Ali Karim was a Board Member of Bouchercon [The World Crime & Mystery Convention] and co-chaired programming for Bouchercon Raleigh, North Carolina in 2015. He is Assistant Editor of Shots eZine, British correspondent for The Rap Sheet and writes and reviews for many US magazines & Ezines.
This huge book is one of 2025’s most highly anticipated releases. It features over 30 narratives by leading writers of horror and crime thrillers, all based around Stephen King’s 1978 opus THE STAND.
It opens with an informative introduction by Stephen King which puts this book into context. King explains that when he received Christopher Golden and Brian Keene’s proposal about a book continuing THE STAND’S narrative – the Kings initial reaction was negative, but he soon warmed to the idea. He was intrigued.
The stories are bookend by the editors with a foreword by Christopher Golden, and an afterword by Brian Keene. It appears that Golden did much of the physical edits, while Keene managed the sequencing of the stories which is sectionalised into four distinct quarters – and closed with acknowledgments, allowing a paragraph about each of the contributors.
King has authorised the book, and even appeared at some of the launches which have occurred internationally.
But the million dollar question is “..are these stories any good…..?” and the concise response has to be a cautious BUT resounding “yes” because the quality and linkage to The Stand does vary – as will the reader’s own mileage. I have to agree with Stephen King who noted on his social media, how excellent Meg Gardiner’s ‘Bright Light City’ is. There are mentions, or nods to characters or references from The Stand like Mother Abigail or Captain Tripps at one extreme; while at others, there are nods to The Weird, such as in 'Till Human Voices Wake Us and We Drown’ by Poppy Z Brite or ‘The African Painted Dog’ by Catriona Ward. Other standouts for me are Alex Segura’s ‘La Mala Hora’, Alma Katsu’s ‘Make Your Own Way’, ‘Grand Junction’ by Chuck Wendig, Sarah Langan’s ‘The Devil’s Children’ and ‘Grace’ by Tim Lebbon among others - all equally worthy to lesser or greater degrees.
Though a hard choice, I’d single out as possibly my favourite tales to be a tie between ‘Lockdown’ by Bev Vincent and “Kovach’s Last Case” by Michael Koryta [who also writes as Scott Carson] a very clever spin on a serial killer story, but set firmly in the world of the Viral apocalypse.
Like the vaccines that combats a viral plague, is not something you’d want to miss.
Editor’s Note:
This collection contains stories by Caroline Kepnes, Wrath James White, Meg Gardiner, Bryan Smith, Bev Vincent, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Janz, Gabino Iglesias, C. Robert Cargill, Hailey Piper, Tim Lebbon, Richard Chizmar, Alex Segura, Catriona Ward, Poppy Z. Brite, Michael Koryta, Alma Katsu, Josh Malerman, Cynthia Pelayo, S.A. Cosby, Rio Youers, V. Castro, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, Paul Tremblay, Usman T. Malik, Wayne Brady, Maurice Broaddus, Ronald Malfi, Somer Canon, Chuck Wendig, Premee Mohamed, Catherynne M. Valente, Sarah Langan, David J. Schow and Nat Cassidy
