Charles Grant's stories are really not comparable to anyone else's, in my humble opinion. He writes with such atmospheric perfection that you will find yourself walking along with the characters, experiencing every chill and sense of uneasy that they feel. Grant has the power to convey such fear and dread with his words without resorting to graphic violence and gore for the sake of shock value. His scares are deeply rooted in the foundations of our minds, and as such, will stay with you long after your journey with him.I started out by making notes about each of the stories in this collection, but found that there were too many I wanted to make detailed note of in this review! These stories are broken up into three sections: Tales from Oxrun Station, Tales from Hawthorne Street, and Tales from the Nightside. While all the sections contained 5 star reads, or close to them, my particular favorites seemed to be from Oxrun and Hawthorne Street. Some of my own, personal favorites, include "Home", "If Damon Comes", "The Gentle Passing of a hand", "When All the Children Call My Name", "Come Dance With Me on My Pony's Grave", and "The Three of Tens".This is a book that I will be going back to time and time again.Highly recommended!
You know the feeling you get when you're up at 3 AM, and there's light rain on the ground and mist in the air? The late Charles L. Grant was the voice of that feeling. I met Grant several times from the '80's through the '90's, and while I kind of liked his work, I didn't truly appreciate his nuances. Revisiting his style over the past couple of days was very rewarding. Every story in this collection has a melancholic core, and Grant never over-explains things. In fact, the vague nature of Grant's threats — don't look for elaborate "mythologies" here — might be a detriment for some readers. I, however, found his approach to be relatively realistic, all things considered. With that said, even I felt that some of his stories had great build ups before dissipating. Nevertheless, this is an excellent collection, and contain some of the very best "quiet horror" tales I have ever read.
