The Deep by A.R. Ward

The Deep Reviews

• 
  Thomas E. Staples

  Full disclosure: I have a story in this book, but, there's 99 other stories in here that aren't mine, and they're really quite good.
  
  This is my first 100 word horror read from any publisher, and having the entire thing themed -- some more vaguely than others -- around watery horror was bound to be a hit with me.
  
  Some are gross, many are weird, and a handful are even quite humorous, too.
  
  My top 3 stories, because why not, are:
  
  Sushi
  Widow's Walk
  The Woman in the Lake
  
  I feel that tiny list doesn't do justice to how many great ones are in here, so, like with any book, you should always check it out for yourself if it's your bag.
  
  I look forward to reading future anthologies from this publisher, as well as the ones that came before it.
• 
  S.J. Wilkes

  I am in this book so I won't star it, but I found the other entries to be really great. This is a fun book playing with watery horror and thalassophobia; it was an exciting project to participate in because of my own thalassophobia, something I long had trouble articulating to people until I saw it being discussed online and learned, oh, other people experience this? (I guess it's obvious in hindsight.) It's a good read.
• 
  Alice Austin

  Great collection of short and sweet stories. I enjoyed the variety of topics - it doesn't just contain the things that immediately spring to mind when you think of water-based horror, but branches out to more inventive takes on the theme as well. Some of the stories have much more impact than you'd think possible from only 100 words!
• 
  Emma E. Murray

  Love these 100 word nightmares! My story is included in this collection (96: Decompression) but I truly enjoyed all of the other 99 creepy tales too.
• 
  Marisca Pichette

  Sharp, cold, and incisive. Beautiful pieces!!
• 
  Sally the Salamander

  The second Ghost Orchid Press anthology I've read. Snappy, digestible stories all revolving around common ocean/water themes. Having read two of Ghost Orchid's anthologies now, I can say that it seems to be a trend with this press that the stories in these anthologies vary pretty widely in quality, and authors will appear multiple times within a single anthology. This would have been a 4 star review, but somewhere between a fourth or a third of the stories revolved around mermaids or sirens, which I felt really restricted the content of this anthology.
  
  I like the themed microfiction format and I hope this press will attract more talent.
• 
  Myles

  4.5/5
  The Deep is my first dive (I'll see myself out) into microfiction and I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. Some of these authors really pack a haunting and chilling tale into just 100 words and it's very impressive. A lot more hits than misses in this collection and I'm excited to read the other three collections.
• 
  Dee

  This was beautiful, evocative and super creepy. The ocean is a mesmerising thing and I love reading fiction about it! I don't have any favourites to list because there were a 100 stories in this collection and I loved the majority of them. I would definitely recommend picking this up. I'm thoroughly enjoying the drabble adventure I've started - this is my fifth drabble collection and I look forward to many more!
• 
  MattWiz19

  These authors did an amazing job setting a compelling scene in just 100 words. Really makes you think!
• 
  Hannah

  this was fun and unique, with some real gems standing out with the tight word constraints. will definitely be reading more of these!