Customer Reviews

Horrors! 365 Scary Stories

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I adored this book! It is a supreme sampler of Who's Who and Who's New in the horror field.

It has some of my long-time favorite authors like Karen Taylor (See her wonderful 5-novel series The Vampire Legacy), Nancy Kilpatrick (another dark mistress with multiple vampire novels), Steve Rasnic Tem (who just won the Bram Stoker award), Yvonne Navarro (a master at both her original novels -- I LOVED DEADTIMES -- and her novelizations for ALIENS and the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER series), along with Tom Piccirilli, Brian Hodge, Hugh B. Cave, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Jay Bonansinga and a host of others with multiple novels under their belt.

Then there's this delightful group of new-comers, whose names I've never heard before, or who have just started popping up in the small press. This is a detailed snap-shot of who's actively working in the horror field right now. It may not have everyone, but it comes closer than you'll ever get again. It's a wonderful way to sample new authors as well as visit again with old favorites.

I've used the book much as you do any sampler -- as a guide for buying books by authors I've never tried before. If I liked their story, I bought one of their books. I've found some new favorites as a result of discovering them in this book.

And if you don't like a story or someone's style - well, they're all less than 1,000 words long. You'll be on to someone else in a few minutes time.

As far as horror is concerned, I prefer short stories to full-length novels, but they can be TOO short. Every story in this collection is only 1-2 pages long - they have to be, to fit 365 stories in a book of reasonable size. As a result, unless you are an extremely slow reader, none of them provide enough time to build up the suspense. There are a few exceptions - some really good stories which did manage to chill me, - but they are exceptions, not the rule. Simply put, a short short story is a very difficult format in any genre, including horror, and very few writers can pull it off. Reading just one at a time, as the subtitle suggests ("Get your daily dose of terror") leaves only the impression of "Huh?". Reading many at a sitting is like eating a boatload of popcorn - it felt good going down, but left you empty afterwards. Except that some of this "popcorn" is more than a little bloody - actual snacking while reading this book is not recommended.

i guess brevity isn't always a good thing. many of these stories are silly or cute -- in the oh, he was a serial killer/vampire/crazy guy vein. though there are some that manage to create a chill in a very short space (a hard thing to do), most of them left me frustrated and/or bored.
maybe it's that i sat down and read half the book in one sitting - not advised. your best bet is to skim, there are a few treasures in here. when it's good, it's very, very good. when it's bad, it's just awful.

The stories in this book are short but they have the same impact as any story three times their length. The endings were unexpected and that is what i look for in a good book. Each story is unique and has you checking under your bed twice before cutting the lights out.

I love this book, it's perfect for reading one story each day :) It reminds me of Stephen King's short stories, which is a good thing!

I absolutly love this book. It has so many eerie and frightning stories in it. This one story, Feast of the Crows, by Brian Hopkins was terrifing. I suggest not to read that story if you are afraid of birds, though.

To say that this is bad writing is an understatement. This is clearly the worst book I have ever read. Extremely predictable and stereotypical. It is amazing that is ever got published. In a Jr. high writing contest this "might" get a participation badge. In fairness there is not much you can do with a 1 to 2 page story. But even the show "Are you afraid of the dark" had more originality, making the author R. L. Stine seem like a literary genius by comparison. There is not that much else to say except that it makes me angry that anyone could consider is good writing.

If you're into horror, get it. If you're not into horror, take a look at it and read few right there in the store (which is easier than it sounds since most of the stories are only about 3 pages in length, max). It's a cool collection of tales that you can kind of treat like a literary snack, a horror-d'vour, so to speak. Plus, it really helps to get you interested in the genre and reading in general; you feel as though you're accomplishing some serious reading, even if some of the stories aren't that great.

There's so many stories, you really can't go wrong; there's going to be something in there for you, and if you run across a couple of stinkers, so what? They were only 3 pages long anyway!
A must for writers looking to hone their voice down to a sharp point.