Acquired Taste is a collection of short stories by horror author Clay McLeod Chapman, with a huge range of premises across 25 stories. The stories in the collection are mostly pretty short, never outstaying their welcome, and I liked how much they could differ, meaning that the stories don’t end up getting too repetitive. There’s also a mix of horror styles, from darker, more extreme horror to more bittersweet moments and satirical stories.
There were a lot of fun concepts in the stories (there’s one that involves plushies similar to Labubus which is a great romp) and creepy moments (like someone hearing a crying baby in the cinema, only to realise they’re alone). The only stories I found less engaging were one about civil war psychic sisters (as I’m not really a historical fiction person) and another that was presumably the precursor to CMC’s recent novel Wake Up and Open Your Eyes as it felt like a slightly watered down version of part of that book, and as I’ve read that novel, it wasn’t very exciting to read that.
The collection is great if you like punchy horror short stories, and would work as a good introduction to Clay McLeod Chapman as well. Short stories aren’t always my favourite format, but this kind of well-paced, varied, doesn’t-shy-away-from-being-nasty collection is what I do like.
Fiendfully Reading 
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