The Company of the Dead

by Marissa Farrar

Features the short story, 'Adeline', a tale of a   young girl suffering abuse at the hands of her father who find solace in a porcelain doll, but the doll is out for revenge... . My mother snuck into my bedroomand handed me my love wrapped in the previous year's birthday paper. By herfurtive glances toward the bedroom door and her whispered voice, I assumed myfather knew nothing of the gift. For once, my mother had acted alone.That night, I took her to bedwith me, my arms wrapped around her tiny frame.Adeline... She told me her name,whispered it in my ear as I slept. Her tiny porcelain fingers closed around mylittle finger, gently squeezing her reassurance.From then on, the doll andI became one...  .  Also included in this  A teenage girl living with a horrific birthmark down one side of her face discovers the cure may be worse than the affliction in 'Stained'.A team of men digging the channel tunnel hit a coffin-like box buried deep under the ocean. Will opening it unleash the end of mankind? 'The Tunnel'.A drug addict wakes to find herself trapped in a room of her worst nightmare, in 'The Tortured Room'.A woman suffering the loss of her husband in a car accident discovers her reality isn't all it seems in 'The Sickness of Grief'.A hitchhiker gets the lift from hell in 'Thumbing it.'Six short stories of horror; ghosts, vampires and demonic dolls. This collection totals approximately 25K in length or 65 pages. Several of these stories have been previously published in the anthologies, 'Masters of Damned if you Don't'; 'Their Dark Extreme Vampire Horror'; 'Demonic Satan's Toybox'.

91 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2011

About the author

Marissa Farrar is a multi-published romance and fantasy author. She was born in Devon, England, loves to travel and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the countryside with her husband, three children, a crazy Spanish dog, two rescue cats and six hens. She has a degree in Zoology, but her true love has always been writing.

Marissa is the author of sixteen novels, including the dark vampire ‘Serenity’ series. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including, Their Dark Masters, Red Skies Press, Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t, Triskaideka Books; and 2013: The Aftermath, Pill Hill Press.

If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk.

Reviews

[Apageaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve read by Marissa Farrar. The title of the book definitely does not disappoint. There are six extremely creepy stories combined in one great book. The first story (that was my overall favorite) is “Thumbing It”. It immediately draws you in and makes it hard not to continue on to the next story. The last story is “Adeline” and it leaves you feeling completely creepy. There were a couple of the stories that I would have loved to have read more on. Marissa Farrar is an amazing writer and really makes the reader feel the emotions of the stories. I would definitely recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love little horror shorts, then this is a great book for your collection. All these little stories contain lots of thrills and chills. I really like this author's writing too. She is one of the better short story writers I've read. My favorite of the collection is Adline- nothing creepier than a doll coming to life! Grab up this collection and read with the lights on!

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted at A Little Bit of R&R Reviews I've always been a little weary about short stories, I feel like you don't get enough of a story out of them. Marissa has given me a change of heart! These stories were nothing short of spectacular. I started reading these last night and boy was that a bad idea. I love reading about things that go bump in the night and this collection slightly terrified me. When I say slightly terrified, it means I'm checking behind the curtain before I use the bathroom...how pathetic of me LOL. I won't go into details about each story since they are short stories but I will tell you how I felt about each one. I'll start with 'Thumbing It', this story was the reason I gave it 4 1/2 stars instead of 5. I thought it was a little predictable for a hitchhiking story but I did get a little bit of a laugh from the very last line. I won't say what it is but I find it a little sinister of myself to find it comical. 'Stained' was bittersweet. I was not expecting that outcome and it was perfect! 'The Tunnel' definitely a nice twist on a vampire story. I feel like a lot of vampire stories these days are similar, this one was not the case. 'Tortured Room' this story was extremely disturbing, it felt like a bad trip. I can almost imagine something like this actually happening to a druggie on a bad trip. The description of the room was so creepy and made me wanna vomit LOL. 'Adeline' dolls are creepy...period! This just furthers my logic of staying away from the darn things. "The Sickness of Grief' WOW! I did not see that coming. This one was a little sad but reading the last few lines were very sweet :::tears:::
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[Jenny needham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review link: http://madsheepno1.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A selection of excellent short stories, featuring horror and the macabre.