They Lurk by Ronald Malfi

​Ronald Malfi is one of my favorite horror writers. His work is literary and offers consistent quality throughout, from one fine-crafted nightmare to the next. I’ve read most of his work and thus have read some of the novellas in this collection of mostly reprints, but long enough ago so that it didn’t matter. Which is to say I still enjoyed After the Fade­—the tale of a break-up during an apocalypse and Skullbelly—something scary roams the woods and the rest of the novellas which I’ve not read before, including the brand-new closing one.
Atmospheric, well-written, engaging…there’s so much to like here. To be fair, I wasn’t as blown away by this collection as I was by Malfi’s recent Ghostwritten. This is an author who I find improves over time, aging like fine blood-colored wine or something. Some of his earlier works were nowhere near as strong as his current output.  But he is an author well-worth reading, committed to quality, which is most admirable, especially in the genre that can so easily sellout for cheap thrills.
Overall, a solid collection of tales about things that lurk in the darkness. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.