Menagerie in the Dark-Stories by Chris Kauzlarich
Publisher: Phantom Quill Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Holiday, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by AstilbeLife often appears darkest just before the dawn of a new day.
In Menagerie in the Dark, Chris Kauzlarich immerses us in a speculative journey that explores the darker aspects of the human condition before bringing us back to the surface with the light of a new day. Through fourteen stories, this menagerie of characters faces trials of sorrow, death, loneliness, regret, deception, murder, delight, wonderment, and bliss, revealing what will either strengthen them enough to survive or plunge them to their demise. A boy’s home burns down, forcing him to confront a terrifying new world. A man enters a door where he witnesses his wife’s death, leaving him devastated; yet, he cannot stop returning to the scene, convinced he can save her. A nurse’s patients continue to perish under her care, but she harbors a dark secret—an administered cocktail for nefarious purposes.
These and other stories will stretch the limits of your emotions, from heartbreak to horror, leaving you yearning for more.
Fear comes in many mysterious forms.
Katelyn was in severe pain and desperately seeking more medication in “Echoes.” What I found most interesting about her tale was how many different ways it could be interpreted. Yes, she had a back injury that could explain why she needed her pain pills so regularly, but she also showed some signs that her reliance on them had possibly grown past what they were originally prescribed for. There were also inconsistencies in her memories that had multiple possible meanings as well. Other readers should decide for themselves which explanations they think fit the clues best, but I sure enjoyed the process of coming up with my own theories.
I loved the twist on what zombies are like in “Scalpel.” This was actually one of the biggest reasons why I chose a full five-star rating for this collection as the cause of the outbreak was as creative as it was original. It’s not easy to surprise me with this subgenre, so I must tip my cap to the author for pulling it off and making horror feel so relevant to life in 2025. The references that were included about current events from the past several years not only fit into the storyline nicely, they also made me chuckle in a few places which isn’t easy to do when I’m simultaneously scared.
While they were walking around trick-or-treating, Connor told his friends a terrifying local legend about a supernatural killer in “The Legend of Chucky Mudd.” What made the tale even more memorable was that the main character lived in the same house Chucky used to live in! I enjoyed seeing how Connor’s friends reacted to this conversation and how they changed their Halloween plans as a result of it. These scenes reminded me of things like Bloody Mary that used to scare me as a kid, although, of course, these characters were in serious danger and didn’t realize what their games were going to lead to. This was deliciously spooky, just the right amount of gory, and made me want a sequel.
Menagerie in the Dark was a perfectly balanced mixture of genres.
