If It Bleeds by Stephen King

From #1 New York Times bestselling author, legendary storyteller, and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary collection of four new and compelling novellas—Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and the title story If It Bleeds—each pulling you into intriguing and frightening places.

The novella is a form King has returned to over and over again in the course of his amazing career, and many have been made into iconic films, including “The Body” (Stand By Me) and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (< font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Shawshank Redemption). Like Four Past Midnight, Different Seasons, and most recently Full Dark, No Stars, If It Bleeds is a uniquely satisfying collection of longer short fiction by an incomparably gifted writer.

I've been undecided whether to bother leaving a review or not. It's not like Stephen King needs my input or opinion to boost his book sales. I will just say I enjoyed the first story the most because I like coming of age tales with a spooky twist. The last story didn't do it for me at all. Stories of writers striking deals with...whatever in order to write a great book have kind of played out and been done to death. The second and third stories were just ok. If I rated the 4 stories in order of appearance it would be 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars and 2 stars. For me the stories grew progressively worse. If I add that up and divide it by 4 stories I would rate the book at 3.5 stars.

Hunger Pangs by Scott J. Moses

"Thinking is like life, some insatiable hunger you'll never quite satisfy."

1959: A grieving lawman bargains with darkness to reunite his family.
1960: A traveling exorcist takes a case where the traditional means of expelling evil have failed.
1969: A haunted widower picks up a hitchhiking hippie.
1985: Siblings flee their horrid past, and the curse in their blood.
2020: An immortal longs for her life in the sun.

In his debut collection, Scott J. Moses presents thirteen tales of supernatural horror and everyday woe.





The aptly titled Hunger Pangs is a collection of tales filled with hunger. Hunger for what might have been, hunger for what can never be, hunger for human flesh, and in the title story a hunger for blood. Most are filled with themes of loss, and the horror of grieving that loss.
All were well written  and quite original although not necessarily as scary as I had hoped. I would recommend it for fans of dark fiction but perhaps not for hard core horror fans.
4 out of 5 stars I received an advance copy for review

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About the author
Scott J. Moses is a Baltimorean writer of horror and dark fiction. His short fiction has appeared in STORGY, The Cabinet of Heed, Coffin Bell, & elsewhere. His debut collection Hunger Pangs was published in 2020.

Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life.

She doesn't want to be found.

Or at least, that's the story.

The car abandoned miles from home.

The note found at a nearby hotel.

The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together.

They called it a “walk away.”
It happens all the time.

Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over.

But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?


 Molly Clarke is living her life buried under the constant pain of her grief, and I felt it. Her days are endless guilt and torment. Knowing that her husband doesn't love her anymore but still loving him anyway. Believing that her children would be better off without her, and they certainly act as if they wish she were gone. It is on one such night, in the height of a storm, when she considers the possibility of walking away from her life. That is the question, should she stay or should she go? But that choice is taken from her, it is not she who decides whether she will return home on this night. I loved probably the first half of this book. I believed in Molly and her pain was real to me. The twists and turns took my breath away, but as we reached the final reveal the reasoning behind what happened to Molly felt foolish and senseless, and largely disappointing.
3 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.

About the author
Wendy Walker is the author of psychological suspense. Her novels have been translated into 23 foreign languages and have topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad. They have been featured on The Today Show, The Reese Witherspoon Book Club, and The Book of the Month Club and have been optioned for television and film.

Don’t Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Featuring stories from R.L. Stine and Madeleine Roux, this middle grade horror anthology, curated by New York Times bestselling author and master of macabre Jonathan Maberry, is a chilling tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Flesh-hungry ogres? Brains full of spiders? Haunted houses you can’t escape? This collection of 35 terrifying stories from the Horror Writers Association has it all, including ghastly illustrations from Iris Compiet that will absolutely chill readers to the bone.

So turn off your lamps, click on your flashlights, and prepare—if you dare—to be utterly spooked!

The complete list of writers: Linda D. Addison, Courtney Alameda, Jonathan Auxier, Gary A. Braunbeck, Z Brewer, Aric Cushing, John Dixon, Tananarive Due, Jamie Ford, Kami Garcia, Christopher Golden, Tonya Hurley, Catherine Jordan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Alethea Kontis, N.R. Lambert, Laurent Linn, Amy Lukavics, Barry Lyga, D.J. MacHale, Josh Malerman, James A. Moore, Michael Northrop, Micol Ostow, Joanna Parypinksi, Brendan Reichs, Madeleine Roux, R.L. Stine, Margaret Stohl, Gaby Triana, Luis Alberto Urrea, Rosario Urrea, Kim Ventrella, Sheri White, T.J. Wooldridge, Brenna Yovanoff


"He reaches for me and I'm sure he plans to pull out my intestines and wear them like a scarf, but instead he pats my head."

When my son was in middle school I bought him the set of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. After he read them I did too. Don't Turn Out The Lights is exactly the kind of story collection that I would have bought for him when he was younger and that he would still keep on his book case now that he is grown. Whether you have kids or are a kid at heart these stories are a spooky journey into otherworldly realms, sometimes with a moral to the story, such as being careful what you wish for in Jingle Jangle. One of my absolute favorites was "The Neighbor" when a lonely boy finds a playmate but all is not as it seems. Some reveal some hidden dangers in social media or text messages from strangers such as in The House On The Hill or the even more terrifying "Tag You're It" where a boy has a creepy social media stalker from which there is no escape. I also loved that each story has a spine tingling illustration. This was such a fun read and for me it was like a trip down memory lane and something brand new all rolled in to one.

4 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.

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