Showing posts with label Short story collection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Short story collection. Show all posts

January 30, 2014

Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

If you are familiar with Chuck’s work, you know that it is very bizarre and out of the ordinary.

If you are not familiar, well – he is the author of Fight Club.

Stranger Than Fiction is his collection of non-fiction essays. Most of them are about other people, but there is a section at the end that is all about his experiences.

Throughout the book, he gives clues as to what influenced some of his novels. He gets his inspiration from talking to people and hearing their stories. It is interesting to see what exactly influenced books that I have read.

That being said, some of the stories seemed a bit longer than they needed to be and they got a little slow at times.

There were also some very interesting ones. The ones that entertained me the most came from his own experiences and also the story about him talking to Marilyn Manson.


3/5 stars. It was interesting, but it did get a little slow at times. I guess every story isn’t for everyone. 

December 18, 2013

Gumshoe Santa by David Henderson

Gumshoe Santa is a bonus short story for the collection Broken Christmas. And because you are reading this, you have a chance to read it!

At the end of Broken Christmas, there is a Secret Santa Cyphered message. By emailing that message to Mr. Henderson at info@phcbooks.com, you will receive a copy of Gumshoe Santa for yourself!


Gumshoe Santa

There are some kind people left in this world. Oscar personifies that.

Oscar is a private investigator hired by Andrea Fox to provide photographic evidence that her husband is not being loyal to their marriage. Due to a pre-marriage agreement, her husband having an affair is the only way she will make out with part of his fortune in the event of a divorce.

There is only one problem – Mr. Fox was as faithful as they come.

Oscar could not obtain photographic evidence, so he was paid a lot of money to frame Mr. Fox. Instead, he discovered another secret about the couple that will end up coming out instead.

He does not want to ruin a whole family on Christmas Eve. So, because he looks like Santa Claus, he brings their child a toy that has been sold out in al stores in order to keep the Christmas spirit alive.

It is a sweet little story. I wasn’t sure where it was going or how it was going to end up, but once I got to the end, I was very satisfied with how it turned out.

Read Broken Christmas and find the secret code to get this story, you will not regret it.


4/5 Stars. 

November 12, 2013

Dead Ends by Bart Hopkins

Bart Hopkins is the author and Co-Author of two novels. With Dead Ends he puts his writing to the test and forms a short story collection.

Dead Ends is made up of three short stories with dark tones. Things may not always be as they seem. And the endings are there to shock you.

Dead Ends.

Recalculating:

Recalculating is a story where you sort of know the ending from the start, but you are still completely surprised to see how it plays out. You may never see it coming.

When a couple comes upon a GPS system at a garage sale, they decide to take a much needed vacation.
This may be the worst mistake of their lives.

Listening to directions on a GPS may not be all it is cracked up to be.

Sweet Lenora:

The beginning of this story had sort of a Carrie feel to it to me. With a crazy mother and a daughter.

Then it turned out to be very far from that once you get to the end. Though, maybe they need to find Jesus.

This one is unlike Recalculating, because you can’t really guess what is going on.

It keeps you hanging on until the end because it keeps you guessing where the story is headed.

Here’s a piece of advice: you may want to have some garlic around you while reading this.

Character development was surprisingly well done in such a short amount of pages.

Donations:

Donations is easily the creepiest and most horror filled of the three. It is also longer than the other two, so the character and story development really adds to it.

When the one you love is dying, how far will you go to save them?

This short story combines two different story lines, and they come together in a surprising way. It will keep you guessing up until the last page.

It is a very dark story with a mix of romance and craziness.

You may sleep with the lights on after this one.



Overall rating: 5/5 Stars. If you like horror, drama, and short stories, pick this up now. 

October 10, 2013

Seven From Haven by Daniel Grotta

Seven From Haven is a collection of short stories centered around the town of Haven, Pennsylvania.

Haven is not your normal town. Strange things happen there that cannot really be explained.

The stories in Seven From Haven are all separate from each other. The only thing in common is the town of Haven.

It was perfect timing reading this in October because all seven stories are ghost stories.

With a collection like this there is always a risk that there will be some weaker stories in the mix, and that happened here as well. A few of them just seemed to drag on more than the others and didn’t really have much going on.

Then there were others that had a lot going on and read very quickly.

The stories seemed to even each other out, and overall it was a pretty enjoyable read. If you like ghost stories, this may be of interest to you.


Haven Takes Care of Its Own

3/5 stars. Good writing, but there were some slow moments.


October 8, 2013

Cautionary Tales for the New Millennium by Eric Nielsson & Illustrated by Jay Munro

This book is a collection of very, very short stories. 

They are riddled with humor and express tales of all types. From an angry swearing TV evangelist to a crazy, city-wide power outage that inconveniences everyone.

The cute illustrations at the beginning give you a sense of what is to come in the story.

They may make you smile or laugh out loud. They are creative and light-hearted.

They are filled with irony which will make you chuckle at the end of every story. The amount of advanced technology and uses of the technology will also make you laugh.

If you have a little free time one day, I would suggest picking it up as it does not take long at all to get through.

I believe there is something for everyone in here. They are relatable and funny all at the same time.


5/5 short and fun. Would be a good read on a commute or on a nice morning with a cup of coffee or tea.  


August 10, 2013

The Students Sold Us Secrets Volume One by Lee Mavin

The Students told us secrets is a collection of short stories that are written in the form of journal entries by students.

The narrator is an anonymous teacher who received these texts and compiled them in the process of evaluating student behavior of the generation. Behavior against each other, and behavior towards those in power such as teachers.

While this is a work of fiction, it is horrifying that many students, I’m sure, actually have the thought processes close to the ones in this collection. The stories themselves are full of horror, suspense, and gore, but the fact that these are not too far off from reality makes them even more terrifying.

I love short stories. There is just something about the way that they have to be told in such a limited amount of pages that makes them difficult. They can either be really good and well written, or you can leave them with the sense that you didn’t receive the full story and there is something missing.

Lee Mavin did a very good job of putting these stories together in a way that they flowed well together. I felt as though I received all of the details necessary to put the story together. It was well written, and it was a very interesting read.


5/5 stars
Click to purchase!