House of Fear, M is for Monster and PULP! (Summer/Fall 2011) - Short Story Collections Progress Review Part 1

I recently won these short story collections via the #coffinhop blog contest and a Kamvison book giveaway.

House of Fear from Kamvison



M is for Monster from Ash Krafton



And PULP! Summer/Fall 2011 and other #coffinhop goodies from Julie Jansen



All wonderful books, and to do the giveaway and the fine people above justice I thought I would do a thorough review of the books. I will try write up a short review of each story, trying my best not to spoil them. I will do 3-4 stories of each book per post. I've also included website details of the writers where I could find them. I will also be posting the reviews on Goodreads (If you're one of the writers involved and I didn't link you, please let me know and I will).

House of Fear:

Objects in Dreams may be Closer than they Appear by Lisa Tuttle:

A case of sometimes it's best not to let your curiosity get the better of you, it could have been a bit tighter, but an interesting tale none the less.

Pied-A-Terre by Stephen Volk

I think Stephen did a great job of writing from a female perspective, and it might make you even more weary when next you go house hunting.

In the Absence of Murdock by Terry Lamsley

Terry has a very old fashioned feel to his writing and checking out his books on Goodreads he's quite the master of the short story. I think lovers of pulp fiction will enjoy this one.

Florrie by Adam L. G. Nevill

As much I liked the other ones so far, I liked this one the most, the transition the story makes from beginning to end is quite remarkable. It will certainly make you think about who lived in a house previously to you.


M is for Monster

(a collection of stories from A to Z, each letter representing a monster)

A by Ash Krafton

A fine little tale that shows you that nature has more ways to fight back than you realize.

B by Andrew Taylor

This story was quite predictable, but nicely written and it's not often you see a banshee is it?

C by D.M. Youngquist

I enjoyed this story quite a lot. A solider on the frontline discovers his family tree is more complicated than he thought and takes on a God...

PULP! Summer/Fall 2011

A Stranger in Ferrview by Frank R Sjodin

With a mysterious space monster and a space hero called into take it down you can really feel the sense of excitement and wonder in this story(told from a young boy's perspective), even thought it was recently written I think it would fit perfectly into a Golden Age Sci-Fi collection.

The Man in the Barn by D.L. Chance

Story has a Men in Black feel to it, but in a good way. It's sort of one of those stories where an alien race warns us that we are on the wrong path, but it has enough of a twist to make it interesting and enjoyable.

Darmok and the Mermaids of the Sea by Ethan Nahte

A hero with strange abilities that can take on pretty much anyone plus the allure of scantly clad women.. There were no surprises in this story, but finely written and a must for sword and sorcery readers.