Wishes Gone Awry: Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy by M. Ainihi is an eclectic collection of short stories that fall into the horror and dark fantasy genres. In each story, ordinary characters with ordinary lives and everyday situations morph into something otherworldly, horrific, and often deadly, yet always surprising in the leap from "normal" to something else entirely. Call these stories horror or dark fantasy; each story will surprise and satisfy fans of either genre, as M. Ainihi mixes these categories seamlessly and consistently lures the reader into her world, where the mundane becomes terrifying.

Although each individual story stands alone in time, place, and situation, all begin rather benignly, with normal people doing normal things, before suddenly shifting into a scene, a situation, or a major change in the character's personality or perspective. These shifts are sometimes jarring for the reader as "normal" is left far behind in a new world where the horrific, supernatural, or fantastical nightmares take center stage. This writing style is, in my experience, rare, largely because of the risk of losing the reader behind and leaving them in a state of confusion. Personally, as a fan of Edgar Alan Poe, whose stories often twisted the mundane and the ordinary toward the horrific, I admired each story in Wishes Gone Awry. My favorite story in this collection is "Regrowth" as it most closely fits into my preference for horror, the more brutal the better, over dark fantasy. All in all, M. Ainihi's collection of stories is, hands down, worthy of a five-star rating, and I look forward to reading more of her imaginative works.

Wishes Gone Awry by M. Ainihi is a collection of stories where simple wishes and choices slowly transform into serious and scary problems for the people involved. Each story follows a character attempting to improve some aspect of their life. In one, a young sailor joins a ship and begins to notice strange things and rising fear among the crew. In another, a woman is pulled into a risky experiment after fossils are found in her yard. A diary-style story reveals another character using magical plants to stop her pain, only to experience strange changes happening to her. Another tale follows a woman who uses illegal technology to help her creativity, but loses control of it along the way. These stories all demonstrate how simple decisions can lead to big consequences. It makes you wonder how far someone is willing to go to fix their problems.

Wishes Gone Awry by M. Ainihi is a horror and dark fantasy collection that depicts the dangers behind human desires. The stories each focus on different ideas and plots, but they still share a clear theme. Some are told through diary entries, while others use a simple, direct style, and that difference held my attention. The situations are creative, and the characters’ problems grow more serious as the stories unfold. I marveled at the way each person's situation started with something simple and ended in unimaginable ways. Readers who enjoy dark stories about actions leading to consequences will appreciate this book. It is a good pick for anyone who loves short horror stories with strong messages behind them.