The name fits and Peter Straub wears it well. Interior Darkness could not be more aptly titled. These stories are quite dark and I enjoyed them all. My favorites were “Blue Rose” - in which a little boy’s sadistic streak blossoms when he finds a book on hypnosis and discovers he has a knack for it.
“Pork Pie Hat” - a creepy tale told by a jazz musician of his last time trick or treating as a child and why he never goes out on Halloween again.
“The Buffalo Hunter” - A man who lives more in his mind and in books than in the real world develops a strange affinity for drinking cheap vodka out of baby bottles. “Ashputtle” - About a teacher who you really wouldn’t want around your children.

I received an advance copy for review ( )

Did Not Finish at 15 percent.

Sorry, I own enough Stephen King to not have to put up with a bad collection of horror short stories. I started getting annoyed all over again yesterday when I tried to plow this. I think the main issue is that Straub doesn't draw me in at all. I felt like he was talking about made up people. We go from a fairly long short story to some kind of short essays and back again and I lost any interest in continuing this book.

I will just have to find another book to read for the Genre:Horror square for Halloween Bingo 2017. As I said, I have enough King books and I will just select one this weekend.
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I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really disappointed with this anthology. Every short story included has been published in other anthologies by the author. If you already own the others, buying this would be a complete waste of money. Nothing new.

I'm also disappointed with the actual work, which was supposed to be his best-of-the-best of his short stories. Mr. Straub used to be a top-shelf horror author, but his more recent work has not only gone downhill, but gone over the cliff. Not sure why, but his writing no longer appeals to me whatsoever.

Not recommended. ( )