Very Superstitious: Myths, Legends and Tales of Superstition (Charity Anthology Dark Tales Collection)

When this book was offered to me to review, I jumped at the chance, and while it wasn't a fantastic read, it was still good.I love the cover! It's a bit plain, but I like the whole black cat imagery going on for a book entitled Very Superstitious!I'm going to review each of the stories individually instead of altogether because it's easier, and that way each story is reviewed fairly.The Rescue by Shannon DelaneyThis story plays on a dog really being man's best friend. His wife believes he spends too much time with his dog and not enough time with his family. When his dog becomes too ill to hunt, he begrudgingly leaves her at the house with his young infant son and his nanny. When the man comes back from hunting, he finds the nanny dead and his dog with blood around her mouth. Things aren't always what they seem though.The world building was fantastic in this story! I could imagine everything in my head that was going on with the story thanks to the author's great descriptions.The pacing for this story was great! I kept wanting to know what was going to happen to the dog. I couldn't read fast enough!The character of Annie was my favorite. Yes, she may be just a dog, but I'm a big dog lover. I loved how we even got a litte bit of back story about her. Andrew, the man I mentioned in previous paragraphs, is also a well written character. I could actually feel how much he loved his dog. Andrew is put in an awful position towards the end of the story, and my heart really went out to him.The dialogue flowed very smoothly and never once felt forced. Personally, I liked the dialogue between the man and his dog.Overall, this is a great short story. I'd give this story a 5 out of 5.Thirst by Jackie Morse KesslerSambethe has realistic dreams...so realistic that one even turns out to be prophetic. When she is told in her dream that her village is going to flood, she must convince the others. When no one believes her, she must make the ultimate sacrifice.I enjoyed the world building. Thanks to the author's great use of description, I was instantly teleported to Sambethe's village.Like the previous story, the pacing in this story was also great. I couldn't wait to find out if the villagers would start believing Sambethe. I also wanted to learn more about the Red Rider, the Black Rider, and the Pale Rider that were mentioned in this story.Sambethe, to me, was instantly likable. It was easy to feel her frustration at not being able to convince the other villagers that their lives were in danger. Sambethe was a very brave girl, and I admired her deeply.I enjoyed the dialogue. My favorite dialogue was when Sambethe was dreaming.This is also a great story. This story gets a 5 out of 5 from me.Chupacabra by Jennifer KnightThis story offers its own explanation of the infamous creature from Mexican lore. When Eva gets a call from her sister Emily, she knows something's up especially since they haven't spoken to each other in awhile since Eva moved away. Emily informs Eva that her husband has been murdered by something that drained all of his blood. Eva shows up on her sister's doorstep to find and kill the monster. However, when you throw in Eva's old flame, things get very complicated. Nothing's ever easy especially when you have a difficult choice to make like Eva.I loved the world building in this story. I love how it goes from normal teenage high school life to a life involving a creature of nightmares. The author does a fantastic job at blending the two worlds to give this story a solid foundation.The pacing started off good, but it slowed down a bit. However, it didn't slow to the point where it became boring. It just wasn't as quick as how it had begun.I loved Eva even if she should've waited for help instead of trying to attack the creature on her own. I loved how witty she was. Eva is definitely someone I'd love to be friends with! I do wish there would've been some back story as to how Eva got involved in killing creatures besides just an explanations such as her parents do it. Emily annoyed me a bit, but not because she was written poorly. I just can't put my finger on it as to why I couldn't connect with her. Diego, Eva's ex, comes across as sweet and caring. I wanted these two to get back together because they seemed to make a great couple!The dialogue was great, and I loved how we got to read things from Eva's point of view as well as the beast's. My favorite dialogue scene was at the very beginning when the teacher asks Eva what she has in her pocket. Her response is what made me love her!This is a good story, and I'd give it a 4 out of 5.The Road Home by Stephanie KuehnertThis story features a girl travelling with her druggie boyfriend to her uncle's house. Her boyfriend's promised her so many times he'd stop doing drugs, but he never keeps his promise. The girl picks up a hitch hiker and things just start getting weirder and weirder from there.I thought the world building was fabulous! I felt as if I was also on this road trip with Gwen and her boyfriend Wake. The setting mostly takes place in Gwen's 1974 Blazer, but not once is there a dull moment.The pacing was fantastic! This kind of story is my favorite. I won't say why due to spoilers though. I devoured this story from start to finish, and not once was I the least bit bored by the story.All the characters were fantastically written. My heart went out to Gwen especially when it came to her boyfriend. She wanted them to have a future, but Wake was jeopardizing it. Wake seemed to be very selfish which is what I think the author was trying to portray. I loved the mysterious aura that Lulu seemed to have. I kept trying to figure her out throughout the whole story.I enjoyed the dialogue, and I felt that it flowed very smoothly. The character interactions never felt forced, and everything just worked. However, the dialogue did confuse me a bit at the end, and I was left wondering what had happened.This was a super interesting story, but due to the ending, I'm going to give this a 4.5 out of 5.The Gift of the Were-Magi by Mari MancusiThis story is about werewolves, not the scary kind, but more like the kind from Twilight. Orpheus is madly in love with Luna. However, they can't be together since she is promised to the alpha male within their pack. Orpheus wants Luna to give up her wolf side and become full human, and he'd do the same. That way they would be banished from their pack and free to do whatever they please, but things never go as planned.I liked the world building, but I would've liked to know more back story and more about the pack. Everything was in the here and now. I realize it's a short story, but still, there could've been more back story then what there was.The pacing was decent, but I felt as if it was slow at times. I must admit that I did skim some of the paragraphs as I become bored every now and then. However, this story is alright even if the pacing is a bit slow.The characters were all written okay, but I felt that with some back story, they could've been brilliant! I thought the character of Orpheus was sweet, and I was angry that he wasn't given a chance to be with Luna simply because he wasn't an Alpha. I kept hoping the pack would allow Orpheus and Luna to be together freely. I didn't really connect with Luna. I think this is because I felt as if I didn't know her well enough.The dialogue flowed smoothly, and the characters interacted well. I did enjoy that this story was written from both Orpheus' and Luna's point of view.I'd give this story a 3 out of 5.Midhalla by Michelle E. ReedKaitlin is being raised by her grandmother. She's an orphan psychic, well, at least that's there job title. She gets paid to video chat with people and do seances as well as tell the future. Everything is going normally until one night, the client network goes down. After that, things just get all out strange.I enjoyed the world building at the beginning. It was really interesting and believable. However, the second half of the book isn't as good. In fact, I felt it was a bit confusing. I felt as if I was reading two different books!The pacing is good. The pacing carries the story along at a great pace, and before I knew it, the story was over.I thought the characters were well written. I loved Gram and Kaitlin! Gram is such a sweet person, and I wished she was in my life. Kaitlin seemed very down to Earth and came across as a girl just trying to make ends meet.The dialogue was great in the beginning and flowed smoothly, but like the world building, the second half just got confusing. I didn't really know what was happening.This is a good story, but due to the confusion, I'm giving this story a 3 out of 5.Bloody Mary by Dianne K. SalerniThis story starts off with a group of girls speaking to a mirror trying to find out who their future husbands will be. When one of the girl's finds out that her cousin from Jamaica saw her current boyfriend in the mirror, all hell breaks loose. Jealousy can be deadly.I can not fault the world building in this story. Everything was perfect. I felt as if I was actually in these girls's world as a silent observer.The pacing is fantastic! I wish this story was longer simply because I was really enjoying it. I flicked from page to page to find out what would happen next!The characters were written fantastically. I felt bad for Mary Louise because her cousin saw Mary Louise's boyfriend in the mirror as her future husband. I'd be super jealous and heartbroken just like Mary Louise especially since Alec, Mary Louise's boyfriend, is nice to everyone. Marianne is a very sweet young lady. She's the innocent victim in all this and doesn't realize her future husband is Mary Louise's boyfriend.I enjoyed the dialogue although I would've liked to see some things written in a Jamaican dialect but that's just a personal thing. The character interactions were great and enjoyable to read.I'd give this story a 5 out of 5.The Silverfoot Heretic by Pab SungenisThis story is about a monk named Nick who is to be the next Crow. The Crow is a male leader of a tribe in this book. The tribe worships the book of The Wizard of Oz. When Nick learns the truth of his tribe, it is up to him to be honest or tell the tribe what every crow has told them before.The world building was good. In fact, the world kind of reminded me a bit of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley except in this story, the people worship The Wizard of Oz, not Ford.I felt that the pacing in this story was too slow for my liking. I skimmed over many paragraphs in this story because I felt like there was too much info dumping.The character of Nick was well written. It was easy to see what the predicament he was in was doing to him, and I felt really bad for him that he had to make such a big decision.The dialogue read smoothly, but like I said, there was just way too much info dumping for my liking.I'd give this story a 3 out of 5.Overall, I'd give this book, as a whole, a 4 out of 5.(I was provided a free ecopy of this title from the tour host in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review also appears on my blog).

I can’t explain why, but I’m not a fan of anthologies. No particular reason; I’m just not. I picked up this anthology of short tales only because the proceeds for the sale of this book go towards a charity I feel strongly about.In short, all these stories are well-written and have depth. Every novella is identifiable by each author’s unique voice and writing style, telling a story based on some or other superstitious belief. My two favorites are without a doubt The Gift of the Were-Magi by Mari Mancusi and Bloody Mary by Dianne K. Salerni. Unfortunately, The Road Home by Stephanie Kuenhert and The Silverfoot Heretic by Pab Sungenis had me stifling yawns.Overall this anthology is a quick read with stories that are well worth the time spent reading it.

In a word: A timely collection for a good cause, with some delightful surprises, full of myths and superstitions, and a vast array of stories that will make you laugh, cry and think.One of the best things about this anthology is that proceeds from the first 5,000 copies sold will be donated to the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) International. Halloween is the perfect time to release this anthology into the world, and the fact that many of the authors use animals as core elements in their stories ties in well with the SPCA connection. Each tale features a superstition or legend, some better known that others, and although all the stories fall under one of the title's subcategories, as a whole they were a very mixed bunch. I found myself pleasantly surprised to discover some new-to-me authors that are now on my radar: to those of you who “wowed” me, look out: I will not rest until I read more from you! Because this is a short anthology with only eight stories, I want to highlight each one. In alphabetical order by author, here are the stories of Very Superstitious:The Rescue by Shannon DelanyThis fairy tale-like story about a man and his faithful dog named Annie was one of my favorites. It fits perfectly in this collection, as it tells about a superstition that hounds born with red ears are fairy-born, and therefore dangerous. Andrew rescued Annie as a pup as she was about to be drowned because of her red ears, and ever since she’s been Andrew’s greatest love. The story delves into family, loyalty and trust, with an unexpected ending that will make you a Shannon Delany fan too!Thirst by Jackie Morse KesslerI loved this story about the legend of Noah's Ark, which goes beyond the tale most of us know and delves into a lesser known character. Thirst tells the story of Sambethe, daughter of Noah, whose dreams foretell the flooding of the river, and how she tries to convince her father to prepare for the flood. This story had a dream-like and mesmerizing quality that sucked me in.Chupacabra by Jennifer KnightThis story was very odd for me in the beginning, but by the end I was hooked. It uses the myth of the chupacabra, an urban legend about a killer beast that sucks the blood from its victims, to tell the story of a monster slayer named Eva who unexpectedly comes face to face with her past, while trying to help her sister. I loved the exotic locale of Chupacabra, which takes place in Puerto Rico, and the menacing feel as the story alternates between Eva’s point of view and the killer’s.The Road Home by Stephanie KuehnertThis odd ghost story was another of my favorites. Kuehnert writes like a seasoned professional, and her writing reminded me a bit of Stephen King’s. King takes small details and weaves them throughout his stories, details that take on lives of their own. This is not an easy thing to do, but Kuehnert does it brilliantly. Her story uses the (unfamiliar to me) superstition of making a wish on the last cigarette in the pack. The Road Home tells a sad but ultimately uplifting story of a ghost who is trying to find her way home, and the people who end up helping her. Oh, and there is a dog in the story, too.The Gift of the Were-Magi by Mari MancusiMancusi might be the best-known of this group of writers, since she just published Scorched, and her story in this collection doesn’t disappoint. Two werewolves named Orpheus and Luna are deeply in love, but unable to be mates because of pack rules. When Orpheus devises a dangerous plan that could allow them to be together, things don’t quite work out the way he envisions. One of my favorites of the bunch, this is probably the saddest werewolf story I’ve ever read!Midhalla by Michelle E. ReedThe superstition in Midhalla is a familiar one: opening umbrellas indoors brings back luck. This story about a girl who works as an online psychic starts out normal enough, but eventually turns into a horror story of sorts. Reed ties in Egyptian superstitions with modern-day characters and offers up a cautionary tale about belief.Bloody Mary by Dianne K. SalerniI really enjoyed this story about the origins of the Bloody Mary myth. Salerni takes a very scary slumber party game and gives us a plausible explanation for it. Jealousy and witchcraft come together in this odd but terrifying tale of cousins who are in love with the same boy.The Silverfoot Heretic by Pab SungenisThis might be my favorite story! Sungenis uses the book The Wizard of Oz as the basis for a future society’s belief system, turning the familiar characters of that beloved story on their heads and creating a new reality that is both strange and comforting at the same time. Sungenis gives us a hopeful look at how stories are carried down from generation to generation, and how they shape our lives.Very Superstitious was overall an enjoyable read. I loved the different ways the authors interpreted the theme, and I’m thrilled to have discovered some talented new authors. The only thing missing, in my opinion, is an afterward or explanation from each author about the origins of their stories and the myths, legends and superstitions they were based on. (Some are obvious but some are not.) But for an anthology that’s been written for a very good cause, you really can’t go wrong. Very Superstitious has something for every reader, and these stories will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading them.Many thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.