Book Reviews

Book Blurb

It’s Halloween, that time of year when things go bump in the night. This collection contains four Halloween themed stories by Vic Winter, designed to delight and fright.

The Haunted House, The Scream-o-Rama, I Ate the Fried Spider and Halloween Grinch were previously published individually by Torquere Press.

 

Book Review

This collection of four ghostly and Halloween-themed stories delivered exactly what it promised: a delicious taste of little teasing vignettes for and about those who like to be just a little creeped out. Bite-size scary stuff for the faint of heart (like me) who are too chicken to go for real horror stories most of the time. Nothing is as much fun as sitting safe and snug at home (preferably in daylight, at last where I am concerned) and reading about events that may or may not be of supernatural, paranormal, or psychic origin. And with Vic Winter’s deft touch of humor, I even got to laugh some.

The Haunted Mansion
Always a good one: is that creepy, derelict old mansion up on the hill haunted or not? Well, in this short story, Charlie and Dave are about to find out. As college freshmen, they are bound to be teased by the seniors, and equally bound to do (almost) anything to prove they’re not as scared or easy to impress as they look. Add to this the instinctive dislike Charlie has for annoyingly good-looking, arrogant Dave, and the night they are supposed to spend (for 100 dollars each if they make it until morning) is going to be damned uncomfortable. Or is it? The ghostly noises they soon hear could, after all, be anything. Or could they?

Leaving me deliciously in the lurch as to what was really going on, except for some very hot man-on-man action the two young men manage to squeeze in among the dubious goings-on, this short story was funny, entertaining, and a tease and a half!

The Scream-o-Rama
Brian loves to scare himself, and the annual twelve-hour marathon of scary movies at an old style movie theater is just the ticket. Except then, scared half out of his wits after twelve hours of horror, he has to walk home. In the dark. On his own. Needless to say, his own thoughts are almost more frightening than what is going on, and by the time he is in a heart-thumping, sweaty panic and trying to open the door to the house he shares with a few other guys, I was about to scream myself. And then something grabs his shoulder…

Let me tell you, this one was brilliant. And it had a teasing ending on top of everything else. The unexpected twist made the scary-sweet-scary come out even better. If you like a scary opening followed by a sweet ending with a scary twist, then this one will be to your liking.
 
I Ate the Fried Spider
Two friends becoming rivals over some event or another is usually pretty entertaining, especially when they really are the best of friends the rest of the time. But when they fight over who can put on the scarier Halloween… It used to be decorations and candies, but this year Chris and Greg have decided to make it a dinner. Danny almost doesn’t go, and the retching buckets kindly provided next to each seat don’t exactly cheer him on. What follows is course after course of decidedly icky food, and I must admit I would have probably left after the appetizer! Fried spiders, really? I mean I know they are a delicacy in parts of Asia, but still. Danny and the other guests get to complete score cards with ratings for grossness versus eatability, and I thought that was pretty funny. Danny soon enjoys himself, but definitely not due to the gruesomely imaginative food. Jeff, the man next to him at the table, turns out to be very nice, and Danny is definitely more interested in him than in the successively more disgusting courses.

If you like to read about slightly, um, inventive food in a Halloween setting, and if you want a hot ending that has nothing to do with said food, then you will probably like this short story.

Halloween Grinch
I really liked this story. It is hilariously funny, with a main character who is “grinchy” enough about Halloween for two or three people, and has a great twist at the end which is totally unexpected but makes the whole thing even funnier. Kent is wonderful as he plans his perfect Halloween, away from everyone and without any tricks of treats, thank you very much. When the knock on his door signals an end to his hopes for an undisturbed day, he thinks that is the worst of it. Luckily, it isn't, and what follows is a totally unlikely if extremely hot encounter. Halloween will never be the same again!

 

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Torquere Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Collection/ 4 Short Stories, 52 pages/15000 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	08-October-2014
Price
Buy Link