Macabre Rising: Tales of Man, Myth and Monster

by James Ninness, Joe Pezzula (Editor), Marcel Losada (Editor)

In this collection of short stories, James Ninness delves into the world of ancient mythology to create tales of modern horror. "Cosplay" re-envisions the slasher genre with a gruesome nod to one (or more) of the world's most infamous killers. "Know Jack" reinvigorates an mythical Japanese monster, transplanting it to the barren land of the Mojave Desert. Witness a sheriff's terrible transformation from man to monster in "Like It Or Not" or experience "Snipe Hunt" wherein three people find more than they asked for over the course of a gruesome evening campout. "Self Less" dabbles with some with boggarts, brownies and The Bogeyman while "Stages" takes the zombie genre back to its roots in Voodoo. Terrifying. Familiar. Haunting. Macabre Rising is the stuff nightmares are made of.

“James Ninness has gone into your nightmares and cherry-picked the worst ones.” DeWayne Feenstra, Image Addiction Podcast

“James Ninness is fearless. He dares to go where other writers would hesitate. You’ve been warned.” Brett Simmons, film director, HUSK

“Take one part Tales From the Crypt and one part Stephen King, add just a splash of Phillip K. Dick (for local flavor), and mix over ice (for the chills).” Michael Drace Fountain, writer, Drace Grey

“Ninness taps into the inner dark places we think we’re familiar with and turns them inside out for a bloody good mess of refreshing tales. If we lived inside his mind we would cower in fear – and awe.” Joe Pezzula, writer, Where the Witches Lurk

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Mystery, Zombies, Thriller, Anthologies

146 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2012

About the author

James Ninness is a writer of fiction.

After getting his degree in English: Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach in 2007, James married the love of his life and the two of them made three babies (not all at once) and adopted a couple dogs.

He usually writes comic books, but dabbles in short prose, film, and a few other sorts of things. When He isn't writing all that, he's working in advertising as the Sr. Copywriter for a digital marketing agency in Newport Beach, CA.

James and his family reside in Orange, California. They play together a lot.

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book from a friend who won it from Goodreads FirstReads. I wanted to give it more than 3 stars...cuz it's good...just not quite that good. The short tales of the macabre are creepy and atmospheric..but never quite get too surprising or scary, they're well-written but not startling or enthralling as much as I'd like. Perhaps because I read this genre so much, it's hard to impress me, but, there it is. It's a good collection, but not great.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT, IT WAS AMAZING. LOVE THE SHORT STORIES. I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN TILL I READ THE LAST PAGE. WON THIS BOOK ON GR GIVEAWAYS..

[Tracy Gilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable, spooky book. I enjoyed being introduced to monsters and creatures I had not heard of before and the short story format.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely creepy and gory tales. I found myself unable to stop reading but not wanting to read right before bed!

[Kayla mae gest · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book and i really want one of my own and i can read it over and over again James Ninness is an amazing auther