Attic Toys [Kindle Edition]

Pediophobia: The morbid fear of children or dolls.

If you suffer from this, you shouldn't read this book.

However, if you have a demented inner child that needs to be entertained, then this book is definitely for you.

"Attic Toys," edited by Jeremy C. Shipp, is a collection of short stories, all based around the idea of killer toys or killer children or killer attic spaces, mostly from the horror variety, with some noticeable exceptions being the stories from Piers Anthony and Mae Empson, which are more like grown-up fairytales.

There's not a stinker among these stories, and all entertain in some form or another. While I enjoyed a couple of stories a little less than some others, this was more according to taste rather than any actual problems with those stories. And that's not to say that I didn't enjoy all of them. In different ways, they all satisfied the need to entertain my own demented inner child. A personal favorite was "The White Knight" by Aric Sundquist, which follows the adventures of a young boy and his rival/companion, a stuffed cat.

As I mentioned, noticeable exceptions to the horror theme were "Living Doll" by Piers Anthony and "The Tea-Serving Doll" by Mae Empson. These were interesting changes of pace that were curious additions to this collection. While they stuck with the "toys and attics" theme quite well, the tone of these stories was different enough to change the pace and almost give the reader a short breather from the other more twisted stories. In addition, the quality of the writing is so high that I can understand why exceptions were made.

I can find no significant flaws with this short story collection. All these stories are fun and disturbing in their own ways. If killer teddy bears, psychotic children, and haunted attic spaces appeal to you, then you will love this book, and the styles and stories are different enough that everyone will come away with a favorite among them. However, if you are a sufferer of pediophobia, you might have trouble sleeping at night.

"Attic Toys" earns five childish screams out of five.

I met Peter Giglio and Charles Day last Fall at Anthocon. Their passion and enthusiasm for Evil Jester Press was instantly infectious and I picked up their first book, 'Help! Wanted: Tales of On-the-job Terror' (great book).

ATTIC TOYS stays on prompt (you guessed it...toys and/or attic is present in all of the tales) but I was pleasantly surprised at the range of the work. It starts off on a comedic horror note with Jeff Strand's, 'Inside the Boxes,' and Emily C. Skaftun's, 'Down in the Woods Today.' I loved both and there are some great lines from Strand that made my laugh. Then I was shocked by the intensity of, 'Poor Me And Ted,' by Kate Jonez.

'I Heard it Through the Grape Vine' by S.S. Michaels had me chuckling. 'Attic Dog' by David Raffin was a very unexpected gem.

'The Doll Tree' by Amelia Mangan (incredible imagery) and 'Googly' by Jeremy C. Shipp (totally bizarre) round out my personal favorites.

ATTIC TOYS is a great read - solid selection of stories with something for everyone - even some fantasy ('Living Doll by Piers Anthony and 'White Knight' by Eric Sundquist.)

If you ever had that one toy growing up that scared the daylights out of you or if you were scared of dark places like your attic. This book will bring back all those foud memories. Great collection of stories. Can't wait to read some more work from these authors and Evil Jester Press!