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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed 3/5 of these stories: Skullbelly, The Separation and After the Fade. Skullbelly gave Twin Peaks vibes, The Separation was a great showcase of gothic horror, and After the Fade reminded me a lot of Stephen Kingโs The Mist. What really worked for me in this collection was the atmosphere. You could just feel dread building and the setting was so immersive it was like you were right there with the characters. I will say, most of the stories were about unlikeable characters, so stay away from that if youโre not a fan. As well, 2/5 of the stories were so gory and contained a lot of body horror, so skip those if thatโs not for you. Overall, a strong set of novellas, but as with any collection of stories, some were better than others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Gun violence and Misogyny
teaandtales1's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
๐๐พ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ป: Ronald Malfi
๐๐ต๐ธ๐ฝ: This re-released contains the original 4 novellas, with an additional new one added to this collection. There is no through-line between the stories, just some good old-fashioned creepiness
๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ผ: 384 (re-released edition)
๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ป๐ฎ: Horror anthology, creature horror, cryptids, isolation
๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฝ: yes
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐ธ๐ญ: contemporary
๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด๐ผ ๐'๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ช๐พ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ป: Ghostwritten, Bone White, Come With Me, Snow
๐๐ธ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ผ ๐ธ๐ฏ: horror short stories, mysterious scary creatures, well-written horror with easily identifiable characters
๐ก๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐: โญโญโญโญ
Overall I thought the collection was pretty strong. The first story was fine, and I didn't really care for the second, but the other three were so good it bumped the collection up to four stars for me.
"Skullbelly" - A private investigator travels to a remote town to try and unravel a mystery of some missing teenagers that the police don't seem to take an interest in. This one was fine - โญโญโญ
"The Separation" - A former prize fighter is seemingly suffering from a mental breakdown after his divorce, but could some more sinister forces be at play? I didn't really care for this one โญโญ1/2
"The Stranger" - After pulling into a rural motel during a road trip, David discovers a man sitting silently in his unlocked car. All of the visitors come out to help, yet aren't quite sure what to do, and this story takes a gruesome turn. I've read a lot of Malfi's books and this may be the weirdest story I've read of his. That said, I was super engaged and read it in one sitting. โญโญโญโญ
"After the Fade" - A group of townies are in a bar when some alien-like bugs start attacking people. Think Shaun of the Dead with more terror and less humor. I loved this one โญโญโญโญโญ
"Fierce" - This is the new story added to the collection and it is excellent. A mother and daughter are driving along a rural road in winter when a truck runs them off the road. When the mom goes to talk to the truck driver she is suddenly and brutally attacked. What happens next is a great novella about fighting against the odds and doing everything we can to save the ones we love. โญโญโญโญโญ
๐๐ต๐ธ๐ฝ: This re-released contains the original 4 novellas, with an additional new one added to this collection. There is no through-line between the stories, just some good old-fashioned creepiness
๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ผ: 384 (re-released edition)
๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ป๐ฎ: Horror anthology, creature horror, cryptids, isolation
๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฝ: yes
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐ธ๐ญ: contemporary
๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด๐ผ ๐'๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ช๐พ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ป: Ghostwritten, Bone White, Come With Me, Snow
๐๐ธ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ผ ๐ธ๐ฏ: horror short stories, mysterious scary creatures, well-written horror with easily identifiable characters
๐ก๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐: โญโญโญโญ
Overall I thought the collection was pretty strong. The first story was fine, and I didn't really care for the second, but the other three were so good it bumped the collection up to four stars for me.
"Skullbelly" - A private investigator travels to a remote town to try and unravel a mystery of some missing teenagers that the police don't seem to take an interest in. This one was fine - โญโญโญ
"The Separation" - A former prize fighter is seemingly suffering from a mental breakdown after his divorce, but could some more sinister forces be at play? I didn't really care for this one โญโญ1/2
"The Stranger" - After pulling into a rural motel during a road trip, David discovers a man sitting silently in his unlocked car. All of the visitors come out to help, yet aren't quite sure what to do, and this story takes a gruesome turn. I've read a lot of Malfi's books and this may be the weirdest story I've read of his. That said, I was super engaged and read it in one sitting. โญโญโญโญ
"After the Fade" - A group of townies are in a bar when some alien-like bugs start attacking people. Think Shaun of the Dead with more terror and less humor. I loved this one โญโญโญโญโญ
"Fierce" - This is the new story added to the collection and it is excellent. A mother and daughter are driving along a rural road in winter when a truck runs them off the road. When the mom goes to talk to the truck driver she is suddenly and brutally attacked. What happens next is a great novella about fighting against the odds and doing everything we can to save the ones we love. โญโญโญโญโญ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
swalk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
5 short horror stories *SPOILERS*
SkullBelly: This tale jumps right into the thick of the action, Tommy, is a withered husk of his former self after going on a hiking trip with 3 friends and returning alone. John Jeffers PI is hired by the families to investigate what could possibly have taken place.
The Separation: Marcus goes to Kaiserslautern, Germany to visit his friend Charlie who is acting increasingly oddly. I found this on a little confusing with regards to the time period because it seems like Victorian or something, but also they have cellphones. I enjoyed the nods to Dorian Grey.
The Stranger: In this bizarre story a strange man locks himself in David's car and will not leave regardless of how he is coaxed. This is quite a gory one, although I didn't have much sympathy for David as he is an awful, selfish and misogynistic character.
After The Fade:
When a young man arranged to meet his girlfriend at a local bar with plans of dumping her, a woman staggers in covered in blood which soon reveals a large parasitic insect on the back of her skull
I particularly liked this one, very unsettling and believable. Especially as we get summer chafers in abundance here, once a year they all come to the rooftops at the same time to mate, they are really quite loud, I can totally imagine this, but on a terrifying and gargantuan scale.
Fierce: When driven off the road by a truck, Connie and her mother are dragged into a terrible set of circumstances they can barely imagine. The sense of foreboding built in this one nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought the use of dual timelines was really effective and liked how it interlinked with the previous stories in the book. The references to cult horror films, were also great here, well done without being over the top.
*END OF SPOILERS*
โจโจOverall a really great anthology of original and masterfully crafted short horror stories, I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good creepy and shudder filled tale. For me it only seemed to get better as it went on and I was quite sad when the book was over. I will certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for more Ronald Malfi books.
โจ
Both of the narrators were great, I really enjoyed Joeโs accents and character voicing.โจโจ
SkullBelly: This tale jumps right into the thick of the action, Tommy, is a withered husk of his former self after going on a hiking trip with 3 friends and returning alone. John Jeffers PI is hired by the families to investigate what could possibly have taken place.
The Separation: Marcus goes to Kaiserslautern, Germany to visit his friend Charlie who is acting increasingly oddly. I found this on a little confusing with regards to the time period because it seems like Victorian or something, but also they have cellphones. I enjoyed the nods to Dorian Grey.
The Stranger: In this bizarre story a strange man locks himself in David's car and will not leave regardless of how he is coaxed. This is quite a gory one, although I didn't have much sympathy for David as he is an awful, selfish and misogynistic character.
After The Fade:
When a young man arranged to meet his girlfriend at a local bar with plans of dumping her, a woman staggers in covered in blood which soon reveals a large parasitic insect on the back of her skull
I particularly liked this one, very unsettling and believable. Especially as we get summer chafers in abundance here, once a year they all come to the rooftops at the same time to mate, they are really quite loud, I can totally imagine this, but on a terrifying and gargantuan scale.
Fierce: When driven off the road by a truck, Connie and her mother are dragged into a terrible set of circumstances they can barely imagine. The sense of foreboding built in this one nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought the use of dual timelines was really effective and liked how it interlinked with the previous stories in the book. The references to cult horror films, were also great here, well done without being over the top.
*END OF SPOILERS*
โจโจOverall a really great anthology of original and masterfully crafted short horror stories, I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good creepy and shudder filled tale. For me it only seemed to get better as it went on and I was quite sad when the book was over. I will certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for more Ronald Malfi books.
โจ
Both of the narrators were great, I really enjoyed Joeโs accents and character voicing.โจโจ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Self harm
Moderate: Gore and Violence
Minor: Misogyny
whatgeorgiareads_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Self harm
our_bookish_reads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I do love short story / novella collections. I love novels, too, but it takes a lot of commitment to be able to read a whole book with the same characters and plotline.
I will rate each story:
1) Skullbelly. I LOVED the MC, a tough, sarcastic PI with a nose for the truth and a knack for either getting close to someone or severely pissing them off. If Ronald Malfi starts a series with this PI, I'd be first in line to read it.
2) Separation. This was a weird one, with a great twist. Did not see it coming.
3. The Stranger. Holy balls. This story was screwed up and gory. Not a lot of explanation, and the end was a bit sudden, but enjoyable.
4. After The Fade. Dude. Wow. Loved this one. Again, a great MC, likeable characters and one HELL of a twist at the end.
5. Fierce. This one was good, kind of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe, with a weird part I didn't really get that wasn't explained or expounded upon at all.
All in all, a satisfying read with some excellent stories. Malfi is indeed a Master at his craft.
Thanks to Netgalley, Titan Books and of course, Ronald Malfi for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.
I will rate each story:
1) Skullbelly. I LOVED the MC, a tough, sarcastic PI with a nose for the truth and a knack for either getting close to someone or severely pissing them off. If Ronald Malfi starts a series with this PI, I'd be first in line to read it.
2) Separation. This was a weird one, with a great twist. Did not see it coming.
3. The Stranger. Holy balls. This story was screwed up and gory. Not a lot of explanation, and the end was a bit sudden, but enjoyable.
4. After The Fade. Dude. Wow. Loved this one. Again, a great MC, likeable characters and one HELL of a twist at the end.
5. Fierce. This one was good, kind of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe, with a weird part I didn't really get that wasn't explained or expounded upon at all.
All in all, a satisfying read with some excellent stories. Malfi is indeed a Master at his craft.
Thanks to Netgalley, Titan Books and of course, Ronald Malfi for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
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