The Haunted City (Blumhouse Book of Nightmares)
Jason Blum, ed.
Blumhouse Books (July 7, 2015)
Reviewed by Carson Buckingham

I had initial reservations about this anthology when I realized that the vast majority of the contributors were screenwriters.

And my reservations were justified, because screenwriting and short story writing are worlds apart. Action is prioritized in screenwriting. It avoids long descriptions. Short story writing, on the other hand, is a self-contained literary art form that offers immense creative freedom, allowing the writer to build a world using rich prose, explore characters’ internal landscapes, and experiment with structure for a reading audience.

What we ended up with here was a ton of action that was very short on plot and peopled with characters that we learn virtually nothing about and couldn’t care less about. There were a handful of short story writers who contributed to this volume, and it is easy to pick them out without reading the About the Contributors section.

A more apt title for this book would have been The Haunted Cities, since the stories are set in many different places.

That being said, here’s what you get:

“Hellhole” by Christopher Denham—set in an old brownstone in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY. A young family buys the old place as a fresh start (how original) after the husband kicked his alcohol habit. But there is something wrong in the house, which centers around a frightening old doll the son finds, called ‘Mr. Sticks.” Toss in a gypsy curse, and you’ve got it.

“Valdivia” by Eli Roth – Jews and Nazis in Chile.

“Golden Hour” by Jeremy Slater – Set in Hollywood, a homeless man sees horrific creatures—but are they real, or not?

“A Clean, White Room” by Scott Derrickson and Robert Cargill – Back in NYC at another brownstone that is built over a strange crack in the world. And the Superintendent has a job that nobody would want.

“The Leap” by Dana Stevens – This one is set in California. A struggling psychic is hired for a 40^th birthday party. He reads auras, rather than the standard psychic routine. There is a huge misunderstanding, which is followed by the greatest idea the psychic ever had.

“Novel 15” by Steve Faber – In California again, at a seaside setting—hardly the city—a writer with writer’s block is struggling to begin his 15^th novel. Fairly predictable and ended the only way it could have.

“The Darkish Man” by Nissar Modi – A dull story about a serial killer who targets imperfect women. Slow-moving with a flat ending. Set in Johnson City. We have no idea which state.

“1987” by Ethan Hawke – this is one of the worst stories in the book. Set in NYC, it is a boring, self-indulgent story of homophobia and a bad LSD trip. Stick to acting, Mr. Hawke.

“Geist” by Les Bohem – Paul, who got kicked out of the band he was touring with, finds himself alone in Germany. At certain times of the year, a hot wind sweeps through, called “Foehn.’ It makes people do crazy things, and brings with it the “Foehn Geist” or “wind ghost.” A pretty good ghost story.

“Gentholme” by Simon Kurt Unsworth – A huge new city, Gentholme, had been built, but is only occupied by a few people initially. But eerie things start to happen to our protagonist. He sees people who are not residents and who behave strangely. It is a heartbreaking story with a marvelous twist at the end. This was my favorite story.

“Donations” by William Joselyn – Set in Detroit. A creepy story about a city rotting away until someone decided to do something about it. I liked this one.

“The Old Jail” by Sarah Langan – Back in NYC again, and the residents may have been exposed to something…something coming from the Interglot across the street. You can’t go wrong with Sarah Langan. I liked this one, too,

“The Words” by Scott Stewart – A city, but not really sure which one. A psychiatrist is treating a child who witnessed a mass murder/suicide in his foster home and will not speak. When he finally does, his psychiatrist will wish he hadn’t. Pretty good.

“Meat Maker” by Mark Neveldine—Takes the prize for the worst story in the book. A cop goes on an unexplained rampage through an unnamed city,, mowing down everyone in his path. It is not hard to see that the writer is a video game designer. Just violence and more violence, with no character development whatsoever. with missing words and incorrect words galore. Horrible. Not good enough to line my bird’s cage with.

“Eyes” by George Gallo – Martin, a Casper Milquetoast of a man, pisses off a homeless guy who then begins to follow him with no good intent. At the end of the story, Martin sees things from a new point of view. I liked this one.

“Procedure” by James DeMonaco – Back in NYC again, a female cop works the late shift and has horrible nightmares when she tries to sleep, until she finds something hidden behind her aorta…

All in all, I cannot recommend this book, since I only really loved one story, and liked only four…out of 17. There are better anthologies you can buy, such as This Way Lies Madness, edited by Dave Jeffery and Lee Murray. Every one of those stories is a winner.

I can’t really give this anthology more than 2 stars…and that is being generous.

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