Michael Knost, ed., Legends of the Mountain State 3 (Woodland Press 2010)
The Legends of the Mountain State anthology series is a small gem of the horror genre. The conceit is simple: line up "real" spooky stories from West Virginia and then let talented authors like Elizabeth Massie, Steve Vernon and more riff on them to their hearts' content. There's no shortage of material -- any dabbler in the paranormal knows there's a lot more to West Virginia lore than the Mothman -- which means that even in the third volume of the series, there's plenty of variety in the stories.
Massie leads off with "The Caretaker," a slow build of a ghost story that takes an unexpected but appropriate turn at the end. Scott Nicholson's "Wampus Cat" is another, sidestepping the pitfalls of both the predictable and the overly folksy. Steve Vernon gives a fresh take on the legend of John Henry with "Where You Gonna Run To?," and Michael West's "Flowers in Winter" neatly reverses the twist of Massie's story, all the more effectively since the two are back to back. Other stories -- Matthew Warner's "Springs Eternal," Brian J. Hatcher's "A Banshee in Beckley," and Douglas F. Warrick's delicately crafted gothic "Her Father's Collection" -- round things out nicely.
Only two stories fail to live up to the anthology's overall standard. John R. Little's "George's Head" is brief and predictable, while Matt Venne's "Family Feud Phantasms" alternates between goofy and unpleasant while maintaining a brittle façade that keeps it at the level of high concept.
On the whole, however, the anthology is more than solid and deeply entertaining. And while the subject matter might seem a little limited, the skill of the writers and the breadth of the choices they make in their pieces ensure that this isn't so.
