Looking For a Good Book

This is five short story/novelettes by five leading authors writing in the horror/dark fantasy genre.

It seems like every decade or so, publishers try to find a way to capitalize on short fiction. I can recall working in a bookstore (the 90’s?) when some of the big publishers tried marketing short stories and novellas in paperback. I believe they had some big name authors and hoped that with the lower cover price, readers would buy them. It didn’t last long.

Now, however, as self-pub authors seem to be doing well with short fiction sold at lower prices, the big publishers want to get in on it. So here Amazon is publishing five short horror novellas by big name authors, and just as self publishers do, then bundling the shorts together to sell the collection as well. If they can keep the prices reasonable, it should work. Greed, however, and raising prices will be its downfall.

This collections contains the following:

“Jackknife” by Joe Hill

A college professor is kicked out of his house by his wife after she discovers him sexting with a student – something he says is just harmless flirting. Now alone in an AirBNB, he takes walks to clear his head. He encounters a giant sycamore tree with an old jackknife stuck in the trunk and some strange carvings around it. He takes the jackknife and heads back to his place. The next day he sees the same sycamore with the same strange markings, but it’s not in the same place. Could the tree be stalking him?

This might be the best story in the collection. It definitely had the most suspense and a clever catch to it.

“The Indigo Room” by Stephen Graham Jones

During a corporate conference meeting, Jennifer, a company manager, begins to have hallucinations. Or at least she hopes it’s just hallucinations as she sees one of her co-workers without a head. Not dead, just … missing.

Capitalism … it’ll make you lose your head. Is that the message? This was definitely not a worthy inclusion.  I’ve not read much by Jones but readers seem to like his work a lot. If this were the only thing I read by him I’d not be interested in reading more.

“The Blanks” by Grady Hendrix

Jeckle Island is a popular beach vacation spot, especially for Rachel and her family. But the island has some unnatural residents referred to as “the Blanks.” There’s been an unwritten ‘we won’t bother you if you won’t bother us’ pact between the residents and the visitors. But on this particular trip, Rachel’s son witnesses a Blank attack one of the neighbors, and the Blank notices the boy. An idyllic summer is now a terrifying threat.

This rivals Joe Hills story for best in the collection. I guess Grady Hendrix can do no wrong or write anything unworthy.

“Night and Day in Misery” by Catriona Ward

A mother grieves the death of her son at the hands of an abusive father. She plans to visit the site where it happened and join her son in the afterlife.

I generally like Catriona Ward, but part of what her writing works so well is the long, slow build-up. In a short story we don’t get that. Instead, this short seemed to drag on.

“Letter Slot” by Owen King

A mother and son are going through hard times. The son will do anything to turn things around and make his mom feel better. Anything.

I’ve never read anything by Owen King, I wasn’t even familiar with the name. This story is pretty decent but it just never really captured my attention This felt like it needed to be longer to develop more of an interest in the characters. I also wasn’t sure who was telling the story. It seemed to be by the boy, but he sounded like a middle aged man. Told in retrospect? I didn’t think so, but…?

Overall, an interesting idea and a fair collection, but honestly, I’d rather read a Year’s Best Horror Stories collection than popular authors selling short story/novellas. Would any of these even make a “year’s best” anthology? Probably not.

Looking for a good book? The Shivers Collection is five horror novellas/short stories bundled into one book. Mostly popular authors in the genre, but the stories don’t pack quite the punch that their novels do.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Shivers Collection

authors: Joe Hill, Stephen Graham Jones, Grady Hendrix, Catriona Ward, Owen King

publisher: Amazon Original Stories

ebook, 174 pages