Return to the dark places of the worlds of Warhammer for a new anthology of sinister stories that dive into the arcane, the unexpected and the downright terrifying.
An Imperial Priest extracts a monstrous confession; a widower embarks on a doomed pilgrimage; a witch hunter returns to the place of his nightmares… Invocations is Black Library’s second Warhammer Horror anthology, featuring more short stories set in the chilling hellscape of the 41st Millennium and the arcane gloom of the Mortal Realms. From the whispering corridors of an abandoned medicae facility to the shrieking dungeons of ghostly castles, this collection of sinister stories further explores the unspeakable evil haunting in the worlds of Warhammer.
An interesting, engaging collection of horror and suspense fiction, set in the Warhammer science fiction and fantasy worlds. Atmospheric, creepy, and featuring varied protagonists, this is a solid anthology. I enjoyed it.
Four of these stories were available previously as eBook shorts, released during the Warhammer Horror Week mini-event. The rest are new to this collection. Here’s the full table of contents:
- The Hunt by David Annandale
- The Confession of Convict Kline by Justin D Hill
- He Feasts Forever by Lora Gray
- Stitches by Nick Kyme
- The Healer by Steven Shiel
- Blood Sacrifice by Peter McLean
- The Growing Seasons by Richard Strachan
- Supplication by Jake Ozga
- From the Halls, the Silence by David Annandale
- A Sending from the Grave by C L Werner
- Flesh and Blood by Ray Cluley
- The Summons of Shadows by David Annandale
Each of these stories offers an intriguing, often chilling look at just a small part of the Age of Sigmar or WH40k settings. Be they strange goings on in the various Mortal Realms (fantasy) or the far corners of the Imperium and reaches of space. Invocations works well as a horror binge-read, but equally as something to dip into between longer books. The stories do a good job of casting a pretty wide net, in terms of faction focus and type of horror story, too. Allows the collection to avoid feeling same-y, and kept my interest up throughout.
There were a couple of stand-outs for me. First, David Annandale’s “The Hunt” was a twisty story about a Witch Hunter who seems to have made a terrible decision years ago, when his home region was under the control of the forces of Nurgle. It’s an interesting tale, one that dangles a couple of potential terrors and fates for Devan. Good, fiendish twist at the end.
In “Blood Sacrifice“, Peter McLean brings readers back in the lives of some of his characters that have survived his previous stories — such as the excellent “Baphomet by Night”, a story whose atmosphere and content brought to mind the worst small-scale atrocities of the Vietnam War, filtered and exaggerated through the lens of the grim far future of WH40k.
“After Baphomet, he was redeployed. There was no respite in the Astra Militarum, no end to the killing. Not ever.”
As the story opens, Corporal Cully and the Reslian 45th are on non-combat duties, helping to dig trenches and reinforce territory. It’s unglamorous, and kind of pointless (in their eyes) to be wasting veteran soldiers on such tasks. As a result, he and his comrades are bored and restless. “Luckily”, one of them has been offered a freelance gig in the Hive — good for some income, and also something to do. What could possibly go wrong? It’s a very good story, with great characters. McLean has a real gift for making characters feel very real, and make readers invested in their continued survival. (You won’t always be happy about this…) He remains one of my favourite new authors playing in BL’s sandpit.
As I’ve mentioned before with regards to the Warhammer Horror imprint, there are definitely times when I’m not sure what separates the “horror” fiction from much of the regular Black Library fiction. This collection does a good job of helping provide something of an explanation — there air of menace and potential threat is enhanced, but not through action or battles. Rather, it is the small moments of personal and small-scale horror that take place between the larger-scale madness of warfare on such a huge scale. In other words, even away from the battlefront, life in the Mortal Realms and in the Imperium are… well, not my first choice. Don’t expect happy endings.
*
Invocations is out now, published by Black Library. For more information about the growing range of Warhammer Horror fiction, check out the imprints website.
Review copy received via NetGalley
Civilian Reader 
I enjoyed this review because it made the anthology sound appealing without trying to oversell it. Anthologies can be a bit like a box of assorted chocolates—you know a couple will become instant favorites, and one will leave you wondering what just happened. It was nice to see you point out the standout stories while still appreciating the collection as a whole. Do you usually prefer horror anthologies like this, or do full-length Warhammer novels still win for you?
LikeLike
Good question. I have a soft-spot for Black Library anthologies because the first Warhammer read I read was a collection of short stories, and I was a big fan of the original run of Inferno magazine. That being said, I generally prefer full-length novels – for Warhammer and fiction more broadly. This has become more true as time goes on. Also, some of the authors who have worked on the Warhammer/WH40k/Horus Heresy lines are great, and they’ve managed to evolve the settings wonderfully. (Dan Abnett certainly deserves a lot of the credit, but he is by no means alone; nor necessarily the best of BL’s frequent authors.)
For some reason, I can find anthologies a bit of a slog to get through, even if they’re written by my favourite authors. For example, K.J. Parker’s collections can feel like a bit of a slog towards the end – and I think he’s probably the best short story writer in fantasy at the moment. True, they tend to be hefty volumes (he’s extremely prolific), but still. Julie Schumacher’s latest collection, Patient, Female, is another example: very much enjoyed many of the stories (one is superb), but a couple of the others were just fine. (The author’s campus novels are amongst my favourite novels.)
Perhaps because it’s sometimes difficult to build reading momentum when reading a collection. Even with the best will in the world, I rarely, if ever, manage to read just one short story between longer reads; so switching from a great story to a middling one can really derail my momentum and enjoyment of the book. I have, however, become “better” at not forcing myself to read anthologies from start to finish. Sometimes I’ll pick-and-choose based on the author, if it’s a multi-authored volume, before reading any/all of the others.
Recently, linked short story collections have worked the best for me. (Sydney Rende’s I Could Be Famous is a good, recent example.) Oddly, though, I do still enjoy reading single short stories.
LikeLike