Review of Symposium of the Reaper

[SimMar133]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Symposium of the Reaper" by Andrew Adams.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Symposium of the Reaper by Andrew Adams is a horror anthology that consists of 13 short stories. Each story focuses on different horror elements, ranging from dark humor, and gloomy irony to goriness. Besides the diversity of themes, this book is also rich in literary styles.

Even though the stories are not related, while reading them, the reader doesn’t feel as if each of the stories is completely out of place. The stories are blended, and there is a tangible smoothness in their constructiveness. The sorties didn’t interfere with each other. The was meant to duplicate the experience of listening to an album. The author manages to achieve his goal. In my opinion, this is the best description of how reading the 13 stories somehow feels like they are one piece despite being independent.

One of the biggest assets of this book is its diversity. The main themes of the stories range from late-night parties to an everlasting cycle of death and torture. Because of this, the book can reach more people and go down well with a wider audience. Nearly everyone is sure to find a story in this anthology they will derive pleasure from reading. The reader is exposed to many miscellaneous motifs and styles which, in my opinion, can have a positive influence on discovering new aspects of reading as well as broaden one’s preferences.

The one story which stood out for me was "Dance Macabre". Maybe it wasn’t the most terrifying or gruesome of stories, but it certainly was intriguing and compelling. It takes an interesting turn at the end, the turn which made me want to read more of the story. I was curious about how the rest of the story would unfold. This is the kind of story that makes you stop and wonder for a minute, the one you cannot just simply move on after reading it.

This book seemed to be professionally edited, as I didn’t spot any grammatical mistakes. I wasn’t able to find anything I disliked about this book as well.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. It was a thrilling read. I read it in one day; the book is not long, only 128 pages, however, it was mainly because of how absorbing and gripping the book is. I recommend Symposium of the Reaper to people who enjoy horror stories or those who have an affinity for story collections.

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Symposium of the Reaper
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