This was awesome. It had a very strong feeling of 80s B movie horror and it was just plain fun. This one is a gem.

*thank you to Netgalley, Hex Publishers and all participating authors in this collection, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


2 stars.


I quite saddened that I didn't enjoy this more. That cover alone is 5/5 stars so I guess my hopes were high.

Being an 80s child and a horror fan since the famous 'Goosebumps' series by R. L. Stine came out, this was right up my alley.

80s horror definitely has a unique feel to it. The stories are told differently and you either click with it or not. The stories in here were either a miss from me or just barely enjoyable. Maybe it was more about the themes that were told, but this just wasn't for me. I wish it the best.

Short Story collections always seem to be very hit or miss. As I scanned the authors, none of them popped out at me, so to be honest I wasn't in a big hurry to read through. But I was pleasantly surprised! I was reminded of American Horror Story's 1984 with all the well-loved tropes of 80s slasher films. The stories are fairly quick to get through, and you can pick up and put down inbetween them which is great for those sporadic readers out there.

Good chillers without being downright terrifying horror stories. Some of them could have been much longer in my opinion, the ideas were that good!

I grew up in the 80s and learned to love the horror genre in literary and cinematic form thanks to the blind eye of librarians and parents who never paid attention to the stuff this tween was gorging on. As such, I was really looking forward to this collection, despite the fact that like most anthologies, it was hit or miss.

The hits include Alien Parasites from Outer Space (with a great ambiguous ending immediately undone by the sequel story that follows), Creature Feature, Coming Attractions, and the truly unsettling Cronenberg Concerto.

None of the stories would be considered by "bad" per se, just not very memorable. Looking back at the table of contents a few weeks after I finished reading and I struggle to even remember the plot of most of them,

Have you stood in front of your bookshelves wondering what you may have that could spark some long overdue nostalgia? Maybe your library is digital and you’re swiping through thinking that you could go for some stories that may remind you of growing up. This compilation is just the right amount of terror in the form of one common factor – 80’s style horror movies. This book of short stories really opened my eyes to quite a few authors that I haven’t even heard of, which is the beauty of books like this.

Alien Parasites from Outer Space & Return of the Alien Parasites from Outer Space, in my opinion, were of the strongest stories in the book and unfortunately are the first two in the volume. These are the stories I remember the most with character building, familiarity by coming of age, and overall weirdness. I found the plot to be a great mixture of sci-fi and horror, inventive, creative, and just plain old weird!
Within the rest of this volume two more stories stood out to me which used an excellent pay on senses, diversity, gore, and plain old nasty villains.
For me, this one started out with a bang, but there were some stories in here that I wasn’t a huge fan of, which is not uncommon by collections of any kind. I think in all honesty that my expectations were too high for this one. A couple of these stories were legit creepy and really turned up the volume in horror, but there were more stories that were lacking or felt rushed. I really like short story collections though, because you can tell a lot about the author and their style throughout. I do believe it is harder to write a short story than it is a novel because of the limits that exist for the story on a whole.
I rate this one 3.5

Every anthology is a mixed bag, that's what they are designed to be. Some stories are going to work for a reader, some aren't. In this case, I would say overall the trend was more good than bad, but ultimately no one story particularly drew me in. It was a fun collection, but I honestly expected a little more considering many of the contributors.

I have spent so many nights watching old horror. The good, the bad, the scary, and the laughable. It helps me stay sane, keeps me from getting overly sentimental in an already emotionally draining time.

This book had the same feel to it, and served the same purpose. The nostalgia it brought, the way I could almost hear the crickets chirp at the drive in, I could feel the sticky feel of soda stained floors. The whir of the projector.

Each story had its own life, own horrors. Despite their common theme, I was never bored, each one original. Some were good, some were great. A couple slightly laughable, but none bad.

Perfectly snack sized, a treat or two before bed to help me settle on for the night, and distract me from the real horrors of the world.

I have recently begun to read more short story collections. I used to sigh away from them for no reason. I can say that I've seen the error of my ways. Small stories can pack a punch. Loved the vingettes of several writters and seeing what they can do with such short time.

Tons of gory, creepy fun in bite sized pieces. A wonderful collection of little horrors with something for all fans of the genre.

Remember the days of horror anthology films? Things like Creepshow, Cat's Eye Tales from the Crypt (It was a movie before it was a show, look it up)? While the stories in those sometimes varied in quality, they were always a blast to watch.

Same with this loving homage to 80s horror cinema. I can't say that every story in here was a gem, but the entire presentation and most of the stories were great fun. A loving nod to all things 80s horror. Well worth a read for any horror fans (particularly those with a background in Slashers and Cronenberg).

This is such a fun and creepy book! I am a huge fan of all things horror and I love 80's movies and each of the unique and spooky tales in this book made me feel like I was watching an 80's horror movie. Each story was amazing. The stories all have various monsters but they all revolve around a movie theater in one way or another. I don't really have a favorite in this one because I loved them all! If you are a fan of horror, don't hesitate in picking this one up - it's truly great!

Cool little nuggets of 80's VHS/multiplex history. None of the stories will take you more than 20 minutes to read and really transport you back in time to the 80's. The highlight is the first story of the alien invasion, which at first you don't know if the protagonist is crazy or is actually telling the truth. Great meta commentary on 80's monster movies. Nothing that is going to change the horror lit genre, but a fun time nonetheless.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

[insert boiler plate warning that some stories in anthologies don’t work for the reader while others do]

The idea behind this anthology is fantastic and cool for someone born at the tail end of the 80s who happens to be fascinated with that decade’s cinema.

However, it didn’t deliver as a whole package as I expected it to. The cover art and internal illustrations are so good. Love the retro feel and the overall formatting of the anthology, but when it comes to written content, it was sort of all over the place for me.

The well-known names deliver, namely Stephen Graham Jones and Betty Rocksteady. Aside from their stories the other ones that really captured what I was looking for were by Orrin Grey and Steve Rasnic Tem.

Ultimately, I think I’ve learned I’d rather watch schlock horror than read it. Still, this was a decent, fun read with most of the entertaining stories coming in the latter half (save for the last one, sorry, nothing personal!).

The 1980s were a golden age of American horror cinema, starting with a movement that began in the 1970s that defined the modern horror flick. The focus was shifted to films that were bolder, more aggressive, but artistic too. The horror genre also saw the rise of B movies that became cult favorites, low-budget gorefests that riveted audiences. Filled to the brim with supernatural killers, creature features, and evil children, the horror films of the era became a cultural zeitgeist that continues to influence horror writers and filmmakers to the present day.

While there are still theaters available today, there’s no question that the rise of video streaming from home has ushered a wave of nostalgia for the 80s, when folks had to go to a movie theater or to a video rental store to watch movies. It Came from the Multiplex perfectly encapsulates this nostalgia and is an homage to horror films and the packed movie theaters of the era. Every story is themed around theaters in a wide variety of genres that hearken back to the film themes of the time; from giant killer spiders to children seemingly possessed by Satan, despite the repetitive theater theme, each story had something fresh to bring to the collection.

My favorite story undoubtedly was The Cronenberg Concerto, where a man “worships” the truly violent Splatterhouse films that rarely grace the screens of large popular theaters. I also really enjoyed Rise, ye vermin! and Invisible for the cool narratives and creepy antagonists. The final story, Special Makeup was also well placed, being a horror cinema satire that left me with a one-liner that I just had to laugh.

The one drawback is that the styles clashed so much despite a common theme that there were some stories that were entirely forgettable. Despite going in knowing that this was a collection about theaters, I also found the use of theaters at minimum as a setting in every story to be a little tiring. Even so, as an anthology, I feel that there will be something here for every kind of reader.

This short story collection was a hit and miss for me. I wished some of the stories were a lot longer and some I wished were a lot shorter. I was introduced to a few new author's that I'm looking forward to reading more from. Here is a list of the stories I enjoyed the most:

Negative Creep by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
Helluloid by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
Creature Feature by Gary Jonas
The Devil's Reel by Sean Eads & Joshua Viola
On The Rocks By K. Nicole Davis
Coming Attractions By Stephen Graham Jones

I have given all of the above short stories 4 stars

14 stories guaranteed to make you want to binge 80 slasher films. I love the variety of each story giving us the best cinematic experience. As with most anthologies, some stories were better than others but overall enjoyable.

As with all short story compilations, the stories in this book vary in quality, but the theme - a love letter to horror films, particularly the slashers and creature features of the 80s - was near and dear to my heart. "Negative Creep" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro particularly stuck with me. Overall, an easy recommend for those who are fans of horror, both on-page and on-screen.

this is a very fin collection with many different writers about a subject dear to my heart- horror movies especially at the movie theaters. Comfort food for the movie lover during this time when we cant go to the theaters

Like many story collections this had some great stories and ones that were not as memorable but all in all I think it's a pretty solid read and would work well around the fall/Halloween time.

As collections always go some hit and some miss. This one has some great authors, but it leaned too sci-fi for me.