In Bad Dreams - Front - Short Story Review
In Bad Dreams [Horror Anthology]
Volume One: Where Real Life Awaits
Edited by Mark S. Deniz and Sharyn Lilley
Front by Miles Deacon
Nothing pun-like intended here, but the first thing I definitely noticed about this story is the beginning. Not a lot of authors begin their stories on the latrine of all things, but Deacon does a good job in using this tool to capture your attention.
Front is a fast paced like a short story should be, packed with information and a ‘full’ world despite the shorter length, but it doesn’t feel rushed. Deacon does an excellent job of giving you a full, satisfied feeling (or horror) that is the mark of a truly good short story writer.
John’s behavior with dog tags curious after a while and it wasn’t long before I was wondering about their significance. The symbolism of the dog tag in war times hasn’t been lost on many authors, so I had a lot of possibilities to choose from. That in combination with the mystery deaths of the men kept me reading on without pause.
If you don’t like stories where you don’t get to know the ‘why’ of everything, then you might not like this story so much… Yet, I am someone who likes to know the ‘why’ of things, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this story immensely.
If this first story in this short story collection is setting the bar for quality of horror, then I know I am going to enjoy every moment of the rest of this book.
Leave a Reply