A strange apocalypse brought on by honey bees, the rapid spread of a cosmic cult, strange rashes as deadly as they are infectious. If you perked up at the mention of any of those things, that is just a small taste of what’s waiting for you inside P.L. McMillan’s sci-fi/cosmic horror short story collection WHAT REMAINS WHEN THE STARS BURN OUT.

I first fell in love with McMillan’s storytelling when I was introduced to her writing in HOWL Society’s horror anthology HOWLS FROM HELL. The way she builds worlds, develops characters, and harnesses reader interest in just a few pages of each short story are many reasons why I’ve become a fan of hers. You can bet I was over the moon when given this ARC by the author and, without even blinking, dove in eagerly.

Not only was I not disappointed, but by the first story's end--Sanatize, a very disturbing and somewhat triggering tale of infection that will leave you wanting to obsessively wash your hands-- I was equally horrified and enamored. In fact, I thought I could narrow down my favorites in this collection, but I ended up loving every single story! Each one is compelling and disturbing and filled to the brim with all the things I personally love about both sci-fi and cosmic horror!

Should you get your hands on this collection, prepare for worlds to fall and monsters to rise, for dangerous unknowns and the loss of time, space, and sanity, for grotesqueries that will make you squeamish. Prepare for a fantastic 257 pages of horror and wonder.

(Special thank you to P.L. McMillan and Salt Heart Press for this stellar review copy!)cosmic-horror favorites horror ...more15 s Zain1,612 194

A Great Horror Collection.

A great sci-fi collection of stories. This book is a good one for reading some science fiction.

There are really great stories about the stars and space and alien monsters that are going to make you feel scared.

All the stories are the best and they are all five stars stories. So they make this book a five stars book.

Five stars. ?????2023-mount-tbr-challenge anthologies british ...more11 s Zeki Czen253

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection, filled as it was with cosmic/sci-fi horror.

The writing is clear with good prose that pulls you in. The premises of the various stories are unique and well done. I felt that the tone and pacing of the stories was consistent throughout.

Buzzkill is one of my favorite short stories this year for its creativity and mash up of science gone wrong and horrifying imagery.

Gemini Syndrome stood out for exploring some of built in horror from a classic sci-fi mechanism.

The Drought of Burham and Polychromatic Screams were also standouts but the entire anthology was excellent. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of cosmic horror.6 s Alex WolfgangAuthor 10 books45

A really solid horror collection with a nice variety. McMillan favors sci-fi and cosmic horror, but she isn't afraid to diverge into body horror and other fun stuff. Compulsively readable too. I breezed through in just a few days. My favorites were Buzzkill, Planet of the Hungry (great world building here), and the Drought of Burham (a nice bit of folk horror to mix things up). Definitely recommended.6 s Eugene5

Cosmic Horror lacks character. Wait! Sorry, no. Don’t get mad, let me try again: Cosmic Horror lacks characters! Well, that’s not right either, is it? The sub-genre certainly has character and characters, but I think it’s fair to argue that – historically speaking – the characters on offer are a bit stale. Plenty of notable exceptions exist, but far too often authors will pummel me with world-devouring monsters and helpless characters who are begging to lose their sanity, but those same authors will stop short of developing those characters in any meaningful way. At best, this blunts the aforementioned loss of sanity and - at worst – blunts the impact of the entire story. Thankfully, P.L. McMillan puts this problem to bed with her short story collection “What Remains When The Stars Burn Out”. Over the course of this nerve-shattering collection, McMillan meticulously weaves twelve scintillating tales of Cosmic Horror with a divergent batch of compelling(and tragically doomed) characters. In summary: these stories have teeth.

Before I dig into the stories, allow me a moment to gush about the aesthetics of this collection. It’s beautiful! Not only is the cover art gorgeous, but McMillan flexes her artistic sensibilities by opening each story with a captivating illustration. Throw in the fact that this collection is perfectly formatted for e-readers and I do declare that it’s one of the best looking, smoothest-reading collections of the year.

So, about those stories. There’s a lot on offer here. Most of these are tried-and-true short stories that range in length from 2k-7k words. With that said, “Planet of the Hungry” is a novelette and falls on the lengthier side. Yes, I just used the word “length”, but I really didn’t notice any length as one story slipped effortlessly into the next and before I knew it, my Kindle was telling me that I was on the last page. I won’t say that I unleashed a tirade of unrepeatable language at my Kindle in a fit of rage, but, yeah, I absolutely did.

Anyway. The real strength of these stories is the characters. Yes, McMillan packs each story with enough tension-laced atmosphere to give a toddler angina, and the collection is overflowing with brilliantly chilling twists and turns, but if I don’t know the characters, and if they can’t – at the very least – communicate to me how scared they are as their reality unravels around them, then it’s all a bit pointless, isn’t it? Thankfully, McMillan understands this conundrum better than most and peppers this collection with a wide-ranging cast of characters from all walks of life. Doctors, scientists, reporters; people with crippling anxieties, cheaters, victims of cheaters, prisoners, murderers, they’re all here! And McMillian meticulously molds each-and-every one of these characters with a careful hand, then feeds them all to the thresher.

A few standouts:

Despite only being the opener, “Sanitize” is an industrial-strength dose of terror and may be the strongest story in the collection. What seems an anxiety-induced bout of irrationality for Paige overflows into a nightmare as a she begins to manifest disturbing symptoms of an unknown disease. No one can see these symptoms except Paige and are quick to try and convince her that it’s all just in her head. She almost believes them until whatever is “just in her head” begins ravaging everyone Paige touches. McMillan ensures that we feel every ripple of doubt and every twinge of terror racing through Paige’s veins as the world dissolves around her and her sanity is pushed to the brink. Brilliant stuff.

“Godmouth” is an unbridled one-two-punch of Cosmic Horror. A word (Godmouth) is spreading through a city a virus, leaving violence and hysteria in its wake and heralding the arrival of something sinister. The characters are all quite relatable, ordinary people, who make a story this much more agonizing to endure. It’s sort of watching a car crash in slow motion; we know how this ends, but we can’t look away. McMillan won’t let us.

In case the rest of this collection’s offerings aren’t quite bleak enough to suit your tastes, “Gemini Syndrome” has you covered. Mara is an officer on a station named Omikron III and a family emergency spurs her to return home. The problem being that “home” is Earth and Earth is about two-decades worth of space travel away. So, Mara opts to use “DMT”, an experimental method of teleportation that will send her to Earth instantly. Problem solved, right? Well, sort of. “DMT” is rumored to have some nasty side-effects( death), and although these rumors can’t be proven, advocates of the technology are a bit evasive when discussing the risks involved. Despite her reservations, Mara doesn’t have time to waste and goes all-in on using “DMT”. What follows is the grimmest ending I’ve read this year, but it’s so profoundly speculative that I haven’t stopped thinking about it in days.

In the end, stories are only as good as their characters. Yes, spectacle and theatrics can carry a story to great heights, but without compelling characters to ground them, they can fly too close to the sun and bring that story crashing back down in a fiery heap. Sure, that can be fun, but it isn’t sustainable and – more often than not – it isn’t satisfying. In case I haven’t been clear: P.L. McMillan discerns and applies this notion in a most profound way, and through her staunch unwillingness to sacrifice character for story or story for character, succeeds in releasing one of the most cathartic and unnerving horror collections of the year. Read it.
3 s Markthulhu 28 4

P. L. McMillan might be the Salt Queen, but she adds a plethora of other flavours and seasonings to this heady collection, including body horror, cosmic dread, science fiction, and (my favourite) Big Eldritch Things. The science fiction elements here are a huge draw. I never realised how much real-world horror is often bereft of the giddy world-building that I get from science fiction. 'Planet of the Hungry' takes the neon and rain-soaked streets of cyberpunk and swaps then out for dirt and despair, in a fully-realised world that invites the reader to imagine a vast setting ripe for more stories. There's worlds upon worlds in this collection. Explore them if you dare!howlers4 s 👑 💀40 10

PL McMillan is simply the most refreshing new horror writer I’ve encountered in the last several years, and I’ve been following her short story publications religiously up to the release of this collection. Although as a superfan I am already familiar with most of the stories included, I am delighted to find a few new ones as well. I would recommend this book to any horror lover who struggles to get their fix—P.L. McMillan never fails to deliver. 4 s Molly201 9 Read

Wow I'd really love it if this author wrote a full-length space horror novel. That'd be really great. Hope they read this4 s Celeste772 126

4.25 stars

Uhm, I’m a little floored by this short story collection.

Truly, I’ve learned a lot about myself as a reader from it and I have to applaud P.L. McMillan for creating this because apparently I love cosmic horror and short stories to boot, and never knew it until now.

To start, the Foreword sold this for me. Those first 3 paragraphs? Sold. Sold, sold, sold, sold, sold.

And the little illustrations that started off each story? They were everything. I adored all of them.

Now, I’ve actually reviewed each short story as their own individual entities and if you average my rating for all twelve ditties, you get just over 3.5 stars. But I’m bumping my overall rating up to a 4.25 because I think they work cohesively as a unit and together make a strong case for McMillan’s writing. I definitely enjoyed the second half of the stories more than the first, but there was something to in all of them, even when I didn’t love certain aspects.

All in all, this was a strong collection of cosmic horror and I will definitely be seeking out this author’s future works because some of these story ideas just got me.

And so, my notable thoughts on each story are as follows:

Sanitize: 2.5/5
- Nothing special. Honestly kind of a weak start for me.
- The ending was anticlimactic in a bad way.
- And I’m not sure if it’s because I work in the medical field or what, but this one just wasn’t doing it for me, and I think it’s because anything to do with viruses or pandemic or infection control vibes is too close to work for me to enjoy in any grand capacity.

That Which The Ocean Gives and Takes Away: 3.75/5
- I loved the setting and the different take on the ghost ship trope.
- It was creepy, but not scary.
- And it gave new meaning to the Pirates of the Caribbean part-of-the-ship-part-of the-crew chant, which I d so much.

The Drought of Burham: 4.25/5
- I had a general idea of how the plot of this story was going to go at around the halfway point, but let me tell you, this was still a wild ride. Cannibalism for a cause, indeed.
- The imagery in this story was gut churning. I was quite off put by it, but that was definitely the goal, so in the end, it ended up delivering and then some.
- I really d how the narrative tackled the classic ghost story idea. Solid story.

Buried Two Foot Above: 2/5
- Not gonna lie, this one didn’t do it for me.
- I did love the opening sentence though.
- But, the plot went in a direction that I didn’t care for.

GODMOUTH: 2.75/5
- This started off strong, but the end didn’t really have the sense of closure that I wanted from it.
- Why is it always tentacles?
- It was strange, but that’s not a compliment and it’s also not a complaint? I think it’s maybe just not my style.

Crimson Splashed Skin: 2.75/5
- Truly, I disd the main character. Which is a shame because the story at its core has merit. I mean, the cosmic horror lent itself beautifully to the infection of the human race, but even death was too kind for our doomed MC. She was insufferable.
- I could’ve used more alien spore interactions.
- The end result reminded me of Fallout 76 and the whole Scorched Plague infestation moment.

The Whale Hunts: 4.5/5
- In a slightly parallel universe, there’s a version of me that rates this story a full 5 stars. Because it’s so close to being masterfully executed. So good. And the glimpse of worldbuilding provided looked so promising.
- I loved the double entendre of the title and how the story starts and lets the plot unfold and then quickly inverts upon itself. I just wish the ship had been named and that we were made aware of it.
- This could’ve been a novella with multiple perspectives of each the crew members on the ship and have ended the exact same way and I would’ve ate that shit up because the nautical vibes made my day.

Buzzkill: 4.5/5
- The duality of the title is everything. And the fact that this is about bees is just gravy on top.
- And my word, was that short. I didn’t love the last sentence as I wanted a bit more of a punch to end things, or even more of a chilling send off. It didn’t feel the right way to conclude things.
- And yet, despite the brevity and this being the shortest story of the lot so far, I freaking loved the premise and post-apocalyptic world where bees nest to create honey zombies within humans. I wish it were slightly longer of a short story so I could simmer with it more, but regardless, I think this was one of my favourites of this collection.

The Space Between: 4.5/5
- I loved the way this story was structured as captain logs and journal entries.
- It wasn’t scary, but it was creepy. And I adored the execution, from the clinical manner of the documentation, to the tipping of physics that created this ripple within the fabric of reality and the subsequent twisting and warping of time; it was brilliant.
- The creatures reminded me (again) of Fallout, specifically the Mirelurks for some reason, and I was all about the post nuclear annihilation vibes, or in this case, a variation of it set in the future.

Gemini Syndrome: 3.25/5
- I enjoyed the premise of this, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the execution (mostly because the clone trope doesn’t do it for me as a whole). It was just a little too info-dumpy for a short story and the relationship dynamics between all of the characters just didn’t feel strong at all.
- The duplication or copy and paste effect from the rather untested method of transportation known as DMT (Dispersed Molecular Travel) was really interesting and I would’ve loved if this was explored more.
- I kept imagining a scene where we got to see Pru’s father meeting with the genetic copy of her and then hearing the copy’s thoughts and ending on a open-ended but sinister note. This didn’t happen and that guts me a little bit.

Plant of the Hungry: 3.5/5
- I loved the plot. The combo of tech and plants and their symbiotic relationship screwing with the Earth’s ecosystem and turning it solely into a planet of eat or be eaten was stellar.
- This was the longest story of the bunch which allowed for more worldbuilding which I really enjoyed because I mean, cannibals. You can’t go wrong with cannibals with me apparently.
- Not sure I needed the romance. It was not out of the blue, and the lust/love angle in relation to the infection of literally everything made sense but I didn’t find it all that compelling in light of the strong worldbuilding that surrounded it.

Polychromatic Screams: 4.25/5
- This title sounds the name of an album by a punk metal band and I just loved everything about it.
- I actually wanted the story to go on longer than it did, as I thought there was a lot more story that could’ve been told and expanded upon. It reminded me a bit of Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes and the whole ghost ship trope and I wished it had done more with it.
- Is this connected to Gemini Syndrome at all? Because the term Vulpes had appeared in both as some sort of tech mega-conglomerate that seemed to be a BIG FUCKING DEAL and let me tell ya something: they were sketchy af.

And yeah, basically I was quite enamoured by this collection and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking to dip their toes into some cosmic horror because there’s something in here for both the casual peruser of the subgenre and the diehard fans as well.2 s Emily521 2

I had a really great time reading this collection of twelve stories. The collection is mostly focused on sci-fi horror. The stories gave me the creeps and were very entertaining. The pacing of each story was great, and I never felt bored; I always wanted to keep reading more! While I d every story in the collection, I’m going to only dive into my top three:

1. Gemini Syndrome
Pru is trying to make her way back to Earth, and in order to shorten her travel time she’s signed up to try Dispersed Molecular Travel [DMT]. DMT is still very experimental though, especially out in Space, and DMT travelers have been experiencing Gemini Syndrome. Will Pru make it back to Earth safely, or will she experience Gemini Syndrome the travelers before her?

It was hard to decide, but I think this has to be my favorite from the whole collection. Pru is aware of the potential consequences of this experimental travel, but her desperation to get back to Earth beats those consequences from keeping her in Space. The coldness of the Doctor, the outcome that Pru faces, and just thinking about what happened to the others before Pru is truly chilling.


2. Buzzkill
Genetically modified bees have started attacking people. Anthony is one of the few left that haven’t been attacked, but he might not be unscathed.

This story was short and sweet, but it definitely stuck in my mind honey. I’m rather fond of killer animal stories Zoo, so it was interesting to read about bees in this way. When Anthony goes to his cellar, I thought it was going to be a The Silence of the Lambs - Buffalo Bill scenario. It was not, but the real scenario is almost just as horrifying.


3. Buried Two Feet Above
Working as a lone coffin maker you decide to take naps in the coffins. What happens when you get locked in one of them, and no one is there to hear your calls? Or...is someone there?

Claustrophobia would set in within minutes, maybe seconds, of me being stuck in a coffin. The fact that Joseph is an introvert and barely has anyone stop by to his shop had my anxiety on high alert the whole time I was reading. This story had me super freaked out, just because I kept picturing myself in his situation!


If you’re looking for a collection of stories to chill your bones and keep you on the edge of your seat, this collection is for you!

Thank you to Salt Heart Press and P.L. McMillan for the ARC!2 s David WornAuthor 4 books1 follower

I had read one of the McMillan's previous stories in the Howls from Hell anthology and it stuck out as being a gonzo mix of cosmic horror, big old gods trashing things and sci-fi. I loved the mashup and so was stoked to see this collection come out and sample more of what McMillan brought to the horror potluck.

Suffice to say, I was not disappointed. There's a ton of variety here, from body horror to cosmic horror to sci-fi horror to mixes of all these things. The stories move quickly, smash stuff along the way, and may or may not end happily ever after. You never know where you'll end up but it's a thrill ride the whole way. Accompanying each tale was a drawing that helped set the stage-I wish more anthologies would do this.

My favorites were:

GODMOUTH - Lots of mounting dread as we discover that something is not quite right with the city's populace. The ending was top shelf.

Crimson Splashed Skin - The mysterious atmosphere at the beginning of this one as a reporter and her friend go somewhere they shouldn't. Afterwards, the places this story goes was unexpected, gruesome and ultimately quite satisfying!

Polychromatic Screams - An expedition to a mysteriously deserted ship turns into survival horror. Short and effective.

Planet of the Hungry - The longest of the stories in this collection, it is set far into a post-apocalyptic future where resources are scarce and people do little more than survive... until a visitor from off-world appears. Unique and more lyrical than the rest, I was engrossed from the first page.
2 s Big Red534 21

An incredible horror collection from P.L. McMillan! From the very first story, I could tell I was going to love this one. Each story is told so vividly, and is so immersive, I was totally hooked. McMillan does a great job pulling the reader in, only in time to shock them!

A few of my favorite stories, in order of appearance:
- "Sanitize" - the first in the collection, and possible my favorite of the entire book! I absolutely love how dirty I felt after.
- "Buried Two Feet Above" - omg, this one taps into so many of my fears. One of those stories that makes you feel maybe those itches ARE bugs crawling all over you!
- "The Space Between" - I love a good unknown entity! This reminded me of House of Leaves in all the best ways!

I highly recommend this to all horror fans - there are stories in here to satisfy everyone's tastes!horror physical2 s Mike34

Good collection

Nice collection of short stories. Some novel ideas and interesting reads. Some of these I'd to read a full book's worth.2 s J.W. DonleyAuthor 8 books52

original review: https://horrortree.com/epeolatry-book...

Fans of cosmic and body horror will rejoice when they read P.L. McMillan’s new collection, What Remains when the Stars Burn Out. McMillan serves up a smorgasbord of horror delicacies filled with everything from stomach churning body horror to mind bending creatures and far-future science fiction terrors.

The stories deal with themes relevant to modern day issues—everything from the current pandemic to equal gender treatment to human impact on climate change. The stories work well together and vary in both length and theme.

P.L. is deft at producing grotesque imagery that burns into the reader’s brain. Multiple times I found myself cringing at the descriptions, especially in scenes of body horror. This is just what body horror fanatics crave. She also presents well thought out worlds for each story to live within. Be it contemporary or far future, I found each setting believable and immersive.

If you have not yet experienced the works of P.L. McMillan, this is a wonderful place to start. I know I will gladly pick up a copy of anything they publish in the future.collection horror science-fiction ...more2 s T.J. PriceAuthor 6 books21

I barreled through this collection. Or perhaps, this collection barreled through me. I'm still not sure which is the case, though I do know that I'll be thinking about the stories within for a while, reflecting on the effortless prose as well as the concepts.

Standouts for me included:

"That Which the Ocean Gives and Takes Away," a terse, gruesome little tale with some fantastic imagery—though oddly, it's the emotional core in this one that will linger with me.

"Buried Two Feet Above," hideous! I can't say anything about this, not even on a thematic level, because I don't want the spoilers to affect enjoyment of this story. It's paced exquisitely and executed with one rush of skin-prickling action. Visceral and repulsive, this one creeps up on you.

"Crimson Splashed Skin," a deliberately character-centric study of infidelity and relationship troubles, but that's only the subtext. So much happens in this story, and it's frankly amazing how cinematic and wide the scope of this story is without losing its intimacy. That is, if you want to get anywhere within ten feet of it.

"The Whale Hunts," which again took a minute to get where it was going, but once it did, the descriptions and the gruesome narrative dragged me along with it, down into its oily depths.

"Buzzkill," conceptually the best of the collection, and also the shortest. It takes bravura to flesh out a concept this, and the rewards are sweet indeed. Would've loved to linger a while longer in this world. If you're just combing through this collection and you need a story to sample, try this little honey.

"The Space Between," shades of a Jeff Vandermeer story, with Lovecraft waiting in the wings. I loved the epistolary nature of this story.

"Gemini Syndrome," a Star Trek episode gone horribly horribly wrong, I saw the end of this one coming a mile away, but was no less satisfied when it did.

I loved the mixing of speculative and science fiction with cosmic horror here, these elements were used skillfully and often just as background or atmosphere to a story, rather than making the world-building the main emphasis. I will say that some of the stories didn't quite land for me, or, if they did, they seemed just a bit too beholden to their inspirations, or didn't do quite enough to make the ostensible genre-formula new for me.

That being said, I still very much enjoyed the ride through every one of these, even the ones that didn't hit the mark were still deliciously gruesome and pulpy fun. It reinvigorated my love of reading after quite a dry spell, and for that, I'll be endlessly thankful.1 Zach Rosenberg88 4

Sensational work.

I first became aware of PL McMillan's work when I heard several stories on the podcast Nocturnal Transmissions. The combination of beautiful prose and grim subject matter was captivating, and since then I have picked up her first collection. I am pleased to report this is indie horror at its best. Each story is unique and well-crafted, with themes of longing and hunger permeating the collection.

Sanitize is a grim and clever tale, replete with sarcasm and body horror, but it is What The Ocean Gives And Takes Away where this collection begins to positively shine. One of several tales of Deep Sea horror, the fear of the unknown strikes a ship and threatens the lives of all aboard.

Indeed, the fear of the unknown is a running theme through the stories. McMillan's stories present a grim hopelessness to the world; a world where humans are often helpless to forces beyond their ken. Godmouth is cosmic horror at its finest, a Ligotti-esque, dark tale of a mysterious occurrence known as the Godmouth and a looming doom throughout.

McMillan does 'looming doom' exceedingly well. Through each story, there is a sense of impending dread. A temptation to turn the page while being terrified of what you might uncover next. The people in these stories are doomed and don't know it. Finding out how is just half the fun. Which leads to my favorite: "The Whale Hunt."

a mix of cosmic and deep sea horror, where convicts are sent to hunt a whale. No happily singin humpback here, but a terrifying, eldritch nightmare. It's dangerous, It's rapacious. It's smart, and it's only when you know how smart it is that the horror sinks in.

Planet of the Hungry is a worthy penultimate story. A grim tale of pure hunger and monsters with a sci-fi twist and a reminder there's all sorts of hungers, even in the face of apocalypse. Each of the 12 stories herein are unique, fascinating and above all, frightening. It's a good collection. A damn good collection and well worth the time for horror readers.

If you bleak cosmos, fascinating monsters, impeccaby written scares? This has you covered.1 timothy williams3

A solid set of stories.

Most stories in this collection left me a bit unsettled, and that's exactly what I love about it. The author manages to build atmosphere and dread while keeping each story concise. Thumbs up!1 Angela33 4

These pages are soaked in the ink-blood of ancient and nameless evils who caress with stinging tentacles that are equally horrifying and seductive. There is no escape from the vast hopelessness, which is good, because you may find yourself longing to sacrifice yourself to join with it. An inspired collection complete with beautiful, accompanying illustrations for each story, What Remains When Stars Burn Out is a cosmic horror triumph.1 Alex Babanski20

Powerful and talented weird horror sci-fi

Although the weird fiction revival of these recent decades is astounding in itself, writers of such entertaining power and wordcraft are still rare.
This book is a wonderful treat for those who to chew and ponder on the weird stories long after reading them. They linger in your mind for weeks. 1 Sarah60 2

Really enjoyed this debut collection. Several stories were hard to put down once started, so I read through this in a matter of days. My favorites were “GODMOUTH,” “Sanitize,” and “Gemini Syndrome.” Definitely looking forward to more from McMillan
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