Preview
  • The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 1

  • By: Paula Guran - editor
  • Narrated by: Joe Hempel
  • Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
  • 2.6 out of 5 stars (22 ratings)

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The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 1

By: Paula Guran - editor
Narrated by: Joe Hempel
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Publisher's summary

The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real...tales of the dark.

Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows.

Contains mature themes.

©2020 Paula Guran (P)2020 Tantor
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What listeners say about The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 1

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

ugh.

I couldn't finish this. It's a very misleading title. Don't waste your time. At least it was free.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

What even is this

Most stories are not interesting either on the horror side or the fantasy side. Some stories read like they were written by 16 y.o. girls going through mental health issues. I see why it was in the free section of audible. Would not recommend this to anyone over the age of 14, but if magical realism is your jam you might like at least 2 of the tales. Most stories are not...linear? Not really the word I'm looking for but the plot of most of them...there is no plot to most of them. No problems with the audible sound quality or narration.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Horror? Fantasy? Not quite.

I listened through the entire thing. There maybe a couple of stories worth reading. The rest just uninteresting. As far as horror goes, I’ve read creepier cereal boxes. Fantasy? Technically, yes there is some. A couple of stories are only fantasy because the author shoved the word ‘magic’ in every few sentences.

All-in-all a very disappointing collection of stories.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Poorly Genred mixed bag that spikes high and low

The first thing to note is that overall, I'm very happy that I took the time to listen to this collection. That said, it was only for a few exceptionally high quality stories, there are many duds, mostly in the middle, that were a complete waste of time. What's more, all the best stories were 100% science fiction. Not sci-fi/fantasy mind you, legitimate, culturally relevant science fiction. Horrifying yes but not horror or dark fantasy in genre.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Decent collection of dark fantasy & horror

Seeing previous lackluster reviews for this title, I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. Just like with any anthology of this kind, I knew not every story was going to be my cup o’ tea but the ones I liked, I *really* liked + it’s great exposure for lesser known but highly skilled writers that I might not otherwise be introduced to.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Honestly a decent read

Was not as bad as the reviews say really, great narrator, decent stories, would have paid like 5.99 tho not a whole credit

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Great narrators….but

Would not recommend maybe 3 stories worth listening to. Boring and long winded not worth the time.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Highly misleading cover title and description

First book I could not finish on audible ever, stories have little to no connection to horror or dark or even fantasy and I slogged through 4 and a half hours of this, only truth given of this book and u did not heed the warning of the author that felt in quote "horror is not escapism" so decides to punish you the listener with boring tales of anxiety that lead to no build up of terror or pay off short stories or not. Waste of time and a credit; I just wish I could get back my time that went into listening as far as I did so I could at least hear a better book to enjoy for escapism as intended, if I wanted non escapism I would have searched for it in NON FICTION NOT DARK FANTASY shame on whomever thought this combination of stories equaled up to 14 hours of dark fantasy and horror, SHAME!; good narrator though only good part of this as a whole

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Wasted time

Nothing but virtue signaling, un frightening stories.
Absolutely boring if you’re a horror fan
It’s the new horror? Yuck

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not scary or dark

This is a collection of mundane stories about almost nothing. How do these authors have such great accolades?

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3 people found this helpful