Spooky Mike

Surreal Short Story

Reviewed: 03-17-22 Listener received this title free

Good story that is definitely a bit different than the typical horror short story I listen to. Had to listen to it twice as I felt I needed to focus on it a bit more than I typically do to understand what was going on. It had a surreal feel to it that made it a neat story that forced me to pay attention. Amanda Lyons definitely has a different writing style that I enjoy and I am especially a fan of her short stories.

Really enjoyed the narration of Paul Burt. His character voices and narration really made the story much more interesting. He always impresses me with the energy he is able to put into the stories and how much more I get out of it with his narration.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

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Great Anthology of Weird Tales

Reviewed: 12-07-21 Listener received this title free

I really liked this anthology. I wouldn’t call this horror but more in the realm of Twilight Zone type soft horror and great story telling. The stories were out there and quite enjoyable. Each individual chapter gives you a what if thinking vs a standard evil we know and understand. It challenges your expectations of horror and gives you an ending where you have to decide how things go forward. When I got to the end of the book I was quite upset that I didn’t have more stories to listen to. From time to time I thought that some of the stories were kinda slow to start and thought about skipping them, glad I never did. Each one was a unique fun ride that I enjoyed thoroughly.
Daniel Penz did a great job with the narration. He reminded me of an old-time radio star I used to listen to so I really had a sense of familiarity with his voice and it really made each story that much better.
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Improvement from the movie for sure

Reviewed: 11-30-21

It had been a long time since I had watched Wishmaster. Long enough I really only remembered the premise. Listening to the novelization I kept wondering, how does this compare to the movie. The only reason I asked that is because the movie came first which I would say is not the typical path of a book and movie. Have to say based on listening to the book and watching the movie. I pictured things better based off the book versus the movie so I recommend this version hands down.

Assuming you have seen the movie I’m not really going to go into the story. It is a decent story that was made much better by the novelization. I enjoyed how things were described a bit better and often more clarity or story was written around certain scenes. While I never was a huge fan of the Wishmaster movies, this novelization definitely gave me a greater appreciation of at least the first movie in the series.

Sean Duregger did a fantastic job with the narration. He has a great cadence and I enjoyed all his character voices. He did an exceptional job of channeling Andrew Divoff’s grit and tone for the voice of the Djinn. I believe that if I had the unfortunate chance to meet a Djinn that is exactly as it would sound.

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Great Follow to the First

Reviewed: 11-25-21

I thought this was a good follow on to the first book. It continued to question horror movie tropes like it did in the first book and made for some humorous thinking about some of the silly things that happen in those movies. Obviously as they are aware of those tropes, the discussion sometimes becomes more of a hit over the head than a subtle self-aware acknowledgment. Compared to the first book I would say this one veered off more into the supernatural realm vs the standard slasher type story. Not a bad thing, just an observation. Unlike the first book, we get some social commentary that wasn’t really needed to progress the story and seemed more like virtue signaling than advancing any plot line.

Given that this is about a Final Girl, we meet an all new additions to Ellie’s crew and they definitely help take the book down a different path. The supporting cast she meets up with are quite interesting and eccentric in their own ways that adds a spin that helps the transition from campground 80’s slasher to a modern paranormal type story that has a similar vibe to the Supernatural TV show. All in all I thought this was a great story that successfully kept some of the first books humor but also expanded the small world we saw into a much larger one.

Leanne Woodward continues to do a great job with the narration. I really like her speaking voice and she provides excellent character voices that breathes life into the story. They way she tells the story of each individual seems to me like their exact voice and I felt like I could close my eyes and see the hole story unravel in my mind.

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Good Start

Reviewed: 11-10-21 Listener received this title free

This story tries and succeeds at providing the 80's camp slasher feel. Some of the characters even reference the classic Friday the 13th movies. The characters are likeable and exemplify what you would expect from a slasher story. Leanne Woodward does a great job with the narration and I enjoyed her character voices as well as the cadence and energy she puts into the story. My only real complaint is that this is just the start and feels more like a teaser for the full story. I know this is listed as book 0.5 so on my way to get book 1. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

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Nazi Owned Night Clubs Are Bad News

Reviewed: 10-21-21 Listener received this title free

I really liked the concept of the story, wasn’t a huge fan of the execution. There were a number of things that I felt didn’t quite go the way I expected and where a bit of a letdown. I don’t want to ruin anything, but I felt like the buildup to the ending overshadowed the ending itself. It felt rushed and not natural and left me feeling like there wasn’t much of a point.

I liked Denna as the main character as I felt she was a perfect fit for that role. I felt that her story was fleshed out enough that I was able to understand her, even though I thought she was quite a dumb individual. A lot of the things she did I felt were cheap and required too much explanation from the authors as far as her motives for those actions. As for Frau Mann, she was interesting and a twisted individual, but given her childhood it isn’t surprising. The rest of the characters really didn’t leave much of an impression on me.

As far as horror goes I felt this was fairly tame. I feel like this type of story was been told before and done in a more graphic and gruesome way. I think there were a lot of little changes that could have made a good book a great one. I liked the club and thought that there was a lot of potential that was untapped. By the time I reached the end of the book I just felt let down.

Sharon Robbins has a great voice for narration. I really liked her narrating voice but struggled with some of her character voices. The male characters all sounded constantly angry and some of the accents didn’t sound right. I think I would have preferred if there were no character voices included at all.

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Good Short Nasty Fun

Reviewed: 06-22-21 Listener received this title free

This is the second book I have listened to around acrotomophilia. This one was quite a bit different and definitely more nasty. I didn't find it as graphic as I thought it could have been, but it was gross. Honestly I think I prefer graphic over gross. This also went a bit extreme with the acrotomophilia that didn't entirely sit well with me, especially since I listened to another story that really delved into the psyche of that person and really helped explain the inner turmoil of being that way. Definitely not a book for everyone, but if you like weird fetishes and want a decent story to gross you out more than frighten you,

Sean Grabosky did a good job with the narration. I like his voice and cadence. The one thing that seemed a bit weird is the sound of the narration reminded me of old timey radio shows. I can't quite put my finger on what it was but it sounded quite different from any other book I have listened to. Wasn't a bad thing, just took a bit to get used to.

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Good Collection of Creepy Tales

Reviewed: 06-16-21 Listener received this title free

Good collection of twisted horror stories. I am really hard pressed to say which one was my favorite. Each one offered up something unique and I thought as a collection they were pretty solid. While I didn't find them graphic from a horror perspective, I did like the tension and psychological horror. I felt that this collection was quite a bit different from a lot of other collections and really enjoyed the style of writing and overall tone. All in all they were neat stories and this author should definitely be on your radar if you like horror stories.

Kyle James Higgins did a great job with the narration. I loved the cadence he used and the overall energy he put into each story. He really brought the story and characters to life

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All Work and No Play Makes...

Reviewed: 04-15-21 Listener received this title free

If you watch CNN, this is exactly how you have lived for the last year. I didn’t live that way and won’t ever, but this story definitely gave me that claustrophobic feel of someone being afraid to leave their assumed safe place. I get this is real, and believe half the country set up like this, so the reality of this was palpable. A little upset there were Clorox wipes to waste, I personally couldn't' find any during the pandemic, yet alone enough to use as a face masks or door stuffers, but I got the point. I think the main theme was isolation and how that messes you up more than the disease itself. Isolation driving the human need for interaction and having to resort to the internet for contact with people. I think this captured the fear and day to day of so many people that this is, before the twist, a real story that listeners will relate to. I liked to hear Tia’s downward spiral as that seemed real and terrifying.

A lot of this story is told through IM chat. The narrator included the IM beep and read the IM with the name of the character as if you were reading it yourself. First time I had heard a story like that. Weird at first but I really liked this style. Totally unique and made for a completely different story. The narration was great and I felt it pulled you into the story and made you a part of the chat room.

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Great Collection of Short Stories

Reviewed: 04-15-21 Listener received this title free

I really liked the stories presented in the short anthology. This definitely should just be classified as horror versus erotica. I primarily listen to horror and a lot of the horror I listen to is way more "erotic" than this and what I heard seemed quite low key for something claiming sex. That said, they were good stories that I really enjoyed and found them more suspenseful than anything else, and I love me some good tension. Each story offered something totally unique and while I preferred some over than others, they were all worth listening to. All in all this is a good collection and I liked the tension each story offered. The narration was great. I liked the change in narration for each story. It really made each story standout as its own and prevented me from seeing the collection as a continuation. Really happy with this listen and I went through this in one sitting. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

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