Triple Shot of Unnatural Nature

By: Tonia Brown

Narrated by: Anneliese Rennie

Length: 1 hr and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Tonia Brown brings you three tales of terror from the wild outdoors.

"Hissy Fit": Poor Steven falls into a snake pit and tries not to panic. To his dismay, the situation gets weird when the snakes start calling him by name.

"Mrs. Trillby's Garden": Kids have gone missing all over a small town. But that won't stop this trio of boys from seeking some late night summer fun by sneaking into the local witch's garden. Once they're in, they might have some trouble getting back out.

"Waste Not, Want Not": A backwoods roadkill connoisseur comes across an almost perfect deer carcass. She thinks she's getting a free meal, but will she become the dinner instead of the diner?

©2013 Tonia Brown (P)2017 Tonia Brown

FUN

There are 3 short stories. It was fun listen that can be enjoyed by all ages as many horrors cannot. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you

An enjoyable collection of (very) short stories

This collection of three tales straddles the line of kiddy spook tales and mature storytelling. In at least 2 of the tales, I think the execution and resolution places the foot firmly down on the side of mature (and not mature as in X rated, just good, solid storytelling).

Hissy Fit, the first story, was also the least-enjoyable for me. While it was well-written and somewhat suspenseful, once the suspense was over, it was extremely predictable and cheesy. The worst is how even then, the author felt the need to spell out what was right in front of our eyes. Then repeat it. Again. And again.

Mrs. Trillby's Garden was next up, and I found it enjoyable. The 3 characters kept getting jumbled in my mind, but in the end, I don't think it mattered much who was who (though I do appreciate that the author wanted to flesh them out a bit). You could sort of guess where the tale was going, but Brown executed extremely well in my opinion and even threw in a surprise I wasn't expecting.

The last tale, Waste Not, Want Not, started out awkward (to me), but got fairly entertaining once things really got rolling. I found the descriptions of the "battle" amusing and the ending actually surprised me (though I should have expected it).

The narrator excelled at reading character dialogue and voices. If I had a complaint, it would be that she lapsed into a sort of lofty/airy cadence during some of the rest. I kept picturing the flight attendants that read off the airline's required (boring) text during takeoff. Which is odd, because the stories were good enough not to need random inflections to liven them up!

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. Overall, a good little collection of works. All were short and to the point, and, perhaps with the exception of Hissy Fit, didn't feel any worse for it.

3 spooky short stories you’ll enjoy

I really enjoyed these short stories. They all have a spooky dark vibe about them with a twist ending. They have a definite Ray Bradbury feel and I make the comparison as a compliment.

I’d definitely like to read more from this author.

The story about the kids in the garden had a bit of a Stephen King, stand by me kind of feel in the beginning. I wasn’t expecting it to end the way it did, was a pleasant surprise.

The reading is very well done, dramatic without being melodramatic. Sound levels were fine which is a big deal. It was recorded better than many other audiobooks I’ve listened to.

Three Eerie Stories of Unnatural Nature

I really enjoyed the originality of these three stories. They were creepy and good and had character. Tonia Brown was very clever to write these. My two favorites were the second two, 'Mrs. Trillby's Garden' and 'Waste Not, Want Not.' I hope the author writes more stories in this vein. Very good.

Anneliese Rennie's performance was terrific. Her voice fit each character of each story. For her voice, my favorite was the last story with her country accent. This was an overall fun and strange listen.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this honest review."

A short taste of horror

What made the experience of listening to Triple Shot of Unnatural Nature the most enjoyable?

Short and sweet made for an enjoyable listen.

Any additional comments?

This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost."

Fun campfire horror tales

Any additional comments?

These 3 stories are the stuff of camp fire tales for 10 year olds. The writing style is amusing and visual. The stories themselves are incredibly juvenile, hopefully intentionally so.

The narrator must have also taken this view because her rendition endlessly had that overly-emotive tone that many people affect when reading to children. This tone also took away from the "horror" aspect -- although, for this assumed age range, this could be seen as a feature rather than a bug.

Also, following my campfire assumptions, I'm glad I consumed these stories as spoken word rather than printed page as this feels like the right way to have such tales delivered.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A fun read.

Let me start this review by saying this narrator was so good. When she kept repeating the name Steven to Steven as a snake I was glad it was morning. She is really good yeah I know I said that. Anyway this book is so cute all the stories are about young kids and I think for young kids but despite that I still enjoyed it.

Short and Fun Listen

I grew up reading and watching Goosebumps as well as Nick's Are you Afraid of the Dark. I still watch them from time to time even though they are meant for children. The first two stories would have made a perfect episode for either show. The third story probably was a bit much for the young crowd but was still a good story. Listening to these stories brought me back a bit and I really enjoyed it.
The narrator did a great job and you could tell she was enjoying doing the reading. She read it almost as if she was a teacher reading a book out loud to her students.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

3 shorts of natural horrors

Three takes of horror that may make you think twice about walking trails alone and not getting so close to that sweet old ladies beautiful garden. Well written and well narrated shorts. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

Okay Listen

All in all, a good listen for people who enjoy short story fiction. Here are three stories with different approaches. Anneliese Rennie did a fair job of narrating.