As a bit of a horror fan, I got very excited when I saw this come up for request on Netgalley. I don't read alot of short stories or compilations there of and, after finishing this I'm reminded of why I don't.
The trouble with a short story is that there's not enough filling to it, not enough to really sink your teeth into. It's difficult to become invested in the characters and care about them.
This really was a book of two halves, some I really enjoyed! Exciting, well penned, alot of punch packed in it. But unfortunately, this wasn't the case with all stories included. Some are a little meh....and some read as first drafts that would benefit from re-reading and fine tuning.
I'd definitely recommend people at least pick it up and give it a go. Those good ones really are worth it! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my arc. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

I really wanted to love this book. As a horror-loving feminist, it seemed right up my alley.

While some of the stories were gripping and fun to read, others felt completely incomplete (as if they just leave off) and the majority are in need of some serious editing. From basic grammar and punctuation - to the not so basic. I found myself highlighting things I wanted to fix way too often, editor's brain kicked into overdrive.

For example, I was really enjoying Personal Demons by Angelique Fawns, which is written from the perspective of a non-binary person and is centered around them not identifying fully with either gender. They want to have a they/them pronoun used, the secondary character is a POC, I'm digging it and all for this kind of inclusiveness- and them BAM. The author uses the 'her' pronoun incorrectly for the viewpoint. I tried so hard to carry on but then two pages later, it happened again.

That was the point when I stopped reading and marked it as DNF. Incorrect pronouns are a hard no for me. That's just one example. Some of the other editing flaws were extremely cringe-worthy but that was the one that broke me.

And as an added note, if you do decide to read this, be aware that some of the stories are very trigger-y in a "she looked like she wanted it" non-consent, rapey kind of way... as well as a necrophilia kind of way. You expect horror in a horror anthology, but you also don't want to be unexpectedly triggered. There really should be a warning in the chapter list, some sort of index, or at least an editor's note at the beginning.

Great concept for a book, truly, but start back at the beginning with a heavy-handed red pen and some serious thought.

Rated 2 stars because I did enjoy a few of the stories.

A book of different short stories about women in horror ? Sign me up! The title, the description of this book and the cover caught me from the beginning, that's why I requested this book from NetGalley. However now that I've finished it, I have to say I am little dissapointed with this whole collection of short stories. I loved some of them such as 24 Hour Diner and The Doll's House but the rest of them felt weird and not really engaging.

The average of my ratings for these stories came out to a 2.8, which I rounded up to 3 just because it came so close.

With any anthology there’s always going to be some hits and some misses, however I found many of these stories fell in the “just okay” range for me, which made it hard to want to press through to get to the few stories that truly stood out. Many of these stories play off common horror/monster tropes and just don’t put enough of an original twist on it. I could guess the plot of at least half of this anthology within the first couple pages of a story.

That said, I want to call out Leda and the Fly for being the most original and engaging story of the bunch, and also my favorite of them. I’m a sucker for horror stories that put a creepy twist on something otherwise mundane (in this case a blank wall). Also queer girls! There’s a handful of stories in this with queer people, and thankfully this is one of them.

On that note. I try not to comment on grammatical errors in ARCs because I understand that they’re unfinished copies, but the story Personal Demons features a nonbinary main character who is referred to twice with the wrong pronoun. Not by another character within the story, but by the actual narration. I understand that it may not have gone through any copy editing yet, but it was still uncomfortable to read.

I enjoyed this. I thought the short stories were written really well and the short stories are well crafted. There are some that stand out more than others and left me wanting more, and those are the ones I liked the most in this. It's a good anthology to read around October, though. Definitely recommend it for readers looking for something that's slightly creepy.

I really enjoyed this book of short horror shorts. However there were only a few that I was not able to go to sleep after reading them since it creeped me out a bit to much, which kept me reading more of the book. There was one that I wished there was more to the story to understand it a little better. I would recommend this to anyone who is wanting to get into horror and needs a little stepping stone to get there. Overall I enjoyed this read.

I sadly have to say that I’m still not a big fan of short stories. I absolutely loved the horror theme and I liked most of the stories, but they’re just too short for my liking

This is an interesting collection, with a nice variety of subject matter. A couple of the stories don't feel like they quite fit the theme, but all do have a girl who is 'strange'. As with all anthologies, some stories are better than others, but there's something in here for every fan of weird fiction.

I think I gave most of them around 3 stars, so that's what I am rating it entirely.

24 Hour Diner = 3.5 stars
This one involves a 24 hour diner, a barista hitting on a customer, a vampire (I think?), and a serial killer. In the first portion of the short story it mentions that all the people in the diner are killers, and I assumed that was a joke of sorts since they are always up so late. But nope. It was not a joke. I enjoyed it, seeing the male MC do his process was intriguing. But overall, I didn’t feel much for the characters or setting.

Sideshow = 2 stars
A teenage couple go to a fair or something with rides and such. The female MC recalls how her partner -in a way since she didn’t say no, as she knew he wouldn’t get off- forced himself on her and continues to do so. She pretends to be happy and follows him to a tent show of three beautiful women dancing. In the end, he gets what he deserved. This felt unrealistic to me because the end scene just did not bring out any emotion like it should have. It fell flat, as the whole narration felt disconnected.

The Doll’s House = 2 stars
This one is still very confusing for me. So there is this doll house, and apparently the dolls in it are alive. I constantly wondered why the dolls could be heard by a deaf child and how she could speak back to them, as well as the author hinted that it may actually be all in her head and the child is the one doing the bad things?? But then the dolls are back in action, having their own thoughts away from the child?? I had more questions than answers, honestly. It was confusing, and nothing really happened.

Blood = 2 stars
I was confused for most of this, until I got to the end and realized everything else was basically just a memory from years ago, that only served to explain one small detail. I really liked the hint at the end about the wings. It detailed the grandmother’s influence on the child during the one time she caught her grandma doing something strange, and then went to the present time for a small detail. But I feel like the beginning didn’t flow properly nor lead well to the last (and possibly only important) scene in the short story.

Self-Portrait with Pears = 3 stars
This was told in the view of a college male who decides he likes a girl because of her blue hair. He pursues her, basically stalks her, spams her with messages, and is overall a very disturbing being. I enjoyed being in his head and seeing how he thought he was doing the right thing, and how he tried to work out what he did wrong.

Personal Demons = 3.5 stars
Sam is non-binary and also bullied for it. A new student saves them (basically) and they become best friends. Turns out Sam’s new BFF is not human, but Sam doesn’t care. Not until something happens and they have a choice to make… I really liked the rep and friendship in this one. It caught my attention and kept it. The only reason I am not giving it more stars is because of the end. Sam’s decision just did not seem like the kind their character would make. Sam was in love, didn’t care about the secret of this person, and yet hurt them for a stranger they didn’t know? It felt like a different character made the choice.

Friends with Benefits = 0.5 stars
This made absolutely no sense to me at all. First of all, the title seems like a poor choice as it focuses more on the family drama than this ‘friends with benefits’ deal. Second of all, the MC is terrified of her weird injury that appeared out of nowhere and gets worse by the day, only to do a complete 180 and basically say ‘jokes on you, I knew all along!’? And to make matters worse, she turns on her dad? He goes to help her, and then out of nowhere her and her friend attack him? I don’t even know if they killed him or not because it was so confusing.

Night Terrors = 4 stars
I loved this one. Genetic humans tested in carefully made conditions to see how well they can pass as human. It was great, honestly. Our MC has night terrors after her accident and investigates, only to find out that she is not human, they are not night terrors (they are real), and her memories get wiped every time she figures it out. I was hooked until the very end.

The Girl Who Never Stopped Bleeding = 1 star
I don’t really understand this one. It was less than two (ebook) pages and had very little information in it. I am still not sure what to make of it.

Leda and the Fly = 2.5 stars
This was a strange one for sure. Depression left Leda bedridden and uncaring, ready to die. But then she kills a fly, is energetic again, and we learn she has murderous thoughts daily. It was a bit dull for me personally, but it also wasn’t bad.

Jenny’s Bobo = 4 stars
I enjoyed this one a lot. So, Jenny has a pet (well, not according to her dad) that causes trouble (not that her parents know) and basically punishes her enemies at night so long as she lets him out. It is a good partnership and their connection was pretty cute.

Extinguishing Fireflies = 3.5 stars
It took me a bit to realize, but the end really cleared things up and I love it! I was a bit confused as to why one character was killed off when it seemed as if they were somewhat important to the killer/killer’s family. But otherwise it was enjoyable.

The Eyes of The Dead = 1 star
This one had a trigger warning. And wow do I ever wish I skipped this one! I was thoroughly disturbed and I don’t even want to think about what I read. Rape, murder, a soul trapped in a body so they can feel everything that is done to them after death. Yeah, I wanted to puke. That’s not to say it is badly written, just very, very disturbing for me personally. And I thought I would be fine because I read a lot of dark stuff. But I am not fine.

My Mirror Wife = 2 stars
This one confused me too. I get it, she bespells all men and they do as she wishes. But she seems to want to prove herself to her husband even though he is under her spell? Sure, he sent a hitman out on her, but after she got home he was back under her spell and no longer wanted to be rid of her. So what was the point of all this??

Patterns of Faerytales = 3 stars
I felt disconnected to this one. There was no emotion in the writing. I liked the aspect of hiding someone’s true nature from them, and then -when they inevitable find out- joining them in such conditions. But I feel it would have had more of an affect if there was more emotion to it.

Campfire Tales: The Bloody Rings = 3 stars
This is basically a ghost story one would share at night around a fire. A tale based on a true occurrence from many years ago, with the threat of you being next. It would definitely be spooky in the setting!

Cracked = 4 stars
A thief steals a doll from an old woman (though she didn’t know the purse held the doll at the time), and thus starts the haunting. Yes, the doll haunts the thief and brings her to the brink of terror before devouring her. Very delightful short story!

Angel of Death = 4 stars
I love the idea behind this one, that a being from another planet can infiltrate ours and attempt to punish the bad. And when all fails, destroys the planet. Intriguing and well written!

Her Garden Grows = 3.5 stars
The beginning is misleading, which is wonderful because as soon as the twist comes, it makes you think about everything you just read to see where the change first started. Yes, the cat is the narrator and I love it!

Revival = 2 stars
Against his better judgment, our MC takes a dead body home and starts to think of her as his sister. He takes care of her. Sometimes she is animated and speaks to him, other times she is a corpse. Strange and not much actually happened

A Song Only She Can Hear = 3 stars
The beginning was great, introducing us to a mermaid or siren girl who has finally met another of her kind. But of course, she is not normal and ends up eating him… She never again returns to the water. I didn’t feel anything? I had no sadness for his death, and no sympathy for her guilt and terror.

Tribal Influence = 4 stars
I think maybe this one was my favourite. A young girl is taken by the military because of her powers, and a man is tasked with questioning her and getting to know her powers. Well, things take a turn for the worst. Many die and this time, I felt something! I felt sadness for the little girl who was trapped and just wanted her family. I felt sympathy for the man who just wanted to help her but died. And I felt anger towards those who hurt her. Very well written!

Overall, this collection of short stories were interesting, though not amazing for me personally.

This anthology was very hit or miss for me as some of the stories were quite strong, but the majority felt not fully fleshed out.
Overall this collection was enjoyable though and I would definitely try another anthology with a similar theme.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC.

This is a mixed anthology, I found some stories more enjoyable than others and even skipped to the end of a few. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC egalley.

I was very excited to read this anthology, I love horror and am always looking for more female authors in this genre to add to my bookshelf. This book seemed to me to be marketed as a collection of short stories by badass women about badass women/girls which is more or less the case.

Overall I enjoyed the collection, there were a handful of stories that are very intriguing and could definitely become full length novels. Unfortunately there was also a few that made absolutely no sense to me, ending very abruptly, leaving me very confused but thankfully they were very short and I did not waste much time reading them.

Another aspect of the book that was a turn off was that in a few of the short stories the women in them were either minor characters or were portrayed as stupid, weak, or pitiful. This is not what I want from a "Women in Horror Anthology."

I gave this book three stars because I did enjoy reading it and am excited to read more from these authors, I would definitely read another anthology from this collection and recommend it to my "strange girl" friends.


Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you first off, NetGalley as well as Azzurra Nox and your publisher for giving me this book to review.
First of, this book did not come to me as being a short story when I selected it but it was still a great read. I have issues with reading short stories at time because as you finish on you are onto the next so quickly and sometimes I need to digest what I have read before starting a new book or in this case, a new short story. What I really liked was that their were women in these horror stories that were strong. This is quite rare for women to be depicted this way in horror because they are alway left to be running and tripping and falling and never standing their ground.

As said before, I can read short stories but they are not my favourite but all in all, thank you for the read.

Several of these stories by Glaswegian women are built on promising ideas, working through some aspect of the daily horror women face (e.g. predatory men, familial pressure, haunted dollhouses, etc.). However, they tend to feel unfinished, first drafts quickly sketched down, and lacking the final polish to transform these ideas into something truly lasting. The short form of the stories makes it an easy book to pick up and leaf through, with a sharper edge it could have been even harder to put down.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A solid collection of short stories. I would have liked it more if the stories felt a bit more connected in some way or another. But overall, this was a good read. I enjoyed it.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and netgalley for this review copy.

I've realized reading this book that I have a hard time reading a collection of short stories quickly. I like to enjoy each story and that makes reading a collection take forever. That being said I enjoyed most of the stories. For the most part I wanted them to last longer, which is a good thing. There were one or two stories that I struggled to read and was happy they were short. I would recommend this anthology to other readers.

I LOVE women in horror. I love the idea of a woman being scary or powerful in a way that she can use to fight back. I love the idea of being the scariest thing walking down a dark street or a lonely alleyway in the dead of night.
Women taking back our power in the form of ripping open a man's jaw and eating his internal organs like Pringles is...it's just extremely my thing.
So I love the idea of a horror anthology entirely written by women. But, I gotta be honest, most of these stories weren't very well written. I hate saying that, because I want to be supportive of this type of anthology but a lot of them read like they were written by inexperienced authors and were heavy on the typos. Some of them were hard to get through.

The ones I really enjoyed were "Sideshow," "The Doll's House," "Blood," "The Girl Who Never Stopped Bleeding," "Leda And The Fly," "My Mirror Wife," "Her Garden Grows," 'Revival," and, the best one in my opinion: "Tribal Influence" about a young Guatemalan immigrant who gets separated from her parents at the US border and is quickly found out to have a very strong and very dangerous ability.

As with "Tribal Influence," a lot the stories in this collection were concentrated on hot-button issues (There's also a story that is told from the viewpoint of a non-binary person, a few stories that centered around lesbians) all of which I really loved! Which was why I wanted to love this, but I just...didn't.
I did love the stories that I listed, which is still a pretty good number and I really, really appreciated that the book put trigger warnings on the story that centered around a really violent rape and murder. I wish more anthologies did that kind of thing.

But overall, three stars. I really wanted to love this but it just didn't work for me.

The cover drew me to the book, I love horror stories and this anthology is a good read, with women as the main characters. Lots of short stories that keep your interest (although a couple did leave me hanging and wanting a bit more). On the whole the book was fun, easy to read and well worth a look.

This book is a compilation of short horror stories, whose main characters are women. There are 22 short stories of all kinds: paranormal, science fiction, contemporary, etc. There are funny stories, very scary ones and others that will break your heart. And definitely some stories would be perfect as books!

It has a very entertaining format for reading and you can perfectly choose a story for each day and read them in any order. All the stories were entertaining, but there are five that won my heart, and I'd love to see extended versions of those stories:

Jenny's Bobo tells the story of a girl who has a very particular creature in her house. This could perfectly be a Middle-Grade book.

Night Terrors left me with a feeling of anguish, much like Black Mirror. A really captivating story.

Self-Portrait With Pears: this was by far my favorite, it's a shocking story with a very current and dangerous theme. This book left me with cold blood because it talks about our reality. It's heartbreaking and terrifying.

The Doll's House: This story also left me with cold blood, I mean... dolls are creepy objects. It's macabre and I really wanted to see more. I would love to read a book about this story. It's so good!!

Sideshow: This story took a turn I didn't expect and was fantastic and disgusting at the same time.

As I told you before, there are many stories and you'll surely find one that will be your favorite. I really love this book, and I want more! I'll definitely recommend this book on my other platforms

I loved this big chunky book full of horror! These are A list stories and I have discovered new authors to look up and add to my never ending tbr list.

February is Women in Horror Month where we celebrate all the amazing female authors and their scary stories.

Having read tons and tons and tons of horror, not a whole lot can scare me and I felt uncomfortable and nervous in quite a few of these.

Thank you Netgalley for being awesome and letting me grab this ARC