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Anthology I: The Other Side
A collection of stories about things that go bump in the night. Stories about the end of the world, what happens when your wishes come true, and when your emotions become your darkest enemy.
1. The Suicide Case – A story about how three lives are intertwined to balance the scales between good and evil.
2. Come Home with Me – Never invite her to come home with you. She will never leave till you are dead.
3. The Other Side – This story is written in the point of view of one man who witnesses the end of the world.
4. Mission of Mercy – This story is written in the point of view of the one who will end the world. This story is linked to The Other Side.
5. The Best Friend – Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she is smiling at you?
6. The Lonely Heart – A young man ponders the end of his life after being rejected by society and family but not everything is what it seems.
7. Mary had a Little Lamb – A young woman who receives a disturbing prophecy that someone she loves will end her life and the desperate measures she takes to keep that from happening.
8. Mother and the Birds - Flash fiction of what a mother wants her son to learn.
9. The Death Star – A story in the voice of a young star looking for his purpose in space and finally finding it.
10. Children of the Mist – Wishes do come true but at what expense? Five young children were given their dreams and now the time has come for them to make a choice whether they want to keep their dreams.
1. The Suicide Case – A story about how three lives are intertwined to balance the scales between good and evil.
2. Come Home with Me – Never invite her to come home with you. She will never leave till you are dead.
3. The Other Side – This story is written in the point of view of one man who witnesses the end of the world.
4. Mission of Mercy – This story is written in the point of view of the one who will end the world. This story is linked to The Other Side.
5. The Best Friend – Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she is smiling at you?
6. The Lonely Heart – A young man ponders the end of his life after being rejected by society and family but not everything is what it seems.
7. Mary had a Little Lamb – A young woman who receives a disturbing prophecy that someone she loves will end her life and the desperate measures she takes to keep that from happening.
8. Mother and the Birds - Flash fiction of what a mother wants her son to learn.
9. The Death Star – A story in the voice of a young star looking for his purpose in space and finally finding it.
10. Children of the Mist – Wishes do come true but at what expense? Five young children were given their dreams and now the time has come for them to make a choice whether they want to keep their dreams.
122 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 2012
4 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Hamidah Gul
2 books2 followersWriting is therapeutic for me. I only write fiction because it takes me away from my real life. Just writing horror feels too straight so I do it with a little humor. Life's too short to tell a story without a smile.
My favorite moment each day is not when I'm typing a story. It's when its bedtime and I'm holding my 4 year old girl in my arms.
Only recently my daughter started telling me stories. And sometimes her stories get a little violent which got me a little proud. That inspired me to go back to writing more. I wanted her to enjoy writing as much as I did.
I'm not the best writer out there but I do have stories in my head that I would like to pen down with more finesse. And hopefully one day I would get there.
My favorite moment each day is not when I'm typing a story. It's when its bedtime and I'm holding my 4 year old girl in my arms.
Only recently my daughter started telling me stories. And sometimes her stories get a little violent which got me a little proud. That inspired me to go back to writing more. I wanted her to enjoy writing as much as I did.
I'm not the best writer out there but I do have stories in my head that I would like to pen down with more finesse. And hopefully one day I would get there.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 31, 2012
this is a conceptually creepy collection of short stories, like twisted little twilight zone episodes that never got made. there is something familiar about them, while at the same time completely original. and that's what i liked best about them: their almost classic simplicity. they are short and to the point; they are twisted little scenarios i have not encountered anywhere else, but after reading them, you are pleased at their elegance.
this is my favorite synopsis: come home with me - do not invite her to come home with you.
how perfect a summary is that?
the only two stories i wasn't crazy about were the other side/mission of mercy, and the death star. both of these were less horror stories and more sci-fi, which might delight a different reader - i am just not real keen on the sci-fi genre. and unfortunately, TOS/MOM takes up 39 pages of a 122-page book, so it's a pretty good chunk of the content. alas.
my favorite was probably mary had a little lamb, in which a girl visits a gypsy fortune teller and learns that she will die within the year at the hands of someone who loves her. well, what's a girl supposed to do with that except kill 'em all? and how could that plan go wrong? i loved it.
the lonely heart was also a standout - it was sad and quietly chilling. more melancholy than scary, but entirely original.
there are great ideas behind these stories, and so quickly realized into tiny little pieces.i would love to read more straight horror-pieces from this author.
children of the mist reminded me of early stephen king, in a way, and not just because of the title, which combines two of his titles, and i only just realized that. but it has that "group of people, supernatural, difficult decisions" theme that makes it feel like an early king story, you know? but not derivative.
overall, i liked this collection very much. some other reviewers have focused on the editing, and, yeah, there are some typos and errors, but it's not like it makes the book incomprehensible, and it's not bad enough that it gives you the giggles, like when you see japanese signs translated into english.
it's not perfect. so what? if you are sensitive to errors and they mar your enjoyment of a book, don't read this one, but the real sniffy types probably wouldn't be reading a self-published book of horror stories anyway, so who needs 'em? and, honestly, i just finished a novel bookstore, and there were four or five typos in that book, which was most certainly not self-published. these things happen.
it's tiny, it's a fast read, i enjoyed it, and i would read more.
August 23, 2012
Hamidal Gul certainly isn't lacking in imagination. Many of her stories would find a welcome home in something like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. However, her self-published collection of short stories, Anthology 1: The Other Side, is lacking in polish and her stories fail to deliver, great as some of her ideas may be. They play out as cheesy camp, the so bad they're good kind of stories, which is okay as long as the bad is able to transform into the good. In this case they don't. And believe me, I was rooting for Gul along the way.
Gul just might find a decent line of work in marketing. Her book has a great cover and is an attractive package overall. To read the premise of each story is enough to fall in love. I mean, who wouldn't want to read a story titled "Come Home with Me," and advertised like this: "Do not invite her to come home with you." Or: "The Best Friend - Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she smiles at you." The irony and simplicity of the first is borderline genius, and the ambiguity of the last is sinister: is she smiling at you lustily, or is she smiling at you because she wants to kill you? The problem is the stories just don't measure up to their descriptions. "The Best Friend" has a clever twist end to be sure, but it doesn't really make a lot of sense. And "Come Home with Me" suffers from a lack of development. In fact that's the problem with most of the stories. In these kinds of stories I'm not looking for in-depth character analysis, but something like a powerful atmosphere would have done wonders.
One of the problems is the language. Gul is from Singapore, it turns out, and she could not have gotten this published in the U.S. if not for the help of Lulu.com. That English is her second language is obvious, sometimes painfully so, and there were many parts that were unintentionally funny. For example, Gul writes in one story, "...she was smiling as if it pleasured her." What Gul means is "pleased," but this is exactly the kind of mistake a foreigner would make, out of innocence. There are also tense problems; it's not rare to find that one sentence contains both a present tense and a past tense verb. These kinds of things just serve to detract from the reading experience as a whole.
In all there are ten short stories of varying lengths. Some make very little sense, such as "The Death Star," which is not so much about Star Wars as it is about a young star that decides to destroy the Earth. Others are boring, such as the companion stories "The Other Side" and "Mission of Mercy," stories about the end of humanity first from the perspective of humans and then from the perspective of "peace-loving" aliens who see destroying humans as the only way to save the planet. Gul is a utilitarian - she seems to believe it's okay for the life of one person or one species to end in order to save that of another. This is also seen in her story "The Suicide Case," where a man's suicide blocks traffic and redirects a would-be killer into a deadly earthquake. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is sickening, about a woman who kills her loved ones to prevent her own death. The stories with the most promise, other than her flash fiction piece mentioned in the next paragraph, are "Children of the Mist" and "The Lonely Heart." "The Lonely Heart" has a nice twist and a great idea, but its execution is lacking, both in character development and an appropriate atmosphere. "Children of the Mist" has promise in setting up a scenario where five people could choose either their memories or a promising future, but Gul fails to set up compelling consequences for choosing one over the other, and so the story ends in disappointment.
Her best is her shortest, a flash fiction piece called "Mother and the Birds." It reflects Gul's sinister sense of humor, all punctuated in the last paragraph by a rather brilliant twist. One thing going for Gul is that she isn't trying to be too serious. That's a problem I have with many authors that work in the paranormal. Stephanie Meier is too serious, and Suzanne Collins, though perhaps not paranormal, is even more serious. Gul is not. She tells impossible things, like a story from the point of view of somebody who has just died, without skipping a beat. Some of her dialogue is fun, and so are her setups. It's the execution that's lacking.
Gul just might find a decent line of work in marketing. Her book has a great cover and is an attractive package overall. To read the premise of each story is enough to fall in love. I mean, who wouldn't want to read a story titled "Come Home with Me," and advertised like this: "Do not invite her to come home with you." Or: "The Best Friend - Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she smiles at you." The irony and simplicity of the first is borderline genius, and the ambiguity of the last is sinister: is she smiling at you lustily, or is she smiling at you because she wants to kill you? The problem is the stories just don't measure up to their descriptions. "The Best Friend" has a clever twist end to be sure, but it doesn't really make a lot of sense. And "Come Home with Me" suffers from a lack of development. In fact that's the problem with most of the stories. In these kinds of stories I'm not looking for in-depth character analysis, but something like a powerful atmosphere would have done wonders.
One of the problems is the language. Gul is from Singapore, it turns out, and she could not have gotten this published in the U.S. if not for the help of Lulu.com. That English is her second language is obvious, sometimes painfully so, and there were many parts that were unintentionally funny. For example, Gul writes in one story, "...she was smiling as if it pleasured her." What Gul means is "pleased," but this is exactly the kind of mistake a foreigner would make, out of innocence. There are also tense problems; it's not rare to find that one sentence contains both a present tense and a past tense verb. These kinds of things just serve to detract from the reading experience as a whole.
In all there are ten short stories of varying lengths. Some make very little sense, such as "The Death Star," which is not so much about Star Wars as it is about a young star that decides to destroy the Earth. Others are boring, such as the companion stories "The Other Side" and "Mission of Mercy," stories about the end of humanity first from the perspective of humans and then from the perspective of "peace-loving" aliens who see destroying humans as the only way to save the planet. Gul is a utilitarian - she seems to believe it's okay for the life of one person or one species to end in order to save that of another. This is also seen in her story "The Suicide Case," where a man's suicide blocks traffic and redirects a would-be killer into a deadly earthquake. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is sickening, about a woman who kills her loved ones to prevent her own death. The stories with the most promise, other than her flash fiction piece mentioned in the next paragraph, are "Children of the Mist" and "The Lonely Heart." "The Lonely Heart" has a nice twist and a great idea, but its execution is lacking, both in character development and an appropriate atmosphere. "Children of the Mist" has promise in setting up a scenario where five people could choose either their memories or a promising future, but Gul fails to set up compelling consequences for choosing one over the other, and so the story ends in disappointment.
Her best is her shortest, a flash fiction piece called "Mother and the Birds." It reflects Gul's sinister sense of humor, all punctuated in the last paragraph by a rather brilliant twist. One thing going for Gul is that she isn't trying to be too serious. That's a problem I have with many authors that work in the paranormal. Stephanie Meier is too serious, and Suzanne Collins, though perhaps not paranormal, is even more serious. Gul is not. She tells impossible things, like a story from the point of view of somebody who has just died, without skipping a beat. Some of her dialogue is fun, and so are her setups. It's the execution that's lacking.
June 6, 2012
Group of short stories that were very good. Some better than others but overall worth reading.
August 12, 2012
Anthology: The Other Side
Hamidah Gul
Life is precious and how we view it depends on our own perspective and how we think others view us. One three voices are heard in this first story titled The Suicide Case in this Anthology called The Other Side beginning with one young man who feels despondent, alone and has decided that his life is worthless. The second faces his feelings about a woman and why he feels he would like to end her life the final about a coma patient. The Walking Dead is how the author refers to our first character that feels his life is not worth living, he has done nothing noteworthy and the only way to create some type of legacy or importance is to end his life. Next, we hear the voice of someone referred to as The Dead Soul an evil man with wicked thoughts describing his hate and feelings for another human being that he hopes will not live and whose eyes he wants to remain closed. Next, we meet the final character called the Living Dead who appears to be in a coma and whose memories flood, a voice that she fears and her thoughts about what would happen if she finally opens her eyes. All three lies held in the balance and each about to meet a different fate. Walking Dead hates life, sits on his car, thinks about how to end it all and then the Dead Soul follows. Each in their cars, each one has their own destination but what will happen will definitely change things for both of them. As the two men are driving and both are in traffic and horns are blaring they each wonder what is holding up the traffic. The Walking Dead steers his car, the honking fades and what happens to him will change the fate of another. The Dead Soul is angry and sees what happens to the Walking Dead but the earth begins to shake, the movement so great and you can predict the rest. Finally, the Living Dead, the woman in a coma opens her eyes, learns the fate of her husband and the voice that she feared coming to see her. What the doctor reveals to her about what would have happened at he arrived will change her perspective on everything, create some fear in her heart and the rest and what happens you will have to read in story one The Suicide Case.
Story Two is called Come Home With Me, which will teach you never to talk to strangers, listen to your mother and be careful for what you wish for. As we meet the main character of the story that was waiting for someone to arrive but instead his mother does. The eerie feeling you get from the mother’s voice, her statements will let you know that they are not alone. The spirit that arrives wants to take the life of another person. The dread you can hear in his mother’s voice as she warns him that she is there. His mother leaves the room and what happens will give you chills all over. A shrill of laughter and the knowledge that death is just a day away as one 15-year-old boy named Jimmy sees a vision and what happens you won’t believe. Sometimes taking someone home with you might be your end. The Other Side is really quite scary as we hear the voice of someone who thinks he has died saving a child. Describing as most might say a Near Death Experience he begins to recount all of the mistakes he made in life with his parents, his sister and brother. The remorse he feels is evident as he meets an angel named Maia and learns the true meaning of love , forgiveness and family while witnessing the end of the world or did he? Floating on a star he sees and envisions many things as he travels to Pluto and meets some other species whose goal it is to destroy human life. Just why you have to read for yourself when you read part one of The Other Side. Does he live, does he open his eyes and what happens that changes him you won’t believe. The Artist is coming to take over and it’s time for him to go he says. The angel was it real? The adventure was it real? Did he really visit Pluto? What really happened? Where did the smell of roses come from?
Mission of Mercy is next which is part two of The Other Side. You see he did witness the world coming to an end and the earth burned up. Seeing the final moments of his planet from his own ship. He calls himself Darshanas and he claims to be the leader of his nation. Decribing his high command, where they live and he tells about the world that they would inhabit. The author gives the reader much pause for thought in this story as you wonder what is real, whether they really crossed the barrier and were in a universe floating through the Milky Way. Razanash was the high command and he was in charge. Describing the planets, its appearance and where they were headed will surprise the reader. Would the technology be new or will be it old? Are they the only race on this earth or are their others more advanced? Will they present a threat? Are they human? Can different races live together? What really happened and where they wind up you have to read for yourself? Do you care about your planet? Do you really want life to survive? Are they really destroying it? Find out when you read Mission of Mercy and learn the truth.
The next story is The Best Friend. Sometimes your best friend might be someone who is your worst nightmare. Can you hear the voice of this person? What is this person really thinking about you? What would you do if this person was watching your every move? What happens when she opens her eyes? You need to learn just who or what she sees and what is real or not? The next story is the Lonely Heart about a son who feels unwanted and neglected and has decided to end his life. As in the first story we meet another character similar to that of The Walking Dead who feels his life does not matter, feels alone and hates his life. Of course he blames himself for the bad things that happened to his mother, wondered if she would have been better off without them. Sounds like a lot of self -pity. A mother he states that showed him no affection and a girl named Mary Sue did the same. Each story is sad, each story deals with death and how many view it from their different perspectives.
As the young man in question decides on his own fate, what he is going to do and how to do it, will he leave a note for his mother where would he go to do it and why? But, when his mother comes home and sees the note the author allows the reader to realize more about her than Daniel her son did. Parents need to express their feelings for their children before it’s too late and giving up is never the answer. Where would she go and what happens? Read it to find out.
Mary Had A Little Lamb is next followed by Mother and her Birds. Who is Lucy and what does she do? Read Mary Had A Little Lamb to find out. Next a mother who wants to teach her son a lesson that no mother should ever teach a child followed by The Death Star. Imagine a star that is called Einde 2012. Imagine a star that is born of hope, mystery and innocence. Hear the words directly from the star as she is born and describes her life. From being a baby star that burned so bright and then had no idea what to do or where to go. Passing over the big stars she felt so small and wanted to feel important. Light-years passed and the little star waited like most children do for the guidance of her parent to tell her where to go and what was next. But, it never came until one day: the Journey: An explosion that separated her from her mother sending her to a new home. Where she winds up you have to learn for yourself but first she sees a beautiful planet and hears whispers. For five years that is all she hears. Somewhere within this planet but what was her destiny and what happened at the end? Find out when you read The Death Star and understand its name.
Finally the last story is Children of the Mist. What if your past was a blank and was about to come back to you? What if you were invited to a reunion but received a strange call to attend? What if you were given Joe Cross would enter what some might think is the Twilight Zone and the events that unfold will shake you to the core and bring chills down your spine. Five friends recounting their lives. Why were they there? What really happened to them? A mist surrounds the shed where they wind up and Joe’s memory is not fully restored. But, when they each remember something that happened what would happen when they confess the truth? Running from their pasts could they really hide? The pain they felt inside and the mist that surrounded them giving each one a wish in exchange for their memories. Would you give up you thoughts to forget something you have done? What if it meant giving up your entire past?
What happens and the decisions each of the five make will definitely make you ask this question: Would you want your past back and your memories if you knew the outcome? Ten stories about death, ten stories that make you appreciate life. This is one book that will definitely haunt you for a very long time. Death if final the author makes you value life and brings to light the importance of embracing it.
Fran Lewis: reviewer
Hamidah Gul
Life is precious and how we view it depends on our own perspective and how we think others view us. One three voices are heard in this first story titled The Suicide Case in this Anthology called The Other Side beginning with one young man who feels despondent, alone and has decided that his life is worthless. The second faces his feelings about a woman and why he feels he would like to end her life the final about a coma patient. The Walking Dead is how the author refers to our first character that feels his life is not worth living, he has done nothing noteworthy and the only way to create some type of legacy or importance is to end his life. Next, we hear the voice of someone referred to as The Dead Soul an evil man with wicked thoughts describing his hate and feelings for another human being that he hopes will not live and whose eyes he wants to remain closed. Next, we meet the final character called the Living Dead who appears to be in a coma and whose memories flood, a voice that she fears and her thoughts about what would happen if she finally opens her eyes. All three lies held in the balance and each about to meet a different fate. Walking Dead hates life, sits on his car, thinks about how to end it all and then the Dead Soul follows. Each in their cars, each one has their own destination but what will happen will definitely change things for both of them. As the two men are driving and both are in traffic and horns are blaring they each wonder what is holding up the traffic. The Walking Dead steers his car, the honking fades and what happens to him will change the fate of another. The Dead Soul is angry and sees what happens to the Walking Dead but the earth begins to shake, the movement so great and you can predict the rest. Finally, the Living Dead, the woman in a coma opens her eyes, learns the fate of her husband and the voice that she feared coming to see her. What the doctor reveals to her about what would have happened at he arrived will change her perspective on everything, create some fear in her heart and the rest and what happens you will have to read in story one The Suicide Case.
Story Two is called Come Home With Me, which will teach you never to talk to strangers, listen to your mother and be careful for what you wish for. As we meet the main character of the story that was waiting for someone to arrive but instead his mother does. The eerie feeling you get from the mother’s voice, her statements will let you know that they are not alone. The spirit that arrives wants to take the life of another person. The dread you can hear in his mother’s voice as she warns him that she is there. His mother leaves the room and what happens will give you chills all over. A shrill of laughter and the knowledge that death is just a day away as one 15-year-old boy named Jimmy sees a vision and what happens you won’t believe. Sometimes taking someone home with you might be your end. The Other Side is really quite scary as we hear the voice of someone who thinks he has died saving a child. Describing as most might say a Near Death Experience he begins to recount all of the mistakes he made in life with his parents, his sister and brother. The remorse he feels is evident as he meets an angel named Maia and learns the true meaning of love , forgiveness and family while witnessing the end of the world or did he? Floating on a star he sees and envisions many things as he travels to Pluto and meets some other species whose goal it is to destroy human life. Just why you have to read for yourself when you read part one of The Other Side. Does he live, does he open his eyes and what happens that changes him you won’t believe. The Artist is coming to take over and it’s time for him to go he says. The angel was it real? The adventure was it real? Did he really visit Pluto? What really happened? Where did the smell of roses come from?
Mission of Mercy is next which is part two of The Other Side. You see he did witness the world coming to an end and the earth burned up. Seeing the final moments of his planet from his own ship. He calls himself Darshanas and he claims to be the leader of his nation. Decribing his high command, where they live and he tells about the world that they would inhabit. The author gives the reader much pause for thought in this story as you wonder what is real, whether they really crossed the barrier and were in a universe floating through the Milky Way. Razanash was the high command and he was in charge. Describing the planets, its appearance and where they were headed will surprise the reader. Would the technology be new or will be it old? Are they the only race on this earth or are their others more advanced? Will they present a threat? Are they human? Can different races live together? What really happened and where they wind up you have to read for yourself? Do you care about your planet? Do you really want life to survive? Are they really destroying it? Find out when you read Mission of Mercy and learn the truth.
The next story is The Best Friend. Sometimes your best friend might be someone who is your worst nightmare. Can you hear the voice of this person? What is this person really thinking about you? What would you do if this person was watching your every move? What happens when she opens her eyes? You need to learn just who or what she sees and what is real or not? The next story is the Lonely Heart about a son who feels unwanted and neglected and has decided to end his life. As in the first story we meet another character similar to that of The Walking Dead who feels his life does not matter, feels alone and hates his life. Of course he blames himself for the bad things that happened to his mother, wondered if she would have been better off without them. Sounds like a lot of self -pity. A mother he states that showed him no affection and a girl named Mary Sue did the same. Each story is sad, each story deals with death and how many view it from their different perspectives.
As the young man in question decides on his own fate, what he is going to do and how to do it, will he leave a note for his mother where would he go to do it and why? But, when his mother comes home and sees the note the author allows the reader to realize more about her than Daniel her son did. Parents need to express their feelings for their children before it’s too late and giving up is never the answer. Where would she go and what happens? Read it to find out.
Mary Had A Little Lamb is next followed by Mother and her Birds. Who is Lucy and what does she do? Read Mary Had A Little Lamb to find out. Next a mother who wants to teach her son a lesson that no mother should ever teach a child followed by The Death Star. Imagine a star that is called Einde 2012. Imagine a star that is born of hope, mystery and innocence. Hear the words directly from the star as she is born and describes her life. From being a baby star that burned so bright and then had no idea what to do or where to go. Passing over the big stars she felt so small and wanted to feel important. Light-years passed and the little star waited like most children do for the guidance of her parent to tell her where to go and what was next. But, it never came until one day: the Journey: An explosion that separated her from her mother sending her to a new home. Where she winds up you have to learn for yourself but first she sees a beautiful planet and hears whispers. For five years that is all she hears. Somewhere within this planet but what was her destiny and what happened at the end? Find out when you read The Death Star and understand its name.
Finally the last story is Children of the Mist. What if your past was a blank and was about to come back to you? What if you were invited to a reunion but received a strange call to attend? What if you were given Joe Cross would enter what some might think is the Twilight Zone and the events that unfold will shake you to the core and bring chills down your spine. Five friends recounting their lives. Why were they there? What really happened to them? A mist surrounds the shed where they wind up and Joe’s memory is not fully restored. But, when they each remember something that happened what would happen when they confess the truth? Running from their pasts could they really hide? The pain they felt inside and the mist that surrounded them giving each one a wish in exchange for their memories. Would you give up you thoughts to forget something you have done? What if it meant giving up your entire past?
What happens and the decisions each of the five make will definitely make you ask this question: Would you want your past back and your memories if you knew the outcome? Ten stories about death, ten stories that make you appreciate life. This is one book that will definitely haunt you for a very long time. Death if final the author makes you value life and brings to light the importance of embracing it.
Fran Lewis: reviewer
December 19, 2012
Anthology I: The Other Side by Hamidah Gul
Page Count: 121
Release Date: 9 August 2012
Publisher: Lulu (self-published)
Source: Complimentary copy provided by author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!)
A collection of stories about things that go bump in the night. Stories about the end of the world, what happens when your wishes come true, and when your emotions become your darkest enemy.
1. "The Suicide Case"—A story about how three lives are intertwined to balance the scales between good and evil.
2. "Come Home with Me"—Never invite her to come home with you. She will never leave till you are dead.
3. "The Other Side"—This story is written in the point of view of one man who witnesses the end of the world.
4. "Mission of Mercy"—This story is written in the point of view of the one who will end the world. This story is linked to The Other Side.
5. "The Best Friend"—Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she is smiling at you?
6. "The Lonely Heart"—A young man ponders the end of his life after being rejected by society and family but not everything is what it seems.
7. "Mary had a Little Lamb"—A young woman who receives a disturbing prophecy that someone she loves will end her life and the desperate measures she takes to keep that from happening.
8. "Mother and the Birds"—Flash fiction of what a mother wants her son to learn.
9. "The Death Star"—A story in the voice of a young star looking for his purpose in space and finally finding it.
10. "Children of the Mist"—Wishes do come true but at what expense? Five young children were given their dreams and now the time has come for them to make a choice whether they want to keep their dreams.
Review: Gul creatively captures the importance of perspective in fiction and in reality because, as we all know: there are two sides to every story... oftentimes, there are even more. It's difficult to sympathize with the enemy, the side we never consider, or the random passersby in a catastrophic incident, but in the balance of things, their stories matter just as much as the main point of view does. In The Other Side, readers delve into the minds of murderers, residents of nature, suicide victims, monsters, aliens, ghosts, both predator and prey, as well as destruction incarnate; the minds of the inanimate and insane that we'd never, ever imagine on our own.
The blurry issue of perception intrigues me greatly, which is why I think Gul hit home with the concept of writing from the ill-exposed "other side." However, there are many areas where this book is lacking, one being the grammar. I can excuse typography errors in a book (even big-house publishers' editors slip past a few misspellings and punctuation mistakes here and there), but poor grammar—especially when it's recurring—docks points overall because it detracts from reading flow as a whole. Gul seems to have trouble distinguishing between the past and present tenses, as well as between active and passive verbs. I expect these writing conventions to be followed in a published work; even if the author's first language is not English, there should have been an editor involved before marketing The Other Side. Overall, it made the voice very stiff and awkward. The anthology itself is very short, with easily manageable short stories, but because of the poor diction, I had some difficulty with it.
Here are my mini reviews for each of the stories in order of which they appear in the collection:
"Come Home With Me": Short and sweet story about soul-stealing spirits, their lure, and their resulting destruction. Chilling, deeply disturbing, and only lasts for a flash before it's over. One of my favorites!
"The Other Side": The human perspective of the apocalypse. Interesting idea, but unnecessarily lengthy and detailed. I had trouble following after the first few pages, but do understand the overall plot thanks to the followup story from a different point of view...
"Mission of Mercy": Fabulous retelling of "The Other Side" but from the aliens' point of view. Raises the perpetually spine-tingling question of what if? and will make readers double-take on the implications of unknown sides of a story. Moving, well-written, and much clearer in structure than the previous story.
"The Best Friend": A brief, surprising, and cheeky piece of flash fiction. I loved the twist in the end, as well as the author's amusing insinuations regarding a man's best friend.
"The Lonely Heart": Rich in language and poignant in message, this story details on a neglected son's unwillingness to hold on and his hardworking mother's misunderstanding of the world. Depressing tone with literary merit.
"Mary Had a Little Lamb": One of the more gruesome, more horrific stories in the collection. Very intense, up to the point where I thought it was rather melodramatic, but it's still an eerie read that teaches you never to forget those you love... because they just might kill you in the end.
"Mother and the Birds": The shortest, but most powerful story in the book that places readers in the minds and hearts of a particular animal of nature. We as humans may not understand nature, but this extended metaphor will tragically demonstrate what it is that sets us apart from it.
"Children of the Mist": Another compelling idea for a story, involving another hypothetical situation that constantly asks what if? We all have wishes, but what if they actually came true? "Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it"—this lesson, our protagonists painfully and devastatingly learn.
"The Suicide Case": I didn't really like this one because I don't fully understand it. It has shifting perspectives involving a several deaths and a resonating message about the importance of life, but it just didn't stick with me.
Love: "You close your eyes to the ugliness of the world, and you revel in the silence that slumber brings as you tumble into serenity."
Pros: Fascinating concept regarding perspective play // Straightforward voice // Spine-chilling // Variety of stories // Short, quick reads // Pocket-sized book
Cons: Grammar errors, rather than typos; in desperate need of revision and editing // Some stories difficult to make sense of // Overall awkward in tone
Verdict: The Other Side is a groundbreaking, spellbinding collection of short stories that goes where no book has gone before by probing the darkest recesses of the "other" minds. While I didn't care for the frequent grammatical errors because they made the narrative tone choppy and awkward, the concept is novel, invigorating, and refreshing, so I do recommend you give it a try.
6 hearts: Satisfying for a first read, but I'm not going back.
Page Count: 121
Release Date: 9 August 2012
Publisher: Lulu (self-published)
Source: Complimentary copy provided by author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!)
A collection of stories about things that go bump in the night. Stories about the end of the world, what happens when your wishes come true, and when your emotions become your darkest enemy.
1. "The Suicide Case"—A story about how three lives are intertwined to balance the scales between good and evil.
2. "Come Home with Me"—Never invite her to come home with you. She will never leave till you are dead.
3. "The Other Side"—This story is written in the point of view of one man who witnesses the end of the world.
4. "Mission of Mercy"—This story is written in the point of view of the one who will end the world. This story is linked to The Other Side.
5. "The Best Friend"—Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she is smiling at you?
6. "The Lonely Heart"—A young man ponders the end of his life after being rejected by society and family but not everything is what it seems.
7. "Mary had a Little Lamb"—A young woman who receives a disturbing prophecy that someone she loves will end her life and the desperate measures she takes to keep that from happening.
8. "Mother and the Birds"—Flash fiction of what a mother wants her son to learn.
9. "The Death Star"—A story in the voice of a young star looking for his purpose in space and finally finding it.
10. "Children of the Mist"—Wishes do come true but at what expense? Five young children were given their dreams and now the time has come for them to make a choice whether they want to keep their dreams.
Review: Gul creatively captures the importance of perspective in fiction and in reality because, as we all know: there are two sides to every story... oftentimes, there are even more. It's difficult to sympathize with the enemy, the side we never consider, or the random passersby in a catastrophic incident, but in the balance of things, their stories matter just as much as the main point of view does. In The Other Side, readers delve into the minds of murderers, residents of nature, suicide victims, monsters, aliens, ghosts, both predator and prey, as well as destruction incarnate; the minds of the inanimate and insane that we'd never, ever imagine on our own.
The blurry issue of perception intrigues me greatly, which is why I think Gul hit home with the concept of writing from the ill-exposed "other side." However, there are many areas where this book is lacking, one being the grammar. I can excuse typography errors in a book (even big-house publishers' editors slip past a few misspellings and punctuation mistakes here and there), but poor grammar—especially when it's recurring—docks points overall because it detracts from reading flow as a whole. Gul seems to have trouble distinguishing between the past and present tenses, as well as between active and passive verbs. I expect these writing conventions to be followed in a published work; even if the author's first language is not English, there should have been an editor involved before marketing The Other Side. Overall, it made the voice very stiff and awkward. The anthology itself is very short, with easily manageable short stories, but because of the poor diction, I had some difficulty with it.
Here are my mini reviews for each of the stories in order of which they appear in the collection:
"Come Home With Me": Short and sweet story about soul-stealing spirits, their lure, and their resulting destruction. Chilling, deeply disturbing, and only lasts for a flash before it's over. One of my favorites!
"The Other Side": The human perspective of the apocalypse. Interesting idea, but unnecessarily lengthy and detailed. I had trouble following after the first few pages, but do understand the overall plot thanks to the followup story from a different point of view...
"Mission of Mercy": Fabulous retelling of "The Other Side" but from the aliens' point of view. Raises the perpetually spine-tingling question of what if? and will make readers double-take on the implications of unknown sides of a story. Moving, well-written, and much clearer in structure than the previous story.
"The Best Friend": A brief, surprising, and cheeky piece of flash fiction. I loved the twist in the end, as well as the author's amusing insinuations regarding a man's best friend.
"The Lonely Heart": Rich in language and poignant in message, this story details on a neglected son's unwillingness to hold on and his hardworking mother's misunderstanding of the world. Depressing tone with literary merit.
"Mary Had a Little Lamb": One of the more gruesome, more horrific stories in the collection. Very intense, up to the point where I thought it was rather melodramatic, but it's still an eerie read that teaches you never to forget those you love... because they just might kill you in the end.
"Mother and the Birds": The shortest, but most powerful story in the book that places readers in the minds and hearts of a particular animal of nature. We as humans may not understand nature, but this extended metaphor will tragically demonstrate what it is that sets us apart from it.
"Children of the Mist": Another compelling idea for a story, involving another hypothetical situation that constantly asks what if? We all have wishes, but what if they actually came true? "Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it"—this lesson, our protagonists painfully and devastatingly learn.
"The Suicide Case": I didn't really like this one because I don't fully understand it. It has shifting perspectives involving a several deaths and a resonating message about the importance of life, but it just didn't stick with me.
Love: "You close your eyes to the ugliness of the world, and you revel in the silence that slumber brings as you tumble into serenity."
Pros: Fascinating concept regarding perspective play // Straightforward voice // Spine-chilling // Variety of stories // Short, quick reads // Pocket-sized book
Cons: Grammar errors, rather than typos; in desperate need of revision and editing // Some stories difficult to make sense of // Overall awkward in tone
Verdict: The Other Side is a groundbreaking, spellbinding collection of short stories that goes where no book has gone before by probing the darkest recesses of the "other" minds. While I didn't care for the frequent grammatical errors because they made the narrative tone choppy and awkward, the concept is novel, invigorating, and refreshing, so I do recommend you give it a try.
6 hearts: Satisfying for a first read, but I'm not going back.
January 3, 2013
I've always been very fond of reading. ALWAYS. And I will probably be an avid reader forever. Fiction, non-fiction, love stories, scary novels, shampoo and conditioner bottle labels... name it! Good books, bad books, I've had my fair share of those over the years. But of course, to say that a book is good or bad is very relative. We all have varying tastes after all. And of course, the mere act of actually finishing a story is already a great accomplishment for a writer. So now, I'd like to share another good find I came across with.
Hamidah Gul's Anthology I - The Other Side is a collection of ten short stories about things that go bump in the night, as the author and the book's official description says. I find the phrase pretty much accurate in describing the overall theme of the stories. They are of the kind which gives you the creeps, you know, just enough to make you slowly turn your head to see if there's someone or something looking at you right now... from behind your chair... or from under the bed... Got the picture? Yeah, those kinds of stories.
Here is a list of the story titles, with a bit of description courtesy of the author.
Among the ten, of course I had some favorites, so I took the liberty of highlighting them and adding a snippet of why I liked it...
1. Come Home with Me – Never invite her to come home with you. She will never leave till you are dead.
2. The Other Side – This story is written in the point of view of one man who witnesses the end of the world.
3. Mission of Mercy – This story is written in the point of view of the one who will end the world. This story is linked to The Other Side.
4. The Best Friend – Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she is smiling at you?
--- Made me think, "Oh my! Is THAT what my "best friend" is thinking too?" and cross my fingers and hope that it isn't.
5. The Lonely Heart – A young man ponders the end of his life after being rejected by society and family but not everything is what it seems.
--- Death is a very versatile concept which is very easy to manipulate and play with in any story. Mix it in with the magic of a mother's love for her child, and the child's love for his mother, and you'll get something which gives you the shivers yet claws at the deepest recesses of your heart.
6. Mary Had a Little Lamb – A young woman who receives a disturbing prophecy that someone she loves will end her life and the desperate measures she takes to keep that from happening.
--- This is why I will never go to fortune tellers.
7. Mother and the Birds - Flash fiction of what a mother wants her son to learn.
--- I love this story for the same reason I loved The Lonely Heart. This time around though, it was way quicker. It's a single page shocker.
8. The Death Star – A story in the voice of a young star looking for his purpose in space and finally finding it.
9. Children of the Mist – Wishes do come true but at what expense? Five young children were given their dreams and now the time has come for them to make a choice whether they want to keep their dreams.
10. The Suicide Case – A story about how three lives are intertwined to balance the scales between good
and evil.
--- At first I got a bit confused, jumping from one person's story to another and then another then back again to the first one, or the second. When I finally understood it and came to the ending, I was pretty scared. Some things are really not supposed to be how they look like. This one could have been expounded in a full-scale novel.
Anthology I is the first short story collection that I had actually finished reading. Hamidah made good use of the advantage that short stories have over full-scale novels. They're not too long that they will bore you before you get to the good parts. Moving on to the next story becomes an entirely different adventure from the previous one.
Just a few shivers here and there. Not too much to keep me awake the entire night. Or scare me so bad that I couldn't go to the toilet alone. J
Hamidah Gul's Anthology I - The Other Side is a collection of ten short stories about things that go bump in the night, as the author and the book's official description says. I find the phrase pretty much accurate in describing the overall theme of the stories. They are of the kind which gives you the creeps, you know, just enough to make you slowly turn your head to see if there's someone or something looking at you right now... from behind your chair... or from under the bed... Got the picture? Yeah, those kinds of stories.
Here is a list of the story titles, with a bit of description courtesy of the author.
Among the ten, of course I had some favorites, so I took the liberty of highlighting them and adding a snippet of why I liked it...
1. Come Home with Me – Never invite her to come home with you. She will never leave till you are dead.
2. The Other Side – This story is written in the point of view of one man who witnesses the end of the world.
3. Mission of Mercy – This story is written in the point of view of the one who will end the world. This story is linked to The Other Side.
4. The Best Friend – Ever wondered what your best friend is thinking when she is smiling at you?
--- Made me think, "Oh my! Is THAT what my "best friend" is thinking too?" and cross my fingers and hope that it isn't.
5. The Lonely Heart – A young man ponders the end of his life after being rejected by society and family but not everything is what it seems.
--- Death is a very versatile concept which is very easy to manipulate and play with in any story. Mix it in with the magic of a mother's love for her child, and the child's love for his mother, and you'll get something which gives you the shivers yet claws at the deepest recesses of your heart.
6. Mary Had a Little Lamb – A young woman who receives a disturbing prophecy that someone she loves will end her life and the desperate measures she takes to keep that from happening.
--- This is why I will never go to fortune tellers.
7. Mother and the Birds - Flash fiction of what a mother wants her son to learn.
--- I love this story for the same reason I loved The Lonely Heart. This time around though, it was way quicker. It's a single page shocker.
8. The Death Star – A story in the voice of a young star looking for his purpose in space and finally finding it.
9. Children of the Mist – Wishes do come true but at what expense? Five young children were given their dreams and now the time has come for them to make a choice whether they want to keep their dreams.
10. The Suicide Case – A story about how three lives are intertwined to balance the scales between good
and evil.
--- At first I got a bit confused, jumping from one person's story to another and then another then back again to the first one, or the second. When I finally understood it and came to the ending, I was pretty scared. Some things are really not supposed to be how they look like. This one could have been expounded in a full-scale novel.
Anthology I is the first short story collection that I had actually finished reading. Hamidah made good use of the advantage that short stories have over full-scale novels. They're not too long that they will bore you before you get to the good parts. Moving on to the next story becomes an entirely different adventure from the previous one.
Just a few shivers here and there. Not too much to keep me awake the entire night. Or scare me so bad that I couldn't go to the toilet alone. J
November 19, 2012
This review was originally posted on Melissa's Midnight Musings on November 7, 2012.
I read this on Halloween, not purposefully, just because it happened to be the next book in my review request list. I was hoping that it would be a perfect fit, being that it's an anthology of horror stories. I thought it would be the perfect way to be a little spooked on Halloween.
Sadly, I wasn't at all scared by these stories.
The main issue that I have with these stories is really twofold. One, the stories seem aimless. They lack clear direction. It felt to me as though the author just tried free writing their way through each story without having a clear beginning, middle and end in mind. There's absolutely nothing wrong with free writing to brainstorm, but trying to use it throughout a story just leads to confusion. There's also not enough details, or story building to keep readers invested. I found myself trying to fill in a lot of details as I read, and asking a lot of questions as to what the real point of the stories is. Sometimes the characters didn't even have names, when having them would have really helped me to feel some sort of connection to them, especially when the rest of the story seems to meander so much. They seem to focus more on the action and not enough on small, binding details, which, no matter the length of the story, are necessary to make it work.
Of the small details that were included, one was extremely overused. The author set several of the stories in the same place, "Murberry Town". On the whole, the name itself is rather plain, and seeing it pop up again and again in these stories pulled me out of them even further.
Secondly, the writing is poor. There are many instances where the tense switches from past to present and back again within the same sentence. There are a lot of sentences where words are missing in very opportune places. These gaps are enough of a hiccup to make the reader stop to try and figure out what is being said. There are also many spots of confusion regarding common sayings. For example, the author wrote: "she was beautiful as always, not a hair in place" when what I think they meant to write, "she was beautiful as always, not a hair out of place"
Some of these stories are more on the grisly/disturbing side. One for example, tells the story from the perspective of a dog, watching his owner sleep. He talks about how he wants to touch her, (in a sexual way,) and then he's thinking of eating her for dinner, like some strange kind of animal vs.human, predator-prey battle or something. But again, there was a strong lack of details that left me feeling slightly grossed out, but otherwise non-plussed.
The author puts brief taglines at the top of the first page of every story, so you can tell by those that the good intentions were present, but the ideas just weren't executed all that well. I think that these stories do have potential, but they need a lot more work and polish before they become truly creepy.
While I didn't enjoy this collection, it's worth noting that 3 of the 10 selections focus on space and aliens, so it's possible that readers who like those types of stories would enjoy this, or at least those particular stories.
*I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
I read this on Halloween, not purposefully, just because it happened to be the next book in my review request list. I was hoping that it would be a perfect fit, being that it's an anthology of horror stories. I thought it would be the perfect way to be a little spooked on Halloween.
Sadly, I wasn't at all scared by these stories.
The main issue that I have with these stories is really twofold. One, the stories seem aimless. They lack clear direction. It felt to me as though the author just tried free writing their way through each story without having a clear beginning, middle and end in mind. There's absolutely nothing wrong with free writing to brainstorm, but trying to use it throughout a story just leads to confusion. There's also not enough details, or story building to keep readers invested. I found myself trying to fill in a lot of details as I read, and asking a lot of questions as to what the real point of the stories is. Sometimes the characters didn't even have names, when having them would have really helped me to feel some sort of connection to them, especially when the rest of the story seems to meander so much. They seem to focus more on the action and not enough on small, binding details, which, no matter the length of the story, are necessary to make it work.
Of the small details that were included, one was extremely overused. The author set several of the stories in the same place, "Murberry Town". On the whole, the name itself is rather plain, and seeing it pop up again and again in these stories pulled me out of them even further.
Secondly, the writing is poor. There are many instances where the tense switches from past to present and back again within the same sentence. There are a lot of sentences where words are missing in very opportune places. These gaps are enough of a hiccup to make the reader stop to try and figure out what is being said. There are also many spots of confusion regarding common sayings. For example, the author wrote: "she was beautiful as always, not a hair in place" when what I think they meant to write, "she was beautiful as always, not a hair out of place"
Some of these stories are more on the grisly/disturbing side. One for example, tells the story from the perspective of a dog, watching his owner sleep. He talks about how he wants to touch her, (in a sexual way,) and then he's thinking of eating her for dinner, like some strange kind of animal vs.human, predator-prey battle or something. But again, there was a strong lack of details that left me feeling slightly grossed out, but otherwise non-plussed.
The author puts brief taglines at the top of the first page of every story, so you can tell by those that the good intentions were present, but the ideas just weren't executed all that well. I think that these stories do have potential, but they need a lot more work and polish before they become truly creepy.
While I didn't enjoy this collection, it's worth noting that 3 of the 10 selections focus on space and aliens, so it's possible that readers who like those types of stories would enjoy this, or at least those particular stories.
*I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
August 30, 2012
I was rather excited when I received this book in the mail, and was even more intrigued as I skimmed through the blurb, which I must say was rather enticing:-
"A collection of stories about things that go bump in the night".
Beautiful isn't it? The words just seem leap at you.
Sadly, the contents of Anthology 1 failed to tickle my fancy. The central ideas in some (not all) of the stories were praise-worthy and the twists in some (again, not all) were interesting, but these didn't outweigh the fact that the stories lacked polish and other elements which make a story great.
There were spelling, grammatical and publication errors throughout the book which were either based on two scenarios - either the novella wasn't thoroughly reviewed prior to publication or the author's first language isn't English. If it's the latter I sincerely apologise.
Come Home With Me was probably my favourite story in the entire book. It was short, though a bit cheesy, and its conclusion was enjoyable.
Mary Had a Little Lamb was my least favourite owing to many circumstances : The title had little relation to the story itself, the construction was poor, and the end was not as unexpected as the author was probably hoping to achieve. I'd also like to critique the reason behind the protagonist's change in personality - it was simply ludicrous. Not to mention, Gul stated that Lucy was capable of erasing all evidence of murder thanks to CSI, yet it seemed that she chose to bury the bodies in the back garden, of all places.
The rest of the book was unfortunately shabby and unoriginal. As a matter of fact, it just got worse as the stories progressed. Perhaps these ideas would work better in some low-budget science fiction television series, or if the grammatical and spelling errors were rectified these tales would probaby be more popular among younger teens (12-16) as there is an R.L. Stine element to this book.
I hate giving harsh reviews, but the fact of the matter is the stories thoroughly need improvement.
Some things I would've hoped for:-
-Better characterisation. Characters make a story, and it is always best to make them interesting to the reader.
-A change of style in writing Horror may be morbid, there is an element of poetry in the best horror novels.
-Thinking outside the box I would prefer more unexpected situations. Sadly the stories were written as if they were essays by a high school pupil as opposed to someone who is seriously considering to become an established author.
-Better gripping climaxes Most of the stories had weak peaks and Gul should have worked on improving this. Despite this Children of the Mist had a nice climax with the smashing windows and faster pace, however the grammatical errors killed it.
Before I close, I'd like to say that I really respect the author for what she's done as it is evident that she's placed a lot of effort in her work. There is no doubt about that. However, she really needs to work on her execution because if a story isn't effectuated well it would simply flop as the case of Anthology 1 - The Other Side.
Originality : 1
Memorability : 1
Characterization : 1
Entertainment : 1
Emotive : 1
Thought Provoking : 1
Simplicity : 5
Total - 1.5 2 stars
"A collection of stories about things that go bump in the night".
Beautiful isn't it? The words just seem leap at you.
Sadly, the contents of Anthology 1 failed to tickle my fancy. The central ideas in some (not all) of the stories were praise-worthy and the twists in some (again, not all) were interesting, but these didn't outweigh the fact that the stories lacked polish and other elements which make a story great.
There were spelling, grammatical and publication errors throughout the book which were either based on two scenarios - either the novella wasn't thoroughly reviewed prior to publication or the author's first language isn't English. If it's the latter I sincerely apologise.
Come Home With Me was probably my favourite story in the entire book. It was short, though a bit cheesy, and its conclusion was enjoyable.
Mary Had a Little Lamb was my least favourite owing to many circumstances : The title had little relation to the story itself, the construction was poor, and the end was not as unexpected as the author was probably hoping to achieve. I'd also like to critique the reason behind the protagonist's change in personality - it was simply ludicrous. Not to mention, Gul stated that Lucy was capable of erasing all evidence of murder thanks to CSI, yet it seemed that she chose to bury the bodies in the back garden, of all places.
The rest of the book was unfortunately shabby and unoriginal. As a matter of fact, it just got worse as the stories progressed. Perhaps these ideas would work better in some low-budget science fiction television series, or if the grammatical and spelling errors were rectified these tales would probaby be more popular among younger teens (12-16) as there is an R.L. Stine element to this book.
I hate giving harsh reviews, but the fact of the matter is the stories thoroughly need improvement.
Some things I would've hoped for:-
-Better characterisation. Characters make a story, and it is always best to make them interesting to the reader.
-A change of style in writing Horror may be morbid, there is an element of poetry in the best horror novels.
-Thinking outside the box I would prefer more unexpected situations. Sadly the stories were written as if they were essays by a high school pupil as opposed to someone who is seriously considering to become an established author.
-Better gripping climaxes Most of the stories had weak peaks and Gul should have worked on improving this. Despite this Children of the Mist had a nice climax with the smashing windows and faster pace, however the grammatical errors killed it.
Before I close, I'd like to say that I really respect the author for what she's done as it is evident that she's placed a lot of effort in her work. There is no doubt about that. However, she really needs to work on her execution because if a story isn't effectuated well it would simply flop as the case of Anthology 1 - The Other Side.
Originality : 1
Memorability : 1
Characterization : 1
Entertainment : 1
Emotive : 1
Thought Provoking : 1
Simplicity : 5
Total - 1.5 2 stars
September 27, 2012
Note: I didn't finish this book, so this review covers only the first few stories.
Anthology I is a collection of short stories that are meant to be horror, but on the light and funny side.
The first story (in my copy; it seems to vary, judging by other reviews) was Come Home With Me. This story was really short, just a few pages. There seemed to be a ghost involved, who killed people. That's about all I could gather, because it was one of those short stories that has no explanation, just things happening, and then it's over, leaving me saying "uh, what?".
The next story was The Other Side. It's about a guy who has a near-death experience in which he travels to other planets and discovers that the Earth is going to be destroyed. Right at the beginning I got annoyed when he said two things: 1) He kept referring to Pluto as a planet. I mean, it's been years. I'm sorry, but Pluto is not a planet! 2) He says that we've visited all the planets but Pluto, which I'm fairly certain is not true, even if you count unmanned probes. After that, the story was fairly interesting, but seemed a bit stretched out.
What made me put this one down was not so much that the stories weren't interesting (at least the ideas seemed to have potential). The writing was just too hard to read. Hamidah Gul is writing in a language that is not her first, and that's made pretty clear. The phrasing is often awkward. Also, often people are speaking, but there are no quotation marks. I don't know if that's a mistake, or if she's doing it stylistically (which some authors definitely do), but either way, I hate it. I like to know when people are talking! If this book had gone through an editing process, that would have made a huge difference.
Full disclosure: Free ebook copy received from the author.
This review is copied from my blog, The Towering Pile. It was originally published here.
Anthology I is a collection of short stories that are meant to be horror, but on the light and funny side.
The first story (in my copy; it seems to vary, judging by other reviews) was Come Home With Me. This story was really short, just a few pages. There seemed to be a ghost involved, who killed people. That's about all I could gather, because it was one of those short stories that has no explanation, just things happening, and then it's over, leaving me saying "uh, what?".
The next story was The Other Side. It's about a guy who has a near-death experience in which he travels to other planets and discovers that the Earth is going to be destroyed. Right at the beginning I got annoyed when he said two things: 1) He kept referring to Pluto as a planet. I mean, it's been years. I'm sorry, but Pluto is not a planet! 2) He says that we've visited all the planets but Pluto, which I'm fairly certain is not true, even if you count unmanned probes. After that, the story was fairly interesting, but seemed a bit stretched out.
What made me put this one down was not so much that the stories weren't interesting (at least the ideas seemed to have potential). The writing was just too hard to read. Hamidah Gul is writing in a language that is not her first, and that's made pretty clear. The phrasing is often awkward. Also, often people are speaking, but there are no quotation marks. I don't know if that's a mistake, or if she's doing it stylistically (which some authors definitely do), but either way, I hate it. I like to know when people are talking! If this book had gone through an editing process, that would have made a huge difference.
Full disclosure: Free ebook copy received from the author.
This review is copied from my blog, The Towering Pile. It was originally published here.
September 22, 2012
This review might surprise most of those who know me, because I usually do not like horror stories but I accepted to read and review this self published work of fiction because I thought it had a similar feeling to Edgar Allan Poe's stories which are awesome even though they are dark and gloomy. So, I said to myself why not read this book.
I was a bit disappointed to be honest. It did not scare me at all. Plus, I felt disgusted at some gory scenes.
There was also two related stories of science-fiction which I thought had nothing to do with the rest of the theme of the book unless aliens are scary to some people, but to me they are not (just like vampires and werewolves too). So, I had a certain expectations that they were not met,but it was not all that bad and here is why.
The author have some wild imagination. Both "The best Friend" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" have a nice twist to their plot. You will never expect the ending. Another nice exhibition of depth and creativity is "The Children of the Mist" where is it not only about scaring the reader but also about sending a message about the choices on make and their impact on our lives. The book is an easy read, just above 100 pages, so it only took half a day to finish it. I enjoyed it.
Some might think I am being generous by giving the book 3 out of 5 cookies, but there was nothing detestable about the book to make me rate it any lower. I was well written for its style. I enjoyed the authors twists and there was good flow to each story. It might not be the best work of Hamidah Gul, but I can definitely see potential for her future works.
I was a bit disappointed to be honest. It did not scare me at all. Plus, I felt disgusted at some gory scenes.
There was also two related stories of science-fiction which I thought had nothing to do with the rest of the theme of the book unless aliens are scary to some people, but to me they are not (just like vampires and werewolves too). So, I had a certain expectations that they were not met,but it was not all that bad and here is why.
The author have some wild imagination. Both "The best Friend" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" have a nice twist to their plot. You will never expect the ending. Another nice exhibition of depth and creativity is "The Children of the Mist" where is it not only about scaring the reader but also about sending a message about the choices on make and their impact on our lives. The book is an easy read, just above 100 pages, so it only took half a day to finish it. I enjoyed it.
Some might think I am being generous by giving the book 3 out of 5 cookies, but there was nothing detestable about the book to make me rate it any lower. I was well written for its style. I enjoyed the authors twists and there was good flow to each story. It might not be the best work of Hamidah Gul, but I can definitely see potential for her future works.
September 20, 2012
You can also find this review on Books For YA!
This is the first time I read an anthology, so I don't have any expectation whatsoever in this book, which is good because when you have expectation there is a risk of being disappointed. But fortunately, no disappointment occurred because I find this book quite entertaining.
My favorite story in this book is the Children f the Mist. It is about five people who can't remember their past but when they were reunited after 2 years they remembered everything, their childhood experience, the promised that they made and the reason why they can't remember anything about their past.
The story was really intriguing and mysterious, it made me read faster than my usual reading rate. It was also thought-provoking. I think, if someone asked to choose between my memories and my dreams, I wouldn't know what to answer. I might say neither, because first of all, even if you have a painful or horrible memories, its still is a part of who you are or what you become. I think memories are like treasures of the brain or our identity, without it we are nothing. On the other hand, dreams are also hard to let go, because dreams are the fuel of our existence. It's what drives us to wake up every morning, its the thing that we look forward to, it's what drives us to live. Without it, we have no goal, no purpose.
The stories in this collection are imaginative, a bit insane, and so out of this world(literally). There are a few typos and grammar errors but all in all it was a nice read. I enjoyed it.
This is the first time I read an anthology, so I don't have any expectation whatsoever in this book, which is good because when you have expectation there is a risk of being disappointed. But fortunately, no disappointment occurred because I find this book quite entertaining.
My favorite story in this book is the Children f the Mist. It is about five people who can't remember their past but when they were reunited after 2 years they remembered everything, their childhood experience, the promised that they made and the reason why they can't remember anything about their past.
The story was really intriguing and mysterious, it made me read faster than my usual reading rate. It was also thought-provoking. I think, if someone asked to choose between my memories and my dreams, I wouldn't know what to answer. I might say neither, because first of all, even if you have a painful or horrible memories, its still is a part of who you are or what you become. I think memories are like treasures of the brain or our identity, without it we are nothing. On the other hand, dreams are also hard to let go, because dreams are the fuel of our existence. It's what drives us to wake up every morning, its the thing that we look forward to, it's what drives us to live. Without it, we have no goal, no purpose.
The stories in this collection are imaginative, a bit insane, and so out of this world(literally). There are a few typos and grammar errors but all in all it was a nice read. I enjoyed it.
December 14, 2012
The author gave me a copy of this book to review.
I think the book had some really great plot lines and ideas going on. Some of the stories were pretty creepy and I really enjoyed them. However, there were a lot of mistakes in the text and areas where either the wrong pronoun was used or the point of view changed suddenly. Whichever it is, it took away from the stories and caused some confusion where I had to go back and reread to see if I could make sense of it. The stories were really interesting, though, and different than many I've seen. If it hadn't been for the line level mistakes I would have given it 4 stars because I was impressed by a few of the story ideas. The other problem I had was that there were a few places where the story was being told to us and it read like a summary of the story. Of course that is normal to have at some point in the story, but the parts that were being summarized took me out of the story and were boring to me. They weren't done in an interesting way and made me want to skip them in order to get to the story. If the scenes had been shown the stories would have been much better, as would the anthology.
Basically, some really fascinating ideas but the few weaknesses in the story-telling deter from them. I would recommend the book, though, to anyone who enjoyed creepy tales and can look past the line level stuff. It has some really interesting pieces to it and is a fun read.
I think the book had some really great plot lines and ideas going on. Some of the stories were pretty creepy and I really enjoyed them. However, there were a lot of mistakes in the text and areas where either the wrong pronoun was used or the point of view changed suddenly. Whichever it is, it took away from the stories and caused some confusion where I had to go back and reread to see if I could make sense of it. The stories were really interesting, though, and different than many I've seen. If it hadn't been for the line level mistakes I would have given it 4 stars because I was impressed by a few of the story ideas. The other problem I had was that there were a few places where the story was being told to us and it read like a summary of the story. Of course that is normal to have at some point in the story, but the parts that were being summarized took me out of the story and were boring to me. They weren't done in an interesting way and made me want to skip them in order to get to the story. If the scenes had been shown the stories would have been much better, as would the anthology.
Basically, some really fascinating ideas but the few weaknesses in the story-telling deter from them. I would recommend the book, though, to anyone who enjoyed creepy tales and can look past the line level stuff. It has some really interesting pieces to it and is a fun read.
October 27, 2015
I've had this book for a while now, winning it in a giveaway here on goodreads. I did originally start it once I received it, having like the synopsis, but put it down half way through because the stories weren't was I was expecting going into the novel. This novel is a collection of horror short stories, all written by the same author, and is actually quite short. I would have most likely finished this in less then a day, had I not been more interested spending my time reading something I found more enjoyable. I finished reading it at the end of last year, simply to reach my 2013 goodreads challenge. In my opinion, the writing is fantastic, but the stories weren't very 'scary' and shouldn't have been described as horror/thriller short stories. The up side? When they say short stories, they mean short stories. The book it self is probably around 2cm wide, so a really short book. I've mentioned it time and time again, I'm not the biggest fan of short stories, and this one really disappointed because I went into under the false pretense of it being of the horror genre. I think if the stories lived up to is description and where the type to actually send a chill up your spine, I would have enjoyed it much more and given it a higher star rating. Unfortunately, it isn't, causing it to only receive 2 out of 5 stars for the authors writing style.
August 9, 2012
I started reading this book with interest, as I love a well-written short stories anthology, especially if it's about horror and scary stuff. However, the moment I set my eyes on the first page, I knew I was in for a challenge. The writer seems bent on making us read stuff that seems way too experimental and that will scare away any casual reader. Not me; I like to use my brain to figure out things in complex albeit short stories... but this one was a bit too much.
The first story was an absolute mess told from varying viewpoints, with almost no well developed characterization... Sometimes an author can get way too clever for his own good. The second story about inviting Death was more coherent and enjoyable, but it still had too much fragmentary writing to completely fulfill its potential. Do not let this dismal start discourage you... the following tales, regarding "The Other Side" are quite good and the story telling improves as you progress along the book. I'd recommend this author to just change the order in which she introduces the tales in the book, putting the more traditional ones at the front of the book and place the weird, experimental stuff near the end of the book or maybe in an Appendix there.
The first story was an absolute mess told from varying viewpoints, with almost no well developed characterization... Sometimes an author can get way too clever for his own good. The second story about inviting Death was more coherent and enjoyable, but it still had too much fragmentary writing to completely fulfill its potential. Do not let this dismal start discourage you... the following tales, regarding "The Other Side" are quite good and the story telling improves as you progress along the book. I'd recommend this author to just change the order in which she introduces the tales in the book, putting the more traditional ones at the front of the book and place the weird, experimental stuff near the end of the book or maybe in an Appendix there.
November 28, 2012
PDF version free via author for honest review
This was a unique collection of short stories. I think my favorite one was Children of the Mist by far. All of these stories may have been short, but all were very wonderfully written and gave the sense of being complete. I loved how they were written to be short, but still very entertaining and with great characters. I found myself getting in to the story and wanting to read on, not only in the short story I was reading, but also in the book because of the stories be so great. I read this book in one sitting, I just couldn't put it down. Story after story I was drawn into the book.
If you are looking for a book of short stories to read all at once or one here and there when you have time, this is the book for you. I was amazed at the twists and turns in some of the stories, being that they were so short sometimes authors just can't get suspense in such a short story, but this author nailed it! I recommend this book to anyone that is in the mood for a quick, but thrilling read.
5/5 Stars!
This was a unique collection of short stories. I think my favorite one was Children of the Mist by far. All of these stories may have been short, but all were very wonderfully written and gave the sense of being complete. I loved how they were written to be short, but still very entertaining and with great characters. I found myself getting in to the story and wanting to read on, not only in the short story I was reading, but also in the book because of the stories be so great. I read this book in one sitting, I just couldn't put it down. Story after story I was drawn into the book.
If you are looking for a book of short stories to read all at once or one here and there when you have time, this is the book for you. I was amazed at the twists and turns in some of the stories, being that they were so short sometimes authors just can't get suspense in such a short story, but this author nailed it! I recommend this book to anyone that is in the mood for a quick, but thrilling read.
5/5 Stars!
January 16, 2013
I reviewed a complimentary copy provided by this author.
Review of Anthology 1: The Other Side by Hamidah Gul
4 stars
A fine collection of stories by author Hamidah Gul, there’s a wide variety of sub-genres represented here. The book is listed as Science Fiction/Horror, and I would like to expand that to include Speculative Fiction, because Ms. Gul delves into such concepts as The End of the World, and Life After Life, which of course most of us haven’t yet experienced. She has a vivid and creative imagination, and I found each story to be in a class by itself.
Among my particular favourites were the chilling “Come Home With Me,” which made me want to lock my windows and doors and stay inside; “The Other Side” and “Mission of Mercy,” a duet of stories about the End of the World as we didn’t expect it; and the wonderfully creative poetic justice of “The Suicide Case,” which truly made me smile, because sometimes good does triumph.
Review of Anthology 1: The Other Side by Hamidah Gul
4 stars
A fine collection of stories by author Hamidah Gul, there’s a wide variety of sub-genres represented here. The book is listed as Science Fiction/Horror, and I would like to expand that to include Speculative Fiction, because Ms. Gul delves into such concepts as The End of the World, and Life After Life, which of course most of us haven’t yet experienced. She has a vivid and creative imagination, and I found each story to be in a class by itself.
Among my particular favourites were the chilling “Come Home With Me,” which made me want to lock my windows and doors and stay inside; “The Other Side” and “Mission of Mercy,” a duet of stories about the End of the World as we didn’t expect it; and the wonderfully creative poetic justice of “The Suicide Case,” which truly made me smile, because sometimes good does triumph.
August 24, 2012
Disclosure: The author of this anthology invited me to review this collection of short fiction. Instead of describing the book as falling into the science fiction or horror genre, I’d prefer to say that it more properly falls into the genre Margaret Atwood calls speculative fiction. As for the stories themselves, many are loosely connected via geography or theme and can be read independently or in the context of the whole collection. The stories invited reflection on the different points of view, “the other side,” of what the protagonists conveyed to us. I can’t wait to read more by this young writer!
August 29, 2012
It's your standard collection of freaky and frightening tales- some macabre, some hopeful, but each with a unique twist. The stories are very short, making this an ideal book for a quick creepy read. It could use some editing to fix grammatical errors, and some of the stories could definitely be fleshed out into longer and more developed tales. Most of the stories reminded me of ones I'd heard as a kid, but a couple of them truly stuck with me as I read this anthology. The Best Friend, in particular, gave me pause, and struck me as a more unique story than the others. With a bit of polishing and extension, this could be a very solid and classic collection of spooky tales.
October 4, 2012
I flew through this anthology.Some of the stories were of the same event, but from different points of view. These were my favorites. There were errors that a decent proofreader would be all over, but not so many as to take away from the whole package. It's listed as sci-fi/horror, but I'd give it a 'thought provoking' and 'mildly disturbing' at best. This author has promise- she just needs a little more polish. I received a free copy of this book for review.
March 30, 2013
Hamidah Gul presents some unusual viewpoints in this volume of short stories. Frequently there is a twist at the end. I found her writing style to be difficult, however, to the point of being confusing. Some of the stories read almost as if they had been translated into English by a computer. The only story that will stay with me is the last one, "Children of the Mist". It was quite well done. I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.
February 6, 2013
I really enjoyed reading your book. The Other Side and The Mission of Mercy reminded me of my dad. My dad always believed there were aliens on other planets and that they would some day take over. I want to thank you for the free copy. It was a very good read for me. I enjoyed it. Thanks again. Dawn
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2012
3.5 stars
As with any collection, some stories were more to my liking than others. The author has clearly studied up on a variety of conspiracy & doomsday theories.
As with any collection, some stories were more to my liking than others. The author has clearly studied up on a variety of conspiracy & doomsday theories.
November 4, 2012
In some ways this collection of stories reminded me of The Twilight Zone. They were creepy, in a good way.
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