What do you think?
Rate this book
Benjamin
SHORT When Benjamin is told he can't watch a movie he really wants to see because it's on past his bedtime, he's determined to disobey his mother and watch it anyway, knowing full well he's going to get into trouble if he gets caught. He will soon learn that there are things more fearsome in the house than his mother's wrath. (Approximately 8,100 words)
- GenresHorror
21 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 24, 2011
19 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 26, 2021
I really liked this one. Author Evans captures so well the mind and perceptions of a young child, in the age group which still clings to “magical thinking,” for whom aMonster under the Bed is not only possible, but natural and likely; a youngest child, battered back and forth between the strictures and discipline of his parents, and the dismissal and inciting terrors of his two older brothers. Reading “Benjamin” is just like being that age, that gender, in that family, in that perspective. Very accomplished; very well-written, and equally important: very, very, scary. Do NOT read after dark if alone!
February 4, 2012
Benjamin has a very, very simple premise: a young man wishes you sneak out of bed to watch Trilogy of Terror on TV without getting caught.
Problem is that Benjamin has a very vivid imagination, and two delightful older brothers who like to torment him with stories of the monsters that live around the house at night. Not the best combination for a boy trying to sneak around in the dark to watch a horror movie!
One of the strengths of this is that we've all been there as kids. Our homes can become unfamiliar haunted houses after nightfall when we're all alone. We've all had experiances of running to the toilet in the middle of the night, trying to escape the darkness before we're grabbed.
Evans also plays this fear with the child's imagination. Are these things real? We're thrown a few red herrings along the way (again, who hasn't seen a creature lurking in the corner only to find it's a pile of washing?) and at the end of the story, we're still left wondering if the events were real, make believe or a nightmare from watching the movie.
I do have a big gripe with this story though, and that's its place. It seems to be suffering from an identity crisis.
The plot and POV come across as a child's/YA horror story, you know, the kind of thing you'd find in those old Point Horror anthologies and the collections that were all the rage in the late 80s/early 90s. This would have fit in SO well for that kind of market: some genuine chills in a setting common to most children and young teenagers.
How ever, the odd line of short paragraph makes this story unsuitable for younger readers, and the POV/plot might be a bit simple or juvenile for a mature audience. If these adult bits (which are few and easily removed without altering the story) could be cut, and the book aimed at a younger audience, I feel the author might have found Benjamin's niche.
Not quite here nor there, Benjamin is still a quick and fun read. I would even suggest reading it before hand, noting the a
Problem is that Benjamin has a very vivid imagination, and two delightful older brothers who like to torment him with stories of the monsters that live around the house at night. Not the best combination for a boy trying to sneak around in the dark to watch a horror movie!
One of the strengths of this is that we've all been there as kids. Our homes can become unfamiliar haunted houses after nightfall when we're all alone. We've all had experiances of running to the toilet in the middle of the night, trying to escape the darkness before we're grabbed.
Evans also plays this fear with the child's imagination. Are these things real? We're thrown a few red herrings along the way (again, who hasn't seen a creature lurking in the corner only to find it's a pile of washing?) and at the end of the story, we're still left wondering if the events were real, make believe or a nightmare from watching the movie.
I do have a big gripe with this story though, and that's its place. It seems to be suffering from an identity crisis.
The plot and POV come across as a child's/YA horror story, you know, the kind of thing you'd find in those old Point Horror anthologies and the collections that were all the rage in the late 80s/early 90s. This would have fit in SO well for that kind of market: some genuine chills in a setting common to most children and young teenagers.
How ever, the odd line of short paragraph makes this story unsuitable for younger readers, and the POV/plot might be a bit simple or juvenile for a mature audience. If these adult bits (which are few and easily removed without altering the story) could be cut, and the book aimed at a younger audience, I feel the author might have found Benjamin's niche.
Not quite here nor there, Benjamin is still a quick and fun read. I would even suggest reading it before hand, noting the a
November 14, 2014
Almost everyone has that one horror film they remember sneaking to watch in the middle of the night as child. For me, it was The Exorcist. I remember being so frightened, my body frozen in place. I had to keep the volume low so that my mother would not discover me, and finding G-d quickly whenever the volume would rise with my ear right next to the speaker. Of course, I also remember being spooked by the Trilogy of Terror flick, wondering if I was so unlucky that the murderous tribal doll managed to materialize under my bed waiting to slash my Achilles tendon the moment I stepped out of bed. You would think I would avoid watching any horror movie with those experiences, but they are what led to me to becoming the ultimate horror fanatic.
Michael Evans clearly comes from the same generation that lived off those classic masterpieces of horror, and Benjamin reads like a memory of a young boy that escaped the monster that hid under the bed every night by learning to jump into bed quickly, and foiled every murderous attempt by the small demons that couldn't step out from shadows at night by always staying in the light. It's difficult to write a common tale of horror and make it original. There are several other stories this reminds me of, most strikingly - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. Evans lost my attention several times with a repetitive narrative, which purpose seemed more for inflating the word count & not the story. Even though the pacing went off track several times, the ending was delicious with an original twist that was memorable. Evans has a talent for writing intelligent horror, one especially that needs noticing before he writes one that will leave a new generation afraid of the dark.
Michael Evans clearly comes from the same generation that lived off those classic masterpieces of horror, and Benjamin reads like a memory of a young boy that escaped the monster that hid under the bed every night by learning to jump into bed quickly, and foiled every murderous attempt by the small demons that couldn't step out from shadows at night by always staying in the light. It's difficult to write a common tale of horror and make it original. There are several other stories this reminds me of, most strikingly - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. Evans lost my attention several times with a repetitive narrative, which purpose seemed more for inflating the word count & not the story. Even though the pacing went off track several times, the ending was delicious with an original twist that was memorable. Evans has a talent for writing intelligent horror, one especially that needs noticing before he writes one that will leave a new generation afraid of the dark.
December 31, 2011
Benjamin is a very fun short story that will have you guessing throughout the entire story. Michael J. Evans has spun an excellent tale that had me reminiscing on my own childhood memories of trying to sneak in a late-night television show or quick Nintendo game when I should have been in the bed. I’m sure everyone can probably relate to Benjamin’s desire to catch a late movie, against his parent’s wishes. Evans does a fantastic job creating the creepy atmosphere that Benjamin finds himself in, through very detailed descriptions. The characters are very believable, and as I mentioned earlier, very relatable. The story moves at a nice, steady pace and doesn’t rush you to the unexpected ending.
I highly recommend this tale of childhood fears to anyone, as well as something to drink before sitting down to read it. I started to get very thirsty about a quarter of the way through it and couldn’t pull myself away from the story because I just had to know what was going to happen next! A great story by Michael J. Evans! Looking forward to more!
I highly recommend this tale of childhood fears to anyone, as well as something to drink before sitting down to read it. I started to get very thirsty about a quarter of the way through it and couldn’t pull myself away from the story because I just had to know what was going to happen next! A great story by Michael J. Evans! Looking forward to more!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews