The Uncanny Valley is a collection of 16 unsettling tales that draws inspiration from old-school science fiction, horror, and dark fantasy series such as the Twilight Zone. 

“A Chance in Hell” – Life is about to get worse for one troubled youth after he breaks into a house he thought was empty. 

“Greet the World” – A company employee is told he’ll die if he tries to resign. 

“Nox Noctis” – What would happen if one day all light ceased to exist? The characters in this story are about to find out. 

“Scents of Life” – A husband has a late-night encounter with a mysterious woman cloaked in disarmingly familiar fragrances. 

“The Uncanny Valley” – The war between man and machines is the least of one survivor’s problems in this post-apocalyptic future. 

These, and eleven more tales, will launch you on a journey from the comforts of normalcy to a valley in which nature refuses to tread.

Anthologies/collections are always so difficult to review. I like to keep my thoughts short and to the point thus I am unable, and honestly, unwilling, to single out each individual story to discuss. So I do my best and hope I am able to portray some of my thoughts to you in a clear and concise manner.

That being said, The Uncanny Valley,  a collection of 16 tales from the mind Bryan R Dennis, was darn near right down the middle of the road for me. There were some tales that grabbed me and made me want more and there were a few that left me feeling deflated.  There were times that I felt like I was reading work from a variety of authors within the same story and that just felt wrong to me, especially knowing that it was the same author writing each story. Now, to be fair, I have no idea when each of these stories were written, so the author’s voice may have changed and developed with each story written.

The detail and description within the pages of each story was highly visual. The characters all seemed to have their own “voice” and didn’t blend into each other. Some characters just jumped off the page and forced me to pay attention to them while a few stayed off to the sidelines waiting for me to learn more about them. There was no excessive sex or violence in any of the tales, but there definitely was some high levels of tension and fearful elements, which I enjoyed greatly.

Overall, for me personally, this collection was a bit off, but still enjoyable. That being said, for the mere cost of $0.99 it is DEFINITELY well worth purchasing, because the stories that may not have tweaked my interest just might rock your socks. That’s what I love about reading, not everyone likes the same things.

So go grab yourself a copy for the Amazon Kindle and its various Kindle apps by clicking the cover image above.

Espresso rating: Double