★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
By Paul Tremblay
I have been trying to write a review of this collection for days…all I can think of is saying Paul Tremblay’s “gone and done it again” in my best John Doe from Se7en voice. Seriously, this collection is absolutely fantastic. If you’re new to Tremblay you’ll love the huge variety of horror genre tales and if you’re a dedicated fan (a Tremblayniac?) you’ll love catching up with old friends and making new ones.
There is something for everyone in Growing Things and Other Stories, which is book-ended by the titular Growing Things and The Thirteenth Temple both of which feature characters from 2015’s Bram Stoker Award-winning novel, Head Full of Ghosts. There is a story for fans of The Thing called The Ice Tower while fans of Hellboy should jump straight to Her Red Right Hand. For Lovecraft fans (especially those of us who attend conventions) there is one of my favorite stories in the collection, It Won’t Go Away, which is followed by the truly bizarre Notes from the Dog Walkers.
If I had to pick my favorite story of the collection it would be a tie between the “choose your own adventure” themed story, A Haunted House is a Wheel Upon Which Some are Broken- trust me, you’ll want to go into every room of this house and the haunting Nineteen Snapshots of Dennisport. I also really enjoyed reading the author’s notes at the end of the collection and learning Tremblay’s inspiration for many of the stories included in the collection.
In a time where everyone is trying to look cool on the internet, my fan girl heart is on my sleeve because I can’t say enough good things about this collection. So I will stop here before I start to look really crazy (too late?).
Growing Things and Other Stories is going to be released next week, July 2nd, by William Morrow- pre-order this book NOW at Amazon or set your alarm clock so you are first in line at your local bookstore on its birthday.