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The Horror Diaries #6-10
Journeys Through The Unknown
Enter the unknown... Heather Beck presents Journeys Through The Unknown, an anthology of supernatural adventures and unusual encounters. * Journeys Through The Unknown includes The Horror Diaries volumes 6-10.
132 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2006
5 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Heather Beck
59 books128 followersHeather Beck is a Canadian Author and Screenwriter who began writing professionally at the age of sixteen. Since then she has written eleven well-reviewed books, including the bestselling series, The Horror Diaries, which has sold in six continents.
Heather received an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree from university where she specialized in English and studied an array of disciplines. Currently, she is working on the Frostbitten series and has two anthologies slated for publication. As a screenwriter, Heather has multiple television shows and movies in development. Her short films include: Young Eyes, The Rarity, Too Sensible For Love, Circular, and the forthcoming Witch’s Brew.
Besides writing, Heather’s greatest passion is the outdoors. She is an award-winning fisherwoman and a regular hiker. Her hobbies include swimming, playing badminton and volunteering with non-profit organizations.
Heather received an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree from university where she specialized in English and studied an array of disciplines. Currently, she is working on the Frostbitten series and has two anthologies slated for publication. As a screenwriter, Heather has multiple television shows and movies in development. Her short films include: Young Eyes, The Rarity, Too Sensible For Love, Circular, and the forthcoming Witch’s Brew.
Besides writing, Heather’s greatest passion is the outdoors. She is an award-winning fisherwoman and a regular hiker. Her hobbies include swimming, playing badminton and volunteering with non-profit organizations.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 18, 2019
A great collection of odd and unusual stories. That's about the only theme they have in common though. I will be picking up more titles from this author. She has a great imagination.
October 11, 2021
kept me entertain if nothing else.
March 6, 2012
NOTE: My rating and review refer to "Journeys through the Unknown", a collection of six stories - not the collection of ten.
My review copy of Journeys Through the Unknown was provided oh-so-kindly by the author, Heather Beck.
Journeys Through The Unknown is a collection of six stories about – wait for it – weird experiences in supernatural worlds. Get it – journeys, through the unknown? I quite liked the title – and the construct of thematically typing together shorts is fairly top of mind for me lately, as those of you who read regularly will know (and likely be sick of hearing), so I liked that too. And anyone who knows me or my reading proclivities knows I’m a fan of supernatural weirdness and escapist writing.
Now, right up front, I’m going to remind you (or tell you, for those who are new here) that I tend to prefer novels to short stories. So I’m always a little nervous when I review/agree to review shorts because I don’t want to give an author short shrift because of my preferences and/or biases. Still, as I’ve been writing more shorts, I’m finding that I enjoy them a little more and feel a little more confident in my ability to assess them cleanly. Whether that’s a misguided feeling or not remains to be seen, of course, but still…
Anyway, back to JTtU. I was very intrigued by the titles and blurbs for Heather Beck’s stories. Things like sadistic garden gnomes, poor little rich witch girls, a mummy’s curse… It all sounded like quite a journey indeed.
But I have to confess that I found the stories a bit uneven. They were odd tales – dark, but befuddling. Now those aren’t necessarily negative adjectives – especially not coming from me. I like an author who takes me on a trip to an original landscape populated by unusual characters. In fact, I probably like it more than most. And Heather Beck does take her readers to places both original and unusual. But I have to feel like I’m being taken on a round-trip to really enjoy the travels, and with these stories I occasionally found myself wondering where in the world(s) I had ended up – and how I could get back home expeditiously.
I’ve been stranded in Brooklyn before – I’m not really interested in repeating that experience… (sorry – inside joke that only a very few people will get, but they’ll laugh very hard, so it’s worth it, believe me)
I’m not really sure what fell that little bit short for me here – it’s hard to pinpoint. The writing is not bad, either technically or stylistically. The plots are unique, the characters are freaky – both good things for the supernatural genre. As several of her other reviewers have pointed out (see Amazon), Heather Beck does have a lot of imagination. And I did find myself cheering for the villains more than once – that’s always a fun thing for me, especially in eerie/weird story contexts. Something just felt a little, well, flat and uneven – which I know seems contradictory, but it’s the best I can do to explain.
There would be great moments, snarky bits of dialogue, very dark goings-on (especially in the first story – Gnome Genome – which was my favorite of all of them), then all of a sudden I’d find myself asking what had happened… The characters didn’t jump off the page at me, even when I wanted them to (and tried really hard to make them), and a few of the plots wandered a bit. Overall I have to admit that I found this journey a little bumpy for my tastes…
My review copy of Journeys Through the Unknown was provided oh-so-kindly by the author, Heather Beck.
Journeys Through The Unknown is a collection of six stories about – wait for it – weird experiences in supernatural worlds. Get it – journeys, through the unknown? I quite liked the title – and the construct of thematically typing together shorts is fairly top of mind for me lately, as those of you who read regularly will know (and likely be sick of hearing), so I liked that too. And anyone who knows me or my reading proclivities knows I’m a fan of supernatural weirdness and escapist writing.
Now, right up front, I’m going to remind you (or tell you, for those who are new here) that I tend to prefer novels to short stories. So I’m always a little nervous when I review/agree to review shorts because I don’t want to give an author short shrift because of my preferences and/or biases. Still, as I’ve been writing more shorts, I’m finding that I enjoy them a little more and feel a little more confident in my ability to assess them cleanly. Whether that’s a misguided feeling or not remains to be seen, of course, but still…
Anyway, back to JTtU. I was very intrigued by the titles and blurbs for Heather Beck’s stories. Things like sadistic garden gnomes, poor little rich witch girls, a mummy’s curse… It all sounded like quite a journey indeed.
But I have to confess that I found the stories a bit uneven. They were odd tales – dark, but befuddling. Now those aren’t necessarily negative adjectives – especially not coming from me. I like an author who takes me on a trip to an original landscape populated by unusual characters. In fact, I probably like it more than most. And Heather Beck does take her readers to places both original and unusual. But I have to feel like I’m being taken on a round-trip to really enjoy the travels, and with these stories I occasionally found myself wondering where in the world(s) I had ended up – and how I could get back home expeditiously.
I’ve been stranded in Brooklyn before – I’m not really interested in repeating that experience… (sorry – inside joke that only a very few people will get, but they’ll laugh very hard, so it’s worth it, believe me)
I’m not really sure what fell that little bit short for me here – it’s hard to pinpoint. The writing is not bad, either technically or stylistically. The plots are unique, the characters are freaky – both good things for the supernatural genre. As several of her other reviewers have pointed out (see Amazon), Heather Beck does have a lot of imagination. And I did find myself cheering for the villains more than once – that’s always a fun thing for me, especially in eerie/weird story contexts. Something just felt a little, well, flat and uneven – which I know seems contradictory, but it’s the best I can do to explain.
There would be great moments, snarky bits of dialogue, very dark goings-on (especially in the first story – Gnome Genome – which was my favorite of all of them), then all of a sudden I’d find myself asking what had happened… The characters didn’t jump off the page at me, even when I wanted them to (and tried really hard to make them), and a few of the plots wandered a bit. Overall I have to admit that I found this journey a little bumpy for my tastes…
May 21, 2012
What an entertaining novel! I do think the title could be a little better, but hey, no one's perfect! The reason I actually am not a huge fan of the title is because I don't want you to think that this is a sci-fi novel. This is a book filled with short stories that are meant to scare you a little and go beyond what you would normally expect. Yes...it is a little reminiscent of twilight-zone style story lines, but they work!
Here are my thoughts on the stories:
Gnome Genome
About a girl who shrinks down and gets trapped in a flower pot. Gnomes in the pot are forcing her to play games that will decide her fate. I loved the premise of this story and found the games to be so much fun to read. I loved ending of this story!
A Weird Twist of Fate
About a girl who finds her ancestor's diary in the attic. I loved the characters in the story - Judith is a strong-willed character who may even be to smart for her own good!
The Secret Oracle of an Egyptian King
About a father and son team who unearth a mummy's tomb in Egypt. This was probably my least favorite of the stories, but I still found it interesting. I think the reason I didn't like it as much is because it wasn't as unique as the others. A bit predictable.
Cold Territory
About a mountain climber who finds himself in a cave full of crystals and gems. This story definitely ventured more into the sci-fi/fantasy realm and I really appreciated the creative characters and beautiful setting.
Kingdom of Sugar
About a young boy's dream come true of a magical candyland turns into his worst nightmare. This type of story has been done before, but not in the way that Heather Beck has done. I loved it! We all have had our moments where our sweet tooth is all we can think about, and this story will make you think twice about that.
Overall, I thought these stories were creative, unique and had the most fun endings. After I'd finish one, I'd look forward to the next one. Heather Beck's writing style is fun, funny, and entertaining.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars
Here are my thoughts on the stories:
Gnome Genome
About a girl who shrinks down and gets trapped in a flower pot. Gnomes in the pot are forcing her to play games that will decide her fate. I loved the premise of this story and found the games to be so much fun to read. I loved ending of this story!
A Weird Twist of Fate
About a girl who finds her ancestor's diary in the attic. I loved the characters in the story - Judith is a strong-willed character who may even be to smart for her own good!
The Secret Oracle of an Egyptian King
About a father and son team who unearth a mummy's tomb in Egypt. This was probably my least favorite of the stories, but I still found it interesting. I think the reason I didn't like it as much is because it wasn't as unique as the others. A bit predictable.
Cold Territory
About a mountain climber who finds himself in a cave full of crystals and gems. This story definitely ventured more into the sci-fi/fantasy realm and I really appreciated the creative characters and beautiful setting.
Kingdom of Sugar
About a young boy's dream come true of a magical candyland turns into his worst nightmare. This type of story has been done before, but not in the way that Heather Beck has done. I loved it! We all have had our moments where our sweet tooth is all we can think about, and this story will make you think twice about that.
Overall, I thought these stories were creative, unique and had the most fun endings. After I'd finish one, I'd look forward to the next one. Heather Beck's writing style is fun, funny, and entertaining.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews