Shivers [Paperback]

Katherine Irving (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2002

Isolated mountaintop, unexplored regions of the Amazon, prosperous complex in Idaho, battered beachside apartment building, local swimming pool, abandoned house, an asylum, city bus line, kitchen, bedroom or the chilled drawers of the local morgue-nowhere is safe.

Housewife, distinguished doctor, tribal leader, father, lover, shadow, exterminator, spectral being, ghost, kindly granny, winter wind or the dead-no one can be trusted.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Evil will find them out in Shivers, a collection of short stories that explores the "What Ifs" in ordinary lives of unsuspecting people...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Recommended...Rather than mention each story, I'll tell you what a few of my favorites are in this unusual collection. "Freeze Frame" is a unique look behind the doors of the so-called insane asylum. Who is really crazy? The ones on the inside or the rest of us on the outside?..."Excavation" is truly exceptional. It's a whole new take on the UFO and little green men phenomenon...But my two favorites of all of them is "Itty- Bitty," a most ingenious way to get the worst kind of revenge, and "Out Of The Blue," which is a surreal tale of a circus and a clown that both scares you and makes you wish it was true. The story ideas in these last two are indeed among the freshest and most unique that I've read in a long time. If you buy the book just to read these two stories, you'll get your money's worth. I recommend this book for a shivery night's entertainment. But a word of caution—don't read them alone—and-uh—leave the light on."—S. Joan Popek

"...This is a collection of disturbing stories that will unsettle your dreams and tease your sense of the bizarre...Three stories particularly stand out in this collection: "Winter Souls," nominated for a Bram Stoker Award, "Warm Wet Kisses In E-Flat Minor," and "Itty-Bitty," winner of The First Annual Horror Authors Writing Contest. I highly recommend this book to lovers of horror and the supernatural. In her distinctive and often darkly poetic style, Katherine Irving has woven a set of original, remarkable tales that will surely give you…Shivers. A fine and rare talent."—Mayra Calvani, Reader To Reader and Under The Covers

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (December 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592799671
• ISBN-13: 978-1592799671
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A New and Welcome Voice in Short Horror Fiction, February 17, 2004

By 

Jeffers64 "jeffers64" (McHenry, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shivers (Paperback)

Katherine Irving, in her book Shivers, leads you through a series of stories who's titles only give bare hints of the thrills and scares to come. I rarely get those feelings these days if I'm revisiting the tired and well-mined(in my opinion) format of the short-story genre. It's not that short stories in themselves are bad, it's that short stories are so often done poorly, the intent of the misguided author so often merely to try and throw you a curve at the story's end.

Thankfully, Irving doesn't fall into that trap. In the 23 stories in this book, she chooses to showcase not her cleverness but her imagination, in all its various forms. And they are various; using a plethora of locales, colorful and original characters, and circumstances, Irving pulls the reader effortlessly through the unsettling passageways of her mind. How rare it is to actually read a story these days and think to yourself, "How in the world did she come up with that?" and have it be a compliment!

The concept and emotion of love suffuses these stories in both obvious and subtle ways. Ms. Irving seems to have a lot to say on the subject, and does so without beating the reader over the head with her opinions.

A well crafted series of bedtime stories. If you don't mind sleeping with the lights on.

2.0 out of 5 stars Hmmm..., January 26, 2004

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shivers (Paperback)

** Fear is a complex emotion. Evoking horror is not dependent upon the circumstances so much as upon how the circumstances are used. Drawing upon techniques mastered by Stephen Crane and Edgar Allen Poe, Ms Irving uses minutae to create a sense of dread from events not always fearful on the surface. Using everything from spiders to children, she tells tales to keep you up at night. Watch the shadow carefully, you never know what might lurk within them. **

Amanda Killgore

4.0 out of 5 stars Irving gave me the Shivers!, September 2, 2003

By 

reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shivers (Paperback)

It's rare I sit down to devour a book these days. Life, and my own writing, has a way of sucking up the free time I used to spend reading. So when I do read a book, it better be worth my time.

Shivers was definitely worth my time. From story to story, Katherin Irving's prose and skillful use of metaphor kept me captivated enough to keep pushing the "next page" button on my PDA. Many of her tales have an underlying poignancy I found particularly appealing, and she has an amazing ability to create character's voices. I never had trouble differentiating or keeping track of her characters.

I have to respectfully disagree with the reviewer who posted that the overuse of "eyes" and "nowhere to hide" in the story Nowhere to Hide made it too long. It was that exact repetition that made the story so powerful and created such an understanding of the main character's mental state, which was incredibly important to the point of the story.

Katherine Irving's collection is one I'm sure I'll revisit many times. It was just that good. :)