A Halloween Treat! Four Free Snack-Sized Horror Stories!

At least once every Halloween season I think about how fun it would be to hand out tiny short stories to kids, instead of the normal candy...

But I quickly push that idea aside, realizing that while it may be fun for me, I'd also be likely to end up with a home decorated in tp.

You, on the other hand, are actually looking for something to read, so snack-sized horror stories... here we come!

In the trick-or-treat spirit, they're all free. It'd be crazy to make you pay for a Halloween treat, after all, right?

It began with twelve pages of ebooks.

I reduced that to nine.

I then chose the best four.

I went to Smashwords and did a search for Horror under 20,000 words (free). Wanting short-shorts, I ignored anything over 5,000 words (some looked really good), then went straight to reading the blurbs. The blurbs that I found most fascinating were the ones I selected to read, with the intent of choosing only four.

Why four? 

No reason. I just wanted to set a limit for myself. Because so much of my choice hinged on a well-written blurb, I'm including what that exact blurb, rather than giving my own. I'll also include word count, which ranges from a little over 1500 to a bit above 4000.

Snack-sized!

"Alright, already, Rebecca! Enough with the explanations. Just get on with it!"

First up, we have...

Release is a 2,420 word short-short written by Chuck Grossart.

A man perusing the wares in a vintage book store lifts a tattered volume from its shelf and begins to read. The book quickly becomes his most prized possession...and he, a willing accomplice to a darkness thirsting for release.

What reader doesn't enjoy a horror story that revolves around a book? This one appealed to the part of me that screams, "It could happen to me!" I imagine it'll be the same for you, as well.

Next, we have...

Tower of Grief is a 3,480 word short written by K. Massari.

An abandoned McMansion and its eerie medieval tower were built on a gravesite by unscrupulous contractors. A former owner knows its darkest secrets, and uses them to her advantage.

 This one bends your mind a bit, which only adds to the horror. While it revolves around one former homeowner, we see into the lives of others, as well. This one is not for the faint of heart.

Number three on the list...

Mirror Mirror, at 1,610 words, is the shortest story I have for you today, and is written by Jennifer Waller.

Evelyn followed a rumor into the recesses of an unnamed catacomb in search of an ancient evil. However, once she finds it she quickly learns that escape is impossible.

We all know the dangers of heading out to cursed archeological digs. Unfortunately, someone forgot to remind the protagonist of that fact.

The mirror in the title, as well as the cover, was what drew me to this one. I used to be very uncomfortable around large mirrors, having an over-active imagination, so I'm naturally drawn to stories in which they play a key role.

And finally, we're on to the last - and my favorite of the four:

The Mirror Man is a 4,030 word short written by M.S. Dobing.

Steven Cree wakes up at the same time, every night. With every passing day, injuries appear on his body, cracks appear on his walls, and the trees that surround his estate seem to encroach upon his home.

But worst of all, it's the man in the mirror. The face that was himself, but is slowly changing into that of a stranger.

I know, I know... another one with the word 'mirror' in the title. It's a good one, though, so bear with me.

Everything within this story needed to be there: Every thought, every action, every word. The writing was exceptional. There was no flowery language, no extra narration. The writing was strong.

Even the dedication at the end fit well. It hit me like a truck, which could only happen with a powerful story.

If you read none of the others on this list, read this one.

But read them all.

Because they're all wonderful pieces of work. And they're free!

And snack-sized!!!

**As I only searched via Smashwords, these ebooks may also be available at the Kindle and Nook stores. My focus today was Smashwords titles, only.

Chris Farnell's Dirty Work is WILD!

Today we have another short story collection.

It's wild. It's crazy.

And I'll never look at video games

Or time travel

The same way again.

Cover design by Phil Cooper.

Dirty Work is a fantasy/sci-fi short story collection written by Chris Farnell.

So what's it about?

A broker negotiates a demonic deal. A soldier fights for her life during the dolphin apocalypse. An unemployed man searches for a job in a future where sponsorship means everything. A food and drink industry consultant tries to avoid a PR disaster when fingers start showing up in soda cans. A man repeatedly travels back in time for a length of ten-minutes each. A caller discovers that it's always important to read an insurance company's fine print - even in a zombie infested society. A man discovers that an 8 bit childhood video game is more than just a game. A ninja has an "average" day at the office.

So... this one is... wierd.

I guess that's kind of obvious, though, right? Dirty Jobs takes the reader on a wild ride, and doesn't hold back. There's absolutely no sense of the author saying, "Well, gee... maybe I'm going too far."

Nope. 

Chris Farnell opens up his imagination to the rest of us, inviting us through not one, but several different alternative realities. He doesn't hold back at all.

And I'm afraid I'll never look at my favorite childhood video games the same way, again. As if that's not enough, I'm now wondering what it'd be like to experience kissing myself. Would I be any good it it? And why in the world am I even considering that possibility?!

Darn you, Farnell!

This one is well worth reading. It set my imagination on fire, hit me with a blast of confusion on a few occasions, and amazed me with its possibilities.

The stories are very short, and are something that I could have easily used in a National Forensic League competition when I was in high school... and won it. Reading this aloud would be quite easy, and would entertain any Oral Reading judge.

I would have blown through the competition.

I would have gotten all the way to the State level.

And maybe even into the semifinals, from there.

Sorry... I got a wee bit nostalgic for a second. But that's what this short story collection did to me. It was wild and exciting. It got my heart beating. My eyes leapt from one word to the next, transfixed. 

It brought back that buzzing sensation I used to have when I found that one perfect story to use for competition. The one that was fast paced, full of twists, and easy to draw people into. Something that brought me back a couple of decades into my past.

That's something that's worth reading.

It's very likely that a few of these stories will cause gigantic question marks to form above your head. You'll hit a couple of points where you'll think, "What in the heck just happened?"

Just go with it. It's worth it.

And read the acknowledgements. They won't give you any amazing eruptions of insight. They won't impart any special knowledge. But they will entertain you. The acknowledgements really feel as though the author is sitting across from you at a pub, amusing you with a great conversation.

This one is a bit pricey for its length, but it's worth every penny. 

Chris Farnell has done something different with this collection, even going as far as to change the format between stories. That's a bit of a risk, of course, but I feel that it works, giving this not just entertaining words, but visual appeal, as well.

Dirty work can be found on Kindle. 

Nikolai Bird's Cthulhu - Something in the Mud Was a Slimey, Lovecraftian Joy!

Every now and then, something happens that disrupts the normal flow of events.

Take today's short story review, for example. After discovering an ebook that looked pleasing, my eyes wandered over to another title written by the same author: a very short story (I'm guessing under 18,000 words) with a Lovecraftian theme.

I can't say no to that. Indeed, when it comes to Lovecraft, I have zero self-control. I've read most of H.P. Lovecraft's short stories, I played the Mythos card game, and I even took part in a few Cthulhu based roleplaying game scenarios.

I couldn't resist.

I had to know if this author could do any justice to the world of Lovecraft... so this short story went from 'last ebook on the list' to 'currently reading' in about 3 seconds. This won't happen often. Normally I have better self-control.

But when the Great Old Ones have a hand in things, sometimes I lose it. Just a little.

Cthulhu: Something in the Mud is a lovecraftian themed horror short story written by Nikolai Bird.

So what's it about?

Four years after the signing of the Armistice that ended WWI, Jack receives a letter from his former Odd Jobs commander, inviting Jack to his summer home for the weekend. Jack gladly accepts and drives to West Wittering, feeling that this little getaway is exactly what he needs. When he arrives, however, he discovers that his former Odd Jobs experience is the only thing that stands between the commander and a powerful evil that no one should ever be exposed to.

Part of me felt that I shouldn't read this. 

A diehard fan of H.P. Lovecraft, I could very easily hold any deviation from from his style against the author. Another part of me, though, was excited. Of course Bird's writing would be very different, but could he pull it off?

Yes, he could. And he did.

Bird stuck to the most important points: vivid imagery, layout of character backgrounds, and a great show of normalcy brought into upheaval. He even placed the story within the proper historical timeline.

But he also made it his own, which is difficult to do when working within the world parameters of an author that has fanatically adoring fans. He deviated from Lovecraft's techniques by showing a bit more than one would normally see in the Cthulhu mythos.

Part of the horror within lovecraftian stories comes from what isn't said. Normally, a deviation like this would cause me to scoff and walk away with my nose in the air.

Fanatical fan, remember?

(I totally wore a Cthulhu for President button during two different election years. Maybe this next election he'll get the winning vote...)

Bird, though, made this work. I didn't feel the need to walk away, ashamed that someone could change Lovecraft's format in this manner. Rather, my eyes stayed on the pages, soaking up each and every word. His style, though different, was effective.

The only problem I had with the story, as strange as this sounds, is that Cthulhu was named twice. In the lovecraftian mythos, even saying the name of a Great Old One has severe consequences. Saying it once, therefore, would have been sufficient - and nerve-wracking. Twice, though, made it feel a little less taboo. Not as important.

But that's just me.

And really, a less avid Lovecraft devotee may not even notice it. Indeed, people who aren't well read in the Cthulhu mythos may actually need that extra reminder of the severity of the situation. I read this story from a vastly different viewpoint than most people, and I recognize that.

One thing is certain: Something in the Mud impressed someone who is hard to satisfy when dealing with the Cthulhu mythos.

That speaks volumes.

Naturally, I'm excited to read the much longer ebook by the same author that I have placed in my reading queue. If his Lovecraft based writing won me over, I can't wait to see what he does with dark fantasy!

Cthulhu: Something in the Mud can be found on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, as well as on Scribd, where my eye was drawn to it.