Lullabies for Suffering (Tales of Addiction Horror) – Mark Matthews, ed., Kealan Patrick Burke, Caroline Kepnes, Mark Matthews, John FD Taff, Gabino Iglesias, Mercedes M. Yardley

Lullabies for Suffering: Tales of Addiction Horror by Caroline Kepnes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lullabies for Suffering is a dynamite collection of six novellas or novelettes tied together by the central theme of addiction, more specifically, addiction horror. Some are drug addictions, another an addiction to pain, but each one is a deep, dark, maddeningly glittering gem of a tale.

Each entry is compelling reading; I couldn’t look away. Each is terrifying in what happens and is so very, very real. (I started hearing every creak and snap and pop of the house while I was reading Gabino Iglesias’ Beyond the Reef.) I don’t feel a 5-star rating for many books and never for a collection before (there’s always a weak sister or two) but this was a solid from the first word. I’m already looking for more from these authors, their backlists, which sounds a lot like the beginning of … an addiction.

I highly recommend this to horror fans and even general fiction readers that enjoy the dark underside of the human experience.

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