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The Second Coming: A Horror Short Story

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Jack Barrow has traveled back in time to save his family from a sadistic killer. All he has to do is convince Dr. Sims at Bellevue Heights Mental Institution that he isn't crazy.

Note: This short story is 3000 words (around 12 pages)

13 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 2011

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69 people want to read

About the author

Griffin Hayes

27 books127 followers

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5 stars
17 (21%)
4 stars
26 (32%)
3 stars
25 (31%)
2 stars
9 (11%)
1 star
3 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Lynn Thompson.
Author 7 books157 followers
July 29, 2012
Griffin Hayes is fast becoming one of my favorite indie authors. I have only been able to read two of his books so far, but I do enjoy how he writes!

The Second Coming is a short story, so I can't get into too much detail. It is dark and twisted.

What would you do if you were able to come back from the future to save your family?

What would you do if you were institutionalised instead?

Jack Barrow's is stuck in that situation...
Profile Image for Donald Armfield.
Author 67 books176 followers
October 14, 2012
Jack Barrows is trying to convince Dr. Sims that traveling back in time to save his family is the truth. From what I get Dr. Sims goes to the house out of curiosity, but wasn't it bulldozed? A great twist I guess you can say.

Very well written a great read for your kindle well waiting for your appointment with Dr. Sims.
Profile Image for Wanda Hartzenberg.
Author 5 books73 followers
February 24, 2013
A nice twisted story with an ending so open it will leave the reader wondering and leaning towards one or another persgonal prefferance. This is very well done. I am so impressed with this new find that I purchased Hive. I cant seem to find the link to this short on Amazon though, so if somebody could help with this i would really appreciate it!
WaAr
Profile Image for Adam Light.
Author 20 books270 followers
December 29, 2012
This was an okay little short story. At first, it held promise, but it quickly ended. I love short stories, and those one was the perfect length, but I wanted just a little more. First read of Hayes, and I will seek out more of his work.
Author 27 books127 followers
April 12, 2012
This was a really fun story to write. It's got time travel, murder and an insane asylum. Need I say more?

Griffin Hayes
October 28, 2011
Profile Image for Sam Risdon.
Author 2 books8 followers
December 31, 2017
Short but interesting

I didn't read the excerpts as I got the book for the horror story, but I loved the horror story! Super creepy and couldn't figure out what was going to happen next as I read. That's the best part of horror stories and it kept me on my toes the whole time. I love it. Great story. Lost a star for the super long excerpts that had nothing to do with it, though.
Profile Image for Kristy.
Author 7 books27 followers
July 19, 2016
This is an extremely short story (only takes up 20% of the Kindle ebook download). It was very well-written, and interesting. My problem with it was that I really didn't understand it. DID the guy go back in time only to warn the killer of what he was about to do? Or was it all just a mind trick and the good doctor was feeding him these horror fantasies all along, knowing he was going kill the family? Nothing's really explained after you realize who exactly the psycho murdering fiend is. He's just there with his crowbar and that's it. End of story. I think if it would have been a little longer and a little more detailed, it would have been a lot better.

Also, there are two sneak previews of the author's novels in this edition. There are 7 chapters of Malice and 2 of Bird Of Prey. I read the first three chapters of Malice, very interesting and creepy stuff, but then I discovered that one of the main characters is Wiccan, so that was a no-deal for me...time to quit (for the reason that my faith in Jesus is my life and anything occultic in nature has no place near me). Moving on to Bird Of Prey, that was also well-written and interesting, but contained too much language for my taste.
Profile Image for Julianne Snow.
Author 39 books86 followers
February 28, 2012
"Just enough for a drop or two at a time, no more. And how you were tied just right so that the water would hit your forehead dead center each and every time. Of course, as Knuckles told it, the first two hundred drops never did much more than annoy the hell out of you. At about the first thousand, the skin on your forehead would start to redden. And by twenty thousand, when you head was beginning to bear more than a passing resemblance to a soggy watermelon, you were telling those sick bastards anything they wanted to hear."

The Second Coming: A Horror Short Story by Griffin Hayes is a story with an interesting premise. To explain what I mean, here is the synopsis from Amazon -

Jack Barrow has traveled back in time to save his family from a sadistic killer. All he has to do is convince Dr. Sims at Bellevue Heights Mental Institution that he isn't crazy.

If you want to read the rest of my review, head on over to http://theflipsideofjulianne.wordpres...
Profile Image for Grammar*Kitten.
317 reviews23 followers
December 20, 2012
The Second Coming is an intriguing little horror short by Griffin Hayes, who has fast become one of my favourite horror authors.

Although I did enjoy it, I felt that The Second Coming was a little lacking compared to other works of Hayes' that I have read recently. It felt a little as though it ended almost as soon as I understood what was happening, and it just didn't have quite the same spark as some of his other works have.

That said, once again, Hayes manages to convey a complex idea in a succinct and eloquent way that makes the reader want to read more. Perhaps it is merely my frustration with the nature of the short story that has left me a little dissatisfied with this offering!

I would recommend this, but if you are a first time reader of Hayes' work, I would recommend picking up either Malice, Fatherland or Dark Passage first, which are (for me at least) more demonstrative of Hayes' excellent storytelling prowess. Give one a go. Really. Go on.

Profile Image for David Staton.
7 reviews2 followers
December 6, 2012
I thought this was probably one of the best short stories I've ever read. I liked the concept and characters even more than I did "Dark Passage" which is written by Griffin Hayes as well and is one of my favorite books to date.

That said its tough to really develop a character in such a short story but he managed to pull it off better than expected with so few pages. This concept is something that I think would be great developed into a novella and I for one would want to read it the day it was released.

I think one of the things that draws me into Mr. Hayes writing is the fact that with so many great books and authors out there, there is a lack of true story tellers. I think that's a talent and quality the Griffin has and I seem to look forward to each new piece he releases short or not.

Keep them coming Mr. Hayes!
Profile Image for Shirley.
Author 2 books18 followers
December 27, 2012
I am not sure how to review this one. I liked it yet I disliked it too.

The beginning is very interesting, with the whole patient-doctor discussion. The back-to-the-past element lends it an edge. But the end was weird for me. I felt that there too many unanswered questions such as how is this happening, why is it happening, who is this person, why is he/she doing what he/she is doing. There is the thought at the back of the mind that there is more to this and when the story ends I kind of felt empty and dissatisfied.

I wish this would not have been a short story. I hope there is a sequel that elaborates what happened here.
Profile Image for Daniel.
132 reviews9 followers
September 3, 2012
Jack Barrow has traveled back in time to save his family from a brutal death. Before he can do that, Jack must convince Dr. Sims that he isn't crazy.

After Reading "The Grip", I decided to try out one of his other titles that was free on Amazon. "The Second Coming" is filled with twist and the concept along is eerie in itself. I really like the the main character in this and found myself questioning the sanity of Mr. Barrow. A mixture of a thriller and science fiction meld well at the hands of Griffin Hayes. It was so good that I have read it a few more times.
Profile Image for Liane.
30 reviews10 followers
July 13, 2012
too short but very good. finished in less than a day
23 reviews
May 18, 2015
Need more...

Cliffhanger. Too short of a story. Need to know what becomes of Jack.

Does Dr. Simms have other patients in his repertoire?
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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