Title: Short Term
Author: Daniel Pyle
In: Blood Lite III (Kevin J. Anderson)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Easy reading, Horror
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: He grinned.

A man is breaking and entering a house to take his pleasure in the bodies of those who live there. There’s just one problem… his memory.

I’ve seen dementia and short term memory loss used as a humorous anecdote, as a sad trial, as a hurdle that someone has to challenge or overcome. I have never read about it being used in a horror story. I’ve also never been so freaked out by the idea of someone with short term memory loss. But, Pyle has definitely managed to change that for me.

Creepy men jumping fences late at night is never a good beginning to a story. Said men then breaking and entering with evil thoughts on their mind… you can kind of see where the tale is going. Until things change and you can’t… this short story took a twist that I was completely not expecting. And I think that that combined with the short term memory aspect of this story… I didn’t sleep for a day after reading this!

Image source: Goodreads