- Written by Holly Rae Garcia
- 263 Pages
- Link: Amazon Link
Spoiler-Free Review
As the author says, this is a book “Featuring twenty-six tales of desperation, sorrow, and terror.” Many of the stories are downright chilling. There is a little dark humor tucked around the edges as well.
The writing is skillful, usually getting right to the point, which allows many of the stories to be very short. You get pulled along so well that when some of them end, you’re left wanting more – in a good way. And you never know what the next story is going to spring on you. Maybe a nightmare cult, maybe a taste of an apocalypse, a werewolf, a ghost, or an octosquatch (I’ll let you imagine what that is). It might also be a little slice of life from an ordinary person that’s so poignant it gives your heart a little squeeze.
Two of my personal favorites were “The Many Indiscretions of Agent 592,” a story of cloak and dagger told entirely by emails, and “The Finest French Lace,” which manages to convey multiple levels of dread. The title story is also truly unsettling.
The variety of the stories and situations is impressive. There’s plenty of gore and horror and adult language, which this reader is just fine with. I’d highly recommend this for fans of short horror stories.