Games Creatures Play by Charlaine HarrisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Halloween Bingo 2021
Another new Bingo category this year, Lethal Games. I'd been searching for an excuse to read this anthology for some time and it fit beautifully. Cards, racing, roller derby, there's a little of everything. Many of the stories end up being about games of chance, bets made with the Devil or the Fair Folk to avoid certain fates or gain certain advantages. One story, by Mercedes Lackey, even combines the Fair Folk and the Devil in one story.
In the Blue Hereafter is a Charlaine Harris story which brings two of her storylines together. It was fun to get another glimpse of Sookie and see her effect on Manfred. I was surprised to see a story from Jan Burke, who I think of as a thriller writer. Here, she spins a Faerie tale in a very practiced fashion. Colour me impressed. Prise de Fer, by Ellen Kushner, is very reflective of her Swordspoint universe. Despite the fact that I figured out quickly what was going on, I still felt it was well presented. Special mention for The Case of the Haunted Safeway, a happily ever after ghost story; Jammed, a roller derby story featuring Antimony Price from Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid series; and Hide and Shriek by Adam-Troy Castro, a very funny riff on the tentacled Horror.
I only really disliked one story, which is pretty amazing considering that in real life I’m an extremely reluctant game player (excepting Halloween Bingo of course).
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