What Remains When The Stars Burn Out: a horror collection by P.L. McMillan Paperback – March 31, 2022

Cosmic Horror lacks character. Wait! Sorry, no. Don’t get mad, let me try again: Cosmic Horror lacks characters! Well, that’s not right either, is it? The sub-genre certainly has character and characters, but I think it’s fair to argue that – historically speaking – the characters on offer are a bit stale. Plenty of notable exceptions exist, but far too often authors will pummel me with world-devouring monsters and helpless characters who are begging to lose their sanity, but those same authors will stop short of developing those characters in any meaningful way. At best, this blunts the aforementioned loss of sanity and - at worst – blunts the impact of the entire story. Thankfully, P.L. McMillan puts this problem to bed with her short story collection “What Remains When The Stars Burn Out”. Over the course of this nerve-shattering collection, McMillan meticulously weaves twelve scintillating tales of Cosmic Horror with a divergent batch of compelling(and tragically doomed) characters. In summary: these stories have teeth.Before I dig into the stories, allow me a moment to gush about the aesthetics of this collection. It’s beautiful! Not only is the cover art gorgeous, but McMillan flexes her artistic sensibilities by opening each story with a captivating illustration. Throw in the fact that this collection is perfectly formatted for e-readers and I do declare that it’s one of the best looking, smoothest-reading collections of the year.So, about those stories. There’s a lot on offer here. Most of these are tried-and-true short stories that range in length from 2k-7k words. With that said, “Planet of the Hungry” is a novelette and falls on the lengthier side. Yes, I just used the word “length”, but I really didn’t notice any length as one story slipped effortlessly into the next and before I knew it, my Kindle was telling me that I was on the last page. I won’t say that I unleashed a tirade of unrepeatable language at my Kindle in a fit of rage, but, yeah, I absolutely did.Anyway. The real strength of these stories is the characters. Yes, McMillan packs each story with enough tension-laced atmosphere to give a toddler angina, and the collection is overflowing with brilliantly chilling twists and turns, but if I don’t know the characters, and if they can’t – at the very least – communicate to me how scared they are as their reality unravels around them, then it’s all a bit pointless, isn’t it? Thankfully, McMillan understands this conundrum better than most and peppers this collection with a wide-ranging cast of characters from all walks of life. Doctors, scientists, reporters; people with crippling anxieties, cheaters, victims of cheaters, prisoners, murderers, they’re all here! And McMillan meticulously molds each-and-every one of these characters with a careful hand, then feeds them all to the thresher.A few standouts:Despite only being the opener, “Sanitize” is an industrial-strength dose of terror and may be the strongest story in the collection. What seems like an anxiety-induced bout of irrationality for Paige overflows into a nightmare as a she begins to manifest disturbing symptoms of an unknown disease. No one can see these symptoms except Paige and are quick to try and convince her that it’s all just in her head. She almost believes them until whatever is “just in her head” begins ravaging everyone Paige touches. McMillan ensures that we feel every ripple of doubt and every twinge of terror racing through Paige’s veins as the world dissolves around her and her sanity is pushed to the brink. Brilliant stuff.“Godmouth” is an unbridled one-two-punch of Cosmic Horror. A word (Godmouth) is spreading through a city like a virus, leaving violence and hysteria in its wake and heralding the arrival of something sinister. The characters are all quite relatable, ordinary people, who make a story like this much more agonizing to endure. It’s sort of like watching a car crash in slow motion; we know how this ends, but we can’t look away. McMillan won’t let us.In case the rest of this collection’s offerings aren’t quite bleak enough to suit your tastes, “Gemini Syndrome” has you covered. Mara is an officer on a station named Omikron III and a family emergency spurs her to return home. The problem being that “home” is Earth and Earth is about two-decades worth of space travel away. So, Mara opts to use “DMT”, an experimental method of teleportation that will send her to Earth instantly. Problem solved, right? Well, sort of. “DMT” is rumored to have some nasty side-effects(like death), and although these rumors can’t be proven, advocates of the technology are a bit evasive when discussing the risks involved. Despite her reservations, Mara doesn’t have time to waste and goes all-in on using “DMT”. What follows is the grimmest ending I’ve read this year, but it’s so profoundly speculative that I haven’t stopped thinking about it in days.In the end, stories are only as good as their characters. Yes, spectacle and theatrics can carry a story to great heights, but without compelling characters to ground them, they can fly too close to the sun and bring that story crashing back down in a fiery heap. Sure, that can be fun, but it isn’t sustainable and – more often than not – it isn’t satisfying. In case I haven’t been clear: P.L. McMillan discerns and applies this notion in a most profound way, and through her staunch unwillingness to sacrifice character for story or story for character, succeeds in releasing one of the most cathartic and unnerving horror collections of the year. Read it.

A really solid horror collection with a nice variety. McMillan mostly favors sci-fi and cosmic horror, and is never afraid to heap piles of body horror on either one. Compulsively readable too. I breezed through in just a few days. My favorites were Buzzkill, Planet of the Hungry (great world building here), and the Drought of Burham (a nice bit of folk horror to mix things up). Definitely recommended.

I read a lot of horror. I have zero tolerance for poor, perfunctory writing. I had never heard of PL McMillan when I stumbled upon her horror collection on Amazon. I was reluctant to purchase her book because I had been burned in my last few purchases. The many laudatory reviews here, however, convinced me to buy "What Remains When The Stars Burn Out."I'm friggin' glad I did. McMillan's fiction hits you in the face, hard, and then stomps on your head. This is not Extreme Horror. That would be too easy. Rather, McMillan creates immersive worlds, which act as portals, which draw the reader in. Her vivid, concrete writing possesses a "you are there" feel. And, believe me, you never want to be "there" in any of McMillan's horrorific worlds.Please give this supremely talented author a chance. This book stands out.

Overall, I am happy I read this book. The stories in this collection mostly share the theme of cosmic horror, which is what I was after, but not all of them fit into that category, or even science fiction horror. There is one about witches, that seems more paranormal and sticks out a bit in the collection. However, most of the stories did keep my attention, if not through the entire thing, then through most of them. They are easy to read, too. Some of the stories weren't the best, but I'd say I enjoyed them more often than not.I think, for the stories I did not like, there was usually a lack luster ending or they came off a little silly. Spoilers, but one that comes to mind is one with a guy in a coffin who gets seduced by a ghost scorpion.For the ones I liked, they had an interesting sense of mystery and were written from an overall interesting idea.

This one had a lot of good stories and no duds I can think of, tho Gemini Syndrome had a "twist" I saw coming a mile away. I recommend this one.

finally someone who understands how to write horror. All the stories were good. The author takes an HP Lovecrafty approach which i like a lot.

Excellent stories. The author demonstrated good writing skills and very rich imagination. Looking forward to reading more works from this author.

There were a couple of interesting ideas, and the writing was competent. But I found the stories unsubtle and over the top. I find horror more effective if you don't show everything. For me, the creepy thing in the shadows becomes downright silly when dragged into full light. The stories in this collection broke the suspension on my disbelief.

This anthology of tales from beyond the edges of normal delves into dark places and thoughts. McMillan delivers richly-woven short stories in macabre bite-size chunks.

I loved this book! 5 out of 5 stars, and it's going into my Favourites.The smoothness and flow of the writing is some of the best I've ever came across, so much so it is like watching a movie in my head, the stories are unique and dark, with excellent characters, with a similar feel to 'The Essential Sick Stuff' by Ronald Kelly and Clive Barkers Books of Blood stories.There is some body horror, cosmic horror, dark science fiction, and a unexpected folklore creature in 'Planet of the Hungry' which I really really want to tell you about, but I don't want to spoil itIf you love cosmic and sci-fi horror, you have to check this out.