Published in 2013 and written by American author Chris Snider.
A collection of four short horrific stories to read one a night before falling asleep... if you can. The three first stories were written by C. Snider and the fourth was written by guest writer Ellen C. Maze.
Each tale depicts an abominable encounter with death and by being trapped in a web of sinister events characters fiercely struggle to stay alive.
Stories go as follow:
A Stranger in the Rain
After being laid off from work Danny Miller arrived home earlier than usual, just in time to discover his dearly wife Connie lying in bed with this gorgeous teenage boy who regularly comes over to cut the grass.
Acute disappointment and pain led Danny to divorce, and after paperwork was over Danny started being haunted by a hideous faceless man in his sleep. Nightmares became more and more terrifying until he was made to confront the truth of his acts.
My rate:
I enjoyed reading this tale and watching how the writer intertwines two stories in one: The first being Danny Miller's real life and his desire to put his life together again; and the second one is the turmoil of fears in his dreams that become dire terror every time he's chased by this horrendous creature.
Shane O'Brian is the character who accompanies Danny for most of the story. And he is the one who ironically exposes the fact that a murderer is not necessarily an evil person; a murderer could be someone blind of rage unable to reason under certain circumstance. I especially liked the parallel described between the victim and the perpetrator when the two characters strive to get an agreement in order for both to peacefully move on.
Headlights
The classic story of a driver who comes across with a girl who is hitchhiking in a solitary road and decides to pick her up and take her home, to later find out that the girl had long been dead. Of course, the writer adds some twists to the story to make it more appealing to the reader.
Even though the book was published in 2013 I've heard this pretty much same story long before that. It is actually my favorite one to tell my pre-teen students on Halloween night and scare them out. This version is of great interest because, in spite of the fact that you already know what to expect you'll discover new elements absent in the original version which makes the reading more enjoyable.
Dinner with Death
Death, as it is usually portrayed on TV, films, etc; is a faceless creature wearing a black hooded long robe holding a sickle; startles a whole family by unexpectedly entering the house of a farmer in the search for his next victim.
I did not quite enjoy this story as much as the previous ones, and that was because it seemed to me that the argument attempted to bring some kind humorousness into the scene, for instance; when Death takes place at the family table and shares the family's dinner as if he was another guest at dinner time. And the family members actually improvise some kind of casual conversation... Was this supposed to be comic? I just don't know. And then after supper, Death timidly points his finger to the storeroom to let the family finally know what his purpose is. Hard to imagine this character almost asking for permission to take somenone's life... Was he afraid of something? I don't know either.
Indeed, I'm not fond of horror and comedy combination, in my view there is no way to reconceal these two genres.
The Comeback
This one tells the account of a famous TV actor who was replaced by another actor in a TV show for no apparent reason. Jealousy then impels Phil Meddle to conceive revenge and regain his job.
Plot is entertaining and ending is even better, you would never guess. You would assume Phill will take a great revenge and he would be back in the show playing his role but...., rather you will encounter an unexpected and wonderful twist that changes your perspectives making the story even darker.
Writing was denser this time and I had to look up a lot of phrasal verbs in the dictionary; I don't mean to complain though, great source of vocabulary and grammar forms.
On and on... I'd be definitely interested in reading more about these two authors.
Each tale depicts an abominable encounter with death and by being trapped in a web of sinister events characters fiercely struggle to stay alive.
Stories go as follow:
A Stranger in the Rain
After being laid off from work Danny Miller arrived home earlier than usual, just in time to discover his dearly wife Connie lying in bed with this gorgeous teenage boy who regularly comes over to cut the grass.
Acute disappointment and pain led Danny to divorce, and after paperwork was over Danny started being haunted by a hideous faceless man in his sleep. Nightmares became more and more terrifying until he was made to confront the truth of his acts.
My rate:
I enjoyed reading this tale and watching how the writer intertwines two stories in one: The first being Danny Miller's real life and his desire to put his life together again; and the second one is the turmoil of fears in his dreams that become dire terror every time he's chased by this horrendous creature.
Shane O'Brian is the character who accompanies Danny for most of the story. And he is the one who ironically exposes the fact that a murderer is not necessarily an evil person; a murderer could be someone blind of rage unable to reason under certain circumstance. I especially liked the parallel described between the victim and the perpetrator when the two characters strive to get an agreement in order for both to peacefully move on.
Headlights
The classic story of a driver who comes across with a girl who is hitchhiking in a solitary road and decides to pick her up and take her home, to later find out that the girl had long been dead. Of course, the writer adds some twists to the story to make it more appealing to the reader.
Even though the book was published in 2013 I've heard this pretty much same story long before that. It is actually my favorite one to tell my pre-teen students on Halloween night and scare them out. This version is of great interest because, in spite of the fact that you already know what to expect you'll discover new elements absent in the original version which makes the reading more enjoyable.
Dinner with Death
Death, as it is usually portrayed on TV, films, etc; is a faceless creature wearing a black hooded long robe holding a sickle; startles a whole family by unexpectedly entering the house of a farmer in the search for his next victim.
I did not quite enjoy this story as much as the previous ones, and that was because it seemed to me that the argument attempted to bring some kind humorousness into the scene, for instance; when Death takes place at the family table and shares the family's dinner as if he was another guest at dinner time. And the family members actually improvise some kind of casual conversation... Was this supposed to be comic? I just don't know. And then after supper, Death timidly points his finger to the storeroom to let the family finally know what his purpose is. Hard to imagine this character almost asking for permission to take somenone's life... Was he afraid of something? I don't know either.
Indeed, I'm not fond of horror and comedy combination, in my view there is no way to reconceal these two genres.
The Comeback
This one tells the account of a famous TV actor who was replaced by another actor in a TV show for no apparent reason. Jealousy then impels Phil Meddle to conceive revenge and regain his job.
Plot is entertaining and ending is even better, you would never guess. You would assume Phill will take a great revenge and he would be back in the show playing his role but...., rather you will encounter an unexpected and wonderful twist that changes your perspectives making the story even darker.
Writing was denser this time and I had to look up a lot of phrasal verbs in the dictionary; I don't mean to complain though, great source of vocabulary and grammar forms.
On and on... I'd be definitely interested in reading more about these two authors.
I sure did enjoy your review of this book and am humbled you liked my story, too! I mostly write vampire and paranormal novels, so I really enjoyed adding this different story to Chris's great collection. I look forward to following your blog. Thanks to author Chris Snider for leading me here. Keep reading! :)
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