Space Stations and Graveyards is an anthology of 24 horror shorts, many with a hefty dose of science fiction or dark fantasy blended in for atmosphere, by three young writers who have been very active in the 'zine community: Jason Brannon, John Grover, and regular Demensions contributor Eric S. Brown ("Between Two Worlds" in this issue, "To Reach the Gates of Avalon", and "Symbiosis", which also appears in the anthology.) All are talented authors, and between them, they provide a diverse, but nicely balanced collection of psychological, spiritual, and physical horror sure to send a shiver or two down the most stalwart of spines.

If you're expecting such horror staples as vampires and werewolves, you might be disappointed at first. Such old-school frights are in short supply, although there are enough zombies to cast a remake of Night of the Living Dead. No, most of the chills here are generated by far more modern fears: serial killers (Grover's "Dream Design"), nuclear holocaust (Brannon's "A New Eden", which gives the old line 'Not if you were the last man on Earth' a whole new spin), bioengineering, and viral epidemics (Brown's "Wolves" and "Night Shopping", respectively.) Here in the 21st Century, we have perhaps grown too jaded, too scientifically astute to be scared by things that go bump in the night, but not to worry. These authors are more than prepared to prey on our increasingly sophisticated terrors.

Traditionalists will be pleased, however, by the inclusion of such staples as ghosts, ghouls, and black magic rites gone awry. Indeed, there's something to scare the bejeezus out of just about anyone here, from child-snatchers (Grover's "Little Prey") to Lovecraftian horrors (Brannon's "The Small Hours") to Aztec blood rites ("Alone", a Brown/Brannon collaboration.) Late night readers will surely notice all sorts of new and alarming sounds coming out of the walls, floorboards, and closets of their homes after indulging in a few of these tales.

The prolific Brown contributes 10 of the 24 stories, and collaborates on another two. However, the entries of the other two authors are strong enough to keep the volume from feeling solely like an Eric Brown collection. All three are definite up-and-comers in the horror genre, and we can expect to see a lot more of them. Brown already has a solo collection out, Dying Days, from Silverlake Press; Brannon's Puzzles of the Flesh, also from Silverlake, is now in its second edition, and Grover appears along with Brown in Double Dragon's e-book anthology, Poisoned Graves.

Space Ships and Graveyards is published in print-on-demand format by Double Dragon Books. While I'm generally a big fan of e-publishing and print-on-demand, appreciating that these formats give readers access to a lot of quality fiction they'd otherwise never be able to read, one of the drawbacks is the lack of professional editing. While the stories are generally well written and reasonably tight, misspellings, punctuation errors, and occasional continuity/plausibility/factual errors detract from the overall quality. None of these are major errors, and all are something even a half decent editor would easily catch. (Hey, guys—my rates are very reasonable, especially with the contributor's discount… wink, wink) An example is a mention of a character on a bus using the washroom, and drinking the water from the tap. Anyone who's ever ridden a motorcoach can tell you that water is not drinkable, and prominently placed signs warn as much. A small detail, to be sure, and one easily overlooked. But an editor would have caught it, and had it corrected.

Priced at a reasonable $16.99 USD (that's less than 75 cents per story, folks!), Space Stations and Graveyards is a solid 3-and-a-half door offering, and makes a nice entry point to the works of these promising young writers. Pick it up now, and when they hit the bestsellers list, you'll be able to tell everyone you know that 'you read them when…'