forrådt, da hendes crush vælger veninden Jenny frem for hende. Hun møder dog hurtigt den mystiske Dominic og hans søster Dahlia. Historien handler om hekse og kærlighed, forbandelse og venskab. Den var fin, men slutningen virkede lidt forhastet, som om der bare skulle findes på noget, hvilket var ærgerligt, for historien havde ellers potentiale.

’The Coming of the Skin Walker’ af D. E. L. Connor handler om indianerne Walking Bear og Nine Fingers, som redder pigen Lina fra en Skin Walker. Denne historie var meget stemningsfuldt skrevet. Den var dog også en smule forvirrende, men om det er fordi, at  jeg ikke har så stort et kendskab til indianske myter og historiefortælling, skal jeg ikke kunne sige.

”Lantern” af Chess Desalls handler om Tori, som besøger sin bedstemors gamle hus. En aften da hun udforsker naturen omkring huset, farer hun vild, og står pludselig overfor en lanterne, som lyser helt af sig selv. Da hun fortæller sin bedstemor om den, viser det sig, at ingen nogensinde har fået lanternen til at lyse før. Stemningen er meget mystisk og eventyrlig og novellen virkede mere velskrevet og gennemarbejdet end de andre i samlingen. Selve historien var rigtig god og spændende, og jeg ville næsten have ønsket, at den var længere end bare en novelle. Dens længde efterlod ikke meget plads til en grundig og detaljeret baggrundshistorie, som jeg savnede.

”Cloak of Echoes” af CK Dawn handler om Emma, som har empatiske evner – hun føler meget stærkt hvad alle omkring hende føler. Den mystiske Mattox starter på hendes high school og derfra udfolder historien sig. Det er rigtig god, klassisk YA fantasy. Ligesom med ”Lantern” virker det univers forfatteren har skabt næsten for stort til kun at få plads i en short story. I begge er der potentiale til en hel bog eller serie. Flere af historierne i bogen virker netop som dele af et større univers, og det ser ud til, at der i hvert fald til ”Cloak of Echoes” faktisk er udgivet flere bøger i universet, som jeg gerne vil kigge nærmere på.

Den sidste historie er ”Hallowed Eve” af DB Nielsen, som handler om Evee. Det er en slags retelling eller historie bygget på legenden om Sleepy Hollow. Den er ganske spændende og interessant, og gav mig lyst til at læse den originale legende om Sleepy Hollow.

Mellem hver historie er der en lille præsentation af forfatteren og beskrivelser af deres andre bøger – det er rigtig fint til inspiration til fremtidig læsning, men virker også lidt som nem reklame… Jeg kunne godt lide historierne, men manglen på korrekturlæsning og redigering var et tilbagevendende irritationsmoment gennem meget af bogen, hvilket var virkelig ærgerligt og trækker ned på helhedsindtrykket. Kvalitetsmæssigt varierede historierne en del, hvilket er forventeligt ved denne slags samlinger, men generelt var jeg virkelig godt underholdt hele vejen igennem. Mine favoritter er ”Lantern”, ”Cloak of Echoes” og ”Hallowed Eve”.

English version:

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways

Just FYI, this book is free for Kindle. I was lucky enough to win the paperback edition through Goodreads!

This is a dark Young Adult short story collection, comprised of six short stories written by six different writers.

‘Til Death Do Us Part’ by L. A. Starkey is the first story. It’s a creepy and mysterious teenage love story; a thrilling ghost story about having the courage to be yourself, despite what other people might think. It’s about Jen, who from the outside is the typical popular girl, but she is really interested in horror and the paranormal. She is secretly in love with her nerdy friend Zack. She talks him into going to the town’s haunted asylum with her. But all along it’s like something is off…

‘Witch Moth’ by Kelly Hall is about Kitty, who feels betrayed when her crush chooses her best friend Jenny over her. But then she meets the mysterious Dominic and his sister Dahlia. The story is about witches and love, curses and friendship. The ending seemed a bit rushed, as though something just had to happen, which was a shame, since the story really had potential.

‘The Coming of the Skin Walker’ by D. E. L. Connor is about the Indians Walking Bear and Nine Fingers, who save the girl Lina from a Skin Walker. This story was very atmospheric and interesting. However, I found it rather confusing too. If that’s because of my lack of knowledge of traditional Indian folk lore and myths, I can’t say, but it got me intrigued nonetheless.

‘Lantern’ by Chess Desalls might actually be my favorite of the collection. It’s about Tori, who visits her grandmother’s old house. One night when she is exploring the grounds, she is lost and suddenly finds herself in front of the lantern, which glows all by itself. When she tells her grandmother about it, it turns out that no one else has ever seen the lantern light up. The atmosphere of the story is very atmospheric and mysterious, even fairy tale like. It also seemed a bit more well written and worked through than the other stories in the collection. The story itself was amazing and I kind of wish it was longer than just a short story, since the length did not leave much room for details and backstory, which I would have loved!

‘Cloak of Echoes’ by CK Dawn is about Emma, who has emphatic abilities. She feels very strongly what other people around her are feeling. The mysterious Mattox enters her life and from there, the story unfolds. It’s great, classic YA fantasy. As with ‘Lantern,’ the universe created by the author seems almost too big for just a short story, both have the potential to become an entire book or series. Many of the stories in this collection really seems to be parts of a larger universe, and it seems that at least ‘Cloak of Echoes’ has more books written in the same universe, which I would love to check out!

The last story is ‘Hallowed Eve’ by DB Nielsen, which is about Evee. It’s a sort of retelling or story based on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was exciting and interesting, and made me want to read the original Legend of Sleepy Hollow as well.

Between the stories are small presentations of the authors and their other books, which is great for inspiration, but also seems a bit like easy advertising. I like the stories a lot, but the lack of proofreading and editing unfortunately is a reoccurring source of annoyance, and sort of drags down the overall experience a little bit. At least it’s an easy problem to fix!

Quality wise the stories varies, which is to be expected with collections of this sort, but overall I was greatly entertained throughout. My favorites are definitely ‘Lantern, ‘Cloak of Echoes’ and ‘Hallowed Eve’.