Horror, A Different Take

Midnight Shadows by Tara A. Devlin is a collection of short stories. There are “only” twenty-eight short stories in this collection and I will offer comments related to all of them. I am careful not to include spoilers but by commenting on each story I am also letting readers know that, yes, I did read the book. Some of my remarks are wordplay or sarcastic (in a good way) and some won’t make sense unless you have read the stories.

If there is a common denominator to most of the stories it is this: there is horror, the reader can feel it. But is the horror due to something external or is the horror internal to and created in the mind of the main character (narrator)? Either way, it is horror or terror and the writing is good. I gave this four plus Amazon stars and recommend it highly to fans of the horror genre. These are not your usual horror stories.

Midnight Shadows      I liked this story a lot because although I am not in any way a gamer, this story engaged my interest. This tale explored a familiar theme: “What if you are a part of the game?” Everything that happens in the game is real. Devlin almost (but not quite) made me want to play a game.

The Bells Of Yichun                A story of the Jangshi according to the narrator’s grandfather. That they existed is probable but after reading this a reader question might be “When did they (or do they) exist?”

The Ultimate Race      This is a very good story which I read and reviewed in another post.      https://ron877.com/2017/10/25/run-his-heart-out/

The Lens          What would you do if you had a camera that only took pictures of the truth? If what you saw behind the lens was different from what you saw in front of the lens, how much effort would you expend to reconcile the difference?

The Midnight Channel            When we look at the TV and the TV starts looking back, we may have a problem.

Hole In The Wall         Which version of reality was correct? She didn’t like this one, regretted she had gone exploring, and wanted to go home.

Strange Happenings In Cell Block D Mealtimes in a prison environment are very important. Some food is unique to jails.

The Door At The End Of The Hall                  The scariest story in this collection. Is there a never-ending cycle or will she remember what she should do to bring David back?

Waiting In The Darkness        They could not communicate in real time but maybe letters or phone texts could bridge the gap between two worlds.

In The Window                        The roof should have caught her. Although things didn’t work out as planned, her friend still watched her every morning and night.

Them               They won’t hurt you if you don’t look.

The Seed          An obedient organic life form.

The Patter Of Raindrops         Raindrops hitting the window formed too much of a sound pattern. Then there was the boom and the screech.

Sunshower       There are many variations of rain.

Depths Of The Cavern                        What would mother and father think of all her new children?

In The Shadows                       This is a very depressing story. Read it only if you like to wallow in sadness and resignation as you accept that there is nothing positive in the world.

The Beast Of Leda Point         The Beast has many voices and the Ranger had heard enough.

The Note In The Walls                        He was determined to give his wife what she wanted even though she had left.

The Night Walkers                  This is an unusual story of pets. The question is: Would you want to be one?

The Elevator                The elevator goes up. The elevator goes down. The elevator goes …sideways?

Calls At Midnight        When the final call came, it was not exactly an unknown number.

Long Night At The Nursing Home                  The night seemed to last for days.

The Video I Should Never Have Seen Reality copies weird art.

The Mare’s Visit                      This tale will make you fear sleep paralysis.

The Secret Behind The Song   Remember being told to not open suspicious emails? Don’t click on the attachments?  This story is like that times several.

The Blog That Told The Future                      This is carrying “Like father, like son,” to extremes. This is also one of the top three stories of the collection.

The Stalker      A family story that is not inspiring. A family like this will threaten one’s survival.

Message From The Shadow Man                   Another of the top three stories. Where is the Shadow Man’s true home?

This is a novel I downloaded through the Kindle Unlimited subscription plan.