It was a pretty good anthology. The stories were not that scary (except for Russell's ghost stories - those gave me goosebumps) but were written well. The stories were entertaining and interesting. I'll recommend it to people who loves horror and suspense stories. ( )

Nine horror stories are presented in this anthology, two of them excerpts from novels to come. They range from human horror to ghost hunters, from fantasy to science gone wrong, from a house that’s haunted in a very different way to witchcraft, and one that I never figured out if it was a werewolf or a zombie story. The scary factor will vary according to what the reader’s particular psychological makeup is like; for me, none were creepy crawly but all were well written. The ghost hunter stories I feel would make a good TV series, while “This Dark Magic” has enough twists and false leads to keep things very interesting. The formatting has some rather unique problems, which are annoying but not enough to make me stop reading. A quick and fun read for horror fans. ( )

Nice anthology of horror stories more in line with Lovecraft than King or Koontz style horror. Very readable if you like short stories and wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon in the sun. ( )

I love anthologies. More authors, more stories and it's never too long to bore you. Of course the downside to anthologies is that it's so quick to end and you never feel fully satisfied with the conclusion. At least that's how I feel about it. I like anthologies though for the simple fact that it does open up my horizon to more authors, and if I enjoy the work enough to know if they've expanded the short story into a complete one. In the case of Cora Russell, who has several stories within the collection, she does have expanded stories based on the short ones. I've definitely added her to my "to read" list (which grows daily with never enough time to shorten it).

This anthology focuses on the horror genre, which I do enjoy. Supernatural, paranormal, ghosts, witches and hybrid creatures taking over the world, all of which made for a fun read. I'm not going to highlight or review each story because that will take too much work and I'm currently in the processing of taking two courses that are normally four months long that are now crammed into 5.5 weeks! So I'll just note that anyone looking for quick reads on the bus or waiting rooms of the various doctors we all wait for, this would be a good read. It's quick and light, not overly gruesome or creepy, just enough to make it eerie and worth reading, but not enough that you want to up chuck your lunch. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes this genre and likes a complete read in a short time period. Hell, I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't easily scared or queasy!! ( )

Playing with Fire is an anthology of short stories in the horror genre. However, as horror goes, these are pretty mild. There is little gore and the frights are definitely not over the top - sorta Stephen King-lite.

However, this doesn't mean I didn't like them. Many of these stories had a cerebral element to them that I found very compelling especially the last one. I found myself thinking about this one long after I finished the book.

So, if you're a fan of the Saw franchise, you might want to give this book a pass. However, if, like me, your favourite horror story is something like King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, this might be the perfect book for when you feel the need for a little fright in the night. ( )