A collection of beautifully crafted tales of terror led by a ghoulishly entertaining Clancy Brown, The Mortuary Collection is a horror anthology that will appeal to horror hound and novice alike.

Written and directed by Ryan Spindell (his feature debut), The Mortuary Collection is also one of the rare horror anthology releases that, although diverse in choice of story and horror sub-genres, benefits from having a singular creative direction, with Spindell creating a world of horror that is macabre in subject yet disarmingly striking in style.

Set in the fictional New England town of Raven’s End, the guide and indeed ideological anchor of The Mortuary Collection is that of town mortician Montgomery Dark. An imposing figure plucked from the world of Universal Monsters, with rich timbre voice and more than zealous approach to his occupation, Montgomery views life as but a series of stories, not determined by the length of its tale, but the quality of its writing. Cult character actor Clancy Brown plays the role with the perfect blend of chilling gravitas and black comedy. Montgomery is indeed a monster, but one with principles and a wicked sense of humour.

He also knows how to tell a tale, of which four feature in The Mortuary Collection: a grifter (Christine Kilmer) faces a monster of Lovecraftian design; a handsome college bachelor’s (Jacob Elordi) latest sexual conquest results in an explosive aftermath; an unhappily married man’s (Barak Hardley) wish for a better life becomes a nightmare; and a babysitter squares off against a psychotic child killer.

Listening on is the morbidly curious Sam (Caitlin Custer). Her observations often echo that of the viewer, most notably that these are morality tales in which the sins of the protagonists (with loose use of that word) brought upon their head in perhaps justified, and most definitely grizzly violent means. Taboo subjects such as euthanasia, safe sex, and of course death, are featured.

While such a buffet of horror could turn off the uninitiated, Spindell does a great job in making his horror anthology both accessible and addictively entertaining, blending his moralistic approach to story and character with pitch-black comedy and horror theatrics that isn’t afraid to get gory.

Throughout it all is a visual presentation that is a feast for the eyes, cinematographers Caleb Heymann (As You Are) and Elie Smolkin (Sharkskin) capturing the sublime production design of Lauren Fitzsimmons (Wildling), inspired by a 1950s and 1960s aesthetic that Spindell utilises in his creation of a horror universe that should be visited repeatedly, with (hopefully) more chapters added to this Mortuary Collection that is ripe in style, scares, and story.