If you aren’t aware of these, Amazon does these collections labeled under Amazon Original Stories. where each features a theme and featured authors. They are also free on Kindle and Audible for all prime members to access, which is a huge plus. Although they’re good, who’s really going to pay individually for short stories?
There are several of these already, two of which I have read so far, but this one in particular started popping up all over online when Joe Hill’s story was first announced. Below, I think I’ll just share each review separately and let you see if they interest you. As usual, this is a warning for all possible spoilers, so beware.
Synopsis
A husband’s obsessive desire for a child leads to an unexpected manifestation of his yearning in a nightmarish short story about fatherhood dreams by New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill.
Willy and Marianne’s farmhouse in Maine has acres of meadow and fresh air, and a lonesome bridle path in the forest along which Willy daydreams and ambles. When he’s loaned a decrepit old baby stroller to cart his groceries home, the rickety squeak of the wheels comforts him. So do the sweet coos of a baby Willy knows can’t be real. Can it? In this twisted thicket, wishes come true—with a price.
Joe Hill’s The Pram is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.
Review
As this is the first story, I figured Hill had to have written a pretty stellar jumping off point for the collection, and I wasn’t wrong. This is a strong short story, and although undoubtedly horror, it really focuses much more on grief and loss than anything else for most of it, turning to terrifying horrors only at the end. The main character is grasping at straws in his denial.
It’s interesting that the story mentions COVID, but doesn’t go into it. The character simply had it, losing his sense of smell, and therefore he cannot smell the festering pram.
Very atmospheric and psychological, the ability to take readers through a journey in such a short amount of time is something I’d love to learn.
Synopsis
Obey the rules. It’s the only way to survive the night in a short story about what hides in the dark by the New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.
Marcus grew up believing his father killed his mother—then blamed it on the boogeyman under the bed. Always leave the lights on, his father warned, or the boogeyman will get you. Marcus still heeds the superstition, especially when he invites his new girlfriend over. Is Marcus haunted by a creature or has he just inherited his father’s murderous delusions? The night will tell.
Grady Hendrix’s Ankle Snatcher is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.
Review
I thought this was a very interesting way to open up a story and give out someone’s traumatic past. Because it’s a short story, that launches the story into action immediately, making the horrific pace breakneck. I really thought this was a great take on the boogeyman, and as creepy as it was, I would have read a full novel of this. The ending was losing me a bit with its almost boogeyman-hunters take, but the description of the creature itself was too good.
This one again mentions COVID without going into it, so I’m guessing they wrote these during the pandemic?
Personally a 5/5*, I’d love to nail some creepy descriptors this well.
Synopsis
Some chilling campfire tales ring too true to ignore. For one young woman, an urban legend calls her into the woods in a spine-tingling short story by the bestselling author of Bird Box.
The dense Michigan forest. Haunting wails. The clip-clop of demon hooves on a bridge to nowhere. It’s more than a tall tale to Brenda Jennings, whose sister disappeared in those woods one fateful night. Three years later, on a solo stakeout in the dark, Brenda goes in after her. She’s desperate for answers, and terrified to find what lies waiting on the other side of that bridge.
Josh Malerman’s It Waits in the Woods is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.
Review
Malerman has been an auto buy author for me since Bird Box, but man does his mind work in mysterious ways. In this story, the main character is obsessed with film making, and much like with basketball in Daphne, that obsession and the description of it can often overpower the other things that are going on. I personally think he uses this technique to ground his characters in a very personal trait, but it’s hit or miss, and this one was borderline.
Brenda was supposed to be paying attention to her sister, but she wasn’t. So when she disappears, her parents blame her. Three years later, old campfire stories don’t sound so crazy anymore. Brenda has to know. She has to make sure. A bridge in the woods that moves? Why not.
Synopsis
There’s something in the water in this hallucinatory short story by Paul Tremblay, bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World and The Beast You Are.
Journalist Heidi Cohen is in Cape Cod investigating the sources of recurring toxic algae blooms along the coast. A local named Jimmy has his own theory for her. Every year the fetid growth gets worse—but it’s been going on longer than anyone knows. Decades ago, something happened to Jimmy that he’s never forgotten. Is Heidi ready for the real story?
Paul Tremblay’s In Bloom is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.
Review
Unfortunately, much like the many reviews I’ve already seen on it, I don’t have much to say about this one. And what I do, is not really good. This short story is ultimately a flop for me. Characters are flimsy, the story boring. When I finished it, it actually thought, wait do I need to listen to that one again? But no, it’s really just kind of that dull.
I do like that this creature feature leans into more scifi, as I really enjoyed the short he did for the Forward Collection, but it just didn’t amount to what I needed it too.
I have seen others praise this one though, so maybe it just wasn’t for me! You may feel differently.
Synopsis
Did you ever hear the one about the man with a string of bad luck? The worst is still to come in a chilling short story of an insatiable friendship by the New York Times bestselling author of Hell of a Book.
For best friends with vastly different fortunes, what’s left to hash out other than a forced confession at gunpoint? All that the destitute, sickly, and grieving Will demands is that monstrously successful Barry admit to draining all the luck right out of him. Like blood. As the standoff escalates, the truth is not the only thing ready to come out.
Jason Mott’s Best of Luck is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.
Review
This one was unique in its imagining of the “creature” for a creature feature. It is both imagery for human greed and excess, as well as something ageless and dark. And human need, as well as WANT, is a huge point in this story. The “need” for more, the desire, the want, to do everything possible for your own.
It was unique and interesting.
As this is virtually one single conversation, it was a bit straightforward and I did nail the ‘twist’ the second it started. Still enjoyable though!
Synopsis
For a family trying to make an isolated farmhouse into a home, fear and rage are getting harder to control in a primal short story by the New York Times bestselling author of Whisper Network and Cutting Teeth.
The Strauss family is on knife’s edge. Sam is a resentful stay-at-home dad. Rachel feels the restlessness in her blood returning. Their children are getting out of hand. And a recent mudslide has forced the wolves out of the woods to look for food. As dusk falls and tensions rise, the family must come together to survive the night—from the threats outside and those within.
Chandler Baker’s Big Bad is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.
Review
The title had me thinking werewolves right off the bat and I wasn’t wrong. But once again, this is a very different take on the usually heavily overdone creature. There’s some back and forth where you won’t know which character is the big bad.
You’ll wonder if the cover is a giveaway or a hering, and honestly it was handled pretty well. I liked that the marriage dynamic had some tension, so although there was the introduction of a stranger, you didn’t feel any safer at home either.
The characters seemed realistic and the action/horror was pretty gruesome. I enjoyed it.
Overall, I gave the series a 7.67/10. Really not bad at all for a series that a huge chunk of people will have access to for free via prime. I’d suggest the series as a whole, even with the one I didn’t care for.
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