One of the amazing benefits of this age of publishing is the sheer number of amazing authors out there who are able to self-publish or be published by the small presses. No longer are they reliant upon the big houses for getting their books out the door.
While that definitely means there are also some real duds out there, that wasn’t the case with this horror short story collection. I must admit the cover is what really caught my attention with this book, and the admiration only grew as I dug into it.
The collection starts with “All of Yesterday’s Yesterdays”, introducing us to the titular Carnival Lounge. The story grabs you right away, and you soon feel yourself immersed in the story.
That’s how it went with most of the stories in this collection. As always, there are a couple that didn’t strike me as much as others, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good. And it definitely doesn’t mean someone else won’t like them.
Others I really enjoyed were “Valley of the Flies”, “The Sceadu”, and “The Lost Tribe”. Picco even includes an essay on fear and what scares people, which is at the end of the book.
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection, and I’m glad I got to read it. I will definitely be on the lookout for more works from Picco, as it seems his style is right up my alley.
Oh, and this book can be found on Amazon as well as other places, if you want to pick it up in paperback.
Rating: Five Stars (Out Of A Possible Five)