So many good stories! I read this in the midst of a heat advisory/power outage with flooding. It helped as an amazing distraction and kept me cool.

My favorites:

Blackberry Winter by William Jensen.
Very surreal to read this during a power outage in summer. A family and neighborhood suffer a catastrophic power outage from a winter storm. Violence, mayhem and destruction follow.

Find A Boy by David Rider
This story took place around where I grew up so I knew a lot of the settings. A couple travels back home to meet the parents. Except he begins to remember that maybe he’s been here before. Very ominous and creepy.

Cold Case by Neil Williamson
Crime and police procedural. A cold case is reopened when a son discovers his dead father’s notes on the case. But interest leads to obsession as it always does with this particular case.

Absolute Zero was a bit of a disappointment.

Usually, I adore the frozen, cold and creeping dread trope tremendously, but somehow this just fell flat. I suppose it's a style of writing that isn't quite for me - it's not that it was bad, but it lacked the emotional presence and atmosphere I was expecting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dead Sky Publishing for the advance copy.

I love anthologies because they allow you to discover new authors and get a taste of stories you might not otherwise read. Absolute Zero, a horror anthology with the theme of cold in all its shades, promised to be the perfect read for a scorching summer like the one we just had. Unfortunately, I was left quite disappointed. Some stories are good and manage to stand out from the rest, like “The Squall” and “Cold Cuts,” but the others don't really leave an impact on the reader. It's a light read for an afternoon spent under a beach umbrella or by the pool, but it won't give you the chills.

Like most anthologies, stories can be hit or miss. I enjoyed the idea of stories set in the cold, but not as many hit as those that missed. Still it was worth my tie to explore some of the themes set herein, such as isolation, extreme cold, looting, and the idea of being stuck/abandoned.

Anthologies can be tricky to rate, but Absolute Zero delivers a strong collection of cold-themed horror stories that are vivid, immersive, and chilling in all the right ways. While some tales didn’t quite hit the same impact as others, the majority created an atmosphere so frigid and tense that I felt like I needed a blanket while reading.

What stood out most was the realistic nature of the scenarios—freezing isolation, survival under brutal conditions, and the darker sides of human behavior when resources run out. One particular story about people trapped in an icebound town turning to looting hit close to home, reminding me of both the pandemic lockdown and the devastating Texas ice storm.

This anthology works because the horror is grounded in possibility. You can easily imagine yourself in these situations, and that realism makes the fear linger long after the last page. A solid four stars for delivering an unshakable chill.

Would I recommend it? Yes—especially to readers who enjoy atmospheric, survival-focused horror.

This was just okay. Interesting idea for a collection of short stories but I didn't particularly enjoy most of the stories.

“An anthology of cold horror - “ and oh, how I love dark tales set in cold climes….so forbidding! Put a scary story in Antarctica and I’m going to read it for sure. Set a horror tale up in a mountain climbing environment and I couldn’t be happier. Well, neither of those two scenarios exist in this book (but, hey, free ideas for next time) and, like most short story collections from multiple authors this was a bit of a mixed bad, though I really enjoyed two of the tales, suburbia gone wrong in “Blackberry Winter” by William Jensen and a tale of three brothers in a storm, “ReSquall” by Bryan Holm. Not to mention that this was perfect reading material for Alaska, or it would have been had it not been having unbelievably high temperatures. It got into the 80s most days we were there and my husband and I got quite sunburned out by the pool on day! But, nope, no global warming AT ALL people, now let me distract you by telling you how we have the “hottest” country, but by that, I mean “cool.”

I was looking forward to these stories, but I couldn't make it past the first one.

Politics, Trump and Epstein were all referenced in this story, so I'm out.

I like to use stories as an escape to politics and life is too short - it's too bad because I may have liked the other stories, but if the first one is talking about politics, chances are good the rest will too.

Thank you NetGalley and Dead Sky Publishing for an e-copy of ABSOLUTE ZERO to review.

I rate ABSOLUTE ZERO one out of five stars.

Chilling…but not in the way I thought!
I am typically a sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural horror kind of reader. The scariest parts of this book were when things got too “real!” The chilly parts of the book added to the atmosphere of course but the parts that unsettled me (as they should, it’s a horror collection) were the things about PEOPLE. I personally do not vibe with this but I think for the readers who prefer something more psychological, this could be perfect! Some of these stories were just not my cup of tea.

Not going to lie, I was excited for this. I'm all about themed horror anthologies and I LOVE cold/snowy settings. This should have been a banger for me. Unfortunately I found pretty much all of the stories just ok.

I honestly don't think there was a standout in the bunch. I was left bored by most of them. None were terrible though, but I didn't really enjoy my time. Normally I'd have dnf'd a book that I felt like this about but with an anthology you just never know if the next story might just be great, so I persevered and finished the book.

I'm so sad this was a disappointment. I really, really wanted to like it.

3.5 stars. Great collection to chill your bones. I enjoyed more than half of these stories except: Watch 'Em Freeze; Find A Boy; Cold Case; Warm; and Saturn. Blackberry Winter scared me the most for some reason. The Squall was the best story in the collection and while Cold Cuts was predictable I still loved it. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

For the most part, all of these stories are well written and entertaining. All of them relate to something cold... such as blizzards and cabins. This is more along the lines of soft-horror. Many of the stories have the fear factor, but some are more thriller-like.

Thank you #NetGalley and #DeadSkyPublishing for #AbsoluteZero

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

This was a bit of a mixed bag as short story collections often are.

I was really intrigued by the theming of it and I was satisfied with the frozen wintery vibes I got. This would be a freat winter read in front of a fireplace.

Unfortunately none of the short stories truly blew me away, most of them were just okay. It was an enjoyable enough read, but don't expect anything too special.

Absolute Zero

Beautiful cover by Anthony Galatis to set the mood for this anthology. I'm having a bit of a moment of appreciation in the digital age to look and show thanks to all the wonderful people who make these books. The art, the typography, the authors that have come together to have their srories bound next to each other.

I want to read this in the winter, with a cup of cocoa and maybe a yule log on the tv. But alas, there is a thunderstorm trying ti's best to give me the spooky atmosphere I crave.

My favorite story is 'Children" by G.M. Garner
I am a urface reader, I don't read into stories that much so if you're looking for an indepth review, this is not it. I'm here got vibes andd to get spooked in my own way.

I loved the idea of a "cold horror" anthology but it was just another mediocre, mixed bag of short stories. A couple were good but most did not wow or excite me.

Thanks for the approval to read and review!

I really liked the premise of this anthology but overall it didn't wow me. Like most anthologies it's a mixed bag. Some of the stories were well executed, some were well thought out but not well written, and some reminded me of writing you might do in a college creative writing 101 class.

I think people who enjoy spooky/unsettling media will enjoy this despite the inconsistency in the writing.

It's perfect for someone else's tastes, but isn't really for me.

Absolute Zero is ‘an anthology of cold horror’ from Death’s Head Press. Featuring stories from the likes of Anne Woods, Matt Dodge, and E.J. Bramble the collection focuses on cold for the source of its scares.

This common thread of “Cold Horror” is actually what drew me to the anthology initially, and when it comes to the premise Absolute Zero doesn’t disappoint. Its pages are full of blizzards, snowstorms, iced-over roads, frozen corpses, walk-in freezers, and remote mountain cabins. The stories often capture just how fragile human life is below freezing temperatures and revel in the dread of slowly ebbing heat.

The quality, tone, and genre vary from story to story and not every entry reaches the same heights. However, for an anthology gathering emerging voices in the horror genre there is a lot to appreciate and enjoy.