Category: Short Story Reviews

Reviews of short fiction.

October 17, 2021

Short Story Review – Maria’s Children – Tobi Ogundiran

It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a ghost ship story. An even longer time since I’ve read one written in this century. Tobi Ogundiran’s tale is loosely inspired by the real life story of the Mary Celeste. Rather than telling a straight forward tale of what happened to the people aboard the Mary Celeste, he tells the...

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October 15, 2021

Short Story Review – A Compact with a Minor Demon by Kay Chronister

What if H.P. Lovecraft wrote a story about the slow, crushing horror of being socially isolated and pregnant with a child whom you were, at best, indifferent to conceiving? Then you’d have something close to A Compact with a Minor Demon by Kay Chronister. This is both a compliment and a criticism. A lot of Lovecraft’s stories follow a kind...

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October 14, 2021

Flash Fiction Review Double Feature!

I’ve been getting my ass kicked at work, and as a result I have missed a day of my month of short horror fiction reviews! I have brought shame upon this podcast and myself. To make up for it please enjoy the following double feature! Sometimes Boys Don’t Know by Donyae Coles This is a classic tale of predator becoming...

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October 12, 2021

Short Story Review – At The Periphery by Benjamin Peek

At The Periphery is another story that has me splitting hairs about what is and is not horror. It is not scary. It does not create an atmosphere of dread or unease. It does incorporate elements of horror. There is a good bit of gore and occult imagery, but the tone is more dark urban fantasy. Fortunately, I also enjoy...

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October 11, 2021

Short Story Review – The Nameless City by H.P. Lovecraft

This is the equivalent of phoning it in from me, and I am sorry. The point of daily reviews was to push myself to read more and different authors, but life happens. I didn’t get a chance to properly read and review a new story today. So let’s go back and take a look at an old story that I...

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October 10, 2021

Short Story Review – Caw by WC Dunlap

Caw by WC Dunlap is a post apocalyptic horror story that doesn’t center around zombies, a nuclear war, or a pandemic. I would have loved it for that alone, but it’s also just really well written. Like many post apocalyptic stories it is really about human nature in the absence of societal institutions. It has a lot to say about...

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October 9, 2021

Short Story Review – A Square Canvas by Anthony M. Rud

I’ve spent a lot of time this month reading newer short horror fiction. Much of it from authors at the start of their careers. For today’s story I decided to take a look back at an older story. From an author that never had much of a career. A few months ago I was at a thrift store where I...

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October 8, 2021

Short Story Review – Fiat Fiat Fiat by Eliot Fintushel

Fiat Fiat Fiat by Eliot Fintushel is the final story in the October issue of Dark Magazine. Unfortunately, they did not save the best for last. I’m not sure how familiar anyone is with the NoSleep subreddit. Essentially it is a subreddit for short horror fictional stories that everyone plays along with. It is against subreddit rules to point out...

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October 7, 2021

Short Story Review – The Hide’s Effect by Frances Ogamba

Frances Ogamba gives us a classic “be careful what you wish for story.” It’s a bit formulaic, but with an interesting new element. The object that serves as a conduit for the wishing is human skin sold by a street vendor. Everything about this situation is “hella sus” as I assume the kids say. The human hides look real. There...

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October 6, 2021

Short Story Review – There’s Nothing Left Without the Smoke by Osahon Ize-Iyama

A man wakes up amidst a pile of bodies in a forest. He’s filled with an irresistible desire to burn things. Not the trees, but everything around the trees, and burn he does. Some time passes. The man hasn’t been able to sleep since that night. He craves the smoke. He thinks only of fire. As the story go on...

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Ben's books

The President Is Missing

by Bill Clinton

Where to start with this book? Should I talk about how I don't believe that either James Patterson or Bill Clinton actually did much of the writing? Should I talk about how Bill Clinton is spending his retirement creating Bill Clinton fa...

A Court of Mist and Fury

by Sarah J. Maas

I thought this was pretty ok. I'm team Night Court. I really enjoy that Feyre is getting to have a hipster phase with the cool kids in a fancy Bohemian city. I dont even mind that she has all the super powers, I thought that would bug me...

The Infernal City

by Greg Keyes

I don't often do this, but I'm going to engage in a controversial DNF review. I'm fairly confident that being forced to read every word of the rest of it would only lower my score. I made it about half way through Part 1 of the audio boo...

Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery (Hackett Classics) by Dick Ringler (1-Oct-2007) Paperback

Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery (Hackett Classics) by Dick Ringler (1-Oct-2007) Paperback

by Unknown Author

I've read a few translations of Beowulf, and the only thing that's really missing from this one is the original language text. Ringler does a pretty good job of the translation itself. He includes very solid explanation and context as well.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

by Rebecca Wells

I'm neither a mother nor a daughter so take this with a grain of salt, I guess. Siddalee is a famous stage director who stages a hit play. She's interviewed for a New York Times article. When asked about her childhood she accidentally pr...

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