Tag Archives: Horror

The Guided Tour by Rhys Hughes

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: The Guided Tour
Author: Rhys Hughes
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Horror
Dates read: 6th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: The incidentals and tangents assisted not only in setting the scene, coagulating the right atmosphere, but proved to be fascinating in their own right.

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Synopsis

Being a tour guide can be tough, but what happens when you want to get a little more hands-on experience with your tour?

Thoughts

This kind of wigged me out. But in a really good way. To start with, this story was about a man practicing to be a tour guide. Talking about Jack the Ripper, highlighting his crimes and the mystery surrounding the Butcher of Baker Street. Then it becomes far more twisted…

I really liked the twists and turns that this short story had. Every few paragraphs, the story is flipped completely on its head. Once you think that it is going in one direction, you find out that it is kind of going somewhere completely different. It very much reminds me of all of the theories and ideas surrounding Jack the Ripper in the first place – a lot of twists and turns, where no one is 100% sure of the truth.

 <- Bertie ReviewMartha Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Blood Lite edited by Kevin J. Anderson

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Overview
Blood Lite

Title: Blood Lite
Author: Kevin J. Anderson, Kelley Armstrong, Joe R. Lansdale, Lucien Soulban, Christopher Welch, Matt Venne, Don D’Amassa, Mark Onspaugh, J.A. Konrath, Paul Wilson, Charlaine Harris, Steven Savile, Will Ludwigsen, Janet Berliner, Eric James Stone, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Mike Resnick, D.L. Snell, Nancy Holder, Nancy Kilpatrick, Jeff Strand, Sharyn McCrumb & Jim Butcher
In: Blood Lite (Kevin J. Anderson)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Horror, Short story collections
Pace: Slow
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Edge
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Sometimes, especially if I’ve been drinking, and I’m hungry, I revert to my basic nature.

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Synopsis

The Horror Writers Association Presents Blood Lite…a collection of entertaining tales that puts the fun back into dark fiction, with ironic twists and tongue-in-cheek wit to temper the jagged edge.

Charlaine Harris reveals the dark side of going green, when a quartet of die-hard environmentalists hosts a fundraiser with a gory twist in An Evening with Al Gore…

In an all-new Dresden Files story from Jim Butcher, when it comes to tracking deadly paranormal doings, there’s no such thing as a Harry’s Day Off for the Chicago P.D.’s wizard detective, Harry Dresden…

Sherrilyn Kenyon turns a cubicle-dwelling MBA with no life into a demon-fighting seraph with one hell of an afterlife in Where Angels Fear to Tread. NOTE: This story has been re-released in the Dark Bites anthology.

Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour, but behind the scenes, a disgruntled ghost has a bone to pick, in Kelley Armstrong’s The Ungrateful Dead.

So let the blood flow and laughter reign – because when it comes to facing our deepest, darkest fears, a little humor goes a long way!

Thoughts

I’m kind of on the fence about this collection. Some of the stories in this were brilliant. Some downright weird. But all were enjoyable. Just not memorable. This is the kind of collection you read for a good, light laugh and something that isn’t going to make you think and linger in your mind’s eye after you’ve finished the story.

Although this hasn’t been my favourite collection of short stories that I’ve digested in recent times, it also wasn’t one that I ever considered stopping. I know that a collection or novel is truly horrible when I just can’t seem to pick it up and get through it. Yet I didn’t feel that way with this. I just didn’t want to completely bury my nose in these stories either. The best description I can think of for this series is easy. Easy reading. Easy to forget. But easy to spend some humorous time with.

 <- The Four Horsemen Reunion Tour ReviewThe Ungrateful Dead Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Terminus by Louise Doughty

Book Review, ,
Overview

Title: Terminus
Author: Louise Doughty
In: I Am Heathcliff (Kate Mosse)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Horror
Dates read: 18th February 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Borough Press
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: Paying that much long term is out of the question.

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Synopsis

She’s trying to run from her past and start a new future. But will obsession catch up with her before she can find her happily ever after?

Thoughts

I decided to start reading the I Am Heathcliff collection because I was so damn disappointed and frustrated by Wuthering Heights. So, in my slightly twisty mind, I figured that reading a collection of Wuthering Heights inspired stories might help me to understand a little more as to just why everyone seems to love this classic so much. And, although this didn’t highlight why people love the storyline, this short story that started the collection certainly reflected most of my feelings about the storyline.

It’s obvious from the very first moment that there is a darkness following the woman in the story. And as the story unfolds, it becomes even clearer that this is a darker “love” than I had kind of anticipated. It made me so damn uncomfortable in fact that I decided that this short story need to be shelved on the horror shelf. Especially when the ending almost makes the story of unrequited and unhealthy love close in full circle.

This story definitely echoes the ideas of obsession and unhealthy, obsessive love that I got so clearly from the original tale surrounding Heathclif…

 <- I Am Heathcliff ReviewAnima Review ->
Image source: Harper Collins Publishers

Great Blue Heron by Joyce Carol Oates

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: Great Blue Heron
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Death, Horror, Mental health
Dates read: 30th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: The wife is shivering, her feet are getting wet, she would like to turn back but the husband presses forward, he has something to show her.

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Synopsis

The Wife is mourning the loss of her husband. The Wife keeps on remembering moments together and seeing a Great Blue Heron flying free. As her grief and love for the birds collide, there is no telling what will happen next.

Thoughts

This story had my heart racing. Something about the pace of it and the way in which it was written felt like an intense horror story. That, and the setting is based around a lake with overcast days… the perfect setting for a horror story and a horrific murder if I ever did hear one.

This is the fourth story in this series of bird-based horrors (I never knew that there was such a thing, or that it could be this TRULY scary… but I digress). And it is the second story that has an essence of grief and loss in its heart. This feeling of loss and grief is intense and the slightly broken way in which this story is told really drives this idea home. There is an almost ethereal quality to the storyline which makes it both solidly real and wispily dreamlike.

 <- Something About Birds ReviewThe Season of the Raptors Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Something About Birds by Paul Tremblay

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: Something About Birds
Author: Paul Tremblay
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 29th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Or I didn’t consciously realize, if that makes sense.

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Synopsis

An interview with a cult horror writer begins to turn weird when the interviewer is given an exclusive invite. And then it starts to get down-right scary…

Thoughts

The mirror image of the horror short story in the story and the one that you are reading works beautifully. If not a little confusedly. Especially as the story unfolds, parts of the tale in the story unfolds too. And there is this constant echo between the snippets of interview and what happens after, in Ben’s house. This sense that not all is as it seems, and things are headed for a not-so-pleasant ending.

The dual imagery throughout this story was intense and engaging. However, this wasn’t as spine-tingling as many of the other stories that I’ve read in the Black Feathers collection. It’s engaging and entertaining, a little creepy. But it doesn’t have the intensity of goosebumps that many of the other stories have. Which is probably why I enjoyed the change of pace… it was horrific, but not terrifying…

 <- The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids ReviewGreat Blue Heron Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Untitled 12 by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Book Review, , ,
Overview
The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance

Title: Untitled 12
Author: Caitlin R. Kiernan
In: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Vampires
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2005
5th sentence, 74th page: “It’s not a game,” she said and licked at her lips.

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Synopsis

Sometimes what you call to you isn’t quite what you wanted. But this girl is stuck with it anyway.

Thoughts

This story was kind of disturbing. And by kind of. I mean seriously. And confusing. Really, really confusing. There was a hermaphroditic vampire thing that beat the crap out of her convert. There was blood puke on the floor and there was a lot of weirdness that was super uncomfortable.

Although, if you read this story, there is no way in hell that you are going to want to become a vampire. Or really think that they are dreamy and sexy. So I kind of liked it. It was so sick and disturbing. Yet fun and interesting. Also impossible to put down or look away from. Kind of like a really horrific car crash… or gory and horrible horror movie…

 <- A Stand-up Dame ReviewThe Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2 Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Dead Hand by Sharyn McCrumb

Book Review, ,
Overview
Blood Lite

Title: Dead Hand
Author: Sharyn McCrumb
In: Blood Lite (Kevin J. Anderson)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Horror
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Edge
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: And after that, of course, you’ll be in even more demand for these kinds of appearances, because the sponsor will expect you to keep their potential customers happy.

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Synopsis

An engineer decides to raise the dead to try and help his NASCAR team, but things have changed too much for the old man, and all he wants is to pass on into a quieter life.

Thoughts

I don’t follow cars. Or racing. And especially not NASCAR. I only really vaguely know anything about it to be honest. So reading a short story that had a horror component was kind of interesting. And a little disconcerting. And I didn’t entirely understand this short story…

I did like the emphasis on the change of time and the ways in which things so drastically change. How what was a field of skill two generations ago, is more about publicity and fans. And I really liked this distinction. There was the ideal that sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie and things change. Maybe we should just change our ideals with them…

 <- The Bell from HELL!!! ReviewDay Off Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids by Seanan McGuire

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids
Author: Seanan McGuire
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Horror,
Mental health
Dates read: 28th January 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: She’s the only one that’s stayed.

Synopsis

“One’s for sorrow, two’s for joy.” Brenda counts corvids as a way to understand the mathematics of her day. But when the unthinkable happens, will her counting and corvids help her? Or will they spell the end?

Thoughts

I feel like I liked this story a little tooooo much. It was dark, twisted and resulted in murder. And yet I absolutely loved it. Can’t stop thinking about it. Feel almost completely obsessed with it. Although, unlike most short stories that I love this much… I’m more than happy that it ended when it did. This was poignant and powerful, but it was also perfectly succinct in what it was attempting to entail.

There’s something hard about being different. And in this short story, the horrific way in which others can treat a child who is different are highlighted. There is a knowledge and understanding in the slightly jittery voice that highlights just how aware the young protagonist is. And when this hatred of her difference leads to something far too horrible to contemplate… well, that’s why this short story is on the horror shelf.

I don’t often feel sympathy for people who do a “bad thing”. Especially not something delivered in cold blood. But I definitely did in this story. And it left me feeling both awed and uncomfortable. A feeling that I think is fantastic to gain from a well-written short story.

 <- The Obscure BirdSomething About Birds ->

Image source: Amazon

The Bell FROM HELL!!! by Jeff Strand

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Blood Lite

Title: The Bell from HELL!!!
Author: Jeff Strand
In: Blood Lite (Kevin J. Anderson)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Demons, Horror
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Edge
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Doubtful.

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Synopsis

A young office worker has a bell forged by Lucifer to call the Dark Lord himself… but what will push him over the edge to use it?

Thoughts

I was expecting an entirely different ending to this short story. I basically thought that Lucifer was going to show up and own everyone. But he didn’t, and I just felt uncomfortable about the whole damn story. Especially the ending.

What I did love about this story, was the style in which it was written. Strand has a wonderfully quirky, quick-paced and fun style of wording that constantly made me smile and giggle throughout. The words are fast-paced and slightly sarcastic, giving this short story a great satirical air that makes up for some of the plot holes that frustrated me so badly.

 <- Bitches of the Night ReviewDead Hand Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

The Obscure Bird by Nicholas Royle

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Obscure Bird
Author: Nicholas Royle
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 27th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Lying in the darkness, she heard his carefully weighted footsteps approach their bedroom door, stop for a moment and then continue past.

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Synopsis

There is something dark and twisted sitting between a married couple. But it isn’t until the end that you realise how truly dark it is…

Thoughts

This story started out interesting and with a little mystery. It was engaging and I really liked it. And then it very quickly become uncomfortable. Very, very, very uncomfortable.

I’ve always liked owls and other birds of prey. There is something both mysterious and intriguing about them. Also a little creepy and dangerous. So the fact that this story took those aspects of owls and used them to create a horror short story worked really well for me. A little bit too well if I’m being honest… I had some very weird and shadowy dreams after reading this just before bed…

 <- O Terrible Bird ReviewThe Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids Review ->
Image source: Amazon