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Borderlands 4
No ghosts. No maniacal slashers. Nothing that goes bump in the night.
Borderlands is a collection of stories that explores new ground rather than furrowing into the traditional soil of traditional horror fiction. Hailed as the anthology series of the '90s, Borderlands will remind you that the everyday is indeed terrifying. Read about a young boy who escapes from a bizarre ritual of slavery by felling to a frozen wasteland... The Santa Ana winds bringing hot temperatures and a disturbing encointer with a strange young woman... And a box of honeybuns containing evidence of a grisly double murder—or is it simply a case of morning terrors?
Contents:
A Wind from the South — Dennis Etchison.
House of Cool Air — William F. Wu.
Morning Terrors — Peter Crowther.
Misadventures in the Skin Trade — Don D’Ammassa.
Circle of Lias — Lawrence C. Connolly.
Watching the Soldiers — Dirk Strasser.
One in the A.M. — Rachel Drummond.
A Side of the Sea — Ramsey Campbell.
Painted Faces — Gerard Daniel Hourne.
Monotone — Lawrence Greenberg.
Dead Leaves — James C. Dobbs.
From the Mouths of Babes — Bentley Little.
The Late Mr. Havel’s Apartment — David Herter.
Union Dues — Gary Braunbeck.
Earshot — Glenn Isaacson.
Fee — Peter Straub.
Borderlands is a collection of stories that explores new ground rather than furrowing into the traditional soil of traditional horror fiction. Hailed as the anthology series of the '90s, Borderlands will remind you that the everyday is indeed terrifying. Read about a young boy who escapes from a bizarre ritual of slavery by felling to a frozen wasteland... The Santa Ana winds bringing hot temperatures and a disturbing encointer with a strange young woman... And a box of honeybuns containing evidence of a grisly double murder—or is it simply a case of morning terrors?
Contents:
A Wind from the South — Dennis Etchison.
House of Cool Air — William F. Wu.
Morning Terrors — Peter Crowther.
Misadventures in the Skin Trade — Don D’Ammassa.
Circle of Lias — Lawrence C. Connolly.
Watching the Soldiers — Dirk Strasser.
One in the A.M. — Rachel Drummond.
A Side of the Sea — Ramsey Campbell.
Painted Faces — Gerard Daniel Hourne.
Monotone — Lawrence Greenberg.
Dead Leaves — James C. Dobbs.
From the Mouths of Babes — Bentley Little.
The Late Mr. Havel’s Apartment — David Herter.
Union Dues — Gary Braunbeck.
Earshot — Glenn Isaacson.
Fee — Peter Straub.
338 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 12, 1991
8 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 22, 2014
Wish there were more speculative fiction, open anthologies like this out there...wonderful, unique stories all.
December 18, 2018
An excellent cross-section of some of the best writers in the genre. Hats off in particular to Gary Braunbeck and Peter Straub.
January 9, 2018
5 stars because it's difficult to find an anthology that hits that mark with most, if not all, of the stories. These are all good, to very good, all well-written, engaging, and in the case of one of the stories, good enough to have to hold back some tears. I think these are supposed to be "dark fantasy" stories, but whatever they are (they're not quite horror, often suspenseful, do tend towards darker things amongst and around us) they're well worth reading.
October 1, 2017
I didn't care for this one as much as some of the other Borderlands collections. I'm not quite sure why, but it just didn't have the same effect on me as From the Borderlands or Borderlands 2 did. That said, Borderlands 4 is still a solid collection with a few really excellent stories. This is not the place to find gore-galore; these tales of terror are as intellectual as they are inventive.
November 2, 2025
A decent anthology, notable for its few worthwhile stories. These would include contributions from Don D'Ammassa, Dennis Etchison, Bentley Little, and David Herter (a very eerie, circular tale), with particular mention to the two standout entries (both of them longer novellas, for what it's worth) from William Browning Spencer and Peter Straub.
Despite the Monteleones' self-satisfied editorial attitude, there's a poor hit ratio here, including some stories specifically of the 'low tone' the editors decry, and one story that's literally unreadable; and while there's a lot of new names in here, many of them vanish into obscurity soon after.
Despite the Monteleones' self-satisfied editorial attitude, there's a poor hit ratio here, including some stories specifically of the 'low tone' the editors decry, and one story that's literally unreadable; and while there's a lot of new names in here, many of them vanish into obscurity soon after.
December 19, 2025
One-star ratings are rare for me, but the last story was so goshdarn ugly it pulled the rest down. There were some other gruesome stories, and an interesting one with a mine and its drained workers toiling on generation to generation. I wish I could talk about a story I liked, but my brain cleanup crew has already scrubbed most of the book out of my head. (Thanks, Al).
March 6, 2018
Borderlands 4 was probably one of the weakest entries in the series, but it did still have a few good stories. "Circle of Lias" by Lawrence C. Connolly, "A Wind from the South" by Dennis Etchison, and "Union Dues" by Gary A. Braunbeck were particularly entertaining.
December 21, 2022
A couple of five star stories. A couple of two star stories. The Peter Staub story was disappointing.
February 1, 2023
An incredible collection of weird horror. I'm so glad I bought this series back when I did.
June 1, 2024
Extreme horror not for the faint of heart
July 3, 2024
The Peter Straub story to close it out…wow. Just wow
February 8, 2026
This was the last one of the series I had to left to read and Im so sad it's over for me!
Currently reading
September 28, 2025"House of Cool Air" by William F. Wu - The protagonist lives with three sisters who enjoy kneeing him in the testicles when he attempts to escape the house.
"Watching the Soldiers" by Dirk Strasser - Elika and Mikhael watch a procession of dead soldiers returning from the border in hopes of recognizing Pavl.
"Union Dues" by Gary Braunbeck - After Will's father dies he must take his place in the factory and is initiated into the union.
"The Late Mr. Havel’s Apartment" by David Herter - Robin discovers photos of lives she’d never led in Mr. Havel's apartment.
"Painted Faces" by Gerard Daniel Hourner - Kim encourages Gene to embrace the perspective of his serial killer father.
"Morning Terrors" by Peter Crowther - wc
"Dead Leaves" by James C. Dobbs - wc
"Watching the Soldiers" by Dirk Strasser - Elika and Mikhael watch a procession of dead soldiers returning from the border in hopes of recognizing Pavl.
"Union Dues" by Gary Braunbeck - After Will's father dies he must take his place in the factory and is initiated into the union.
"The Late Mr. Havel’s Apartment" by David Herter - Robin discovers photos of lives she’d never led in Mr. Havel's apartment.
"Painted Faces" by Gerard Daniel Hourner - Kim encourages Gene to embrace the perspective of his serial killer father.
"Morning Terrors" by Peter Crowther - wc
"Dead Leaves" by James C. Dobbs - wc
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2016
An excellent collection of dark fiction. Perhaps not quite as good as its predecessors, but any one of the better stories make the collection worth finding. The gem among the stories is "Fee" by Peter Straub, which ties into his Blue Rose novels.
February 19, 2021
What I like about short story collections is you can rely on veterans writing quality material and are introduced to newcomers, hoping they turn up later. Veteran, Peter Straub, offers contribution and newcomer, Gary Braunbeck, offers his surreal horror.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews