Killing It Softly

This reprint anthology of 32 horror stories by female authors maintains an impressively high level of quality in both prose and chills. After opening with a few pieces with period settings, including H.R. Boldwood’s “Lambent Lights,” the book moves through most of the standard types of horror in informal, ambling groupings: body horror stories such as Rebecca J. Allred’s “Ecdysis,” spooky house stories such as K.S. Dearsley’s “Graffiti,” stories evoking folktales such as Elaine Cunningham’s “Ravens,” and zombie and vampire stories such as Nancy Holder’s “Changed.” Though the collection doesn’t aim for cultural diversity, a few pieces, including Sarah Hans’s voudou-centered “Long Time No See” and Nidhi Singh’s “Guilty by Chance,” reach beyond American and European topics. The collection doesn’t make any particular statements about femininity; Lockhart focuses on raising up female horror writers as a community, eschewing any notion of common themes or approaches. (BookLife)