Collected Christmas Horror Shorts III presented by KJK Publishing is another collection of killer holiday tales that horror fans need to read around the holiday season! From fed-up elves and a drugged-out Santa to horrific cosmic creatures and ghosts, this collection covers a great variety!

I’M OBSESSED WITH THIS COLLECTION! I loved every single story so much! Five out of five stars for all of them!

If I had to pick out a top three (in no specific order), they would be as follows –

Per usual, here are my notes on each story!

While working at an emergency service center, the staff of gifted individuals have one main rule; end the call properly. When this woman gets an angry caller, she doesn’t get the chance to follow that one rule… 

What a sad but neat premise this one has! The thought of work following them home was so unsettling! 

Sneaking around to stay up late and try to spot Santa, this young boy witnesses something else… something terrible. 

Oh my gosh, the scene where everyone but the boy was asleep was chilling! This poor kid… this story takes the theme of staying in bed or else on Christmas Eve to the extreme! 

Having a rotten day, this man is dreading the upcoming holiday season as it brings up trauma from childhood. But he has no idea how bad his day is about to become…

What a spooky premise! You just never know what a mall Santa could whisper to a kid… Yikes!

Trying to do better, this man thinks he’s finally broken the cycle but instead finds himself in a new cycle that he can’t control. Haunted by an event from his past, he’s forced to face a group of kids every night until he remembers. 

Such an eerie tale with darkness hidden within the forgotten memory! 

Sent on a mission to kill a man, these two get it done the same night. Only after the job is completed do they get to learn why their boss wanted the man dead. 

Phew! What brutal body horror. I loved not knowing who the target was until the very end! 

Determined to purge his life from anything that reminds him of Christmas, this man spirals before deciding it’s just in his blood. But can he turn things around or is he really done with the big day? 

I loved how unsettling this was as we watched this man make the most wild connections tonight Christmas, but it also makes you see how much joy there is if you want there to be! 

Told not to open his door to any knocking on Christmas Eve, this man gets drunk and forgets the warning. But opening the door was only one of his bad decisions… 

Ugh, the hints that all was not well here were dropped in perfectly, slowly hinting to readers what had happened before the big reveal. Such great gut-punch horror! 

Fed up with Santa and the life he has been providing the elves, the elves decide to drug his eggnog to make this Christmas one to remember. But they couldn’t have guessed how a Santa would react…

This tale was brutal and it only got worse and worse! Phew! What an unhinged slasher! 

Determined to make things in their lives better, these three boys make a plan to force Santa to help, or else. Of course, this tale goes down the “or else” path…

I absolutely LOVED this tale! Heartbreaking considering the circumstances of these poor boys and the wishes they make. But what a wild plan that’s such a blast to read! I loved all of the magical holiday elements here! And that ending… 

Cursed to stay in a town where a green monster comes out of its lair once a year on Christmas Eve to hunt, the townspeople prepare. They know there isn’t much they can do to stay safe, but they try anyway. But when one man spots a child running after the curfew, he knows he needs to act.

What a fun and super violent twist on the Grinch story! The body horror is brutal and it pairs so nicely with the love this family has for one another. 

“Amazing what a little experience can do to cast away ignorance.”
– The Fourth Emergency Service by Lex H Jones

Then, the figure parted his lips, allowing his smile to spread impossibly wide. He opened his mouth to reveal at least three rows of jagged pointed teeth, all stained a dingy shade of scarlet as if he had recently eaten something raw.
– Tis The Season by Daemon Manx

In a fit of rage he ran outside to shout and scream and attack every tree he could find with his axe but the axe head simply flew away like it was migrating for the coming season, and try as he did he couldn’t find it amongst the autumnal leaves.
– The C-Word by Matthew Cash

Wasn’t the fact the boys sat around the chimney waiting all Santa needed to skip the place? He knows when you are sleeping and all that jazz? And if he knows when you’re sleeping, he surely knows when you have a gun tucked into your pants, ready to rob him.
Right?
– Lords of the Sleigh by Gage Greenwood

Everyone believed in magic. They drove on unsafe highways and went to work expecting the paycheck to show up in their bank accounts. They trusted their house to stand, the electricity to function, and the wires to not spark. They went to sleep believing they’d wake up. All of it required magic, trust, faith, hope.
– Lords of the Sleigh by Gage Greenwood

They exited the house to an eerie silence. Light snow had begun to fall, blowing sideways in the sharp wind, as if they needed something else to slow them down.
– Three Sizes Too Small by John Durgin

Holiday horror fans, you need this book ASAP! I love how these tales are sure to give you a chill and haunt your holidays!

One of Our Own by Lucinda Berry, narrated by A.J. Cook and Tessa Albertson, is a thriller that centers around very dark and horrific events that will unnerve and shake readers to their cores.

When Felicia, a suicide hotline volunteer, receives a call, she talks calmly to a young girl and soon learns that this one hits a little too close to home. The girl is local to her small Wisconsin town and goes to the same school as her teenage son. When the girl states, “They’re coming,” Felicia is desperate to help and breaks the number one rule by giving the girl her personal phone number.

Felicia is frantic, hoping the girl will call her back so she can try to help. When she finally does, Felicia slowly gets more information from her about what happened and why she thinks the only way forward is to kill herself. With every phone call or text exchange, things just get more dire. But will getting answers help Felicia, or will she regret ever getting involved?

My gosh. First things first, the content that this story centers on is brutal. Please tread lightly while considering this one if you have triggers with suicide, sexual assault, and other related topics as the author does NOT shy away from the darkness involved here.

For me, this was an incredibly difficult listen. I felt sick over many things that occurred and almost stopped numerous times. After finishing the tale, I felt sick to my stomach for hours, unable to shake the content that had settled so deep in my brain. I had a full-body reaction that felt like my blood was vibrating, making it impossible to settle down until I wholly immersed myself in something else that could distract me, but only to think of the story again later and begin the process again.

There’s SO much packed in here that could be considered hot topics that the author handles so perfectly, getting readers to see different angles of things that they may have made assumptions about before in their real-world lives and checking their biases.

From the thriller standpoint, I can definitely say this tale had me on edge the entire time!

While listening to the story, I was equally captivated and disgusted. I was so nervous for both women and dreaded what they would say or do next as I kept fearing the worst for each of them. The element that hit me the hardest was the relationship Felicia had with her son. Sitting and listening to this audiobook while holding my little eleven-week-old son was a very unnerving experience. All I wanted to do was cry for this character and hope to all the higher powers there are out there that I never relate in my personal life.

Bringing the content to life, the narrators, A.J. Cook and Tessa Albertson, do such an amazing job with this tale! The emotion they bring to the recording will make the content of the story hit extra hard.

Teens lived in a world where the future didn’t exist.

“You worry too damn much,” he said, giving me a dimpled smile at the joke we’d had since he was ten. It was funny because the first time he said it was also the first time he’d ever sworn at me or in front of me. One of those milestones you didn’t know was happening until after it was over.

Mothers protected their children at all costs. But what if your child was the one others needed protecting from?

If you’re looking for a thriller that will leave you just sick to your stomach, then look no further! This story packs a series of brutal gut punches that linger long after the last impact. And while labeled a thriller, this one is a real-world horror!

Prepare yourselves before diving in.

We All Live in a Fascist Police State Now, Thanks to This One Fucking Guy by Stephen Kozeniewski is a foreboding tale where the threat of being “pillowcased” lies in wait for those that make the smallest misstep or cross the wrong person.

In a terrifying time when a secret group of police-like people from an organization titled, the Federal Bureau of Patriotism, runs the country, the general public lives on edge.

While the idea of the FBP seems like a made-up story to keep everyone in line, the public knows that these jackboots are indeed very real. To add to the mystery, no one knows how they operate or who they are as their real identities are kept secret… and with that secrecy comes terror.

Fed up with the constant threats and lack of control, some people work together to try to get the names and faces of the jackboots publicized to ruin the mystery and hold them accountable for their terribly unjust actions.

Filled with secrets, coverups, and violence, readers get to see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this organization. But just how far does this spiral of darkness and manipulation go?

My goodness, I was drawn right into this crazy web. I loved getting to know each character and how they all tied into one another’s storylines. Each character is so easy to absolutely love or downright despise! When my brain finally clicked the relationships of the different characters together, I was so excited and nervous to see how things would play out!

I really enjoyed seeing the mix of work and life with each character we got to know in depth. It felt icky to know what some of these characters did for work and to compare that to how they acted in their personal lives.

… AND THAT ENDING. Oh my gosh. That ending made me shout out loud, not ready to believe that that was the end! WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!

“Stepped on a ketchup packet, almost started a massacre. Seems like something too farfetched to ever happen in real life.”

He didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything. His whole life was like a barely-there sheet pulled tight over a ghost.

Divorce is a mound made up of a million accumulated particles: a late night here, a drunken insult there, a hurt feeling, a forgotten anniversary.  It all accumulates.

Franklin’s put his fists into his eyes and rubbed, as though trying to cut through the fog of alcohol and sleeplessness to understand what Manny was telling him. They might never speak of it again. That was their way, sometimes. But Manny needed Franklin to know he had done this, pulled his butt out of the fire, risked his life…no, his soul to do so. That was a father laying everything on the line for his son, and expecting no reward. If that was cowardice, then Manfred Walker had no idea what courage was.

For readers that enjoy the slow, twisted tales where everything weaves together throughout the book, We All Live in a Fascist Police State Now, Thanks to This One Fucking Guy is a must-read! I had a blast getting to know all of these characters and how their lives blended.

Dark Highways: The Cellar Door Issue #3 is a collection of tales set on the road in one way or another where everything from your Uber driver to yard sale signs is to be feared.

When I received a review request for Dark Highways from the publisher, Aric noted, “It’s a quite different anthology than my previous ones; I think it’s a little darker in tone, and the stories are much more unusual and open to interpretation.” I was even more excited for the collection hearing that!

Shout-out to the publisher for including a content warning at the beginning!

Oh my goodness, the range of roadways that are featured here is wild! What a neat idea for an anthology! We all know being on the road can be dangerous… but prepare yourself to unlock these new fears.

I loved this collection so much! My top favorites from the collection include:

Per usual, here are my notes on each story:

Intrigue leads to obsession when this man seeks answers for odd yard sale signs he sees. Even when faced with the darkness, his curiosity can’t be tamed. 

The suspense of finding out what was going on here was amazing! And my gosh, that brief body horror. 

As a man picks people up to transport them to their requested location, readers slowly learn what he’s really up to.

This is one of my biggest fears. I hate traveling alone via taxi or Uber. 

Drawn to a risky switchback road on a mountain, these thrill seekers can’t get enough of an adrenaline rush and can’t wait to tackle this one drive. But will they make it off the mountain?

No thank you. Oh my gosh. I’ve been up and down one mountain in Colorado… It wasn’t nearly as risky as this one, but the terror was too real. This tale had me struggling to take a deep breath just imagining the situation. And things just kept getting more and more terrifying! 

Owning a travel van that runs on a powerful AI, traveling is this woman’s hobby. She loves meeting new people and spending time with the van as well right up until the joy turns to fear. 

When this tale first started, I thought the premise was so fun! Who wouldn’t want a van like this? But I quickly learned what there is to fear. What a tale! 

After breaking down, this character learns that getting back out of this town isn’t as simple as just having the repairs completed and driving off… but it’s not just the people who seem to be keeping them there. 

What an intense premise! Things that can act on their own when they shouldn’t is such a terrifying thing to me. That element here took things to a wild place! 

Stuck walking in the desert after their car breaks down, this couple is forced to recall the trauma of their past. Will they be able to move on, or does the desert have other plans for them?

So heartbreaking and eerie! The desert setting made this instantly feel brutally atmospheric!

When a doctor decides that his patient’s treatment needs a little bit of an unorthodox approach, the two hit the road. But can he get inside the patient’s mind or was this all a waste?

This was so bizarre and twisted!

While out one night during a storm, this woman takes a ride from a man in a van… Awoken from a nap, she sees the man has undressed and things take a turn.

A dark tale of humanity and the things that can happen. 

While creating a highway, an old man sits in their way, refusing to move, and warning them not to defile the ground. Most of the crew thinks he’s crazy, but they are about to learn what he was trying to prevent.

This was so eerie! The thought of being stuck in this loop was chilling. All that work just to restart the next day? No, thank you! These poor men.

“LOOK OUT!”
She jammed her foot on the break, all her father’s training slurping out of her. The Jeep groaned in protest and for one terrible second it skidded to their left, where the road fell away and the sky swallowed everything.
— Twelve Miles. Two Hours. by Scotty Milder

There had been no shortage of trash along the way; cans, bottles and food wrappers. Humanity just couldn’t help itself. It had to have the last word, even in a place it could make no claim to. A place it didn’t want.
— Unwanted by S.R. Miller

With the sun gone, the heat left the world as surely as if it had never been there at all. The darkness laid bare the duality of the desert, revealing it for what it was: a world of impossible extremes, harsh beyond expectation.
— Unwanted by S.R. Miller

My crumpled suit is the color of the sea in those final inches before all light disappears, my shirt the soiled white of dubious haloes. I look at my watch, but it’s gone. No, not gone: simply on the wrong wrist, for reasons that escape me.
— The Field Trip by Matt Neil Hill

He didn’t believe in God anymore. He sure as hell wasn’t going to replace that with believing in ghosts.
— Master Of The House by Mark Wheaton

Do you have anxiety about being on the road? Whether it’s a quiet road in a small town, a highway in the middle of nowhere, or a road only adrenaline-rush seekers dare travel, this collection will have you nervous to get behind the wheel!

The Horror Collection: Monster Edition presented by KJK Publishing is a collection of chilling tales filled with monsters of all kinds! Get your nightlights ready; this collection will have you constantly on the lookout for something creeping just around the corner.

Giant spiders, werewolves, cosmic creatures, a water nymph, a mummy, a monstrous hag, a giant Gila monster, and other nighttime horrors are just a handful of the monsters you’ll find in the pages of this book! Each tale brings such fun and creativity to the monster scene!

My top three favorites (in order of appearance in the book) from this collection included:

Per usual, here are my notes on each tale!

After a horrible bullying event where her two friends didn’t step in to help, this girl breaks. Frustrated with people as a whole, she goes walking on her family’s property and makes quite the discovery!

Oh my gosh… this one gave me the willies! I just hate spiders. I loved the circle back the end of the tale had to draw back from the beginning! This poor unhinged girl.

Warned to stay on the roads, this young man ventures off into the woods while on a backpacking trip. Of course, he should have heeded the warning…

Such a fun tale of thinking you know better than to heed the warning of the locals! Always a trope I can’t get enough of. 

Afflicted with a curse, this man is determined to get help before the next full moon to prevent another incident. But when he arrives at the doctor’s house, he is shocked to see the doctor has an afflicted iron of his own. 

What a fun and action-packed Jekyll and Hyde take! 

Exploring an abandoned safari park with friends looking for something mysterious and odd leaves this character running for his life. 

They sure found something within the park! What a bizarre monster!

Running from a monster that she can’t leave behind, she thinks she has a safety plan this time. Of course, she’s wrong.

What a wild path this one takes! I loved not knowing what was going on but trying to guess as hints were dropped up until the big reveal!

After striking out on his own to feed, this character knows he’s betrayed his savior, but the kill is more important. But how will she react?

What a neat premise where each organ can fulfill a different type of need!

Waking up with a strange substance around her nose, Becky is terrified to realize it was spider webbing after discovering a large web in her living room. Determined to find the source, she’ll soon regret not leaving her house when she first had the thought.

My gosh, kill it with fire indeed! This one has a handful of my fears all wrapped into one! 

After a flash in the sky, humanity is split into two; those who witnessed the event and those who didn’t. For both groups, things are never the same after. 

What a terrifying cosmic horror! These creatures were absolutely terrifying and the grief horror here for the poor man watching his daughter go through this… 

When creatures start appearing all over, the world tries to keep on with a business-as-usual mindset. Trying to convince the public that things are getting better, these two know otherwise.

What an eerie apocalypse! The focus on business as usual hit hard after seeing how businesses handled COVID-19… phew! 

Determined to find out what happened to his father, this man and his hired help find themselves getting answers they could have never imagined. 

The suspense and action here! Phew!!

Wandering children are being snatched up by something in the forest. But when one unique child is taken, the creature responsible acts differently… but can the child get free?

That last line, oh no…

Spotting a monster outside, Nola isn’t sure what exactly she saw. But when miners begin to go missing, she’s determined to find answers. 

I was so excited to see that this tale was set in Buzzard’s Edge! Another amazing character to get to know in this town. She certainly wasn’t afraid to try to take matters into her own hands! 

After the passing of their son, this father has a bit of an angels-in-the-outfield-moment. But is this angel his son, or something else?

Oofh, this one hits extra hard now that I have a son… Phew.

A scream pierced the summer twilight. What followed was a wail of sorts, human until it wasn’t. It stopped as suddenly as it had started.
— Charlotte by Kyle M. Scott

Torian stepped off the cliff, assisted by the momentum of the blast, and was thrown into the air. His arms flailed to grab onto something that wasn’t there or to perhaps start flying. When neither happened, Torian’s body cartwheeled downward like a ballistic mistle.
— Jungle Habitat by Daemon Manx

When she opened the door, sunlight streamed in around the silhouettes of two men. Suit jackets wrapped their broad shoulders. Their clothes were impeccably tailored, but their shoes were worn and scuffed. Something brutish packaged up to look like something nice.
— Opportunity by Christina Bergling

The structure towered over the dead grass, looming toward the quivering crimson leaves. Two narrow windows on the second floor glared down like eyes, the eaves of the roof forming severe eyebrows. A long wooden porch ran along the front like a sinister grin.
— Opportunity by Christina Bergling

I tried to reassure myself it was just “Nature.” That’s what you say when the TV shows a lion getting a zebra. It’s natural. It’s okay. Of course, in nature, little girls don’t go biting the spines off goats. Whose nature was that?
— Gone Witness by Chris Panatier

This close to the tree, the creaking of its massive branches fills the air, a deep and unsettling accompaniment to the keening of the wind.
— In the Arms of the Annis by Heather Miller

When the sun starts to shake hands with the tops of buildings on the western edge of town, that’s when I usually close up shop.
— Salvia Sunset by Brennan LaFaro

One thing you learn about Buzzard’s Edge. Talk to most people and they’ll tell you the sand here drinks blood fast as a shot of whiskey.
— Salvia Sunset by Brennan LaFaro

A few brave souls remained behind, hacking away at the beast with their sharpened tools. They might as well have been trying to break rock with a spoon. A whip of that mighty tail and the men fell on their asses and waited for the monster to choose which of them would die next.
— Salvia Sunset by Brennan LaFaro

I swear the shot moved so slow I watched it carve through thick afternoon air, politely excusing itself before cracking the surface of the gila monster’s eyes.
— Salvia Sunset by Brennan LaFaro

I’m obsessed with this theme! Who doesn’t love monster tales?! Snag your copy today!

Keep Your Friends Close by Lucinda Berry is a tale of friendship, secrets, and the wild things people will do for love.

What starts out as a traumatic accident when a woman is found floating in her own pool during a party, readers slowly watch the drama unfold as everyone turns against one another in suspicion. But there’s not just drama within the mommy group itself, it’s in each of their homes as well. 

Gambling, credit card debt, inability to keep a job, infidelity, lying… these spouses are all up to one trouble or another, and slowly, their partners are finding out, all while still reeling from the murder of their friend. But that’s not all! The friends themselves also have their secrets and problems. 

I am obsessed with the drama here! The author does an amazing job of making everyone look guilty! I also really enjoyed how the author gets us in each of the character’s heads and we jump between perspectives as well as the present timeline and the various points in the past. I both loved and hated every single one of the characters here! 

What a wild ride from start to finish!

Emergency vehicles surrounded the property. Their lights danced and sparkled like Christmas bulbs in the windows. But this wasn’t Christmas, and there wasn’t an emergency. Not anymore. They were too late.

Whitney just stared straight ahead like she hadn’t heard me and I wasn’t standing next to her. Her eyes were glazed over, lost somewhere. She looked like a crumpled deer on the side of the road.

Her announcement that she was leaving me. That she didn’t want to be married anymore was about as unexpected and dramatic as if an actual bomb had landed in our kitchen.

You could tell a lot about a person from what they rambled about when they were uncomfortable.

Our playing fields weren’t equal. They never had been. I wasn’t even sure we were playing the same game.

Men didn’t have the same burden, so how could he know? How could I expect him to understand? No man really could. They got points just for sticking around and not leaving. Their bar for parenthood was set so low, you could step over it. Ours was impossible to reach, and there was no way to win no matter what you did.

Get ready for a twisted and dark tale that reads like a blend of a murder mystery and a train wreck of events the characters get themselves into! You just won’t be able to look away from the mess, watching it all unfold and display even more layers of drama! 

Twisting Parallels by Steve L. Clark is a beautifully written, horror-filled collection of stories with such a great range. Steve’s writing style is sure to leave you chilled as the tales continue to haunt you long after you first experience them.

It’s impossible for me to choose a favorite as I just loved them all for various reasons! This is a collection that is just too good. So let’s just jump to the stories!

Per usual, here are my thoughts on each.

Such a fun introduction where Steven chats about the short story. This is so spot on for how I feel about short story collections! 

This passage is just perfect:

Desperately trying to convince her friends to go to the fair so they can check out an attraction called Bobo’s Wicked Circus, the friends slowly all reconsider the visit once they arrive at the fair. Realizing they can’t let their friend go in alone, they rush to try to protect her.

Ah! Carnival horror is some of my favorite horror! I’m so with Janelle here! I’ll pass on the clown attractions. Especially once I saw the sloppy and terrifying clown before night even fell. 

Waking up in a hospital with very little memory, this man is informed that he was in a car accident. But was his past something he really wanted to rediscover?

Still being semi-fresh from a hospital stay, this one gave me goosebumps! The line about the blood pressure cuff had me laughing, but also anxious. How many times have I thought that same thing?! Especially when the blood pressure cuff is in the same arm as the IV. Ugh. I loved that this tale made me feel bad for this man. 

Sent in a plumbing job, these two find something in the crawlspace that isn’t just a burst pipe… 

The claustrophobia this one induces! No, thank you! These two men are incredible for doing what they do.

As a set of distress calls finally make their way back to Earth, we learn about a crew that had been traveling through wormholes to find planets that were habitable. But one day, something goes wrong that leaves one man left alive and he’s determined to find out what happened. 

The anxiety this one gave me! To wake up and find everyone gone is a terrifying premise no matter the location… but this deep in space with no help or any chance of contact?! Absolutely terrifying! 

While driving around the quiet roads, these young men see a sign for marbles. As they had been drinking, the only logical thing for them to do was to go to a store to buy marbles, make them look old, and go back. But like most drunken plans, this one goes sideways.

This is such an unsettling tale overall! It starts off upbeat before taking a very dark turn that only gets darker! I felt so bad for everyone involved! 

After reporting an incident to HR, this employee is shocked by what happens next. 

Anyone who has ever had to go to HR to report something will be hit hard with this one. The anxiety of repercussions even when you know you’re doing the right thing is brutal. This tale takes that to the extreme!

A short and terrifying punch of a tale about kids that go missing while at camp. 

Oh gosh, I have a five-week-old, and tales about kids already hit too hard. This one got under my skin. 

Arriving home in a rush, the man tells his wife what happened at the mine. 

A classic case of letting your curiosity get the better of you! I loved the focus on family, bravery, and sacrifice. What a terrifying and heartbreaking tale!

Visiting a lab on a class trip, the students are told they’re in for a treat as photos should be arriving from a satellite sent to Mars. But what comes up on the screen isn’t what was expected and it shocks everyone in the room. 

Space horror at its finest! This one had me on the edge of my seat, so anxious to see what was going to happen. Ugh, that ending!

Preparing to walk her mile around the cemetery, this woman runs into two friends. Rather than it being an exciting meetup, she gets defensive immediately and it’s not until the very end that we learn why.

Oh my gosh, this poor woman. What a premise! Every time I leave my house I pass a big cemetery that many people walk in. No matter the time of day, I’ll think of this tale when I pass by now!

After a busy but perfect wedding day, this couple retreated to a cabin before heading out on their honeymoon the next day. But their night is about to be interrupted by one last gift…

This one had a quick and fun suspense element that made me so nervous for the couple! What a fun story arc! 

Switching off to help their daughter when she sleepwalks, this man is disturbed by the dream his daughter later tells him she had. 

New fear unlocked… I used to sleepwalk as a kid too so this one had me so nervous! This poor father! 

After the death of their wife, this character finds themselves with a gift that has sent them spiraling into grief. 

Gut-punch horror at its finest. As a reader, you’ll really feel the despair and deep love here. That ending…. Phew. 

I think of short story collections like I do a new album of music. Whereas a novel or novella compares to a movie, a collection is like an album; it can have different tones, highs and lows, and different songs might connect with people in different ways.
– Short Story Love

She strapped a blood pressure cuff onto his arm. It hummed to life and constricted. He scrunched his face as the pressure built until he was sure the thing had malfunctioned, and his arm would simply fall off. A panicked cry filled his chest, but the motor stopped and the cuff hissed, releasing the pressure.
– 37 Rooms

“It’s me, you blind old bat!” shouted the woman.
Phyllis chuckled, recognizing the voice immediately. “Sticks and stones will break my bones, Connie.”
“Yeah, they will because you’ll never see them coming!”
– The Cemetery Mile

They fell into a silence interrupted only by the soft crackling of the fire.
– The Wedding Gift

My hand tenses and squeezes the bundle of roses. There are thorns, and the death of the flower has done little to lessen the sting of their bite. Blood seeps between my clenched fingers and drips onto the floor.
– Roses for No Reason

Horror fans, don’t miss this collection. I hope you have as much fun as I did!

Vampires, an anthology from KJK Publishing, is a bloody and horror-filled collection of dark tales that is sure to grip readers by their throats! Just watch out for the teeth…

Think the vampire trope has been played out? Enter the Vampires anthology from KJK Publishing! This collection takes the creature of lore and adds in so much darkness! 

I personally can’t get enough vampire tales, so when this collection was announced, I was so excited! There were quite a few stories here that I read and thought, “Oh wow, that’s a terrifying element!” I absolutely loved not being able to guess what fresh terror was coming next! 

Per usual, here are my notes on each story!

When the Laird spies a woman with a talent he’s interested in seeing translated into portrait work, he’s quick to snatch her away from her painting group. But try as she might, this painter just can’t get the Laird’s likeness to come through…

This tale has such a dark current flowing through it! From the surface level, you’d have no idea what turbulence is just out of sight for everyone involved. 

When two young men sign on to talk to a vampire, one is convinced it’s a scam, but the other is thrilled. Neither of them would have guessed that they were about to learn life-changing details. 

What a fun premise! I won’t spoil it here. But I need more from the lives of the people on the other end of these live calls! 

When a group of vampire hunters has found a nest, they enter, not knowing just what lives behind these walls.

Oh my gosh, the idea of the vampire teeth in this tale is wildly unsettling! I mean, the thought of getting bitten is already awful, but add in a mouth like the one described here?! Horrifying!

Going out for “one last job,” this man learns while at the site that it’s never going to be his last job. But there’s something especially strange about this one…

TW for drug use. This was a tense tale! I was both excited and nervous to see what their job would entail. 

When this tale opens, we meet a man dubbed the Cold Lake Killer who has his next victim with him. But will this latest murder go as planned?

This tale was brutal! The end especially. Phew! I loved the tension built here!

Haunted by the big decision that broke their marriage, this man is given one last chance to take his wife up on her proposal. 

A short and sweet tale about making an impossible decision between belief and life. This one really gets you in the shoes of the main character and forces you to ask yourself what decision you would make if you were in the same situation. 

Seeking out a contact, this son just hopes he’s making the right decision. 

A gut punch horror tale of love between a father and son. 

Semi-forced to go visit his brother in Alaska, this young man is at a fork in the road that is his life. He can change and be someone, or he can continue with his path of drugs and alcohol. Once in Alaska, he’s drawn to a unique trinket at a local vendors shop…

Oh boy the second the trinket was described, you just know you’re in for a wild ride as the reader. This was brutal! What an explosive tale to end the collection on!

An active, haunted mind was a hard thing to quiet.
— The Nest by Kevin J. Kennedy

The older vamps sometimes grew additional sets of teeth, much like sharks. The older they got, the more terrifying their fangs became. 
— The Nest by Kevin J. Kennedy

He swept into the room like a tornado touching down in a library, his sudden presence disrupting what had been an otherwise quiet conversation in the burned out shell of an apartment Bonnie called home these days. All black leather and drama, the heels of his dark boots clacking the floor, white teeth flashing in contrast, the biggest goddamn gun I’d ever seen in one hand and a plastic bag filled with yellow capsules in the other. 
— Chasing Moonlight by Greg F. Gifune

He drove down the curved lane towards the lake entrance, skeletons of leafless trees overhead exposing the overcast early morning sky. 
— A Cold Morning on Lake Dark by Michael Bray

In one swift motion, it dove toward the ground and swooped into gliding mode three feet above the ground, slicing through a horde of bodies, torsos sliding off of still standing legs. 
— Devil in the Snow by Nick Roberts 

Horror fans that have an interest in vampires, this collection needs to be an insta buy! I had a blast seeing all the different takes on vampires and I was so excited to see how dark these ones were! I can’t get the mouth of one of them out of my head…

Lost Oblivion by Katherine Silva is a grief-filled, suspenseful, and brutal tale set in The Wild Oblivion universe where readers get another glimpse into the dark heart of this unusual forest.

After spending some much-needed time with his daughter, Hank gets a disturbing voicemail from his friend. Fearing the worst, he rushes to get help to search the woods, hoping to find his friend alive. But once in the forest, things take an unexpected turn.

I would happily read many more tales centered around Hank. He’s such a gem of a character! His struggles are so real-world, and so relatable even if you haven’t been through something exactly like it. Even when faced with dilemma after dilemma that would break many people, Hank may be affected, but he doesn’t let it change the path of his inner guide; his love of people and wanting to help is just incredible.

In this tale, I was so nervous to see where Hank would end up. Seeing his inner thoughts play out and seeing how much he was struggling with the trauma of what happened on Halloween paired with the fear of what he was about to find in the woods was so unsettling. With each step he took, I was ready to scream through the pages for him to turn back.

I cruised through this tale, just waiting for Hank to get back to safety. I had so much fun reading, especially where the darkness and suspense were paired so wonderfully with the lighthearted joking that Dan and Andy brought into the mix! This made me want to revisit Dan and Andy’s Scary-oke Holiday immediately!

When I hit the final pages, I let out a gasp, recognizing the scene. I LOVED that the tale brought us where it did! Readers of the series so far, you’re going to love this as well!

He struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. A feeling coated his skin like oil then, the feeling that something was wrong. The feeling that he’d missed something, that he hadn’t been paying attention when he should have been.

Hank froze. His heart was in his throat and he couldn’t swallow it, its steady beat drumming harder and harder.

Trepidation was the tickle of a hundred ants crawling on Gerard’s skin.

A snarl trundled over the fog from deep within the trees. It was distant but the dread it ushered forth in Gerard’s body was like a tide steadily rolling in.

Make sure this book is on your radar if you’ve read any of The Wild Oblivion tales! If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend picking all of them up ASAP so you can get absolutely lost in this terrifying forest.

Happy reading!

Horrors Untold Vol 6 by Matt Wildasin is a collection of tales that will leave you in one of three ways; laughing, unsettled, or completely horrified.

THIS IS SUCH A FUN COLLECTION! Each of the stories here had me totally immersed. One hit home super hard and one had me ready to burn the world down to prevent something like that from happening to me (Itch, I’m talking about you!).

As I had a newborn at the time I read this, I took my time with these stories, and boy, I’m so glad I did! I let each one really settle into my mind rather than cruising through them, anxious to see what would come next. This was so refreshing as I usually just can’t help but read straight through!

If I had to pick a favorite from this collection, it would have to be Jason Voorhees: Camp Counselor. The horror comedy was just too perfect!

Here are my thoughts on each tale!

Per usual, we get an awesome breakdown of the thought process that allowed each tale to come to the page. I always appreciate getting insight like this! And let me tell you, when I got to the bit about The Grass is Always Greener… I couldn’t wait to get to that story! 

On a path of rehabilitation, Jason is back at Camp Crystal Lake, working to support the camp. As hard as he tries to fit in, his history isn’t forgotten…

This tale is such a fun comedy horror that plays on what could have happened next on this character’s journey! There’s a moment where Jason gives a thumbs up that had me laughing out loud but also feeling bad for the guy. 

After an apocalyptic event, a man hiding in his bunker of riches has found himself in need of help. But when someone finally answers his call, will he actually get the help he needs?

I was so invested in the mysterious person that came to help! I want to know all about his other quests! And that ending… phew! 

When two young boys are told not to go to the bamboo grove, they do what any young buy would do… they go into the grove. 

This tale kicks off with wicked suspense before going absolutely brutal! The sentence with the pigtails…. Oh my gosh. I can’t add it to my favorite passages as it’s a spoiler, but keep an eye out for that one when you pick this up!

Arriving to investigate a rumored witch, this hunter knows he’s unwelcome. Even so, he’s determined to find the one causing this farmer’s family grief. 

This was such a tense read! When the Hunter started getting leads, I was so nervous to see how this would end. 

Doomed to mow a law every day, this man struggles with wishing to die, or at least getting a bit of relief. 

This was such a fun but dark tale! The idea behind it if hating lawn care makes me laugh as I can certainly relate! This poor man… what terrible torture. But boy do I love that the unanswered questions I had were left here, letting me try to fill in some blanks! What a horrible situation.  

A heartbreakingly relatable story of fear and parenthood. 

Phew, I can relate to this one so much with my current stage of life. I read this at 3 a.m. one night while holding my fussy three-week-old…

Determined to off himself, this man with a terrible curse writes a letter to ensure people know monsters like this are out there and how to deal with them. 

I loved that this man was able to hold onto some of his humanity, but phew what a difficult go he had… My heart broke for him. 

While one man tries to convince the other to leave their subject with him, the other isn’t having it and is determined to bring the subject out. If he only were to listen to the hints that were dropped, this night may have turned out differently.

Oh my gosh, the way these two were totally stuck in their ways but didn’t exactly come right out and say why. The scene in the subject’s room… prepare yourselves.

After some pretty major flooding has occurred, washing out the roads, this man is horrified to find himself covered in spiders when trying to find their sump pump. But of course, that’s not the worst that’s about to happen.

Oh my gosh, what a tale to end with! I was totally unprepared for the horror here and it left me SO unsettled… Every itch I had for days after had me panicking.

Truth be told, this was an improvement from the first day of summer when Jim sunk a fire axe into the small of Jason’s back. In Jim’s defense, he didn’t read the email from the mayor about Jason’s transfer before he attacked him. Jason understood and let it slide. On the plus side, the axe did get rid of an itch that Jason couldn’t reach.
— Jason Vorhees: Camp Counselor

Sure, there were always stares and the occasional wince and tears from children who scare easily. he was a nearly eight-foot-tall behemoth of a corpse after all. If some of these buggers cry over the Easter Bunny, what chance did Jason have?
— Jason Vorhees: Camp Counselor

The air hung still amidst the oil lanterns that flickered amber, illuminating the small limestone tavern. Moths fluttered about around the lantern’s glass as the sound of crickets in the late summer’s night chirped outside.
— The Witch of Dark Hollow

On the edge of town sat an abandoned chapel. Its stone construction had long since been left to wither and be consumed by snaking vines of ivy and unkempt rose bushes. No doubt in the chapel’s heyday, the foliage accented the beauty of the building. Those flowers now consumed the front side of the church, lurching high up to the steeple adorned with a fractured crucifix that still tries to reach for the heavens.
— The Witch of Dark Hollow

What if Hell wasn’t exactly all fire and brimstone? What if it was something else, something less obvious than the biblical representation? Say, maybe a massive acreage of grass that regrew the next day and would need mowed again.
— The Grass is Always Greener

If you’ve ever carved a path through the woods, you’d understand how easy it could be to get turned around. Even in daylight, everything looked the same — at night, it’s even worse.
— My Curse

I tell you this in the hopes that your police forces will employ this method if a suspected werewolf is in your town. I can tell you from experience, you more than likely have one. Just be safe and have a small stock. Even if you’re wrong, a silver bullet doesn’t harm a normal person any worse than a regular one does.
— My Curse

Another MUST-READ from this master of short stories! Each and every tale is a horrific blast, no matter what content the story is centered around.