Unfortunately, the standouts were basically at the beginning. Even though one of my favorites was in the second floor(?) section, I still think that the anthology overall lost its momentum after the stair section. The first and second floor sections had a lot of stories that were super mediocre if not terrible. (There was a lot of predictability. Some of it fun, most of it not.) However, this was still a mostly enjoyable collection, and I can see it getting a couple readers into horror.

My personal favorites were “Good Morning, Georgia”(4.5⭐️), “Cradle And All”(5⭐️), and “The Phantom’s Waltz”(4⭐️). “Good Morning Georgia” was super predictable but I still enjoyed the story itself, it was sweet—the same can mostly be said about “The Phantom’s Waltz”(the ending was a slight subversion). I’m not that familiar with Filipino folklore and monsters, but “Cradle And All” was a creative and emotional use of the tiyanak.

Honorable mentions: “The Grey Library”(3.75⭐️), for having the ending twist and the overall writing style of a Goosebumps novel; “After Midnight”(probably 3.75⭐️?) for having a gripping narrative, but the modern references were a little grating; and “What Lies In Silence”(rating unsure, lol) for being a Justine Pucella Winans story about grief… if you know anything about my Bianca Torre lore this is a historical moment for me. (Also, it was a great palette cleanser after the stories in my “Dishonorable Mentions” section⬇️)

Dishonorable Mentions: “Let’s Play A Game” (2.5⭐️) and “Smartmonster”(2⭐️) for being stories I hated so much they were literally pissing me off. (“Let’s Play A Game” was anticlimactic and barely horror, “Smartmonster” was a YA dystopia snuck into this collection and I actively detested my reading experience.) I read a lot of this anthology in a night, though, so I was tired enough that I couldn’t read on and I had to go to sleep with that simmering☠️

The organization of the stories was super creative, though, and I loved the art included throughout. I think I should’ve read this during the Halloween season! It would have been more fun.