NYCC '11: Twisted Dark Vol. One

There are many advantages to having a press pass at any con. One of them is getting an opportunity to review books. I was given a copy of Neil Gibson's Twisted Dark: Volume One to peruse and write about. 

Let me start by saying it was my honor or horror (my honror?) to read this collection. I did not know what to expect; I just knew it would make me uncomfortable. And it did but in all the right ways.

The cover alone tells the reader they are in for a disturbing time and Neil Gibson delivers in spades. From the opening story, "Suicide" to the final "Last Laugh," Gibson takes you on a ride through several short stories that examine the unconventional, socially abnormal side of humanity, covering a range of topics such as drugs, paranoia, abuse, death, and in the case of the chilling tale, "Munchausen's Little Proxy," mental illness.