Secret in the Pumpkin Seeds

A Short Story Thriller

By: Roma Gray

Narrated by: Terry F. Self

Length: 10 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s Easter in the land of Oz, and while Jack Pumpkinhead should be enjoying the lovely spring weather, Easter eggs, and candy with his new friend, little Jenny, he can’t.

Something is wrong.

A terrible memory is beginning to resurface, and Jack is terrified. Whatever it is, he knows it has chased after him for a long time and that he is not strong enough to face it.

But very soon, Jack will discover that you can’t hide from the truth forever....

©2018 Roma Gray (P)2018 Roma Gray

Short thriller

Another short story horror audiobook. Scary and straight to the point. Jack Pumpkin head and Jenny's story

Beware the Jack!

Roma has done it again, taking a holiday I love and making it scarier than I ever imagined it could be!

Jack Pumpkinhead

A great short story that went in a totally different direction than I expected!

I have always found the Jack O'Lantern a little creepy, so this story intrigued me. Jack Pumpkinhead is a nice enough guy, until he removes his pumpkin head and we get to see who he really is.

Great story and great narration!

Excellent weird and scary tale!

I love this genre, and I love Roma Gray’s stories! This time the story is about Jack. Getting ready to be scared!

A Merging of Two Ceative Geniuses!

Secret in the Pumpkin Seeds: A Short Story Thriller by Roma Gray, narrated by Terry F. Self is outstanding! This is the first audiobook I have listened to from both the author and narrator. In my opinion, Author Roma Gray is a creative genius! It is not easy to do what she has done in a mere 10 MINUTES. Not only has she created an engaging, suspenseful thriller that contains all the necessary elements of a short story, but she has also developed characters that caused me to feel an array of feelings and emotions. It takes some writers 300 pages to do what she has in 12. It is clear she is a master of this style and genre. I am looking forward to exploring more of her work! :-)

I was thoroughly entertained by Terry F. Self's flawless performance. He was wonderful! I loved how he played Jenny. I have listened to this story three times, and I cannot help but smile each time she speaks. I know Jenny is not the main focus of the story, but I feel his interpretation of her was awesome. In fact, it is the main reason I'm looking forward to hearing more of his work. This is the first time I have heard him narrate an audiobook. Ten minutes is all it took to make me a fan!

Without hesitation, I rate Secret in the Pumpkin Seeds: A Short Story Thriller by Roma Gray, narrated by Terry F. Self 5/5 stars across the board. I teach high school Lit and Composition. This story would make an amazing anchor text for students to analyze to build knowledge and literacy skills. It would also make an excellent mentor text for students to imitate, study, and identify specific elements of writing, grammar, structure, and style. While I do not know much about the process of how narrators practice and develop their skills, I think the performance in this audiobook would serve as a great guide for aspiring narrators everywhere.

I highly recommend this audiobook to those who are looking for a very short and highly creative story that includes aspects of the horror genre (dread, suspense, feelings of terror). It is engaging and thought-provoking. You can easily listen to it on your way to work, and after thinking about it all day at work...because you will...you can listen to it again on your way home! :-) I also recommend it to high school English teachers and college professors to use in class as either a mentor or anchor text, if they are looking to supplement their literature and writing lessons. Because it is both well-written and entertaining, it can be used to cover a variety of standards, without the worry of students growing bored with the text. **Like everything that is used for educational purposes, make sure to you are following the Fair Use Policy guidelines or have been granted permission for use before choosing to implement.**

Thank you for reading my review. I hope it was helpful. :-)

Jack Pumpkinhead

There’s more to Jack Pumpkinhead than pumpkin seeds! A scary little short,short story by Roma Gray. And another excellent performance by Terry Self.

A good quickie

This story is a classic Roma Gray horror short and although I enjoyed it, I didn’t feel it was as good as some of her other stories including No One Knows We’re Here and Black Water. That being said, there’s something for every horror fan.

Jack Pumpkin head has a problem. He has a friend in little Jenny but he also has to face the truth of who he is and what he knows. He can see the apocalypse with the death and suffering of all and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. After all, he has a pumpkin for a head and seeds for brains. Or so he believes. One fateful moment reveals the truth and changes his perceptions. As he says, “every new day is a miracle.”

Terry F. Self narrates many of Roma’s stories and he helmed this one as well. As always, he did a great job and although I don’t think this was as good as some of her other stories, I can still recommend it. After all, we all have different perspectives on life.

Short story

Jack Pumpkinhead and Jenny has a very unique friendship. It is a very short audio book and can finish listening fast.

He's not the Pumpkin King, he's something worse

Only Roma Gray can take a childhood character and make him into something horrifying. I soooo respect that; in fact if you have read any other review I have done on her short stories you will see that I have an intense respect fo her to take an mundane situation and make it into something . . .more. Here, she takes a simple and kind character from the land of Oz and makes him into a horrifying figure. You will suddenly realize that the secret of the pumpkin seeds is something so terrifying that even he does not want to know it.

The thing is, once you know the truth, you actually say to yourself that he is going to perform his horrific function, you just don't know when . . .

Gray leads you to one area, but completely fools you, and you will respect her all the more for it, this is a great take on a classic character. This is a fun romp into the darker side of Oz. Terry Self does a fine job bringing Jack and his little companion to life, and conveys the mood of the story as it shifts from carefree to ever growing tension and danger. I really appreciate his work, too. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.


If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

Not my cup of tea.

I'm a big fan of Roma Gray, hence I asked for a copy of this story for an honest, but, unfortunately, I felt like this story fell flat. There's a strange creature who's trying to befriend a child. The creature realizes who he/it really is (something bad), yet goes right back to trying to befriend the child again. The end. I hate leaving bad/poor reviews for people I like (authors/narrators), so while this was a short story, there wasn't much to it.

But as always, Terry F. Self did a great job! He's now on my list of my all-time top favorite five narrators.