This book will give you goosebumps. It is perfect for October or any spooky person. I highly recommend this book to people that like short stories and a short thrill

I HAVE CHILLS. Wow. This collection of short stories really gave me all the creeps and I loved every bit of it! These were well written and the perfect amount of scary. I actually couldn’t walk down my steps after reading a couple of these. Absolutely amazing. Thank you netgalley for giving me the chance to review this

This book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

There were a few stories in this that I enjoyed and for these, I am grateful that I read the book. The author writes well and keeps the reader's interest. The stories which let the book down for me dealt with child abuse and while I am aware the world, unfortunately, has these horrific acts happening in it, I have an extremely hard time reading about them. Some of the scenes in which this occurs can be overly detailed, going more for shock value. Other than that a good read.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great in each story and I really enjoyed going through these stories.

Incredible collection of horror short stories and novellas. I was already familiar with Simon Bestwick's work after reading The Faceless and Hells Ditch, but he really knocks it out of the park with this story.
From the first tale, Dermot, we are presented with Bestwick's very real, often hideous characters, however the book also has a real emotional core. Tales like "A small cold hand" were quite touching as well as creepy, and Angels of the Silences was an amazing read.
Highly recommended. Most horror fans will find something to love in this wonderfully written, disturbing collection

If you had asked me a week ago who Simon Bestwick was, I would not have known. But his short story collection, ‘And Cannot Come Again’ has an introduction by Ramsey Campbell. Yes, that Ramsey Campbell, and he says: “One of the most accomplished and eloquent British horror writers is Simon Bestwick, and here is a feast of his work.”

Well, OK then.

The truth is, Mr. Campbell knows what he’s talking about. The seventeen stories in this collection are in fact great horror, well-written. The subtitle of the book, ‘Tales of Childhood, Regret, and Innocence Lost’ really does sum up the content. Almost all the stories involve horrific things happening to children or teenagers, things both supernatural and human.

There are many stories involving children in abusive relationships (with parents, teachers, other children), and triggers aplenty – the abuse is emotional, physical, and sexual. Some of the scenes were truly hard to stomach.

My favorite stories were:
The Moraine – a couple lost in the fog on a mountain encounter a mysterious ancient force – monster – creature? We never see it so we don’t know for sure what it is. But we do know it’s out for blood.

Angels of the Silences – the ghosts of two murdered teenage girls make it their mission to protect their friends.

The Children of Moloch – two kids at an orphanage where abuse runs rampant call on the Krail: the spirit creatures of kids from situations just like theirs, who seek vigilante justice on the abusers.

In addition to these, we have ghosts, creatures, graveyards, old lives traded for new, and old guilts, defeats, and despairs come back to haunt. All in all a very good collection that will leave you thinking for a long time about some of the stories. I will definitely be reading more works by Simon Bestwick.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This wonderful collection by Simon Bestwick has been added to my "These Books Are Special" goodreads list. These stories all all so beautifully written. Mr. Bestwick knows how to create art from words. He write, you read, you see, you feel. I would not call these happy stories, but they have a beauty in them and some of them have a sense of a common part of everyday life. Take "The Moraine", a married couple who were once so much in love and now there's the snapping back and eye-rolling....until something starts happening on this outing and they go from being annoyed to the old "I'd give my life for you" feeling. "Angels of Silence" was powerful. I have honestly never felt such empathy during a moment of violence as I did in this story. This moment is told without laying on the gore and horror and you're experiencing and seeing this as the victim. I found this scene to be very powerful and moving, and so sad for all of the real people who have actually experienced such fates. That said, don't let some sad content scare you away. Reading these stories is like walking into an art museum where you find yourself standing silently before the paintings, weeping just a bit. #Netgalley #AndCannotComeAgain

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I enjoyed all the stories from this collection and left a longer review on Goodreads. The stories range from scary and creepy to bleak and sad, but all were very interesting reads. Hope the author writes more.

Sometimes, life is the nightmare. You don't always need spooky ghosts, huge monsters that lurk in the dark and small town village curses coming true.

This isa strong thought that came to me when reading this. Don't get me wrong, there is still monsters that creep under rocks and ghosts in ponds but there is also horrific, traumatic tales of ordinary things like bullying, things we should have done and horrible jobs.

This wonderful series of short stories each have a tale very compelling and that you can understand, one way or another.

Often short horror stories are designed to get right into the nitty gritty and deliver that scare that we all want. It's here too sometimes, but also there is enough backstory to keep you intrigued and satisfied.

I gave this four stars on goodreads because some of these stories really got me thinking! I really enjoy ghost stories and was pleased to come across one here. It was done right! The feeling you get when you finish the last line and it hits you - oh! That was brilliant. If you prefer your horror in the form of short stories, some quite traumatic, dark and with the power of suggestion, definately give this a go.

'And Cannot Come Again' is a short story collection by Simon Bestwick, where the author mixes both published and non-published stories dealing with horror tropes such as loss and vengeance. Nevertheless, what most of them have in common is a deep desire by the author to make the reader feel uncomfortable and deeply disturbed. Little dead girls who come back from the grave with a vengeance to fullfill, grotesque monsters society needs to advance... The author does not shy away from gruesome topics, even if he is not keen on details and let the reader fill the gaps.

Sadly, this collections' biggest flaw is the incapacity to keep a regular level among all the stories, which is something that does tend to happen in these type of collections. Some of the them are simply amazing, real page-turners, whereas others would have appreciated a little bit of cutting towards the end. And talking about endings, some of the stories grow and grow and grow but are not able to fulfill the long-awaited climax.

My favorite stories were Dermot, and amazing first story that sadly marks a very high level for the rest of the book; Confort your Dead, really well written and terrifying at its core; School House, very intriguing and 'Shutter Island' like; and a Small Cold Hand, the perfect example of all the best characteristics of the author just mentioned above. Tell, but not show. The crude story does not need it.

This book is so good. I read it in a day. Such an interesting and captivating story. I would definitely recommend it to people. I would like to read more books by this author.

Childhood comes but once and cannot come again. Then again, if that childhood is at all reminiscent of the ones Simon Bestwick describes in this collection, that is a good thing. Because Bestwick’s childhoods are nightmares. That’s what this is, really, a collection of nightmares, a meditation of the bygone years of immolated innocence. There’s a brutality here that’s especially devastating given the youth of those it is inflicted upon, but the message, blatantly bluntly delivered, is the thing every kid already knows and adults, warped by nostalgia, tend to forget is that being a kid is tough, difficult, dangerous, deadly even. To be small and helpless in the world. It can be that way for adults too, but there are usually more options, kids tend to be at mercy of other people, people who should have their best interest, who should protect them and care for them and all too often fail. This is a book of failed children. In it, the kids are neglected, abused, killed and so on. Which is to say…this book is about as bleak as it gets. The bleakness that’s all the more amplified by its Northern England’s setting, which apparently is a pretty desolate place, if only by the fiction it produces. Consider…Ramsey Campbell, who provides a very fond foreword, or Gary McMahon. Actually, two authors I never really enjoyed. Both literary, both masters of slow and quiet, especially Campbell, and yet, it’ always too slow, too quiet, too unexciting somehow to properly engage. In fact, this book might have gone the same way, it has a lot of stylistic similarities, but Bestwick seems like for all the Northern bleakness, he can actually engage the reader, if only to complete emotionally whammy them in the end. And so he does, with strangely corporeal ghosts, evil public schools, vacations gone awry, first loves, other loves, a plethora of tragedies, all but one (oddly enough) featuring kids as the main characters, all designed to grey up your skies and rain, rain and rain. Just like the England you might have imagined. So obviously this isn’t the sort of book one can straight up enjoy, in fact enjoyment should be off the table permanently when talking about this book. But, though slow, overwhelmingly dark and sad, and thoroughly depressing…there is something here worth recommending, mainly the quality of writing. Takes some time to get into, in fact, it’s emotionally difficult to get into, but every so often, something shines among these wretched scenarios. Specifically, the titular story was terrific, a gut punch, but well delivered. It’s bleakness, yes, unquestionably, but well done. Odd to behold so much of it in one place, an entire collection (and not a slim one) dedicated to one tragic theme in its many permutations, but there you have it. It is a well put together collection, well written, with an afterword too where the author discusses how each story came to be, the editing is nearly 100% with nary a typo. In other words, not at all a typical BooksGoSocial publisihers sort of thing, a surprisingly quality book among their many, many, many lesser products, so yeah, there it is. A book to make you be glad to be an adult. This isn’t a sort of read if you dare thing, it’s more along the lines of read if you can. If it isn’t too much. Thanks Netgalley.

And Cannot Come Again is not a light read. It's brilliant, but definitely not light. It's kind of a punch to the gut emotionally. I love Bestwick's style, and the emotions evoked in such a short amount of space for each story is mind-blowing. If you're looking for a truly horrifying, well-written read, then this is the book for you.