Horrors! 365 Scary Stories - 365/7 #1

Welcome to Horrors! 365 Scary Stories selected by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weisenberg and Martin H. Greenberg. Quite the title, huh? It’s a book of flash fiction before flash fiction even had a name. Since there’s 365 stories I’ll be reading one a day and doing a weekly wrap-up on Friday evenings with mini reviews of the stories.

Some of the stories are ironically humorous, others are horrifically ironic and others are just flat out horrific. Even though it’s been quite a few years since I’ve read it there are some stories that have still stuck in my mind all these years later. Two of them in particular. One has an absolutely genius, funny twist at the end that I loved and the other was such a horrific thought that it still gives me the chills (and I don’t ‘chill’ easily). I’ll point them out to you as they come up.

–S&S–

Horrors! 365 Scary Stories #1 Review

1. A-Hunting We Will Go – Linda J. Dunn (01/01/2017)

Synopsis:

Jeremy and his father are out deer hunting when they stumble across some decidedly unusual game. Jeremy shoots what he thinks is a goat. Except goats don’t have only one horn.

Review:

Nice and creepy. And yet one more reason why you should never kill and eat a magical creature. The forest has ways of exacting revenge.

2. Adventures in Further Education – Peter Atkins (01/02/2017)

Synopsis:

After Kenny is told in 6th grade that if he keeps tapping his pencil long enough in the same spot then theoretically it would eventually go right through the desk. Twenty years and 17,441 taps later, it happens. And Kenny finds himself up a Lovecraftian river of madness without a pen.

Review:

Patience and perseverance really can take you places. Though whether you want to go there or not is debatable.

3. After the End of It All – Andrew Sands (01/03/2017)

Synopsis:

A woman stumbles through the ruins after a nuclear war, clinging to one thing only. A rolled up magazine. Finally stumbling across another human being amidst the wreckage of the world they each show their sole reminders of who they once were.

Review:

Equal parts sad, desolate and ironic. The scenes are described vividly and clearly. I can’t say much without giving the ending away but, suffice to say, that would be my luck.

4. After the Hook – David Annandale (01/04/2017)

Synopsis:

We all know the story of The Hook. But what happens after?

Review:

A bit meta but in a good way. The story is the story and will continue to be.

5. After Work – Steve Resnic Tem (01/05/2017)

Synopsis:

Coming home from work day after day, Derek finds the same terrible scene repeated endlessly.

Review:

One of the sadder ones. Brief but straight to the point.

6. Along for the Ride – Tim Waggoner (01/06/2017)

Synopsis:

A parasitic car entraps it’s passengers to drain them of their vitality and use them as bait for the next victim.

Review:

There are many demonic and haunted car stories. This was a fresh take on the car as a prison.

Favorite of the Week

After the End was my favorite of the week. The writing was clear and flowed cleanly, setting the stage for the end.

These are the stories for this Horrors! 365 Scary Stories weekly review. I hope they’ve piqued your interest and I hope you’ll be back next Friday for another horror filled week.