I'm not sure how I feel about this book.
I really enjoyed the story, but it frequently drags on more than necessary. I think an abridged version would be very enjoyable. 

In a way, I enjoyed the story more than I enjoyed actually reading the story.

Datlow did a rather poor job at selecting stories for this collection as it was very uneven in regards to quality. Some stories were very good, some were mediocre, and some weren't very good at all.

I would recommend borrowing it from a library before deciding on whether to purchase it.

Regarding the illustrations, I really loved the inclusion of illustrations, and I found I enjoyed them more than the actual stories.

Mandatory Lovecraft Warning: Several of these stories contain highly racist depictions of Black people along with racial slurs.

A good collection of Lovecraft's more well-known stories. The little bits of movie trivia were a really nice touch.

This compendium is a wonderful read. 

However, I wouldn't recommend it for all fans of the zombie genre. Modern-day fans may not enjoy the older style of zombie horror tales. 

That being said, fans of traditional horror should find this book to be a real treat.

Zombie poetry,
I laugh so hard my chest hurts.
Brains brains tasty brains.

How do you make a story about 'living' scarecrows *not* scary!?

I read a lot of middle school books, and I always like to keep the intended audience in mind when reviewing a book, so I didn't expect this to be a terrifying read but I also didn't expect it it to be less spooky than a Goosebumps book.

Some of the imagery was really good, and the concept of the Smiling Man was spooky, but the book didn't do him justice in that regard at all.

It takes half the book for the story to get going, and the overall impression I am walking away with is 'boring'

Oh, and the plot holes! Maybe the second book explains all the things the first book doesn't (which is pretty much everything), but I've no inclination to find out.

I almost never say this, and it's kind of painful, but I think this book would have made a better screenplay.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! 
I usually have no interest in books set in the past (that weren't written in the same decade) or stories with an 'English lady' as the protagonist but I thoroughly enjoyed both the story AND the protagonist in this book.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Barbara Rosenblatt, and her performance was absolutely brilliant!

Each chapter of the story switches the point of view between two of the main characters - Nico and Opal. Sometimes, POV switching can be immersion breaking, but I actually enjoyed it in this case and didn't feel like it was hard to follow or that it affected immersion in any way.

I like the overarching themes within the book and look forward to reading the sequel.

Having grown up with anxiety, I'd already read a lot on the topic, so there was nothing new in this book for me. However, I really enjoyed the layout and explanations, and it was nice to refresh and reinforce what I already knew.

I definitely recommend this book to people who don't have experience with anxiety or who have never directly tried to deal with anxiety in the past. 

Whilst aimed at helping kids, everything covered in the book applies to adults as well.

As fascinating as this book was, I'll be honest, I think I only understood about 10% of what was discussed!