No Longer Dreams is an anthology of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction short stories from a wide range of authors. Most will be at least familiar, some may be new to you. All offer you new and interesting stories - some challenging, some shocking as well as some poetry.

The editors have chosen to split the book into 3 separate sections allowing readers to target whichever genre they wish to read. I found this unusual as most editors tend to mix up the styles but I have to say that I think this is a great idea. If I am in the mood for horror then it is a lot easier to turn to a section dedicated to it rather than working my way through the stories until I find one that appeals (although I still started at the beginning and just kept reading!!)

I do have one confession – poetry really is not my thing so although I read all the individual works I do not think I am the best person to write an opinion so I will confine my review to the short stories.

One of my personal favourites was 'Kvetchula'. This is a story told from the point of view of a Jewish woman, Ruth, about her husband and his overriding passion for all things vampiric. The way that Ruth was described almost had me laughing out loud as she epitomised everything you would expect from a larger than life Jewish character. The whole story is punctuated by Yiddish phrases which makes for a very entertaining read.

'The Forest of a Thousand Lost Souls' is the story of a Roman General preparing for a great battle and the nightmares that haunt him. The writing so captures the emotions and texture of the character that it gives the same feelings as a good movie. As our hero descends into madness and despair you can feel his torment.

'To The Beast' is a lovely little fantasy story of a young witch, Andra, in a battle with the beast Grakar for Hotor's Talisman. As the various rounds are won by one of the two combatants Andra knows that to lose the fight will result in the destruction of her world. But this is more than a physical fight and there is more than she realises at stake.

'The Poppet' is a particularly enjoyable tale. When Kitty is given a doll by her uncle all she is told is that it used to belong to Queen Anne Boleyn and had been taken from her prison chamber after her execution. Although Anne had been accused of being a witch there had been no real evidence to prove the claim. But when Kitty realises that the doll has the face of the new Queen Jane Seymour and then finds a strange Latin inscription on the doll she knows that this is not a simple toy.

As you will hopefully have gathered from the descriptions above, this is a collection of stories written with great skill. Although they are very different from one another the collection works very well and makes for an excellent bedside book.

A must for readers of any genre!

Contributors:
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Mike McPhail
John C. Wright
Darrell Schweitzer
CJ Henderson
Will McDermott
Tee Morris
Tony Ruggerio
L. Jagi Lamplighter
Jeff Lyman
Dan Foley
Melanie Florence
Robin M. Buehler
Patti Kinlock
and many more.

Artists:
Theo Black
Adam Gillespie
Travis Ingram
Ruth Lampi
Erica Henderson
Edward J. Reed