The Speed of Dark


Fiction - Anthology
336 Pages
Reviewed on 06/10/2013
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Author Biography

Clayton Bye is a writer, editor and publisher. The author of 9 books and a varied collection of short stories, poems, articles and hundreds of reviews, he has also published 2 anthologies of excellent short stories by some great talents from around the world. The first book featured general fiction, while the current offering is horror, through and through. Clayton's most recent efforts are a Memoir and a Children's Story, both in ebook format only.

Mr. Bye also offers a wide range of writing services, including small business management for writers.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Lee Ashford for Readers' Favorite

“The Speed of Dark” is a horror anthology of short stories written by an assortment of authors, and published by Chase Enterprises Publishing. Editor Clayton Clifford Bye states in his Introduction that “horror” means many things to different people. It can mean an intense feeling of fear or shock or disgust. It can mean terror, dread and fright. He quotes Lovecraft as defining horror as a profound sense of dread. He quotes Stephen King as identifying three levels of “scary”: terror, horror, and revulsion. In “The Speed of Dark” the editors were going for a different level of horror: they hand-picked 27 authors to craft “disturbing” horror stories. They succeeded admirably. Don’t expect to sleep well after reading this book. Some of these stories will stay with you for a long, long time, continuing to disturb you long after you have read them.

Many of the tales in this collection are superbly written. They also happen to be very disturbing. One can be forgiven for wondering about the mental state of some of these authors. But for a fan of horror, there is much to revel in within the pages of this compilation. I believe that every word used above to describe “horror” represents an emotion you will feel during the course of reading this book. Some of the stories have unexpected endings, which create the horror you will feel. Others start out with disturbing circumstances, and maintain that sensation of uncomfortable dread throughout. The editors at Chase Enterprises Publishing have tapped some brilliantly twisted minds to contribute to their anthology. In their effort to produce “disturbing” horror stories they have succeeded far beyond what I expected, even in spite of the introductory warning. Horror fans take note: “The Speed of Dark” is a book you must add to your library. Now.