Itsy Bitsy

by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Ebba Segerberg (Translation)

Destined to become a modern classic, the short story Itsy Bitsy is guaranteed to make you think twice before you take a picture of someone in a bikini.  In this creepy shocker, horror author superstar John Ajvide Lindqvist (LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, HANDLING THE UNDEAD) gives new meaning to punishing the paparazzi.

Itsy Bitsy is a translation of the short story called Syns inte! Finns inte! which originally appeared in Lindqvist’s 2006 short story collection Pappersväggar.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Ebooks, Fantasy, Novella, Adult

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2011

About the author

John Ajvide Lindqvist (John Erik Ajvide Lindqvist) is a Swedish author who grew up in Blackeberg, the setting for Let the Right One In . Wanting to become something awful and fantastic, he first became a conjurer, and then was a stand-up comedian for twelve years. He has also written for Swedish television.

His Let the Right One In was a bestseller in Sweden and was named Best Novel in Translation 2005 in Norway. He also is the author of Handling the Undead and Harbor .

http://us.macmillan.com/author/johnaj...

Russian profile can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is just a tiny short story, but it is freeeeee! and, sure, it is all boastful and "LOOK AT ME I AM 65 PAGES LONG!" but know that fifty of those 65 pages are just samples from two of his other, full-length books. still, a free story is nothing to sniff at and even though Little Star was one of the first things i ever bought when i got my NOOK and still haven't read, i did read this! so, BOOM! it's a nasty little comeuppance story about bad things that happen to a paparazzo, who is not entirely an unsympathetic character, but - you take pictures of people doing it, and this is what you get. lesson learned. and here is a picture of a snake eating a crocodile.



never eat anything bigger than your own head.
that's another lesson for you. also for free.

come to my blog!

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I understood what was happening to an extent, but didn't understand why and how. That detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Very supernatural/other-worldly with little explanation. And I felt absolutely horrible for the MC.

This was a freebie on the Kindle, with excerpts from two of the author's other books included. They seemed kind of interesting, but when I looked up the books to see more of what they were about, I lost interest. The zombie one could have been interesting, but they weren't the shambling, eat your brains zombies. They were just re-animated corpses who were trying to live out their lives the way they lived them before death. Also, the supernatural part of it made no sense. Maybe it was explained in the rest of the book, but it didn't sound that way from the reviews of it that I read.

I don't think I'm philosophical enough to read this author. This is definitely a case of it's me and not the author/work, but I didn't enjoy it. Two stars. Written well, but not for me.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of John Ajvide Lindqvist and was very excited when I saw this little gem available for free on Amazon. (I'm not sure how long they were doing that promotion, so I'm sorry for anyone that missed it.) What a suprise! Sure, the title made me think "spider" and I thought how cool a story about a spider would be, but I was mistaken....but that wasn't a bad thing. This story is one of those masterpieces that makes you wonder...what's going on? Is it real? Is the guy, Frank, losing his mind? And that is such a great thing, I think. To have a story play w/ your mind like that, to me, is the sign that it's well done. If you're still thinking about it after, it's done it's job!

[Ellen Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s fine in the moment you’re reading it, but utterly forgettable. I won’t even remember this tomorrow morning. Talk about lack of impact.

At least it was free!

[Alondra Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

It was okay. What I thought would happen, and what actually happened in the end were two totally different things. I think my imagination was a better story.

[Kandice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lindqvist's writing is spot on just like in Let the Right One In. I think my problem with this short story was simply that, my problem. This was a mind-blowing little tale, but it falls flat because Lindqvist answers no questions. I'm find with being left wondering, but this little tale leaves you not even wondering because you are given not information. None.

It's presented in a straight narrative, but is ultimately not.

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 4 out of 5]

ITSY BITSY is a very short story loaded with the unexpected twistiness I've come to expect from this author, who certainly imagines the world in ways very different from Consensus Reality. (If you'd like an example, try his recent novel I AM BEHIND YOU.)


I sympathized with the feckless protagonist, a down-and-outer who just wants a break. Eventually he finds all of his problems solved, but in the worst way.


The ebook edition I read contains previews of two of his novels, HANDLING THE UNDEAD and HARBOR.

[Dustin]

Currently $0 in Kindle.☺

Destined to become a modern classic, the short story Itsy Bitsy is guaranteed to make you think twice before you take a picture of someone in a bikini. In this creepy shocker, horror author superstar John Ajvide Lindqvist (LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, HANDLING THE UNDEAD) gives new meaning to punishing the paparazzi.

https://www.amazon.com/Itsy-Bitsy-Joh...

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm 50/50 with Lindqvist. I loved Let The Right One In but couldn't finish Handling The Undead. When I downloaded Itsy Bitsy, I thought it was another novel but instead it is a rather brief short story. Perhaps Lindqvist should note that shorter is sometimes better for Itsy Bitsy is a taut and somewhat surreal horror tale that entertains and disturbs. It revived my faith in Lundqvist as a writer that can move you in bizarre ways. It is too short to give away anything except it involves a struggling paparazzi photographer. It's currently free for the Kindle, so give it a try. If you like horror you will not be disappointed.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I really enjoyed the Swedish movie Let the right one in, based on a book by this author, so when I came across this free ebook on Amazon, I thought it would be a great way to get to know his writing.

The actual story is only about ten pages long (the rest is promotion of his other works) and the story wasn't that good. I admit I was curious to find out what was happening at first but the ending was really weird and I didn't feel like there was a single question answered. It almost felt like there were a few scenes drawn from a bag and pasted together.

I was underwhelmed by this reading experience.

[Zoeytron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surreptitious photo shoot should have been worth a cool million to the sleazy paparazzi photographer perched in the branches of a tree. A glimpse of an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini may prove to be his undoing.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Itsy Bitsy by John Ajvide Lindqvist

2.5 stars

This short story follows a paparazzi looking to make money and save himself off of photos of two stars' love affair. Things take a deadly turn when the photos don't show what he originally captured on film. I personally didn't care for the main character, so I was kind of happy about what happened to him because I just couldn't support the actions he took to obtain illicit photographs. I am interested in reading more from this author despite not connecting well to this story. I believe his longer work maybe more my tastes.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 3

Character Scale: 2

Plotastic Scale: 2

Cover Thoughts: It's creepy, but it doesn't really fit the story as well as it could.

[Renny Barcelos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short story that is in no way less creepier because of its length. Lindqvist is an amazing writer (and for sure the translators have their credit too!) so in my second book from this author I can already see that no matter what he writes, it will be greatly done.
This plot is so unexpected; I was not ready for the turn of events and it scared me a lot! Loved it.

[Minel H Tobertga · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t bother

Not worth your time. Glad that it was free, because I’ll never get that time back. So disappointing at best.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a big Lindqvist fan. I enjoyed Let The Right One In and stood up for Handling The Undead and Harbor is one of my favorite horror novels period. So I started looking around for this story, found it for free on Kindle and grabbed it.

What pushes Lindqvist horror above the pulp genre stuff is his attention to characters. He allows them time to breathe and develop and become very complicated people. In many ways, his treatment of the main characters in Harbor reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House, another book near the top of my favorite horror novels. Both let the supernatural take a secondary role to the real story ... relationships. Much like the scariest parts of The Exorcist (and even The Conjuring), it is all about how people will stand with each other in the face of evil.

All that leads into the biggest setback of the short story format; there's no room for character development. Now masters of the form are able to create characters that are real enough in the page limit that has been set to make the stories humorous, fascinating, intelligent, scary, etc. Lindqvist has not yet entered their ranks. This felt like a novel-length story condensed into a couple of pages where the mystery was supposed to be scary, but just ended up slightly confusing.

The story opens on our main character spying through his camera lens on the pool of a celebrity, hoping to catch her in a romantic shot with her new Latin lover. What happens to him and what he sees is the whole of the short story, so I will leave it for you to read (if so interested). I am a bit of a completest, so I was bound to read this at some point. I'm not sure if I look forward to his next book, a collection of short stories (I have, but have not read, Little Star) given the strength of this one. Still, had he taken the time to develop all the characters and give us a little more reason to get scared, this story could have been an excellent scene in an excellent novel. I just wanted more.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this book on my kindle for a long while. I enjoyed the short story Itsy Bitsy. My kindle book had some extras included that were OK. I thought the title of the story was funny since it was part of a title of an old 60's pop tune and this story involved a bikini.The story has to do with a guy tying to take some photos of an actress in compromising postisions and the strange problems he ecounters while doing that. It will only take a few minutes to read this story, but like I said, the kindle free edition throws in a few extras you may want to check out especially if you are fan of this author.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Real quick short story, seemed a bit disjointed and never had me hooked like I wanted to be. It did its marketing job, though, and dragged me next into the preview for a new Lindqvist book coming out, but that one didn't really do it for me either, so I guess for now I'm going to be content with loving Let the Right One In and not exploring the rest of his output.

[Bracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not bad. I was a little let down by the length. Looking at the percent completed bar on my Kindle I thought it was a nice novella length work, but it's a short story with sample chapters from Handling the Undead and Harbor tacked on. It's a good story, but it definitely left me wanting more.

[Magdalena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think John Ajvide Lindqvist builds up the story good, unfortunately, I felt the ending was a bit of a belly flop. That's it? That's the explanation? It's not even scary, just weird.

Available on Amazon for free!

[Deaken Ehlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realized I had read this short story once I started reading it as it’s part of Let The Old Dreams Die, read it again anyways. I enjoy JAL and the way his mind weaves his stories together, recommend all of his written work.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

just remember to hum "It was an itsy-bity teenie-weenie yellow polka-dot bikini..." as you read this

I've read 3 of his novels and this was "cheap" for NOOK -- so I got it :D

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay story, but it is litereally like 12 pages tops.
the rest of it is all previews of other books, i was expecting a novella.

[Murielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps I should have started with one of his longer works?
I was captivated by his subject matter, ensnared by his writing. Lindqvist enticed this reader bit by bit until I was caught up in the story. And while I was not enamoured by the character's character, or by his occupation, I was very invested in the resolution of this piece.
It's a short story. It's a very short story. Yet, it is a full, complete story. And while the end came, to me, abruptly, I was satisfied.
This was my first venture into Lindqvist's work, and maybe because of that I wasn't prepared for just how short this short story was, I wasn't ready for it to be finished. I wanted more of the writer. Next time I'll read one of his longer stories.

[Rhona Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick little read, but now I want more!

Quotes:
Someone can save you with a kiss, but refuses. Maybe that is all that Judas wanted: a kiss. When he didn’t get it, he answered in kind. Thirty pieces of silver—what were those to him? He had given his answer. Then he went and hanged himself.

the sound when his neck snaps—chapack—the connection between body and soul is severed and one is free as a little blue bird in a night without end.

The low sun hits the kitchen window, highlighting stains and inviting the dust particles to dance.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I’m having an off day but this short story didn’t appeal to me once I’d finished it. I almost held my breath while reading it anticipating that bad stuff would happen. I guess bad stuff did happen but it had no effect on my emotions which is a big disappointment because I’m of the opinion that this author is one of the better spooky story tellers out there. So this time I’m going with one and a half stars.

[Anne (w/ an E) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care for this one. It didn't make much sense to me.

[Debra Barstad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story it was ok wished there was more detail on characters

[Jennifer Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever, but brief.

[Ranjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant short horror novel

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and well written... but didn’t really intrigue me, other than to get it off my to read list.