[amazon asin=B00A281B5I&template=thumbnail&chan=default] I was pleasantly surprised by this anthology. I mainly picked it up for the Kevin Hearne novella, which was well worth a read as a nice pickup for the time jump between the last two novels in his IRON DRUID series. I was worried that the anthology would be overtly horror-style, but that wasn’t the case. Of course, being a mashup of paranormal carnivals (which typically equal homicidal clowns) and punk, there was plenty of violence, but the stories weren’t covered in gore. I was also pleased to see some stories by authors completely unconnected to their ongoing series. A problem with this sort of anthology is that you pick it up for one author’s novella and realize you don’t want to get involved in other author’s worlds. This book had a nice mix of the two. I really liked the aforementioned Kevin Hearne piece, and I was glad to be introduced to Allison Pang’s A DUET WITH DARKNESS. Seanan McGuire’s DAUGHTER OF THE MIDWAY, THE MERMAID, AND THE OPEN, LONELY SEA was a stellar closer to the set. Pick this one up if you have any inclination towards the macabre side of urban fantasy, but beware if you’re afraid of clowns.

Received as a digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher.