Horror Stories

Twenty-Six Scary Tales

By: Jack Kilborn, J. A. Konrath

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

This collection features a menagerie of horror stories. Some are scary. Some are disturbing. Some are funny. Meet werewolves, vampires, zombies, psychopaths, aliens, cannibals, ghosts, and various things that go bump in the night.

Previously published in dozens of anthologies and magazines, some of these tales are mild, but some are extreme. Let the reader beware...

The stories include:

Finicky Eater - It's after a nuclear war, and a mother and her son are in a fallout shelter, the food long long...

The Screaming - Van Helsing and vampires, in 1960s England.

Mr. Pull Ups - A body modification tale taken to the extreme.

The Shed - Two burglars find the door to hell.

Them's Good Eats - Rednecks vs. aliens, on a spaceship ride of horrors.

First Time - A coming of age tale where all may not be what it seems.

Forgiveness - A dying serial killer asks for a priest to hear his last confession.

Redux - Ghost story noir, about a private eye and a deadly haunting.

The Bag - What's in the bag? You really don't want to know...

Careful, He Bites - Lycanthrope flash fiction.

Symbios - A sci-fi novella about man's first encounter with alien life, and how things can quickly turn bad.

A Matter of Taste - Zombie flash fiction.

Embrace - A bit of gothic horror.

Trailer Sucks - Some trailer park jerks kidnap a vampire.

Markey - Flash fiction, from a twisted point of view.

Punishment Room - A horrific suspense tale about a not-so-distant future.

The Confession - Terrible crimes, told entirely in dialog.

Basketcase - Hardboiled noir with a horrific twist.

The Agreement - A gambler pays the ultimate price to get out of a debt.

Well Balanced Meal - The worst restaurant you've ever been in.

S.A. - A werewolf novella about a Shapshifters Anonymous group that must battle Santa Claus.

Dear Diary - A very twisted pom pon girl reveals the secret of her inner strength.

Mr. Spaceman - We've come to mate with earth women.

Appalachian Lullaby - What do you do with a radioactive monkey?

©2010 Jack Kilborn, J.A. Konrath (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Entertaining

More than half the stories were good. Good for listening between errands and short trips.

Some great, some not so much.

This collection starts out very strong. The first few stories are great, particularly a vampire tale read in a very convincing british accent. However, at a certain point I found the quality very uneven. I am not a prude when it comes to reading dark fiction - I actually enjoy blood and guts and I have a very strong stomach, but some of the tales lapse into grossness for the sake of grossness. Dare I say "potty humor"? Close to it. I actually had to turn one of them off.

I would recommend this overall for any fans of horror with a dark comedy edge. There were times I laughed out loud. But just know that, like most anthologies, not every story is up to snuff. So even if you skip a couple here and there, you will still end up entertained in the end because there are plenty of stories here and you get your credit's worth of listening. Don't skip the vampire story - I believe it is the 2nd or 3rd one.

Good, Great and Wonderful

I just love how he changes the voices. Kept me listening. This is my second time with this book. I love it!

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SO FAR!!

this was extremely enjoyable to me. I listened to it at night while trying to fall asleep. I found myself staying up later and later to listen longer. I have listened to this several times and I just loves it. the stories are incredibly disturbing and fun. hillbilly vampires, aliens, a trip to hell for 2 bad guys ........just awesome!! check it out you'll see ! I wish this had a sequel or something the narrator is spot on and you are actually pulled right into the scenes!!!!

Missing more action

The stories are good some of them are really cheese specially the aliens stories. I did enjoy the majority of them however some will leave you thinking , and excited. In some of them you would say “ Warwick well written “ and some will lame you with a stone.
The author is influenced with catholicism, he even state that.
It’s an interesting book

IS A PIECE OF A@@, WORTH PRISON?, HELL YA!

WE DON ALLOW FOR SMUGGYNESS AT S.A. MEETINGS
Call me sophomoric, weird or just plain sick, but I loved these stories. If I had only one credit to spend, I would spend it on Konrath. These stories are laugh out loud, roll on the ground, pull over the car funny. I read lots of story collections and these were the most entertaining of any one collection, I have ever read. Konrath mixes comedy with grossness, S word, and horror. Konrath's stories get funnier the longer they go. S.A. is a good example. He takes what would be a weird werewolf story to start, but brings in Santa Claus, God and the Devil and keeps the ball rolling.

WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO SHOOT?
I TEACH HIGH SCHOOL
When Konrath decides to go gross, which is often, he is the best. If you have a weak stomach, don't attempt these stories. I have read Matt Shaw, Nick Cutter, Edward lee, Jack Ketchum, Anderson Purity, Steve Vernon, Scott Sigler, Timothy by Mark Tufo, Snowbound by Blake Crouch, Afraid and Endurance by Konrath and numerous Zombie books by numerous authors. Those were all good to great stories by great authors, but these stories as a whole are worse or better according to how you look at it. There are torture stories, people being skinned alive (aliens eating their scabs), people eating feces, people being eaten alive and so much more.

AIN'T NOTHING BUT A LITTLE PRICK ON A LITTLE PRICK
In one hilarious story, three rednecks capture a good looking female vampire with big knockers and they have her everyway possible. Just to warn you about one of the other taboos, that turn people off to some stories. That is just one example of several. I am trying not to say the S word so this is not held up in Review Pending Approval status for a week.

I can not say enough good things about the narrator, Andrew MacLeod. As much fun as the book would be to read, Andrew's performance has to make listening better by ten fold.

Hit and Miss

This collection is really a hit and miss one. There are 26 stories: some, like symbiose, mr pull ups, and S.A. were amazing. Others, like The Shed, and The Bag were not so great. Those are my opinions, and I'm sure yours will differ in some way or another. The stories really aren't that frightening- many of them are rather humorous- but I did encounter a few genuinely frightening moments. I also encountered some parts that were rather disturbing. This is not a book that will give you nightmares, but it's still very good. As you can see, i gave it a 5 on all counts, largely because of the story symbiose, which amazed me -as I already said.I very much liked the narration- the rednecks were excellently done- as well as the variety of stories the book offered.

Hours of great Horror entertainment!

Would you consider the audio edition of Horror Stories to be better than the print version?

I believe that while listening to an audio book, the narrator always provides the reader with a unique perspective and imagery that the avid reader will not receive. As a reader of the stories, one might not catch some of the subtlies of the humor that a voice can inflect.

What did you like best about this story?

The unexecpected humor breaks made me laugh out loud. It added to the fact that I completed the book in record time - then went back to re-listen to my favorite stories.

What does MacLeod Andrews bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As I mentioned - the narrator is exceptional. His wide array of character voicings is incredible. He goes from a serious toned detective style character to a crazy redneck with ease. Without his wide array of complex character voice developments - I would not have appreciated the dead-pan humor at the junction of pivital story development. I have completed many audio books, and I believe Mr. Andrews to have the widest character selection I have come across.

Who was the most memorable character of Horror Stories and why?

The Furby character in the S.A. story is absolutely awesome. Sometimes in a horror story you wonder why it is necessary to go in the basement or split from the group and walk alone in the woods. For once you get a character that does the opposite. They end up doing what you want and are right there where you want them. This makes it unexpected and pulls you in to cheer them on!

Hilarious and Creepy

Would you listen to Horror Stories again? Why?

The stories were addicting I listened to this book at work and at home. It was full of dark humor and very twisted, overall extremely entertaining and I would suggest this book to any fan of horror.

humor and horror

Funny great narration. Gross with a giggle. Pokes fun at what scares us but, keeps a humorous spin on it. Wanted more hope there will be others!!!! Worth the read...