Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge

by David Lubar

Master of the macabre David Lubar turns his attention to dark and twisted tales for teens with Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge

A group of high school girls takes revenge on their sadistic gym teacher in the most fitting way possible. Two stowaways find themselves on a ship for the dead. An ancient predator stalks the wrong victim. Here are thirteen tales of death, murder, and revenge from the fertile and febrile imagination of master storyteller David Lubar—his first story collection for the teen audience.

Running out of air --
Split decision --
Apparent motives --
Feelings --
Every drop --
Patterns of fear --
Free seas --
Blood magic --
A cart full of junk --
Morph --
Whoodoo --
The ex box --
Evil twin

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Young Adult, Teen, Anthologies, Death, Fiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published July 23, 2013

About the author

David Lubar created a sensation with his debut novel, Hidden Talents, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Thousands of kids and educators across the country have voted Hidden Talents onto over twenty state lists. David is also the author of True Talents, the sequel to Hidden Talents; Flip, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror selection; several short story collections: In the Land of the Lawn Weenies, Invasion of the Road Weenies, The Curse of the Campfire Weenies, The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies, and Attack of the Vampire Weenies; and the Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series. Lubar grew up in Morristown, New Jersey, and he has also lived in New Brunswick, Edison and Piscataway, NJ, and Sacramento, CA. Besides writing, he has also worked as a video game programmer and designer. He now lives in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidl...

Reviews

[Melissa Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm impressed with this collection of short stories. I am giving this book 5 solid stars. Great job David Lubar!! I have read a pile of short story collections over the years and usually I dislike most of the stories for these specific reasons: no beginning, no end, confusing or just plain bad. Like all short story collections I'll discuss my favorite stories below.

As most short story collections this one contains 13 short stories, some longer than others. Before you start each story you get an amazing illustration of what the story is going to be about, these illustrations are done by Jim Kay.

I really enjoyed "Running Out of Air", which is the first short story of the book. This one is about revenge. It takes place at a high school were the gym teacher is a evil human being. Our poor unfortunate soul has asthma and can't run as fast as the other girls in the class. The gym teacher doesn't take that as a worth while excuse and so is failing our asthmatic. But our girl gets her revenge on the teacher.

"Split Decision", just so happens to be the second story in this book and it too is pretty fun. It's about a boy who decides to run away before his dad and step mom have their new baby. Our teen boy can't decide if he wants to go to Chicago or New York so he asks the school "witch", this girl is known to be able to see the future. She says the way to choose is by finding out the baby's gender. Pretty gruesome...teehee!

Another really cool story was "Every Drop", another revenge story. About a nerdy boy who gets suckered into a swimming contest and drowns. Muahahhaha!

My last favorite was "Patterns of Fear". It's a short story that I'm familiar with. The group of people, usually "teens" that are hand picked to do something crazy like sleep in a haunted house for money. The scary room of the house is the attic and if you can hang for the entire night you get a whopping $1,000. Who will claim the prize. So good.

Like I said above this is a great collection of short stories. I didn't dislike any of them. Some were obviously better than others, but that is just personal preference. The writing was all fun and all creepy.

I highly recommend if you are looking for a quick Halloween read.

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story for young horror lovers. You'll find blood, death, a monster, so young horror lovers are just the right audience. Unless you are annoyed by racial comments.
Next, I wish I could find one story where an albino is not a bad person.

I'm not a fan of teenage protagonists, so take this opinion with a grain of salt.

[Dear Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my thoughts in any way.

I love reading horror. Ever since I was a wee kid, I've been watching Japanese horror films like The Grudge, The Ring, and One Miss Call. Asian films of this genre scare the shit crap out of me, and I relish the feeling! This love was strengthened even more when I read R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books, encountering monsters, paranormal creatures, and creepy circumstances that have never once crossed my imagination. So there's really no wonder why I quickly pushed the REQUEST button when I saw EXTREMITIES. Stories of Death, Murder and Revenge? Dude, count me in!

So, I just finished this. Verdict? Enjoyable. I'm a bit torn between 3.5 and 4, so let's leave it at that. Even though the stories are very, very short — some of them only 3 pages long — they pack a lot of punch. I really appreciate that not all of them end in a gore-y and tragic manner, in which the hero finds himself a victim of his own curiosity, as quite a good number of them have a happy and satisfying end after a gruesome adventure with the unknown. I'd definitely read more from the author. His straightforward way of narrating is pretty neat and effective in setting up a looming atmosphere.

This book reminds me of the manga called Screaming Lessons . They're episodic, too, and each chapter tells of a creepy story, but most of the time, the hero/heroine ends up not having the last laugh.

[Paul Hankins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have to have to post an honest review. I like David Lubar. I consider him a friend of the business as much as a reader might consider the author of a book a "friend." Okay, we tweet to each other. We comment upon each other's status updates at Facebook. I guess we are "friends in the branches."

So, I don't have to post an honest review.

I can post an earnest review.

David Lubar has been a favorite at Hankins Ranch from the first day Noah brought home one of those "Weenie" books (you know the ones you wish you knew what they were about at the book fair but you haven't picked up yet for the weenies on the cover--go ahead and get one; you're going to love them). From the start, I was happy to see Noah go a little past R. L. Stine's parade of fans to find other authors of the craft of short story. Jonathan Rand is another if you are familiar with the American Chillers series that many readers find satisfying. I was happy to have Noah find--on his own--David Lubar, an author I have book talked and celebrated since SLEEPING FRESHMAN NEVER LIE in my first year of teaching--before I really knew enough to share about young adult literature. Lubar was there--in my initial shares--with young adult readers in Room 210.

Let's agree with David right from the start in his introduction to the stories that this is not a book for the "weenie" crowd where they are now, but with the success of the "weenie" books, we could say that EXTREMITIES gives them a place to go when they ARE ready for these short stories. This is the one gift of fostering reading and celebrating books is recognizing the difference between not yet and and now. And then recognizing the power of now and next. Readers who discover Lubar early on their reading lives are going to be happy that EXTREMITIES will be there waiting.

I got my copy of EXTREMITIES in the mail last night.

I finished the book in just a little under two hours, devouring the stories as much as characters were being devoured by other-worldly creatures. I was taken back by David's gift of story telling to my teenage years when reading Stephen King and Richard Bachman stories made up the bulk of my independent reading--in and out of school.

Then I remembered how I liked to read those books. Sometimes I would skip around in the book. Read a medium-length story or go in for the full development of a longer story which would require a little more time and effort (I would not have known the term "stamina" in regard to reading as a fifteen and sixteen year old and I will not attempt to impress you here that I did). All of this to say, in reading EXTREMITIES, I was able to see how a teen might read this collection of stories today and I think this is why we should celebrate collections and affirm anthologies for their place in the reading workshop. While I read last night, I chose when I might want a behind-the-door surprise (a three to four page story) or when I was ready to walk-about-the-house (a least two of David's stories in the book go twenty-two pages allowing for development of the mood which delivers on the classic ending to these kinds of stories that leave a reader looking into corners around their reading chair).

This is just the way I see a reader doing in Room 407 this fall when we have an opportunity to share this book with our readers. To have experiences with short stories is of inestimable value for our "dormant readers" (Miller 2013) who will move about the text freely, finding as much satisfaction with any of the stories chosen in the individualized reading experience.

And the stories they might select from. . .no spoilers here. . .but consider for that reader (I know you have one or two in mind already):

A tale of student revenge upon a malicious physical education teacher.

A careful-what-you-wish-for tale that will have readers really thinking about word problems associated with trains.

A longer story that will have readers of my generation wondering why Morris Albert is in our head while reading the story that ends with the sort of climax we often associate with the insect world (creepy, David, on both counts here. . .whoa, whoa, whoa, feel-ings. . .).

A story that invites readers to question, could I do it? And for how much would I do it?

A story that might invite readers to look beyond the quirky behaviors of a new boyfriend or girlfriend to see into the true heart of the person

A horrifically-satisfying anchor story that gives a nod back to the class INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS.

The stories in EXTREMITIES are anchored by a blank page and a title page for the new story, complimented by illustrations by Jim Kay (yes, that A MONSTER CALLS Jim Kay). Sometimes forecasting the story and sometimes serving as a reminder that you--the reader--are on a dark journey through the collection, the illustrations are in that familiar Jim Kay style and these are going to look striking within the cover art that I have seen for the July release of David's new collection.

As I was reading the book, I kept thinking about CREEPSHOW, that classic 80's horror film based upon Stephen King's stories. I wanted each story's ending to morph into a grossly-horrific comic panel with a word or thought bubble coming out of the main character's mouth. Maybe some commentary from the author as we move through the stories.

But this is David's fault.

With his gift for story telling, he awakened by young adult self who used to get turned on by the things that might be found in the dark.

[Gray Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded me of urban legends, they weren't really scary, but they were disturbing and somewhat chilling, overall I enjoyed it.

There was some mild swearing, but it was very minimal.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not the target audience for these stories in so many ways: I'm an adult who's read extensively; I don't generally like short stories; I don't generally like horror; and I don't like reading about unlikable characters. That said, as a school librarian it's my job to read things other people might like; I *do* like David Lubar and love a few of his novels; and I was curious about these stories. Also, I was drawn by the cover illustration (good move on David Lubar's part to make it his facebook profile picture). And because of his comments that this book is for older readers, I wanted to see if it would have a place in a middle school collection.

The book includes monster stories, revenge fantasies, a haunted house, and lessons about attempting to predict/alter the future. The stories vary in length and narration. It's safe to say that readers will like some more than others depending on personal reading preferences. Among my favorites, I enjoyed rooting for the street person of "A Cart Full of Junk," and the friendly interactions between Andy and John in "Morph" gave me a positive connection with these characters. For the most part, I liked the stories in the second half of the book more than those at the beginning - perhaps because the characters are more relatable and the writing itself is more fluid and seems more polished. I love the illustrations that I hadn't expected to find. The stories all have a very strong David Lubar voice (I could hear him reading them to me) and many have his signature wordplay style.

Lubar says these stories are not for children, but there's nothing in this collection that wouldn't be appropriate for well-adjusted 7th or 8th graders. Readers who enjoy Poe may enjoy guessing at and anticipating the surprises in these stories, though, while twisted, these are not as dark and atmospheric as Poe's. The surprises are not subtle, making the stories suitable for struggling or reluctant readers. The whole time I was reading, a tagline from the Weenies books kept forcing its way into my mind. "Warped and creepy tales" definitely applies here, and teens who grew up with the Weenies stories will probably like these too.

[Netanella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another tor.com freebie short for my weekend. Unfortunately this one was a bit of a dud for me, as I didn't really relate to the two young teenaged boys and their antics in Chinatown black market enterprise. I wasn't especially turned off by their racist remarks to each other (one is Caucasian, the other Asian), as the author felt the need to take pains that these kids were teasing each other since grade school. What I did find a little off was the expert knowledge that the Chinese kid had about the three main black market import/export dealers in his community. Just seemed a little far fetched.

But an albino shapeshifter who defends the exotic animals. Not so far fetched. 😀

[Rachel's Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review soon. I'm not really a short story person. Or a horror story person, but this was pretty good

[raya (a little mango) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a person who avoids horror. Not because horror scares me, but because it bores me, and if it doesn’t bore me, it frustrates me to the point where I scream at the television or the book in my hands. As a child, however, many things frightened me—scary things. Back in the glorious 1990s, Nickelodeon aired Are You Afraid of the Dark? (which I most certainly was). Kids gathered around campfire, spooking each other with ghost tales, and I will never forget the story of the haunted pool. The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float episode didn’t frighten me of ghosts or even pools; it made me fear water. Shower time? Not before it the water-monster strangles me. Take a swim? I’ll pass. Glass of water? He’s going to suffocate me from the inside!

So what does a ridiculous ‘90s show have to do with Extremities? Just like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, who will get the most enjoyment or thrills from Extremities depends on the reader. Looking back, Are You Afraid of the Dark? is as cheesy as cheesy gets. But the fact is that it still scared me and gave me an irrational fear of water. Now that I’m much older, what scares me has changed. People-eating giants makes me shiver, zombies are creepily fascinating, eerie dystopian settings horrify, and the psychological aspects to all these both terrify and excite me. Reality itself, even, can zap me dead in a second. These concepts put me in a panic—zero of which I find in Extremities—but none of this stopped me from reading Lubar's book.

If there is one thing Lubar wants to note, it’s that “this is not a book for children.” Indeed it’s not, but I think who Extremities is most appropriate for varies. “At rare and random times, without any plan on my part,” says Lubar, “a story will emerge that is too dark, too heartless, or, dare I say it, too evil, for my young readers.” But that’s exactly it, that’s my problem. I didn’t find any of the stories within Extremities too dark, heartless, or evil. What I did find was a lack of suspense, predictable twists, and writing that wants to be smart but falls short.

When I first spied David Lubar’s Extremities, I felt a pull that I couldn’t resist. My lack of acquaintanceship with horror drew me to Lubar’s collection, as if we were a cute match but doomed to a petty break-up. While I thought I would like Extremities, the book serves as a reminder why I scarcely wander into this genre. David Lubar’s collection dances familiar paths of similar stories that have come before it. Although this doesn’t deem the book ‘poor quality,’ why didn’t the author take new turns? Hold my hand and lead me to a place I haven’t been before. Be daring and dangerous. Take risks. Whatever you do, dream beyond what’s already been done.

For each story, events flip-flop for the hero or heroine—either the character comes out the victor or victim, depending on how the story opens. Lubar’s tales take expected turns and end in likely fashion, which strips away the element of shock. Once the story reveals itself, usually paired with the title, the end becomes clear before the reader gets there. Prior to starting Extremities, I expected stories that weren’t horrifying or dark, but original ideas that held interest and surprise. These stories should have captivated me by their warped characters and by the irony of events, or at least that is what I wished for.

Well, Raya, maybe the fright doesn’t come from the conclusions. Maybe David Lubar’s point has nothing to do with unprecedented twists. I get that. Extremities is not intended to make the reader scream or spend a restless night waking from nightmares. It is intended to make the reader shudder, perhaps, at the thought of what these character do, witness, and experience. At the same time, I can’t deny that ingenuity would’ve helped improve the collection as whole. As one reader out of many, I didn’t shudder. I snickered at the irony and turn of events, and only because I saw them coming. If I wasn’t eyeballing the text with an ‘I told you so,’ I felt nearly bored. And yet… Extremities mildly entertained me.

For all that I’ve said, not everyone is doomed to have the same reaction. What Extremities needs most is the right audience—and that does not include me. There is something to be said for entertainment value, and for these reasons alone, David Lubar’s collection is one I still recommend. If haunting stories of any kind suite your fancy, then by all means, let this book find a home at your bedside and prepare to unleash some horrors from its pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing a free copy of Extremities in exchange for my honest review. This review and more can be found at midnight coffee monster.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, full of a whooole bunch of short horror stories that imply a great deal, letting the gorier details be imagined rather than at all described outright. Engaging and ranging from ghosts, to planning murder (that goes awry!), to funky lil blood critters.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! Super creepy and the stories were great! I loved this collection!

[Brandi Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun quick read that's perfect for Halloween.

[Nara · Rating 3 out of 5]

So....Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder and Revenge .....mwahahahahahaha!!!
Now that we have that out the way, we can get into the actual review. It's actually kind of hard to write an actual review for this collection of short stories because the stories themselves are so short. Some were even as short as 4 or 5 pages. So, instead, I'll just leave a few brief comments for each of the stories as well as a line summary of the tales.

Running out of Air
From the blurb: A group of high school girls takes revenge on their sadistic gym teacher in the most fitting way possible.
This story was really weird. It felt a bit incomplete, but then again it was a "short story" so I probably shouldn't complain.
3/5

Split Decision
Student wants to run away from home, gets the opinion of an apparently clairvoyant classmate as to where he should go.
Woah, this one was awesome. Quite the twist. I kind of predicted something bad was going to happen (yeah what tipped you off for that one Nara? It couldn't have been the death, murder and revenge...), but did not expect what actually happened. The title is very clever, and has to do with what happens.
5/5

Apparent Motives
A son concocts an interesting scheme to get rid of his abusive father.
This one was slightly confusing, and I had to go back to read it a second time to understand exactly what had happened (although maybe that was because I wasn't concentrating when I read it the first time. My bad.)
4/5

Feelings
From the blurb: An ancient predator stalks the wrong victim (At least I think that line is for this story...it's a bit hard to tell)
Another interesting story, a bit longer than the others. Another nice twist.
4/5

Every Drop
A tale depicting the survival of the fittest, and the revenge of one of those filtered by the process.
Yet another weird story. This one's the first one that I think actually steps into the realm of horror rather than mere creepiness.
4/5

Patterns of Fear
A boy is offered money to stay in the attic of a haunted house...
Another horror one. DAMN THIS WAS CREEPY. AND AWESOME.
5/5

Free Seas
From the blurb: Two stowaways find themselves on a ship for the dead.
Dayum, yet another unexpected twist. I thought it would be ghosts or something, but instead it was something completely unexpected.
4/5

Blood Magic
An ancient magic is useful to two boys who are kidnapped and held hostage.
This one was beyond weird. Not strictly scary, but it was a bit creepy.
4/5

A Cart Full of Junk
About an old man who gives gifts.
Yeah that's a pretty vague summary. But the story itself is quite creepy...
4/5

Morph
About an assassin and the boy who witnesses his hits.
This one was actually less of a horror story and more of an action/heroic one. While it was good, it didn't really seem fit the theme of the anthology (apart from the fact that there were some murders in it).
4/5

Whoodoo
A boy tries to bring his parents back together using a little magic.
Very short and very bizarre. It was only around two pages. Lacked development- it was a bit too short for my liking.
3/5

The Ex Box
A girl finds that her new boyfriend is hiding a secret...
Quite good. A bit of a twist, but then ended a bit too abruptly.
4/5

Evil Twin
Our main character catches a horrifying disease that splits her into two halves.
This was probably the best short story of the anthology. Raises such an interesting set of questions: what is good? What is evil? Either way, definitely worth a read.
5/5

Overall, I think that this was actually quite a nice collection of short stories. Just don't read it at night....

Have a look at more reviews at my blog: Looking for the Panacea

[Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremities is a short story collection “for adults only” about death, murder, and revenge. The author makes it seem like this is a fun side project he likes to work on; and also it is not for young readers because it is more mature than the books he wrote for kids about evil animated sausages?

Reviewing short story collections is weird because on one hand it is easier than reviewing novels and on the other it is more difficult. It is easier because there is a group of stories to discuss so you have plenty to pick and choose from. But, you can’t really write a long plot description because they are short and don’t go into too much depth. What I sometimes end up with is a list of two-sentence paragraphs, which I never use because that makes for a boring review.

Did I like these stories? Eh, not really. And not just “they weren’t my thing”; because I did not think they were good. He definitely should have made this a children’s horror collection because the “horror” is not scary, not creative, and not intelligent. I got bored sometimes but most of them are pretty short. I don’t know what David Lubar was going for but I did not connect with these. When I was pondering my favorite stories, I realized that I did not in fact have favorites, but instead found there were only a few that were redeeming to the collection.

Some authors write adult books with young main characters, or vice versa, and this can turn out well. Extremities featured I think only kids/teens as main characters and he did not pull off this cross-generational audience thing well, at all. I fail to see how any adult would like this book or find it to be of high quality. Like I said before, nothing was scary or even remotely original so I was not satisfied with any of these.

I didn’t take notes but here are some things included in the collection:
Falling in love with vampires. Seen it a million times
Haunted house with a reality show. Check
Mysterious guy with evil objects that cause violence and mayhem. Yes
Evil twins
Revenge against an evil teacher
Etc.

You could say this is a nice blend of supernatural and “plausible” events involving death, murder, and revenge. I wouldn’t. To be honest, I wouldn’t have chosen to publish this and it is kind of surprising that someone did pick it up.*
*I know that sounds really harsh and I get that. I might want to write books someday and would probably be mad if someone said that about my work. But, he has already published fairly successful books and I expect more of someone who has previously done well with this genre.

For a better book of short stories called Extremities, check out Kathe Koja's

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given the author's note, I was actually somewhat surprised upon reading it that the short stories weren't more disturbing. Granted, it's been a little while since I finished it, but none of the stories really stick out as gruesome or troubling. The stories that I can remember seemed to sit more like fairy tales in which characters who do bad things receive possibly deserved bad endings. Perhaps that's why the book seemed to be light on the darkness it promised. The other possibility that I can think of is that teens might have lower expectation of violence? Or perhaps it is their gatekeepers that the book's qualifications are trying to appease. Unfortunately, the stories were just okay, and rather unremarkable in the end.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have to say this is actually a 3.5 rating. This collection of short stories were creepy and ghastly. I should know by now, that I am not the lover of short stories...I miss the character development of a novel, but I always want to give it a try! I had two favorites: "A Cart Full of Junk" and "Patterns of Fear." I can totally see myself reading these two with my students--they were gory and are both great stories for teaching theme! I loved the artwork and the stories were short enough that I can see my junior high school students loving them. This is one book I would definitely recommend to my reluctant readers. The stories are perfect for them!

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions)]

DNF after the third story/on page 46.

The stories just aren't impressing me. Too short and without character development. The writing is simplistic, which also isn't my style. Reluctant readers who enjoy horror and short form tales might be more into this, but I suspect it will be meh at best for me, so I'm calling it quits and moving on.

[Celia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
I won this at a Nanowrimo group thing. The book itself was interesting and I liked a few of the stories but tbh overall they creeped me out, lol. Didn't even really want to put it on my bookshelf.

[Claude's Bookzone · Rating 2 out of 5]

CW: physical abuse, revenge murders

2.5 Stars

[Ria Bridges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories of murder, death, and revenge. That’s the subtitle of Lubar’s Extremities, and this book is exactly what it says on the tin. At a reading level poised somewhere between mid-grade and YA, Extremities is filled with the macabre, the creepy, the violent and bloody parts of death, much resembling souped-up versions of campfire tales, the kind that people will tell on dark nights in the attempt to creep each other out.

In some cases, these stories work wonderfully for that. In other cases, it seemed very much like Lubar was trying to outdo himself and instead it just fell flat, with an emphasis on blood and gore as the creep factor instead of more psychologically disturbing elements.

While a majority in this incredibly short collection of short stories contain supernatural elements, my favourites, and the ones that gave me the most pause, were the ones that were about people being people, regular teenagers pushed over the edge by their circumstances. Girls who take brutal revenge on their abusive gym teacher. A kid planning the murder of an abusive father, only to find their mother getting caught in the crossfire. Those were the stories that really stayed with me, that were oddly the most extreme of all the extremities, because they showed that you don’t need monsters or ghosts or supernaturally-strong serial killer to create terror. You just need people, plain and simple, in the right (or wrong) situation.

As for the supernatural stories, some were very good, and the rest were merely okay. A creature feeding on a person’s strongest emotion until they die. A team spending the night in a haunted house, a classic ghost story with an interesting twist (it isn’t the house that’s haunted). Those are the two stories that stuck well in my mind, not so much for their creativity but their interesting execution.

While the stories contained within were rather hit-or-miss, I think many pre-teens and young teens could really get a kick out of this book. It’s what kids who’ve just outgrown Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark can move on to (admittedly, might be showing my age there with those examples…) when they want to get that same shivery thrill of reading about the dark, the macabre, the things that can and will always go bump in the night. It wasn’t a great book. It wasn’t a book to linger over and ponder deeply. It was a quick fun ride, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because it was only a dollar at my local Dollar Tree. And it was short at 205 pages.

I didn't expect to get anything out of Extremities. In fact, I only picked it up because it was so short and I was trying to get to book number 70 by the end of this month (July, 2017) and I knew if I sat down, I'd be able to get though it it in one fell swoop. I also knew that the whole "this isn't for kids" thing was a total marketing scheme meant to, in fact, draw those same kids in in much the same way that the that whole "Parental Advisory" sticker on CDs only makes kids want to purchase them even more.

What I didn't know, however, was that Extremities would turn out to be fairly decent.

Sure, Lubar isn't a grand master of the horror genre, but he's still a capable writer. There's 13 short stories here and for the most part, more than half of them are actually not at all bad. "Every Drop" and "The Ex Box" have very Stephen King-esque undertones, and the 2 tales of revenge ("Apparent Motives" and "Whodoo") felt like something Brian Keene would have written had he gone the route of young adult author. Except for maybe "Morph", none of the stories ever feels too long winded and are just succinct enough to keep the interest of the supposed teens Lubar is writing for.

Had Lubar decided to try his hand at a more "adult" oriented audience for these stories, I have no doubt I would have given this collection a 4 star rating. Nearly every one of the stories could have been expanded with some more blood, guts, language and requisite sex/nudity and felt right at home among other horror greats. I get that he's a well established author in the YA world, so I can't fault him for having moderate success in that field, though I wish he would try a stab at a more mature audience because I honestly think the potential is there.

[Kitty Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

In thirteen tales of horror, Lubar dwells on sweet revenge against a sadistic gym teacher, an albino shape-shifter, and more.

As is so often the case with these types of books, some of the stories are more miss than hits, but overall, nearly all of them were solidly enjoyable. The stories that were misses were more forgettable than bad, and only one or two of the batch could even claim that. The rest were good, if not excellent in any way.

Lubar's gift is for the twist; most of the stories had one, in some form or another, which clearly was the driving force behind the story. Less attention was paid to characterization, which is fair in this sort of book. It was clear that some of the stories were less developed than others, and had hints of juvenile writing, where a "twist" isn't really one at all, but the ones that nailed it were great.

An overall enjoyable read, though ultimately not one to leave a lasting impression.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a lover of horror, when I stumbled upon this book at the dollar store, I picked it up and thought, "Why not? It's $1; it's practically free."

Despite being written at a disappointing middle-school reading level (at best), and the majority of stories featuring an aggravatingly stupid teenage protagonist, it was a fun, quick guilty-pleasure read.

You likely won't be very scared or unsettled by any of these if you're older than maybe 15, but you'll still find the stories satisfying, especially given the recurrent theme of revenge. The stories are predictable and somewhat tropey but entertaining with a little imaginative flare at the same time.

Would I buy it for the full $16 listed on the inside of the cover? Nah. $5 at the most.

[Jess (awayinabook-Zimmy) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found the writing style to be very bland and boring, and none of the stories were at all interesting. The author makes such a fuss about how this is a book filled with just the most dark and twisted stories and how it's DEFINITELY NOT FOR KIDS!!!! but the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark books had scarier pictures in them than any of the stories in this book. I wouldn't have any problems with giving this book to a late elementary school/early middle school age child who wanted to read something appropriately scary for their age, because I think anybody older than that will be very underwhelmed by this collection of stories.

[Diana Iozzia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of scary stories, but they're just okay. They're mostly written about high schoolers, and they're just not that scary. For a book that protests on the inside cover, the back cover, and the introduction, "this is not a collection for children". The stories are so mild, they'd be fine for ages 10 and up. I had bought this at Dollar Tree, which is about right for the value of this book. It was a nice half hour to forty-five minutes of my time, but even so, most scary stories on CreepyPasta and CreepyCatalog are better than this. Sorry, not sorry.

[Aria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't really horror so much as weird slightly poorly written magical realism stories that happened to revolve around death. The first story was really the only one that came close to "horror" in that it was vaguely unsettling in an uncomfortable way, but that's it. The best story was The Ex Box, not that it was in the slightest bit related to horror, but because it didn't go where I was expecting it to and it was an intriguing take on vampires. I'd read a whole novel about a morally grey human girl and a vampire falling in love and doing Bonnie and Clyde shit together

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

(•~•) Ehh.

extremities. the title makes you think the book is going to be creepy. really it didnt freak me out the way id hoped it would.

what i liked:
*most stories had a sense of reality (some like the blood magic one did not)
*picture for the story Feelings (it still freaks me out. just the glowing eyes in the black *shivers*)
*Patterns of Fear (mostly the blanket that foretold the deaths of so many people)

what i didnt like:
*the lack of an adreniline high (creepy things give this. this book did not)

anyway until next time with a hopefully better book
~Carly

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremities is a very unique book. With different stories, plots and characters. My favorite story was called Feelings. The main character's best friend Don kills himself while running into a highway. Don was always a very cautious person. Later a classmate kills himself after becoming depressed, despite how happy of a person he was. They both had one thing in common, they both dated Jennie. The main character ends up growing attracted to her and he slowly loses himself too. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves horror with some psychological aspects.

[McKenna Timmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great collection. There were some stories that were slightly scary and others that were more on the gruesome side. This book is definitely written for lower middle grades, however some of the stories may not be appropriate for that specific age group. I think that this book could be used in a classroom on Halloween and you could just pick and choose which stories are appropriate for the students.

[Mandi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say I thought this book was a huge disappointment. I read it in one sitting and was just bored. The stories are not scary! They read like they're meant for 4 year olds but there's nothing scary about them. Some of them felt straight up stupid. There was only one that felt
Mildly interesting. I wish I could give this book a 0 because that's what it deserves.