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Dark Steps
A collection of short stories, a series of twist endings, and one author's dark steps back into writing...
A teenage boy waits to take a sinister test he may or may not pass; a new father hears a strange voice on his daughter's baby monitor; a poisoner's best-laid plans go terribly astray; an enigmatic man gets as close to death as he can; a young boy wonders why Christmas just doesn't feel right this year; after the year from hell, a man is driven to extreme measures; a dying man reveals a black secret to his son; and, after four years in limbo, a man's life starts to unravel...
A teenage boy waits to take a sinister test he may or may not pass; a new father hears a strange voice on his daughter's baby monitor; a poisoner's best-laid plans go terribly astray; an enigmatic man gets as close to death as he can; a young boy wonders why Christmas just doesn't feel right this year; after the year from hell, a man is driven to extreme measures; a dying man reveals a black secret to his son; and, after four years in limbo, a man's life starts to unravel...
- GenresShort Stories
54 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 11, 2011
7 people want to read
About the author
Martin Pond
8 books3 followersMartin Pond is a Man of Kent, now living and working in Norfolk. His stories have appeared in Unthology No 1, Streetcake magazine and Alliterati magazine, whilst three poems have appeared in The Artillery Of Words magazine. In 2012, Martin was a winner of Comma Press's Short Story Day "story in ten words or less" competition.
Martin's first collection of short fiction, Dark Steps, was published in August 2011. Two standalone short stories, Turn Around Where Possible and Cold, followed in 2012. The non-fiction essay, Tesc-No: living without supermarkets, was published the following year.
Drawn To The Deep End, Martin's first novel, was published in September 2017.
Martin is also the editor of The Petrified World and other tales, a collection of short stories in support of the charity Population Matters.
Martin's first collection of short fiction, Dark Steps, was published in August 2011. Two standalone short stories, Turn Around Where Possible and Cold, followed in 2012. The non-fiction essay, Tesc-No: living without supermarkets, was published the following year.
Drawn To The Deep End, Martin's first novel, was published in September 2017.
Martin is also the editor of The Petrified World and other tales, a collection of short stories in support of the charity Population Matters.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 2, 2012
Martin Pond's collection of short stories begins with Waiting Room. A young boy told he must face a coming-of-age test that all face yet no one talks about. No one in his school knows what this test is or why everyone has to take it but everyone knows how important it is. Martin Pond puts the reader in the waiting room with him. We sit next to him as he is ushered into a small room, all white, and waits for his test to begin. The musings of this boy combined with the dystopian atmosphere Pond creates very quickly put me in a state of suspense. I dreaded the outcome of this story but couldn't read it fast enough.
Dream Feed, the second in the collection feeds on every parents worst nightmare. Throw in the creepy feeling of the paranormal and you wont use a baby monitor ever again.
Each story that follows is just as compelling and I enjoyed every one. My attention was captured and I appreciated each twist and turn Martin Pond took me through. I have not had a story with so few words have so huge of an impact before. Every story felt full, well rounded and complete despite their length. Pond uses words more efficiently than anyone I have ever read. I did not feel cheated when the story ended so quickly.
Each story puts its character into a dire situation and begs the question, what are you gonna do now?
Here is the summary:A teenage boy waits to take a sinister test he may or may not pass; a new father hears a strange voice on his daughter's baby monitor; a poisoner's best-laid plans go terribly astray; an enigmatic man gets as close to death as he can; a young boy wonders why Christmas just doesn't feel right this year; after the year from hell, a man is driven to extreme measures; a dying man reveals a black secret to his son; and, after four years in limbo, a man's life starts to unravel...
Martin Pond is brilliant and I cannot imagine a full length novel from him that would not blow my mind. I highly recommend Dark Steps to anyone who enjoys a twisted tale!
Dream Feed, the second in the collection feeds on every parents worst nightmare. Throw in the creepy feeling of the paranormal and you wont use a baby monitor ever again.
Each story that follows is just as compelling and I enjoyed every one. My attention was captured and I appreciated each twist and turn Martin Pond took me through. I have not had a story with so few words have so huge of an impact before. Every story felt full, well rounded and complete despite their length. Pond uses words more efficiently than anyone I have ever read. I did not feel cheated when the story ended so quickly.
Each story puts its character into a dire situation and begs the question, what are you gonna do now?
Here is the summary:A teenage boy waits to take a sinister test he may or may not pass; a new father hears a strange voice on his daughter's baby monitor; a poisoner's best-laid plans go terribly astray; an enigmatic man gets as close to death as he can; a young boy wonders why Christmas just doesn't feel right this year; after the year from hell, a man is driven to extreme measures; a dying man reveals a black secret to his son; and, after four years in limbo, a man's life starts to unravel...
Martin Pond is brilliant and I cannot imagine a full length novel from him that would not blow my mind. I highly recommend Dark Steps to anyone who enjoys a twisted tale!
September 6, 2012
WILMA'S REVIEW
I’d like to thank Martin Pond for making this book available to me free of charge for review.
Let me start off this review by saying that I’m not really a fan of either short stories, flash fiction or horror. It’s always been hard for me to care about the characters when there isn’t a lot of exposition. However, this collection might just have changed my mind.
These tales are sharply written and wickedly enjoyable. These are not stories with happy endings, and the horror in them is, for the most part, very subtle. For example, the first story, WAITING ROOM, is a bit hard to understand – until you think about it, that is, and then it’s a nasty cautionary tale about expectations. Without revealing its twist, DREAM FEED is very scary – and it’s every parent’s worst nightmare come true. EGG is pure horror, and so is A BIT CHRSTMASSY. I wasn’t too fond of RESOLUTION; it dragged a bit in places, and the resolution was, I thought, a bit weak. Of all the tales, INHERITANCE is my favourite. The story is slowly paced, marvelously scary, and the ending is completely unexpected.
Mr. Pond is a Brit, and it shows in his writing. Most of the stories are not transplantable – and after all, why should they be? He does have a unique voice and perception. I got fully invested in all of his characters in all of the stories, because they are interesting and multi-dimensional. The writing is crisp, the dialogue believeable, and the editing is very good.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of horror stories and short stories as well. They are the hardest venue to master because they demand the same concentration and devotion that a longer novel needs. I’d say that, judging from this collection, that Mr. Pond is a master at this particular form of writing, and I’m looking forward to reading more of his work.
The Masquerade Crew (http://s.tt/1k2fk)
I’d like to thank Martin Pond for making this book available to me free of charge for review.
Let me start off this review by saying that I’m not really a fan of either short stories, flash fiction or horror. It’s always been hard for me to care about the characters when there isn’t a lot of exposition. However, this collection might just have changed my mind.
These tales are sharply written and wickedly enjoyable. These are not stories with happy endings, and the horror in them is, for the most part, very subtle. For example, the first story, WAITING ROOM, is a bit hard to understand – until you think about it, that is, and then it’s a nasty cautionary tale about expectations. Without revealing its twist, DREAM FEED is very scary – and it’s every parent’s worst nightmare come true. EGG is pure horror, and so is A BIT CHRSTMASSY. I wasn’t too fond of RESOLUTION; it dragged a bit in places, and the resolution was, I thought, a bit weak. Of all the tales, INHERITANCE is my favourite. The story is slowly paced, marvelously scary, and the ending is completely unexpected.
Mr. Pond is a Brit, and it shows in his writing. Most of the stories are not transplantable – and after all, why should they be? He does have a unique voice and perception. I got fully invested in all of his characters in all of the stories, because they are interesting and multi-dimensional. The writing is crisp, the dialogue believeable, and the editing is very good.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of horror stories and short stories as well. They are the hardest venue to master because they demand the same concentration and devotion that a longer novel needs. I’d say that, judging from this collection, that Mr. Pond is a master at this particular form of writing, and I’m looking forward to reading more of his work.
The Masquerade Crew (http://s.tt/1k2fk)
March 8, 2013
By Pappa on March 6, 2013
Dark Steps Martin Pond
I tend to look at short stories as a crucible where good writers can really shine, and in his collection; Dark Steps, Martin Pond does so more than a few times. This collection of 8 shows a lot of growth from some of his earliest efforts in at least roughly chronological order to an excerpt of his continued writing project at drawntothedeepend.blogspot.com.
The only lack that I might describe overall is that he carries beginnings and middles well, but in ‘Waiting Room’, ‘Dream Feed’ and ‘A Bit Christmassy’ the endings let me down a bit.
What Pond consistently nails is those aspects of the macabre that intrude into daily lives: worries, stresses, negligence and the darker thoughts that we all have but thankfully never act upon. I appreciate when I can be made to understand internal rationales that I don’t necessarily share or see things sympathetically from an alien point of view. The stories that most typify these aspects to me were ‘The Inheritance’, ‘Egg’ and ‘Near-Death Experience’. The later of these was a real gem, leaving me with a lot of loose ends to trouble at in a very satisfying way.
All in all a good read, and I shall be following his experiment with Drawn To The Deep End where with weekly first drafts I can look forward to a dose of his delightfully ugly frankness.
What Does Pappa Think?
Pappa rates this 3 cookies and a glass of milk
March 8, 2013
Don't read this short story collection late at night. I nearly wanted to call up my mum, so she'd tell me there are no monsters. Dream Feed, focusing on new parents and their baby girl Emma, have made that transition from baby in bed to baby in nursery. And then there's a voice over the monitor, a strange, Latin voice. It shit me up, basically. And though that maybe feels like a familiar conceit, it's handled via a really domestic, close telling that makes the narrative feel authentic and, well, scary.
A number of the stories contain some startling twists. At the end of the first one, Waiting Room, in which a sweet young boy takes a 'test', I literally drew breath. Other stories include the weirdly voyeuristic guy who records tragic events (also recorded by the author in a chilling, detached manner). A standalone story, Cold, (not in here) details the woman who takes some impressive, it has to be said, revenge on her married partner. The fact she's the one who is scorned and taking revenge, not the wife, gives this an interesting take. Pond's writing is clear, fluid and controlled. I would have liked a stronger sense of movement or pace that gave the collection a more cohesive feel, but nevertheless, looking forward to seeing what comes next from this author.
A number of the stories contain some startling twists. At the end of the first one, Waiting Room, in which a sweet young boy takes a 'test', I literally drew breath. Other stories include the weirdly voyeuristic guy who records tragic events (also recorded by the author in a chilling, detached manner). A standalone story, Cold, (not in here) details the woman who takes some impressive, it has to be said, revenge on her married partner. The fact she's the one who is scorned and taking revenge, not the wife, gives this an interesting take. Pond's writing is clear, fluid and controlled. I would have liked a stronger sense of movement or pace that gave the collection a more cohesive feel, but nevertheless, looking forward to seeing what comes next from this author.
June 13, 2012
All seven of these short stories are rather disturbing as implied by the title and description, but they’re all well written. I particularly liked the story “Near-Death Experience”. It’s about a man who chooses to get as close to death as he can. I also liked the story “The Inheritance”, which was about a death-bed confession.
The stories were all very compelling and they drew me in so that I nearly read the book in one sitting. I would have read the book in one, but life got in the way. It’s not a very long book. It’s only 54 pages, but it’s very intense. There’s a lot to take in in such a short time frame.
At the end of the book there’s an excerpt from the author’s upcoming novel, “Drawn to the Deep End“. I have to admit I enjoyed this the least of all. Maybe I’d enjoy more of the book if there were more to read.
A lot of the resolutions of the stories were a little too predictable, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying them. I’m not normally a short story person, but this collection of short stories were a great read.
*I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
The stories were all very compelling and they drew me in so that I nearly read the book in one sitting. I would have read the book in one, but life got in the way. It’s not a very long book. It’s only 54 pages, but it’s very intense. There’s a lot to take in in such a short time frame.
At the end of the book there’s an excerpt from the author’s upcoming novel, “Drawn to the Deep End“. I have to admit I enjoyed this the least of all. Maybe I’d enjoy more of the book if there were more to read.
A lot of the resolutions of the stories were a little too predictable, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying them. I’m not normally a short story person, but this collection of short stories were a great read.
*I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews