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REVIEW: Asylum of Shadows (Short Sharp Shocks!) by Stephanie Ellis
Asylum of Shadows does for Victorian England what Jaws did to beaches in the 70s. Stephanie Ellis is a mistress of atmosphere! Asylum of Shadows is another banging short story from Demain Publishing’s Short Sharp Shocks! Series. Stephanie Ellis excels at being the pin to the grenade. She can write the calm and descriptive but once she eases herself away from that we are treated to a glorious explosion. We as a species are scared of many things, spiders, enclosed spaces, heights, and reanimated corpses. It’s a reasonable assumption that we are scared of the unknown, but should we be more scared of ourselves? What are we capable of under…
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REVIEW: We All Scream for Ice Cream by Lou Yardley
If you are planning on grabbing some Ice Cream to eat during this recent pleasant weather…maybe think twice. Lou Yardley is known for bringing the gore to her stories and We All Scream for Ice Cream is no different. I love ice cream of all different flavours, strawberry, raspberry, salted caramel, I love them all. I, however, do not like Ice cream cones that attack children and tear them limb from limb. It’s a story that will have me side-eyeing Ice cream vans from now until eternity. It’s a fine line between an innocent ice cream seller to psychopathic octopus like monster that wants to end you. Katelyn and her…
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REVIEW – The Church of Freyr & Other Dark Tales by Duncan Thompson
The Church of Freyr & Other Dark Tales brings about the return of The Master of Menace, Duncan Thompson. Just like his other works the trip into his imagination is a bumpy one! He warms us up with the triple threat of three short stories before screwing us with the main event. Cage Roberts is a flawed character that is plagued by the wrongdoings of his life. A semi-successful author with two beautiful children. He could have had it all if it weren’t for his unfaithful dalliances with the opposite sex. His ex-wife, Julie tried to overlook them, she even suggested moving away so that Cage could attempt to escape…
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Twisted: Tainted Tales by Janine Pipe | Review
Twisted: Tainted Tales is a horror short story collection by the amazingly talented, Janine Pipe. When I saw the hype behind her new collection doing the rounds on Twitter, I just knew I had to get aboard. I’ve been lucky enough to taste Janine’s unique brand of horror before and TTT is equally compelling. The shades of darkness are there to witness with equally horrifying results. The first story that drew me under her spell was When Doves Cry. This story has a very old-time feel. It gave me instant Dickensian feelings. The setting, the narrative, and the characterization felt like a drop in the ocean. I was one-minute treading…
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The Lament of the Silver Badger by Oli Jacobs | Review
The Lament of the Silver Badger is a collection of horror short stories by Oli Jacobs. Once again, the author has knocked it out of the mother-fucking park! I’ve read more than a few short story collections of late and can hand on heart say that this is the best one I’ve read to date. Let me just clarify my feelings and thoughts during my read of this awesome collection. WHAT THE HELL? WHAT DID I JUST READ? IT’S COMING, ITS TOTALLY COMING NO WAY… THAT CAN’T BE THE END!! THIS IS AWESOME These were my thoughts while reading Oli Jacob’s highly imaginative short story collection. You know you’ve found…
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What’s Coming for You by Joshua Rex | Book Review
What’s Coming for You epitomises the things that go bump in the night. It’s that creeping chill down a spine, a spiralling sense of unease but they are so addictive that you just have to keep reading, you need to know what shocks and horrors await you. I’ve found that horror short story collections can be either hit or miss. There’s going to be stories you love and some that you don’t like as much. I was pleasantly surprised Joshua Rex’ super creepy tales of puberty gone wrong, the dead calling out and items of clothing sucking the life out of its wearer. A gasp, a break, eyes bulging outward. …
