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13 Scary Stories
Get a fright! Another collection of very short, scary stories by John McDonnell, "13 Scary Stories" will give you a chill, and a chuckle too! These are stories that depend on twists and surprises, and a heavy dose of psychology. There are trolls, vampires, werewolves, man-eating tigers and jealous lovers. Every story has an unexpected twist, and a laugh or two along the way. If you like stories that make you wonder if you should scream with laughter or fear, you'll love "13 Scary Stories"!
- GenresHorror
54 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 8, 2011
7 people want to read
About the author
John McDonnell
28 books33 followersJohn McDonnell writes romance, horror, humor, literary fiction, and just about any genre out there. It's all about the characters, he believes, and all good stories share the same traits, no matter what the genre.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 12, 2011
You never forget the campfire story. The flashlights in hand, the smell of the fire, and the chill of the night air.
John McDonnell has put together 13 stories that are sure to chill the bones of your favorite young adult on one of these nights. With the exception of two stories, I think this book is suitable to scare the pants off of any younger age group! My favorite stories out of the 13 were Final Exam, Mayhem, and Troll Chillin'.
The stories are quite short, so an adept storyteller could quite easily memorize these stories for a truly chilling effect around the campfire, or even at a sleepover with the lights turned off and a flashlight for special effects!!
John McDonnell has put together 13 stories that are sure to chill the bones of your favorite young adult on one of these nights. With the exception of two stories, I think this book is suitable to scare the pants off of any younger age group! My favorite stories out of the 13 were Final Exam, Mayhem, and Troll Chillin'.
The stories are quite short, so an adept storyteller could quite easily memorize these stories for a truly chilling effect around the campfire, or even at a sleepover with the lights turned off and a flashlight for special effects!!
October 5, 2011
Once again my thanks goes out to Mr. McDonnell for providing this book.
This is the second set of short stories by John McDonnell that I've read, I wrote a review for Big Chills a day or so ago. I found that I didn't quite enjoy this one as much, it might be that I've gotten use to the plot twists toward the end of the stories. Don't get me wrong, it is a book with interesting stories. I would just recommend putting some time in between each of his short story books, otherwise you may not be surprised or thrown off. I wasn't fond of most of the stories in this one. I found myself guessing the plot twist more often then not, and a few had moments where the connections felt slightly forced. Somethings were over exaggerated and others were seriously downplayed, and while it didn't appeal to me in a literary sense I knew that if someone were to actually tell me the story it would come off better.
I do feel bad for not liking this because everywhere I look this book has great reviews. However as I said with the other book this would be great for those who like to tell 'scary' short stories. There are only two that are little to mature for younger readers, but the others are clean enough and short enough that one could easily memorize it and use it for story time.
This is the second set of short stories by John McDonnell that I've read, I wrote a review for Big Chills a day or so ago. I found that I didn't quite enjoy this one as much, it might be that I've gotten use to the plot twists toward the end of the stories. Don't get me wrong, it is a book with interesting stories. I would just recommend putting some time in between each of his short story books, otherwise you may not be surprised or thrown off. I wasn't fond of most of the stories in this one. I found myself guessing the plot twist more often then not, and a few had moments where the connections felt slightly forced. Somethings were over exaggerated and others were seriously downplayed, and while it didn't appeal to me in a literary sense I knew that if someone were to actually tell me the story it would come off better.
I do feel bad for not liking this because everywhere I look this book has great reviews. However as I said with the other book this would be great for those who like to tell 'scary' short stories. There are only two that are little to mature for younger readers, but the others are clean enough and short enough that one could easily memorize it and use it for story time.
July 7, 2014
Review by Kate
This was my first introduction to the writing style of John McDonnell. I am aware that this isn’t the first collection he has written and I am very keen to read the other collections and his full length novels.
13 Scary Stories has everything any paranormal lover would love. From Werewolves to Vampires throwing in Trolls and man eating animals it has it all.
The twists in these stories are very well executed and although I wasn’t scared by the stories I did enjoy them all. My favourite of them has to be the story about the sex offender. I loved the fact that the Grandmother turned on him before he had the chance to attack the girl or anyone else. Justice well and truly delivered!
I will probably re-read this collection of stories and I hope to read further work by John McDonnell.
This was my first introduction to the writing style of John McDonnell. I am aware that this isn’t the first collection he has written and I am very keen to read the other collections and his full length novels.
13 Scary Stories has everything any paranormal lover would love. From Werewolves to Vampires throwing in Trolls and man eating animals it has it all.
The twists in these stories are very well executed and although I wasn’t scared by the stories I did enjoy them all. My favourite of them has to be the story about the sex offender. I loved the fact that the Grandmother turned on him before he had the chance to attack the girl or anyone else. Justice well and truly delivered!
I will probably re-read this collection of stories and I hope to read further work by John McDonnell.
May 5, 2011
John McDonnell has amazed me again with his macabre short stories. He’s a true master of flash fiction. Tight writing combined with surprising revelations give the reader that shock of enjoyment that makes him keep wanting more.
Sarah is concerned over Lou’s strange behavior until he brings home the perfect present.
Poor Willy isn’t quite as challenged as Banana Joe thought.
Teenaged Ashley didn’t mean all of those things she said about her little brother.
Arthur Parsnip just won’t eat his vegetables.
Sarah is concerned over Lou’s strange behavior until he brings home the perfect present.
Poor Willy isn’t quite as challenged as Banana Joe thought.
Teenaged Ashley didn’t mean all of those things she said about her little brother.
Arthur Parsnip just won’t eat his vegetables.
October 20, 2011
** For the full review please check out www.read2review.com **
This was my first introduction to the writing style of John McDonnell. I am aware that this isn’t the first collection he has written and I am very keen to read the other collections and his full length novels.
13 Scary Stories has everything any paranormal lover would love. From Werewolves to Vampires throwing in Trolls and man eating animals it has it all.
Read more here: http://read2review.com/13-scary-stories/
This was my first introduction to the writing style of John McDonnell. I am aware that this isn’t the first collection he has written and I am very keen to read the other collections and his full length novels.
13 Scary Stories has everything any paranormal lover would love. From Werewolves to Vampires throwing in Trolls and man eating animals it has it all.
Read more here: http://read2review.com/13-scary-stories/
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews