There is No Death, There Are No Dead – Multiple Authors

I received a copy of ‘There is no death, there are no dead’ in return for my honest review, from Mother Horror. I have only just started reading some horror short stories, and this collection sounded another great one to read.

This anthology is a collection of short horror stories based around spiritualism, from a variety of authors. The stories all have a character that have abilities that mean they can talk to or see spirits, but they all deal with the subject in a different way.

The stories in the anthology are:

Haunt Me – Gemma Files

Laura, a medium who was brought up in the Freihoeven Institute from her teenage years, helps investigate a haunting a man is experiencing in a museum.

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜 /5

The Happy Medium – Helen Marshall

Ossian Gill works in a park called the Enchanted Forest, helping children come to terms with their grief.

My Rating: 💜💜💜 /5

The Marble Lily – Kathe Koja

Francois is a janitor working in the morgue, he is interested in the science behind determining the cause of death of the deceased.

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜 /5

The Bone Eater – Lee Murray

Rawiri was told at a young age that he would have a purpose, what would this be?

My Rating: 💜💜💜.5 /5

A Feather for Mrs Edmond – David Demchuk

Helen Bradford looks after her orphaned nephew Rodney, who has the ability to talk to the dead. He has a few spirits that act as his guides. When Mrs Edmond comes for help, which spirit will come to help?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜 /5

Meeting Katie King – Lisa Morton

Set in March 1984 Thomas McKensie goes to a séance with his colleague Annie Spencer. Thomas is a sceptic and is only looking for a story, will his mind be changed when he meets Katie King?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜.5 /5

The Mad Monk of the Motor City – Gwendolyn Kiste

Ingrid for a while has seen the ghost of Russian Empire Ruler Rasputin outside her apartment in Detroit. She lives with her mother, and soon things start to take a creepy turn.

My Rating: 💜💜💜.5 /5

The One Word I Can’t Say – SP Miskowski

This follows someone who is haunted by her sister Chloe, who died in an accident. Will she find a way for the haunting to stop?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜 /5

The Knock Three Times – Seanan McGuire

Set in San Francisco 1906, Florence an orphan lives in a house. She can see and hear spirits; one tells her a riddle will she work out what it means in time?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜 /5

The Curious Story of Susan styles – Catherine Lord

James & his family live in a house where the name Susan Styles keeps appearing on the walls and ceilings. He attends a séance and is asked who he would like to contact, he asks to contact Susan Styles, what will he learn?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜 /5

Talitha Cumi – Chesya Burke

Talitha Cumi lives in constant pain, she finds a 14^th century text which leads to a demon being summoned. She is scared and returns home to her Mum; will they be able to banish the demon?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜 /5

True Love Waits – Nadia Bulkin

Alex is a reporter who is asked to investigate an alleged affair with Daniel Larsen a celebrity and a mysterious young girl. What will he discover?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜 /5

The Shape of Her Soul – Michelle Belanger

Valerie is a ghost investigator who uses her ability to see the dead, to try and help people with hauntings in her home. When approached by the Pendergast family she is intrigued. Who or what is haunting their home?

My Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜 /5

American Remake of a Japanese Ghost Story – Laid Barron

Jessica Mace goes to a housewarming party to investigate a mystery. Her mysteries are to do with the dead, and/or serial killers. What will she find at this housewarming?

My Rating: 💜💜💜.5 /5

My Favourite: The Shape of her Soul

The Most Shocking: A Feather for Mrs Edmond

The Most Scary: Meeting Katie King

I loved reading this anthology as having lots of short stories together was fun to read, and they were all so different from each other. Some set a long time ago, others very current and even mentioning COVID 19.

I also like how they were all linked around the same theme of mediums and speaking to the dead, although again all in completely different ways.

I would say that I found these stories to be more shocking than scary, but still a great read, especially for this Halloween month.

Overall, a creepy anthology of spiritualism short stories which will shock and leave you with an eerie feeling.

My Overall Rating:

💜💜💜💜 /5