The Knife and the Wound it Deals, by B.E. Scully. Amazon Digital Services, 2012

This is a collection of short horror fiction. Some, like ‘Champ’s Last Round’ make me think of the Twilight Zone- they would have made great episodes. Others, like ‘Grief Assassins’, are very poignant. ‘Released’ is achingly sad. ‘A Simple Game of Chess’ could easily have been written by Poe. There is dark fantasy (‘Earth Shall Return Them’) and the author’s version of the selling your soul to the devil tale.

It’s a well rounded collection; the stories are all very distinct. Scully avoids excess gore and blood in favor of more subtle, sophisticated horror. This is a connoisseur’s anthology.