The Map of Lost Places, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas and Lesley Conner, is an anthology about haunted places. The stories, for the most part, are not scary but involve some supernatural element. The stories selected are a mix of metaphysical and narrative storytelling. I prefer narrative storytelling. However, I enjoy metaphysical elements when the story makes sense. A strong theme can also enhance the story. The Map of Lost Places anthology has some diamonds in the rough. Yet, most of the stories I encountered felt rough. I have had a lot of reviewers DNF (did not finish) this book. Which is sad because there are some good stories in this collection. This collection also featured a lot of international authors that I would not have read otherwise. There is a drawback with having international authors. The rhythm was off on some of the stories. I would have to read quite a few chapters over again to understand the story. Chuckle Wet, Chuckle Low by R.L. Meza was my favorite about a group that sacrifices tourists to the tides. The story was a great back-and-forth narrative with a lot of conflict. This was the only story that I wanted more of, and I think the author should expand. A Realm Alive After Dusk by Ai Jiang was my second favorite. It tells the story of a concubine and Enoch. They are brother and sister and work for the emperor. They scheme to get more power and find it in death, with a clever twist. The Map of Lost Places has a new story by Brian Keene. If you see my review for Ghoul and Blood on the Page, you know why I selected this book. I want to thank Netgalley and Apex Book Company for giving me The Map of Lost Places to read and review.

My Favorite to Least Favorite Stories: I broke the stories down. I added a small summary and how I felt about each story. I included the story and the author broken down in my favorite to least favorite order.

5-Star Stories:

Chuckle Wet, Chuckle Low by R.L. Meza is a story about a mother teaching her son about a sacrifice and what it will provide. The story is great with a few twists and turns. This is the first story I would want expanded. There’s plenty of room, and the story left it open. I like that the story is told from two perspectives, the mother’s and the son’s.

A Realm Alive After Dusk by Ai Jiang is about a concubine and Enoch. They are brother and sister. Both work for the emperor. They scheme to get more power and find it in death, with a clever twist. The story was well written, beautifully described, and clever. This story feels more fantasy than all the others.

All Praise the Durians by Joshua Lim is the best story, so it is well-paced and focused. The story is about a lover of durian, the spikey fruit. He tries the best durian he has ever tasted, but lies about it to win a bet. Before the bet, he swore to Bota, who blesses the durians, that he would not lie. Later, he finds out there was a deal made, and it might just take his life.

Notes Towards A History OF Lehorn’s Hollow by Brian Keene is a history of the hollow. Lehorn’s Hollow appears in his novels Dark Hollow and Ghost Walk. It also discusses a short story on the hollow. The story connects to his Labyrinth series as well. The story is told in journal form and interview form. The story is long, but it flows. I know Keene’s works and was entertained. I feel like new readers will be interested. Some readers could feel lost, as there is a lot of history about the hollow. The end is good.

4-Star Stories:

Codewalker by G.M. Paniccia is a story in the future. Where a gamer wants to play games that feel real. There used to be games that could kill you; they were so real. He finds a set of games that feel so real, he starts messing with it, exposing the flaws. The game resets, and player life does too. Where he now can’t tell where the game ends and his life begins. Great ending, very effective. Slow start to the story, though.

The Promised Void by Dimitra Nikolaidou is a story about a woman. She is compelled to come to a place, looking for a mural in her dreams. But when she arrives, there is no mural. She feels faint and is injured in the fall. She wakes in a place of healing, or is it? The body horror was good. The imagery was terrifying. I could have used a little more background to connect more to the character. I liked how the story ended. It felt perfect for the story.

Development/Hell by Samit Basu is a story about a woman. She keeps getting trapped in different bodies. She is always about to die from different creatures/monsters. The character rolls with it at first, then fights it and finally questions it. The ending is up for interpretation, but I have a good idea of what is going on. The story flows well and has some good twists. There’s a nice bit of humor.

The (Lost) Tribe of Ishmael by Maurice Broaddus is a historical/cosmic horror. The following is a student doing a dissertation on a free black community in Indiana in 1860 that disappeared. The tensions in the past echo today as the town wants to be gentrified. The cosmic element came a little out of where, but it worked. The story is good, but a little slow.

Three Ways to Break You by Beth Dawkins is about a town. You can not leave it unless you successfully lie. You must also cheat and steal. It is a metaphor for the only way you can escape where you’re from is to be a horrible person. I enjoyed this story up until the end. I don’t understand why it was so quickly escalated, without due cause. But I do like how she is still in the same place at the beginning.

Place of Lost Stories by Rick Larson is about fleshing out a story. Flesh means both to sift and skin. In this story, they’re the same thing. The plot is a big metaphor for writing a bare bones story. Some parts of the story you keep, and some parts you kill. I liked the horror elements, and I was bummed we only got glimpses. This story has the most promise. The ending was okay. I think this story won’t be for everyone, and I wish it were clear. But I think the story mostly worked for what the author set out to do.

Salt by K.S. Walker is a ghost story about a black family moving to Michigan from Alabama. The imagery was very well done. The dialogue was great, the way it nailed the southern dialect. I like what salt represented in the story. The story was decent but a bit slow. The ending was crazy but good. I rated it 4 out of 5.

Three Stars Stories:

Hulderhola by Oliver Ferrie is a story that takes place in Norway. The story is about a legendary magical creature called the Hulder. Think of a forest neff. The Hulder is beautiful and naked. She can marry you, she can defend you, and she can destroy you. I loved the folklore of the Hulder. I liked the ending; it was a little too vague, but I think I figured it out. This story flowed very well.

Silverheels by Rebecca E. Treasure is a ghost story. It starts with a girl getting out of a tent in the middle of a graveyard of a ghost town. She hears a violin being played in the distance. Then we jump back in time when a stagecoach arrives, and a young violin player arrives. The story parallels the two stories, with the ghost trying to protect the girl from a similar fate. The story had a good idea, and I liked the flashbacks. The present-day story was okay, but the sexual assault seemed a little out of nowhere. I would have wanted to see one more scene before it, where he tried something. Or it could be that the spirits wanted the same fate.

Girlboss in Wonderland, USA by Vivan Chou is about a young girl at an arcade. She comes up short with her tickets for a prize. She makes a deal with the woman behind the counter. The girl keeps returning throughout the years, but the price for the prizes increases. The prizes are now succeeding in sports and getting a promotion, but what she has to give up increases. It started innocently with an eyelash, and now it is a piece of her liver and an ovary. The story started very strongly and had my attention. The end was okay. It is vague. I think it was about making a monster with self-doubt. I do feel the story is an allegory of divination and card reading. I wish this story had nailed the ending.

In Nobody’s Debt by Jenny Rowe, a story about Nathan, who is worried about his missing brother Marty. Marty usually hangs out in warm South America, but his last video has him in cold Sweden. Nathan travels to Sweden to find out. He meets people who have seen him but seem not to know him. A woman, Frega, brings him to the lake, and he hears the same song on his brother’s video. The story is predictable but well told.

Inviting The Hollow Bones by Octavia Cade is a story about what it takes to be a legend. The story is more philosophical in nature until the end. I love the ending of the story. But the way the story was told took me a while to understand. I read it twice. It is the shortest story so far. I think the story idea is good, and the twist at the end.

Two-Star Stories:

This Side of Living by VH Ncube is about a distant cousin. She visits her family in KwaNtuthu, which means the place of smoke. She meets every cousin but one, who is missing. Her diary is discovered. They learn a legend of the place. If you do not leave before you turn 17, you will remain forever in the town. She starts hearing screaming every day at 3:00 towards the woods. I liked parts of the story. I enjoyed the lore of the town.

The Death of Black Fatima by Muhammed Awal Ahmed is a story of djinns and enslavement. The djinns used to be free. They began helping the white man. He saw their power and wanted to enslave it. Fatima is a djinn. They make her bathe with black soap to hide it. She becomes sick with the power and visions. The story had beautiful language. But bounced all over the place and was hard to follow. The ending was good.

When I Was a Cowboy in Puuwaawaa by Ferdison Cayetano is about a Hawaiian cowboy. He is in Wyoming for a rodeo competition. He can’t seem to cowboy the way he did in Hawaii. He gives up but finds his spirit animal on the way back. The story is a bit confusing about what is real and what is not. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. The story was unique. I did not like the ending.

The Salt Lavie Tidhar & Nir Yaniv tells a story about the end of the world. It also describes the start of a new one. The book leans heavily into the Old Testament text. The story of Lot and how his wife turned toward Sodom and was turned into salt. The story was very slow and hard to get into. The ending was the best part of the story and pays off some of the long setup.

You Have Eaten of Our Salt by Fatima Taqvi is a story of a grandmother raising her grandson. She has visions of his death and salt. Salt is her job to gather it where a sea once was. The story was okay. The ending was okay. The story had some good language.

Blood in Coldwater by Danian Darrell Jerry is a long short story. It is about a man who wants to get revenge on a town. He almost drowned in that town when he was 12. The story started way too fast. Within the first page, we learn about the drowning, the revenge, and the town buried beneath the lake. For such a long short story, it could have taken its time. The best parts are when the story slows. The end was okay, but it felt rushed, and it did not have to be. I felt the dialogue was too similar, especially between the men. I could not tell them apart. This story has potential, but in the end, I just did not like it.

Recommendations: The Map of Lost Places was sometimes a slog to get through. There were some great stories that I would never have been exposed to before. I did enjoy reading some international works; I do not read enough or seek them out. I will seek out the authors that I gave 5 stars to. I will also consider a handful of 4-star authors. The Map of Lost Places as a whole, I can not recommend to my followers to read. This anthology did take me months to get through the beginning stories, which were horribly paced.

The Map of Lost Places, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas and Lesley Conner, I rated 2.9 out of 5.