Customer Reviews

Queen of the Cold-Blooded Tales (American Storytelling)

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Roberta Simpson Brown is a skilled presenter of mystery, tragedy, and human nature as played out in her 23 cold-blooded tales. The personalities of the characters of each tale lead them to conflict, murder, accident and haunting. Roberta's storytelling skill in both written and spoken word allows each story to unfold with morbid fascination. Take your favorite ones to a campfire gathering or to the jumble of teenagers and sleeping bags who beg to be frightened...one more time!

I'm over 40, and these stories were effective enough to scare me. They remind me of the old Night Gallery series in style; they certainly would have been worthy of becomming episodes. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys scary tales. You will not be disappointed. Roberta is a remarkable writer, and she pulls you right into her stories and keeps you there until the very end. Then it's time to hide under the covers. :o)

"It was a dark and gloomy night," perfect for making your friends shake and quake, especially as told by master storyteller Roberta Simpson Brown. "Queen of the Cold-Blooded Tales," is not for the faint hearted.
Since we own cats, our favorite in this great collection is the very last one, 'Feed My Cats.' Alice Eaton loves her cats, they love her for the great care she takes of them. She has one special cat, Big One who must have the perfect treat. Be careful if someone asks you to feed their cats; you'd best follow their directions as cats are picky.
Everyone loves a little dose of terror, just the right suspension of belief. This is a book to enjoy alone or with friends and it doesn't have to be just on Halloween.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Taxes, Stumbling Blocks & Pitfalls for Authors, 2007."

I was very surprised and pleased with the quality and scope of these stories. Some of the tales actually scared me even though Im over 30!!! The author does a great job crafting these macabre stories. She uses real life details, plot twists and surprise endings. I highly recommend buying this for yourself and as a gift for your favorite ghoul :)

Roberta Simpson Brown has every right to call herself Queen of the Cold-Blooded Tales. The twenty-three chilling stories in her collection are macabre and marvelous. Well-written and well-paced, each yarn is a quick, five to ten pages in length. Though original, they are patterned in a well-known oral literary tradition.

Roberta Simpson Brown's tales are set in familiar, normal places: living rooms, schoolyards, campgrounds, shops, farm houses. The students, housewives, hotel clerks and other characters in Brown's stories are all familiar people - but that's where "normal" ends. Brown's plot-lines each have a bizarre, scary twist or unexpected turn toward horror.

Beware! These cold-blooded tales are not like the slinky vampire romances that currently have so many publishers under a spell. Nor are they the dark, ugly, Stephen King-style stories of rabid dogs and killer clowns. The wonderfully warped stories of Roberta Simpson Brown are thoughtfully constructed in classic formats.

These are good, old-fashioned, great American ghost stories!

Individual readers will no doubt like some selections better than others. My personal favorite is Whispers, the disturbing fable of a little girl who, despite her parents' wishes, is determined to purchase a pair of evil-looking earrings. Stylistically, I found the subtle strangeness of Sleeping Bags to be particularly effective. The story, about a young woman on a camping trip, has a blend of simplicity and supernatural-ness that put me in the mind of Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.



"Be sure to bring your sleeping bag," she said.
Susan looked at the flowers and left them on the seat. She
took the bag and followed Angie up a path lined with stones.
"Everyone is sleeping on the hill tonight," explained Angie.
"You'll see them later."



All of the horror chronicles included in Queen of the Cold-Blooded Tales have strong themes. What's more, the gore and ghastliness is never gratuitous. Running throughout Brown's devilish collection is a solid moral sensibility. Fate delivers a fitting justice to gold-digging girlfriends, nosy neighbors and greedy little boys.

Roberta Simpson Brown has delivered a fine collection of spine-tingling fiction that would be wicked fun to tell around a campfire!

Messy, yucky, gross, disgusting, and altogether chilling. You'll cower beneath your covers!