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Nightmare Fuel: Volume 1
Nightmare Fuel is twenty short horror fictions, plucked from the mind of the author in a wild attempt to stave off an annual influx of sleep-deprivation-inducing nightmares. From werewolves to walking statues to the question of humanity in tiny alien cephalopods, there's fuel aplenty for your own nightmares from under the bed.
- GenresFiction
Kindle Edition
First published April 20, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 27, 2012
An enjoyable read with some really entertaining stories. Absolutely worth checking out, especially if you like your horror a tad on the lighter side. It could probably benefit from one more thorough edit, but overall it was quite well done. I look forward to more.
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September 28, 2012This is the second collection of short stories I am reviewing for Andrea. If you missed my other review of her erotica collection, check it out. Honestly, I enjoyed this collection much more than the erotica collection. It’s unfair to call this collection a fantasy collection, horror, or a sci-fi collection. The focus on these stories is: nightmares and the things that scare us. These are predominately pieces of writing exercises put together from her own Nightmare Fuel project on Google+. After reading the erotica collection, I began doing my own bit of research into these types of stories and have seen it referred to as Flash Fiction. These are very short stories with very little character development, back story and explanation. In many of these stories you have no idea exactly what happened.
I am not sure which collection came first, but this collection of stories were much easier to read. This was partly because the theme is one I frequently enjoy and partly because I felt these stories were better written than the erotica collection. I still struggled with some of her grammar choices and creating mental images from her descriptions. I felt her descriptions were clearer. I enjoyed the depth of her imagination. The story about the bees was fascinating and the Bloody Mary story was just so gross and perfect to fit with that staple of my childhood.
My struggle was still with the length. Clearly, I am not going to be seeking out flash fiction. I want more! Many of the stories did not give me enough time to get into the story. Many did not really end with any conclusion. The first story about space travel, for example, ends abruptly without telling you what happens. I can appreciate the desire to leave the reader the room to imagine the ending, but I felt there wasn’t enough in the story to give me the information I needed to do that.
Finally, I would love to see one of these taken and developed further into a novella or true short story. It has made me want to participate myself, but I already have a long list of ideas for my own writing.
Who would enjoy this? Fans of flash fiction will certainly enjoy the length. Fans of Stephen King and Neil Gaiman (his more mature, adult novels) will certainly find enjoyable stories in the collection.
I am not sure which collection came first, but this collection of stories were much easier to read. This was partly because the theme is one I frequently enjoy and partly because I felt these stories were better written than the erotica collection. I still struggled with some of her grammar choices and creating mental images from her descriptions. I felt her descriptions were clearer. I enjoyed the depth of her imagination. The story about the bees was fascinating and the Bloody Mary story was just so gross and perfect to fit with that staple of my childhood.
My struggle was still with the length. Clearly, I am not going to be seeking out flash fiction. I want more! Many of the stories did not give me enough time to get into the story. Many did not really end with any conclusion. The first story about space travel, for example, ends abruptly without telling you what happens. I can appreciate the desire to leave the reader the room to imagine the ending, but I felt there wasn’t enough in the story to give me the information I needed to do that.
Finally, I would love to see one of these taken and developed further into a novella or true short story. It has made me want to participate myself, but I already have a long list of ideas for my own writing.
Who would enjoy this? Fans of flash fiction will certainly enjoy the length. Fans of Stephen King and Neil Gaiman (his more mature, adult novels) will certainly find enjoyable stories in the collection.
May 24, 2012
Nightmare Fuel is an short fiction (flash fiction if you want to get specific) anthology. As the name suggests these speculative fiction shorts are aimed at creeping you out or making you shudder.
Flash fiction anthologies can be a little frustrating to read. Sometimes you're just getting into a story and already it's done. There's little time for building characters of any depth.
But there are certain rewards too. The variety of settings and ideas on display here is impressive and there was no sign of repetition. It's a literal parade of the imagination. It's also easy to dip in and out of the book. You don't have to commit to more than 15 or so minutes of reading if you don't want to.
There were a couple of stories where the sting in the tail didn't quite seem to come off. Or maybe I misunderstood the ambiguity, but the majority of these short stories stand up on their own merits.
Some of the stories are funny, others disturbing, but none of them resort purely to shock for their nightmarish qualities. They play on our irrational fears but frequently in a cerebral way.
Flash fiction anthologies can be a little frustrating to read. Sometimes you're just getting into a story and already it's done. There's little time for building characters of any depth.
But there are certain rewards too. The variety of settings and ideas on display here is impressive and there was no sign of repetition. It's a literal parade of the imagination. It's also easy to dip in and out of the book. You don't have to commit to more than 15 or so minutes of reading if you don't want to.
There were a couple of stories where the sting in the tail didn't quite seem to come off. Or maybe I misunderstood the ambiguity, but the majority of these short stories stand up on their own merits.
Some of the stories are funny, others disturbing, but none of them resort purely to shock for their nightmarish qualities. They play on our irrational fears but frequently in a cerebral way.
September 28, 2012
Don't be fooled by how short these stories are - they will sneak up on you days later with an idea or image that's hard to shake. Artfully odd, sparely written, each one is unique and a refreshing change of pace from modern "horror" writing.
August 8, 2012
Very cool collection of short fiction. Here's my Amazon review... http://www.amazon.com/review/R15ZJUQ0...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews