Just a 'warning' - there is not a Stephen King story in this collection. He was involved in picking the stories, and he has written an introduction to them, but that is all. You have been warned...
Second warning, none of these six are very 'scary'. It doesn't mean that they aren't good or entertaining (except for 'The Spots', which I found to be awful...), I just didn't find them to be "scary". Three of the stories involve toys or stuffed animals, which felt like too many, for a collection of six. Sort of a three tale creepy 'Toy Story' gathering. Short and easy to read, just skip the third story, and you'll have a decent hour of Halloween-appropriate reading. ( )

You know what? I quite enjoyed this collection.

I know most seem to be gravitating toward The Unpicking as the standout. While I enjoyed it, for me it was the easiest one to guess the ending to, and it just felt like Toy Story as written by King. I'm not saying it was bad--it wasn't--but it wasn't my favourite.

Wild Swimming felt almost Lovecraftian with its atmosphere and sunken cities. A great story.

Eau-de-Eric ...shouldn't that be "Eau d'Eric"? Anyway, another that let the creep build on you.

The Spots was easily the most "out there" of the group, but having said that, I quite enjoyed it.

The Bear Trap caught me by surprise, in a good way. Probably my second favourite.

La Mort de L'amant ...and then there was this one. The tension in this one was palpable, the writing perfect, and just a wonderful thing to read. The standout of the collection, as far as I'm concerned. ( )

I received a copy of this short story collection from Cemetery Dance in exchange for an honest review. I have been reading Cemetery Dance publications for years and they are a great publisher of many special editions and one of a kind books. I met some of my favorite writers through them.

Stephen King introduces this horror collection. He was called upon to judge a short story contest and choose his favorite, which he did. He chose Wild Swimming and he explains why. My personal favorite is a different story, and yours may be yet another one. I can say that I think all of the stories were enjoyable and a couple were quite good. I also enjoyed the fact that each author gave us the story of how they created the story. Mr. King says nobody is interested in this, but I disagree. I find that it adds quite a bit to my enjoyment of the story; at least it does for me.

Wild Swimming by Elodie Harper
Wild Swimming is basically swimming in areas that are not meant for swimming, in this case the lake formed above a submerged town. A town the locals claim is still inhabited. There are actually lakes and towns like this and, as this story illustrates, I sure as hell wouldn’t put on goggles and investigate. Creepy and creepier still because these places exist and if anyplace is haunted, they certainly are.

Eau-de-Eric by Manuela Saragosa
What is it about dolls and stuffed animals that freak us out so badly. They are a common trope in horror fiction to be sure. In fact, there are 2 stuffed animal stories in this small collection of 6 stories. This is the better of the two, in my opinion, and to me is more about grief than menace.

The Spots by Paul Bassett Davies
This is an odd story, as are many satires. Not really horror at all. You will either like it or give it a meh. It is the odd man out in this collection.

The Unpicking by Neil Hudson
The second of the stuffed animal stories and for me the weaker of the two. It was well written, but completely predictable from the onset for me.

La Mort De L’Amant by Stuart Johnstone
My favorite story in the group. I found the two characters to be very natural and the slow building situation completely believable. It read like a Lansdale story and I enjoyed every word. I also thought the author’s exploration of clichés, in speech and in real life, to be a very interesting second layer of meaning. This is a 5 star story.

I give the overall collection 4 stars.
( )

If you've ever wondered what Stephen King thinks is scary writing outside of his own tales, this is the book for you. The six stories within this small collection were hand-picked by King. A full three of the six stories ("THE UNPICKING", "EAU-DE-ERIC," and "THE BEAR TRAP") prominently feature toys, including plush/stuffed animals. These three are among the better stories in the collection.

The remaining stories ("LA MORT DE L'AMANT", "WILD SWIMMING", and "THE SPOTS") all read as if they are first parts among larger works. Of those three, "THE SPOTS" is my favorite because it reads very much like a George Orwell story.

I'm a huge fan of King, but I was a bit surprised by some of his choices for inclusion in this volume. I nearly put down the book after reading his introduction, which came off as trying to sound excited about the works within instead of actually being excited about them.

As for the meat of this book, I am certain King could have selected three more toy-themed stories to accompany "THE UNPICKING", "EAU-DE-ERIC", and "THE BEAR TRAP". Then, instead of titling the volume something mediocre like Six Scary Stories, he could've used a themed title. Maybe something like Stephen King's Toy Box or Tales From The Playground.

Six Scary Stories is a quick read and includes some refreshing voices. However, it's probably not a volume that I will return to when I'm inclined to read a scary short tale before bed. ( )

Well two stories out of six is not real good odds. These stories are a result of a contest that Stephen King's British publisher did in line with "The Bazaar of Bad Dreams" publication. We have the winning story and then five other stories that were part of the final six finalists. I really only liked two stories, "Wild Swimming" and "The Unpicking". I did think that two stories had promise, "Eau-de-Eric" and "La Mort De L'amant" and the last two stories I did not get or care for that much "Spots" and "The Bear Trap."

WILD SWIMMING by Elodie Harper (5 stars)- I really enjoyed this story of a young woman who is into wild swimming (yes I actually know what this is because of a Vera BBC episode I saw) who goes to a very odd town where something seems to be beneath a lake. I have to say though, I don't get why people mess around with lakes. This coming from a person who runs around the woods with total abandon though in the fall isn't saying much though.

EAU-DE-ERIC by Manuela Saragosa (3 stars)- This started off so well and then it just fell apart at the end. Having a story involving a widowed mother who buys her daughter a toy bear (I hate anything with glass eyes...they are not welcome in my house) after the death of her father in order to cheer her up. The daughter names the bear after her father, and the mother starts to notice it smells like her now dead husband. This brings up all kinds of memories that are dragging the women back to her past. I really wish it could have stuck the landing more.

THE SPOTS by Paul Bassett Davies (1 star). This story did not scare me at all. I honestly got to the end and went huh too. So I don't know what I was supposed to take away from it. This is one of the stories that I said would definitely have helped if it were a bit longer.

THE UNPICKING by Michael Button (5 stars)- Super messed up. That's all I am going to say here to not spoil any potential readers. I think at one point I noticed my cat watching me and her tail got all ruffly and she fled the room. I seriously looked under the bed to make sure nothing was lurking there. So high five for this story giving me the willies.

LA MORT DE L'AMANT by Stuart Johnstone (2.5 stars). This was way too short. I mean to the point I think this was maybe 10 pages (maybe) and there was not a real feeling of horror about it. In fact I think I just went well that was kind of a letdown. I also had more questions than answers since a lot of focus was on the guys pockets and there didn't seem to be anything in them. Maybe I missed something.

THE BEAR TRAP by Neil Hudson (2 stars). Ehhhh. I just didn't feel this. Especially since it didn't make a lot of sense to me in the end because we know there has been some type of incident and I have to wonder about how the (redacted) was alive through all of that. Anyway I am sad this ended up being the last story in the collection.

Overall I wish that this had been longer. This took me less than 2 hours to finish. In fact I think it took me an hour and ten minutes. If I hadn't been focused on posting updates it would have been even quicker. ( )