No Sleep: Fragments of Horror

A whistle-stop anthology

Though it shares a similar namesake as the No Sleep Podcast, I can assure you that this anthology is entirely unrelated in any way to said podcast.

With a rapid-fire approach, this anthology launches 25 blink-and-you-miss-it vignettes one right after the other without quarter.

It's no Hollywood blockbuster - in fact, several of these shorts don't even have titles, which is made even more strange by the fact that they might still have a credit roll - but the production value, though amateur, is surprisingly high for this series of tales. Many of them feature subtle nods to one another, this being the only sort of "framing story" that binds the individual vignettes.

We have a mixed bag of tired tropes blended with unique ideas that create a wide variety of relatively similar stories. And while none of them are particularly bad, they also aren't anything to write home about. Still, I do have to say, "Year Zero" is quite impressive.

Below are brief Plot Summaries:

The Box: A mysterious package arrives on an unwitting man's front porch.

Red Girl: An art connoisseur may come to regret her latest purchase.

Hunny Bunny: While taking inventory at the dry cleaners, a young woman becomes the target of a killer coney.

Juggles: Juggles the mime entertains a young child.

Delirium: This crime scene seems all too familiar for a deft investigator.

Wood Man: Disappointed with his works, a budding artist accidentally angers a nefarious automaton with an artistic flare of its own.

Witchboard: Using a makeshift Ouija board, two girls accidentally summon a malevolent entity.

The Watcher: After witnessing something he shouldn't have seen, a voyeur becomes the target of depraved maniac.

House of Prey: Seeking help from a nearby home when her car breaks down places her life at risk.

Untitled: White noise. The only refuge for a man with voices in his head.

Untitled: Waste not, want not is this man's motto, until he bites off more than he can chew.

Untitled: This filter swaps faces with any two people, but she's all alone.

Untitled: A cop ventures into an abandoned building only to find that it isn't as abandoned as he thought.

The Weeping Woman: After crashing her car in the middle of nowhere, a young woman begins hearing a voice coming from the forest.

The Session: During one of his sessions with a young lady with agoraphobia, a psychologist uncovers a dark truth.

Untitled: During a virtual tour of one of her new properties, a realtor witnesses strange phenomena.

From the Mist: A young woman's shower is interrupted by an uninvited guest.

Untitled: Usually the monster hides under the bed.

Ghost Tour: A man disguises his true intentions with a clever ploy.

Untitled: Attempting to verify an eerie experience they had nights prior, two friends investigate a locked back-alley shed.

The Death Cleaner: It's her first night as a death cleaner, and it may be her last.

Abscessed: It's just a tooth ache. . . .or is it?

Rules of the Dead: So this is life after death?

Year Zero: After his ship crash-lands, an astronaut experiences the repercussions of meddling with spacetime.

The Pucong Ghost: A babysitter warns her charge of the dangers of playing with puppets.