By Joe Hempel
Short story collections are usually either a success or a failure, and this one is no exception. I’d say you have 4 pretty good stories and 2 that are probably failures. For a collection of only 6 stories, I think that’s a good ratio.
The most creative and eye-catching story is the first one, “She Sleeps in the Abyss.” The characters are well drawn and there is a little twist at the end.
Then you have an incredibly scary ghost story, Unheard of, Untold. I’ll let you imagine why this book about strange things going on in the night is perfect for reading by lamplight.
The biggest failure for me was Carrion. It didn’t have much of a plot, it was more about someone and someone else turning into some kind of flying winged creature, and it didn’t really explain why.
If you’re looking for a typical 80’s retro horror film, then Life Saving Jaws is a great one. The storyline is very predictable, but very entertaining and scary!
Neverview is one of those books that just doesn’t feel fleshed out. It’s like reading a story that stops halfway through. Maybe it will come back in a longer form later.
Son of the Horned God is kind of interesting because sometimes you learn secrets about where you live that you didn’t want to know. It’s to be expected, but kind of interesting nonetheless.
Bottom Line: This is a great way to introduce you to authors you may never have heard of. And it costs less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Now these books are $18? You can get great books for $3.49 on Amazon, and even though you’ll find a lot of books for $1.99 or less, $3.49 is still very reasonable for what you get here. The stories are short and the books are only a few hundred pages, so you don’t need to invest a lot of time, but the quality of the work matches the price perfectly.
Order yours here.
score:3/5
