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Slices
An imagined disease spreads across a city. A fading horror movie star crafts his replacement. Two thieves wait for rescue at the end of the world. Human monsters are put to their final tests. Time stands still in fairy circles, loops in on itself for a runaway child, and can be rewritten in the pages of a book. Fifteen unforgettable stories to be read in the dark from dark urban fantasy author Michael Montoure." ... Montoure's spare, striking prose outlines characters in deliciously twisted predicaments .... " -- Seattle WeeklyStories SEASON - His mother had always been a hypochondriac, but now a city has fallen ill with herONE LAST SUNSET - She wanted a vampire to promise her immortality, but it's nothing like it seemsREMAKE - A horror movie idol confronts the man who will play his most famous roleREST AREAS - A deadline, a suitcase full of cash, a stolen car -- and something in the trunkDADDY'S GIRLS - Children will come when the time is right, and not beforeLIFE STORY - When the pages of your life are laid out before you, what changes can you make?ONLY MONSTERS - A young boy, an old woman, and tales of the most frightening monster of allLULLABY FOR TWO VOICES - Her perfect child, or his dark twin -- one will be reclaimedORPHEUS - The worst part of Hell is not knowing you're thereWATCH THE COIN - A secret pact, a successful heist, and a fairy circleLOST BOY - A young boy runs away to a fairytale woods, only to find he's not alonePUPPETS - The man who bought the doll from him will ruin his career, if he can’t find it before it kills againTHE THIRTEENTH BOY - All the papers say the man behind the serial murders is a monster, but the monsters think otherwiseCOUNTERCLOCKWISE - An imaginary time machine, a tragic childhood secret; a man who can see into "dead time" sees a chance to make things right
206 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2010
1 person is currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Michael Montoure
18 books286 followersAn unreliable narrator, Michael Montoure is an indie writer of horror and dark urban fantasy. His obsessions include hidden truths, secret dealings, and the changing and fragile nature of our own pasts. He is known as much for his spoken-word performances of his fiction at Seattle coffeehouses and conventions as for the stories themselves. He lives alone with a gray cat by the edge of Echo Lake, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 31, 2015
Michael Montoure is one of my favorite authors. This book was my first taste and hooked me right away. I unfortunately never reviewed it because I don't tend to finish collections of short stories. I think it is time to remedy that. At $0.99 for this anthology, one I look back at years after starting it as my favorite collection of horror shorts, this is a steal of a read. Here are some reviews of my two favorite stories in this book.
Cold Season
Michael's voice has such power, perfect for the thinking-person's horror. Cold Season flavors his voice into a story about a town suffering under a strange epidemic caused by the narrator's hypochondriac, witch mother. If she can cause people to be sick by speaking, how can her son stop the sickness before it spreads beyond their city? Terrific imagination and how it requires your attention to detail to figure out the mystery, all while being a breeze to read as you have to find out what happens next.
5 Stars
One Last Sunset
Same powerful voice, totally new story. It's hard to tell if this is my favorite or if Cold Season is. Thankfully, this story was turned into Michael's first novel, Still Life, which is also very highly recommended.
One Last Sunset is a different kind of vampire story, both because Michael's voice is so unique, but also because of the vampire and the subject, how she can become one and how the real focus is on the sorrow of losing her best friend.
5 Stars.
Cold Season
Michael's voice has such power, perfect for the thinking-person's horror. Cold Season flavors his voice into a story about a town suffering under a strange epidemic caused by the narrator's hypochondriac, witch mother. If she can cause people to be sick by speaking, how can her son stop the sickness before it spreads beyond their city? Terrific imagination and how it requires your attention to detail to figure out the mystery, all while being a breeze to read as you have to find out what happens next.
5 Stars
One Last Sunset
Same powerful voice, totally new story. It's hard to tell if this is my favorite or if Cold Season is. Thankfully, this story was turned into Michael's first novel, Still Life, which is also very highly recommended.
One Last Sunset is a different kind of vampire story, both because Michael's voice is so unique, but also because of the vampire and the subject, how she can become one and how the real focus is on the sorrow of losing her best friend.
5 Stars.
November 1, 2011
I won this book through Giveaways. Delivered today. 10-28-11. A signed copy from the author himself, plus a little goody-bag for Halloween. At our house we celebrate with party food and lots of candy. The ghosts and goblins will invade our home when they see the door decoration. Only they know that a door decoration is really a special invitation to come in and be treated. I shall have a special treat for myself--SLICES! THANK YOU!
10-30-11 Finished reading. Enjoyed these "spooky" shortstories. The short story was the perfect format, and the author used very little dirty language. The author provided short character and place descriptions. I liked that a lot! His wording packed a punch in unexpected endings. His wording set the scary scene and induced the creepy crawlies on my skin. I thought that was an ingenious method of writing, as was his use of allusions. "Miles to go before he slept" provided that 'click' between reader, author and story that made this work special. There were other allusions, that was my favorite. I do not like short stories, but I liked these short stories. I do not like spooky stories, but I liked these scary stories. What does that mean? You have a new fan.
10-30-11 Finished reading. Enjoyed these "spooky" shortstories. The short story was the perfect format, and the author used very little dirty language. The author provided short character and place descriptions. I liked that a lot! His wording packed a punch in unexpected endings. His wording set the scary scene and induced the creepy crawlies on my skin. I thought that was an ingenious method of writing, as was his use of allusions. "Miles to go before he slept" provided that 'click' between reader, author and story that made this work special. There were other allusions, that was my favorite. I do not like short stories, but I liked these short stories. I do not like spooky stories, but I liked these scary stories. What does that mean? You have a new fan.
December 19, 2011
I don't read a lot of horror books, although I do enjoy watching scary films from time to time. However, the title and description of this particular anthology called to me, and so I entered to win an advance copy. I was lucky enough to receive one, so many thanks to the author and publishers for their considerate gift :)
However, I was pleasantly surprised by how varied, and interesting, each of the stories in this anthology truly were. Montoure uses familiar tropes such as vampires and ghosts, and yet twists them into a very different re-telling of the usual stories told again and again in our current culture.
"Watch the Coin" was my personal favorite, if only because of the incredibly interesting human relationships that seem to emerge whenever money is present. I had genuine fear for the characters and their fate, and didn't even mind the violence that took part. The addition of a homosexual relationship was a pleasant surprise, as I'm so tired of the usual "guy saves girl" trope.
Overall, this was an excellent collection of stories, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys the horror genre :)
However, I was pleasantly surprised by how varied, and interesting, each of the stories in this anthology truly were. Montoure uses familiar tropes such as vampires and ghosts, and yet twists them into a very different re-telling of the usual stories told again and again in our current culture.
"Watch the Coin" was my personal favorite, if only because of the incredibly interesting human relationships that seem to emerge whenever money is present. I had genuine fear for the characters and their fate, and didn't even mind the violence that took part. The addition of a homosexual relationship was a pleasant surprise, as I'm so tired of the usual "guy saves girl" trope.
Overall, this was an excellent collection of stories, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys the horror genre :)
August 30, 2012
“Some Stories Won’t Let You Go.”
That’s what the underwriting says on Michael Montoure’s Slices: 14 stories (and one introduction) from an up and coming author of horror fiction. And maybe you’ll see that and say “meh,” and think it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, and wonder why it’s not being published by a “real” publisher… and so on.
But hold on a moment, friend. Take that part of your brain that tells you why not to read something offline for a moment, and listen, for a minute, to the part that says do it. Because I’m going to tell you straight up — if you like your horror smart and sharp, with more brains than blood (though there’s gore and grue aplenty, here, too) then you should read this book.
And soon.
I say this as someone who writes and reads horror — lots of horror, as well as its’ currently more successful children “dark fantasy” and “urban fantasy.” I have waded through forests of zombies, poked my lantern into entire suburbs full of haunted houses, and gone a’hunting for enough werecreatures to keep the Smithsonian in strange fur for some time. I’ve drank in bars full of monster slayers and lovers, and the strange entities they wind up hunting or humping (sometimes at the same time) and then gone on rampages with madmen and their victims, vampires and their kith, and mean, crazy, spinster relations and the innocent kids they lock up in the attic.
King, Koontz, Barker, Hill, Lovecraft, Poe? Got ‘em on speed dial: Ring-ring-ring. Sometimes they even pick up. (I think.)
I’ve even tried my hand at the game, and been published at it (in a real book, no less!) and found, to my own dismay, that I’m not quite “there” yet. So where’s “there”? To mangle that one Supreme Court Justice, I’ll know it when I see it, which isn’t always an easy thing.
So when I tell you, oh skeptical consumer, that Michael Montoure is “there,” you should pay attention. Not because he bribed me, or threatened me, or threatened to bribe me, but because I literally devoured Slices like a good, fresh bag of warm squeaky cheese curds, straight from the dairy.
And then I wanted another bag, right then and there. Which, while normal for cheese curds, is darn unusual for books, and only reserved for authors who have fired my brain up so well that I can’t wait for the next one to be crafted, published, and sent my way.
That anticipation thing might work for ketchup and maple syrup, but I want my good horror now, darn it.
And that’s why I’m saying you need Slices in your life, O valued consumer. Apart from the masters, you’ve probably only been handed small, half-baked, and imperfectly-shaped things that may bear the name “horror,” but not deliver. This does.
What’s in the box? Lots of interesting and darkly imaginative toys. We’ve got ghost plagues and infernal bargains, failed rescues and dangerous transactions. Hungry buildings devour the unlucky, powerful books rewrite the world, and love goes badly wrong while obsession turns raw and bloody.
And there’s vampires done right for a change in here, darn it. Surely that’s worth the price of admission, alone?
No? Well, how about this, then? I always say that half the battle of any short work is knowing when to end the story; when to stop writing, and let what you’ve said so far be enough to at least be satisfying, both to you and, more importantly, to the readers.
It’s not an easy skill, and some authors never quite seem to learn it — somehow coasting by on openings and climaxes, alone. But I’m happy to report that Montoure’s got mad skills in this department.
And while it would be outright criminal to give any of his finely-crafted curtain calls away, I would like to say that the ending of “Rest Areas” — with the sole survivor left waiting for help that may never come — is one of the most nightmarish fade-outs I’ve ever read.
The dialogue is believable, even in extreme situations. The plot hooks are good to skewer through your eyelids. Best of all, the endings are often as surprising as they are delightfully dark, which is something that’s hard to do when you’re walking down a path that’s been trod so many times before, by so many others.
See if you don’t agree.
Put simply, Slices is the best, recent horror collection I’ve read from an author since Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. If you like horror, you should board this sharp train, and seek out his other works: Montoure is going to be going places, and soon.
That’s what the underwriting says on Michael Montoure’s Slices: 14 stories (and one introduction) from an up and coming author of horror fiction. And maybe you’ll see that and say “meh,” and think it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, and wonder why it’s not being published by a “real” publisher… and so on.
But hold on a moment, friend. Take that part of your brain that tells you why not to read something offline for a moment, and listen, for a minute, to the part that says do it. Because I’m going to tell you straight up — if you like your horror smart and sharp, with more brains than blood (though there’s gore and grue aplenty, here, too) then you should read this book.
And soon.
I say this as someone who writes and reads horror — lots of horror, as well as its’ currently more successful children “dark fantasy” and “urban fantasy.” I have waded through forests of zombies, poked my lantern into entire suburbs full of haunted houses, and gone a’hunting for enough werecreatures to keep the Smithsonian in strange fur for some time. I’ve drank in bars full of monster slayers and lovers, and the strange entities they wind up hunting or humping (sometimes at the same time) and then gone on rampages with madmen and their victims, vampires and their kith, and mean, crazy, spinster relations and the innocent kids they lock up in the attic.
King, Koontz, Barker, Hill, Lovecraft, Poe? Got ‘em on speed dial: Ring-ring-ring. Sometimes they even pick up. (I think.)
I’ve even tried my hand at the game, and been published at it (in a real book, no less!) and found, to my own dismay, that I’m not quite “there” yet. So where’s “there”? To mangle that one Supreme Court Justice, I’ll know it when I see it, which isn’t always an easy thing.
So when I tell you, oh skeptical consumer, that Michael Montoure is “there,” you should pay attention. Not because he bribed me, or threatened me, or threatened to bribe me, but because I literally devoured Slices like a good, fresh bag of warm squeaky cheese curds, straight from the dairy.
And then I wanted another bag, right then and there. Which, while normal for cheese curds, is darn unusual for books, and only reserved for authors who have fired my brain up so well that I can’t wait for the next one to be crafted, published, and sent my way.
That anticipation thing might work for ketchup and maple syrup, but I want my good horror now, darn it.
And that’s why I’m saying you need Slices in your life, O valued consumer. Apart from the masters, you’ve probably only been handed small, half-baked, and imperfectly-shaped things that may bear the name “horror,” but not deliver. This does.
What’s in the box? Lots of interesting and darkly imaginative toys. We’ve got ghost plagues and infernal bargains, failed rescues and dangerous transactions. Hungry buildings devour the unlucky, powerful books rewrite the world, and love goes badly wrong while obsession turns raw and bloody.
And there’s vampires done right for a change in here, darn it. Surely that’s worth the price of admission, alone?
No? Well, how about this, then? I always say that half the battle of any short work is knowing when to end the story; when to stop writing, and let what you’ve said so far be enough to at least be satisfying, both to you and, more importantly, to the readers.
It’s not an easy skill, and some authors never quite seem to learn it — somehow coasting by on openings and climaxes, alone. But I’m happy to report that Montoure’s got mad skills in this department.
And while it would be outright criminal to give any of his finely-crafted curtain calls away, I would like to say that the ending of “Rest Areas” — with the sole survivor left waiting for help that may never come — is one of the most nightmarish fade-outs I’ve ever read.
The dialogue is believable, even in extreme situations. The plot hooks are good to skewer through your eyelids. Best of all, the endings are often as surprising as they are delightfully dark, which is something that’s hard to do when you’re walking down a path that’s been trod so many times before, by so many others.
See if you don’t agree.
Put simply, Slices is the best, recent horror collection I’ve read from an author since Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. If you like horror, you should board this sharp train, and seek out his other works: Montoure is going to be going places, and soon.
August 2, 2012
Slices of dark unreality. A collection of short stories each with a sinister undercurrent that leaves you wondering about perceptions of reality. My particular favourite is Remake – a sinister tale indeed based on the delusions of one man.
It’s hard to review and rate a collection like this. Over all, I enjoyed reading. To go tale by tale, some stood out more than others and some I didn’t quite get. A very subjective thing, of course and what I enjoyed, someone else might not and vice versa.
These tales could each by an episode of something like Outer Limits or Twilight Zone. If you need a solid answer at the end of your stories, you could be disappointed. If, like me, you quite like being left hanging with your own ideas of what’s just happened, you’ll really enjoy Slices.
Montoure’s style has a very conversational tone to it. You could be sitting in a bar or diner having a strange event told to you. Yet a lot of these tales are in the first person, so you’re listening to the narrator, not conversing. It reminds me very much of several movies that open with someone recounting a story to an audience of strangers over a generous measure of whisky.
Some of these tales might make you suspicious to visit certain places, or types of places. Some might challenge your perception of heaven and hell or the known world/universe. It’s all about realities and how things are not as they seem, from people to time to science and logic. I wouldn’t say Montoure so much twists these themes as bends then expands them so they’re ever so slightly warped but very close to the norm. The effect is far more disturbing than a completely altered perspective.
These are good little numbers to read one a night or all in one day. The joy of short stories as ever is that you don’t need to focus for long and don’t need to mentally recap whenever you return to the book. Slices has been my companion for a few days now on and off, and enjoyable company it was too.
It’s hard to review and rate a collection like this. Over all, I enjoyed reading. To go tale by tale, some stood out more than others and some I didn’t quite get. A very subjective thing, of course and what I enjoyed, someone else might not and vice versa.
These tales could each by an episode of something like Outer Limits or Twilight Zone. If you need a solid answer at the end of your stories, you could be disappointed. If, like me, you quite like being left hanging with your own ideas of what’s just happened, you’ll really enjoy Slices.
Montoure’s style has a very conversational tone to it. You could be sitting in a bar or diner having a strange event told to you. Yet a lot of these tales are in the first person, so you’re listening to the narrator, not conversing. It reminds me very much of several movies that open with someone recounting a story to an audience of strangers over a generous measure of whisky.
Some of these tales might make you suspicious to visit certain places, or types of places. Some might challenge your perception of heaven and hell or the known world/universe. It’s all about realities and how things are not as they seem, from people to time to science and logic. I wouldn’t say Montoure so much twists these themes as bends then expands them so they’re ever so slightly warped but very close to the norm. The effect is far more disturbing than a completely altered perspective.
These are good little numbers to read one a night or all in one day. The joy of short stories as ever is that you don’t need to focus for long and don’t need to mentally recap whenever you return to the book. Slices has been my companion for a few days now on and off, and enjoyable company it was too.
June 28, 2012
I got this one from early reviewers on library thing and i'm glad i did. "Slices" is an interesting anthology of short stories from the very talented Michael Montoure. The best thing about short stories is that you can read them during your lunch break at work, before bed, or when you have a few extra minutes in the day. The thing about this one is that i wouldn't recommend reading before bed unless of course you can easily shrug off what you have just read. A perfect blend of horror, twisted, and weird this anthology makes a great read for those fans of classical literature. It really reminded me of my younger days as a girl growing up and telling ghost and scary stories before going to bed at slumber parties. A very good read.
September 13, 2012
I always loved the horror short story subgenre (Especially Fantasy Horror). I even still have the Scary Stories collection from my little kid days that was some ridiculous short stories that can scare the crap out of you, until the twist at the end. So it’s always a thrilling excitement when I can come across more short stories that are like that. And I found it with Slices by Michael Montoure, who absolutely writes horror how I would do it. Slices is an anthology of fourteen of his short stories all in one book, and although the first one was a bit slow to get into, once I had I was sucked to the front of my computer screen and drawing in my breath fast.
Now I won’t give away too much but I certainly had to share my two favorite stories. The first of which was called “One Last Sunset” and was about a woman searching for a vampire so she could be turned into one and never have to deal with death again. She finally finds one, but let’s just say it was so well written I hadn’t even expected what was going to happen when she did find that vampire. I’ll just end this one with the moral I got from this story ‘Don’t go looking for shit you don’t know anything about.
The other one I extremely enjoyed and made me pull out all my faerie notes and write something entirely new about faeries, was something of a supernatural horror love story I felt. This one was called :Watch the Coin”. These four guys decide to rob a place, but the only way they can get away with it is by making this fifth friend and the money disappear for a while. So one of the friends who knows magic, uses a faerie circle to send the fifth friend with the money to join the faeries dancing for seven years, after telling him not to eat or drink anything or trade anything away.
The four friends come back in seven years, well except one of them but I won’t give away what happened to that guy. And they manage to retrieve the fifth friend from the faerie dance, along with the money, but that’s when everything started going horribad, beginning with the fifth friend puking up rainbows. The only one really concerned not about the money but the friend, is the one who did the magic, since he knows it means the fifth friend can’t survive in this world anymore. Now there is a reason for this concern and I’m only bringing it up since it is a bit of a spoiler because it’s important to mention for me. The friend who knows magic and the friend that went to the faeries were actually together.
Now I won’t spoil any more of it, you’ll have to see for yourself what happens to them. But I wanted to bring up the wonderful randomly placed gay attributes to some of these stories Mister Montoure devised. Most people won’t even include LGBT things or that is all they include, making it all very one-sided. Mister Montoure managed to keep both hetero and homosexual views and some you won’t know who likes what. One entire story can’t even start with a man being led into a house by a boy with promise of sex.
It’s always just a wonderful sight to catch authors adding plenty of diversity to their characters, whether it be race, sexuality, gender, or terrible beasties, if you lack diversity in your novels, you just aren’t trying hard enough. It frustrated me to see even these days, every character in a book white skinned and straight and the protagonist is male. It’s become a cliché to me.
So good job Mister Montoure for not being a cliché, in fact you brought entirely new ideas to the table for some cases. If you don’t like horror books I still suggest taking a look at this one, you’ll at least find one of the stories to your liking (As I figure that is the way he meant to design it). And if you like horror, this is something you should definitely pick up for the assortment of fantasy horror fun. You can find Michael Montoure’s Slices here along with some of his other works. They are definitely worth a poke.
You can check out this review at DarlingDork
Now I won’t give away too much but I certainly had to share my two favorite stories. The first of which was called “One Last Sunset” and was about a woman searching for a vampire so she could be turned into one and never have to deal with death again. She finally finds one, but let’s just say it was so well written I hadn’t even expected what was going to happen when she did find that vampire. I’ll just end this one with the moral I got from this story ‘Don’t go looking for shit you don’t know anything about.
The other one I extremely enjoyed and made me pull out all my faerie notes and write something entirely new about faeries, was something of a supernatural horror love story I felt. This one was called :Watch the Coin”. These four guys decide to rob a place, but the only way they can get away with it is by making this fifth friend and the money disappear for a while. So one of the friends who knows magic, uses a faerie circle to send the fifth friend with the money to join the faeries dancing for seven years, after telling him not to eat or drink anything or trade anything away.
The four friends come back in seven years, well except one of them but I won’t give away what happened to that guy. And they manage to retrieve the fifth friend from the faerie dance, along with the money, but that’s when everything started going horribad, beginning with the fifth friend puking up rainbows. The only one really concerned not about the money but the friend, is the one who did the magic, since he knows it means the fifth friend can’t survive in this world anymore. Now there is a reason for this concern and I’m only bringing it up since it is a bit of a spoiler because it’s important to mention for me. The friend who knows magic and the friend that went to the faeries were actually together.
Now I won’t spoil any more of it, you’ll have to see for yourself what happens to them. But I wanted to bring up the wonderful randomly placed gay attributes to some of these stories Mister Montoure devised. Most people won’t even include LGBT things or that is all they include, making it all very one-sided. Mister Montoure managed to keep both hetero and homosexual views and some you won’t know who likes what. One entire story can’t even start with a man being led into a house by a boy with promise of sex.
It’s always just a wonderful sight to catch authors adding plenty of diversity to their characters, whether it be race, sexuality, gender, or terrible beasties, if you lack diversity in your novels, you just aren’t trying hard enough. It frustrated me to see even these days, every character in a book white skinned and straight and the protagonist is male. It’s become a cliché to me.
So good job Mister Montoure for not being a cliché, in fact you brought entirely new ideas to the table for some cases. If you don’t like horror books I still suggest taking a look at this one, you’ll at least find one of the stories to your liking (As I figure that is the way he meant to design it). And if you like horror, this is something you should definitely pick up for the assortment of fantasy horror fun. You can find Michael Montoure’s Slices here along with some of his other works. They are definitely worth a poke.
You can check out this review at DarlingDork
June 9, 2012
Slices
MICHAEL MONTOURE
An imagined disease spreads across a city. A fading horror movie star crafts his replacement. Two thieves wait for rescue at the end of the world. Human monsters are put to their final tests. Time stands still in fairy circles, loops in on itself for a runaway child, and can be rewritten in the pages of a book. Fifteen unforgettable stories to be read in the dark.
"Sammy's arm was sprawled across him in her sleep, but she was moving it away-
No. Something inside the arm was moving away."
I am a masive fan of short stories, and find that the horror genre lends itself well to that style of writing. This book has a very consistant selection of tales, each very different but all effectively creepy. As you start to read the stories, you might think you recognise them, but the author has done a great job of turning what seems like a well-known story into something that ends very differently. The few times that I could guess the ending before it came, I wasn't disappointed that I knew what was coming, but it was more of a smug nod with the book when the twist did inevitably come.
My favourite of these short stories are:
"Daddy’s Girls" – Children will come when the time is right, and not before
- This story creeped me out, its so well written and it's also partly my fault for reading it at 2am, but horror is most effective at night!
"Only Monsters" – A young boy, an old woman, and tales of the most frightening monster of all
- I loved the ending to this one, a story where you can see what will happen, but you still feel satisfied at the end.
"Counterclockwise" – An imaginary time machine, a tragic childhood secret; a man who can see into “dead time” sees a chance to make things right
- I wished to know more about the 'dead time' in this story, I'm sure the author could write a whole other novel about it...hint hint...
Find out more about what Michael Montoure is up to by following him on twitter at @montoure
**The author of this book provided a copy of this ebook to me for an honest and unbiased review**
MICHAEL MONTOURE
An imagined disease spreads across a city. A fading horror movie star crafts his replacement. Two thieves wait for rescue at the end of the world. Human monsters are put to their final tests. Time stands still in fairy circles, loops in on itself for a runaway child, and can be rewritten in the pages of a book. Fifteen unforgettable stories to be read in the dark.
"Sammy's arm was sprawled across him in her sleep, but she was moving it away-
No. Something inside the arm was moving away."
I am a masive fan of short stories, and find that the horror genre lends itself well to that style of writing. This book has a very consistant selection of tales, each very different but all effectively creepy. As you start to read the stories, you might think you recognise them, but the author has done a great job of turning what seems like a well-known story into something that ends very differently. The few times that I could guess the ending before it came, I wasn't disappointed that I knew what was coming, but it was more of a smug nod with the book when the twist did inevitably come.
My favourite of these short stories are:
"Daddy’s Girls" – Children will come when the time is right, and not before
- This story creeped me out, its so well written and it's also partly my fault for reading it at 2am, but horror is most effective at night!
"Only Monsters" – A young boy, an old woman, and tales of the most frightening monster of all
- I loved the ending to this one, a story where you can see what will happen, but you still feel satisfied at the end.
"Counterclockwise" – An imaginary time machine, a tragic childhood secret; a man who can see into “dead time” sees a chance to make things right
- I wished to know more about the 'dead time' in this story, I'm sure the author could write a whole other novel about it...hint hint...
Find out more about what Michael Montoure is up to by following him on twitter at @montoure
**The author of this book provided a copy of this ebook to me for an honest and unbiased review**
March 28, 2016
Skip the first four and start with "Daddy's Girls", continue from there to the end and then you can go back to the beginning. It is at the fifth story that I forgot I was reading, holding my phone, that I was me. I was ... absorbed.
“The skyscrapers of the city had finished scraping all the sky away, and the clouds overhead were exactly the color of concrete and I was safe and cold in a canyon of glass and steel.”
"Daddy's Girls"
Creative, compelling, clear voice, consistent, characters not just sketched but colored in. Macabre and witchy, beautiful and warm, parasitic.
"Only Monsters"
Adorable perspective shift on a vampire dystopia. Cute bedtime story for kids who like extra monsters in their fairy tales.
"Lullaby for Two Voices"
Being tough enough to make the harder, but right, decision. Maternal power. Fraternal love. A pretty little piece that felt like it should be told over a campfire as part of a series on the "not the Devil" who pulled Sarah from the wreckage and contracted with her.
"Orpheus"
Modern day addendum to Dante. Loved it.
"Watch the Coin"
With the exception of Neverwhere, I liked this better than all of Gaiman's prose. I might be biased; Netflix recently informed me that I like heist movies best of all genres. So a heist with some Fae? Hells to the yes.
"Lost Boy"
I can envision reading this to my nieces and nephew. Made me nostalgic for Robert Louis Stevenson. I also liked the meta admonishment about naming a thing; it made me smirk since for several pages prior I was pleading with the author not to name The Boy. Taoist, Fae, Island of Blue Dolphins.
"The Thirteenth Boy"
Define monster :)
"Counterclockwise"
Drew was so vivid to me, like Dewey in Ellen Klages' Green Glass Sea, that I wanted a novella (or more) coloring in his childhood from the peripheral perspective of the older boys, and I wanted more breadth and depth to James' dead space echoes.
“The skyscrapers of the city had finished scraping all the sky away, and the clouds overhead were exactly the color of concrete and I was safe and cold in a canyon of glass and steel.”
"Daddy's Girls"
Creative, compelling, clear voice, consistent, characters not just sketched but colored in. Macabre and witchy, beautiful and warm, parasitic.
"Only Monsters"
Adorable perspective shift on a vampire dystopia. Cute bedtime story for kids who like extra monsters in their fairy tales.
"Lullaby for Two Voices"
Being tough enough to make the harder, but right, decision. Maternal power. Fraternal love. A pretty little piece that felt like it should be told over a campfire as part of a series on the "not the Devil" who pulled Sarah from the wreckage and contracted with her.
"Orpheus"
Modern day addendum to Dante. Loved it.
"Watch the Coin"
With the exception of Neverwhere, I liked this better than all of Gaiman's prose. I might be biased; Netflix recently informed me that I like heist movies best of all genres. So a heist with some Fae? Hells to the yes.
"Lost Boy"
I can envision reading this to my nieces and nephew. Made me nostalgic for Robert Louis Stevenson. I also liked the meta admonishment about naming a thing; it made me smirk since for several pages prior I was pleading with the author not to name The Boy. Taoist, Fae, Island of Blue Dolphins.
"The Thirteenth Boy"
Define monster :)
"Counterclockwise"
Drew was so vivid to me, like Dewey in Ellen Klages' Green Glass Sea, that I wanted a novella (or more) coloring in his childhood from the peripheral perspective of the older boys, and I wanted more breadth and depth to James' dead space echoes.
June 21, 2012
Wonderfully disturbing! This collection of short stories is so good that I couldn’t stop once I started! Several had me cringing so much that I did have to stop to breathe…but that only lasted a moment as I couldn’t wait to get to the next one to see what creepy treasure was coming next!! I read some out loud at night to my husband so at least I wouldn’t be the only one scared and having nightmares! Mean I know… but I couldn’t help it! This kind of story telling is best shared, and of course told at night, when you just can’t be sure of what’s surrounding you in the dark!!!
August 8, 2013
A wonderful dark, twisted, and sinister collection that is disturbing in all the right ways. This book will have you cringing and flipping pages like never before. Michael Montoure has written a great collection of creepy stories that are perfect for Halloween, or any other spooky occasion. All the stories are short enough for anyone to read while waiting at the doctors office, or on your lunch break and I highly recommend that you do!
Read more reviews from Stuffed Shelves
Read more reviews from Stuffed Shelves
August 1, 2012
To start off with I have the kindle version. Ok Slices is a collection of the most bizarre short stories of horror ever. From the first one Cold Season to the last Counterclockwise I would be hardpressed to say which one is my favorite they were all that good. Daddy's Girls is definitely high up on the list. Do yourself a favor and read this wonderful collections - you won't regret it. I won this from LibraryThing.
January 2, 2015
I listen to Michael Montoure's horror podcast Don't Read The Latin, and decided I had to check out his writing, so I bought this.
This book contains 14 stories that will grip, scare and chill you each in their own way. They are all pretty different, Montoure has a great and creepy imagination. Sometimes I want the stories to be longer, sometimes he rounds them up in a perfect, frightening manner.
I will definitely buy more of his books, and if you're a horror fan, you should check him out!
This book contains 14 stories that will grip, scare and chill you each in their own way. They are all pretty different, Montoure has a great and creepy imagination. Sometimes I want the stories to be longer, sometimes he rounds them up in a perfect, frightening manner.
I will definitely buy more of his books, and if you're a horror fan, you should check him out!
April 3, 2012
I LOVED THIS BOOK! Although I am a fan of horror movies, I generally don't read fiction at all. I was eerily enchanted by Montoure's short stories, and finished the book in one evening. It was a psychologically thrilling page turner that I couldn't put down. The plot twists were dark, yet delightful, stabbing at the core of what it means to be human- or in some cases, not so human.
October 24, 2012
Another collection of chillingly effective stories by one of my favorite Seattle horror authors. Montoure's voice is strong, and his stories haunt memory and color dreams long after the covers are safely closed and the book installed innocuously on the shelf.
November 8, 2012
Entertaining collection of creepy, fantastical tales. There were one or two which I didn't love as much as the others but they were still enjoyable to read.
Would happily read more books from this author.
Would happily read more books from this author.
December 17, 2012
This is one of the best short story collections I have read in a while. Most of the stories were fresh ideas told from new viewpoints. All dark, creep and horrific. Some were more subtle than others but they all worked.
Recommended for those who enjoy King and Poe.
Recommended for those who enjoy King and Poe.
December 29, 2011
An interesting collection of horror stories. Some were great, others not so much.
December 10, 2015
Holy crap. I just read the first story, it's 2:30 am, and I'm now wide awake. I know I shouldn't start the next one, but I know I will.
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