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Tentacles
This short horror anthology packs a big punch. Four short science fiction stories of tentacle monster mayhem and destruction to keep you awake at night wondering if you’ve already been the next victim…
Solar Pioneer
During the ten-year war, a remote scientific station on the edge of the galaxy has all but been forgotten. Tired of the war, cruiser pilot Coop takes the mission to re-establish contact with the team, but soon has to rescue himself from the clutches of a crazy scientist and a monster capable of keeping alive forever his wildest nightmares. Science Fiction Horror. 6,400 words.
Mr. Sweede
Through a telescope, some galaxies may not look like much, but the full spectrum of beings still lurk within. Some live, learn and love within it. Some are travelers. Some hunt. But not all hunters look like predators. Some look just like us. Some were our best friends. Mr. Sweede was everyone’s best friend. Or so they thought…. Science Fiction 3,000 words.
Zaural
Captain Zaural Shuri is sent to respond to an emergency hail on Andvari, a colony of former inmates, after a colonist is killed by the planet's indigenous species. Once there, she must battle her ex boyfriend, bizarre creatures, and her own fears to unravel the tangled web of clues before she loses her grip on reality. As if reality was ever what it seemed.
Science Fiction with mild adult sexual content. 11,000 words.
The Sacrifice
One night Aveda, a scullery maid, is dragged out of bed by ruthless pirates and hauled on board their ship. She fears she will be sold into slavery or worse, but their plan is even more sinister. Down below, a monster she never imagined existed awaits the decision that will change her life forever...
Science Fiction/Historical
2,500 words
Solar Pioneer
During the ten-year war, a remote scientific station on the edge of the galaxy has all but been forgotten. Tired of the war, cruiser pilot Coop takes the mission to re-establish contact with the team, but soon has to rescue himself from the clutches of a crazy scientist and a monster capable of keeping alive forever his wildest nightmares. Science Fiction Horror. 6,400 words.
Mr. Sweede
Through a telescope, some galaxies may not look like much, but the full spectrum of beings still lurk within. Some live, learn and love within it. Some are travelers. Some hunt. But not all hunters look like predators. Some look just like us. Some were our best friends. Mr. Sweede was everyone’s best friend. Or so they thought…. Science Fiction 3,000 words.
Zaural
Captain Zaural Shuri is sent to respond to an emergency hail on Andvari, a colony of former inmates, after a colonist is killed by the planet's indigenous species. Once there, she must battle her ex boyfriend, bizarre creatures, and her own fears to unravel the tangled web of clues before she loses her grip on reality. As if reality was ever what it seemed.
Science Fiction with mild adult sexual content. 11,000 words.
The Sacrifice
One night Aveda, a scullery maid, is dragged out of bed by ruthless pirates and hauled on board their ship. She fears she will be sold into slavery or worse, but their plan is even more sinister. Down below, a monster she never imagined existed awaits the decision that will change her life forever...
Science Fiction/Historical
2,500 words
- GenresHorrorAnthologiesEbooks
75 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 2, 2012
21 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 16, 2015
Well why wouldn't you want to read it? It's short, free and it's titled Tentacles. And in case the word wasn't plain enough, there is a very lurid cover picture, leaving no question as to the subject matter. Well, as sometimes is the case with freebies, here you pretty much get what you paid for. Just over an hour worth of scifi and piratefi mindless distractions. The former was taking itself too seriously, the later was just a silly chicklit. This would have been so much fun as a cheesy creature fest instead. Mind you, there is a good chance I'm biased, I don't care for scifi and despise chicklit. In all fairness it was quite decent for the most part, just didn't grab my attention at all. To its credit, the book promised tentacles and tentacles it brought. Diligently. Generously. That's an admirable commitment to the subject at hand indeed.
August 6, 2017
Short, free, what's not to like. And the stories were actually quite good.
February 18, 2019
Too many loose ends.
The endings of all the stories seemed to lack conclusion. I understand the concept of projecting an ending but not enough variables here.
The endings of all the stories seemed to lack conclusion. I understand the concept of projecting an ending but not enough variables here.
August 26, 2019
Great for a short read!
For a free collection of short sf stories this is what you would want! 5 takes of different types of tentacles. 🐙
For a free collection of short sf stories this is what you would want! 5 takes of different types of tentacles. 🐙
November 1, 2020
The first story of this very short Anthology was worth my time, but the others weren`t so interesting and enjoying as the first.
July 22, 2013
A Blogger Book Fair Review
What is the blogger book fair? It's two weeks every year that I get to make myself go crazy with contest, reviews, blog posts, and have the ability to meet hundreds of new authors all in one week. So clearly, you should check out the picture up there links to. It's a great week to be exposed to not only new authors, but new titles to add to your every growing library. First in a series of 8 reviews this week - and yeah, it's Sunday night and I'm writing them all this week as I go - is the short story anthology Tentacles. Bet you didn't know I liked slippery slimy sea and space creatures did you?
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="317"]
Click Image for Goodreads synopses and author biography[/caption]
I offered to review this for Haley Whitehall, so I'll spend more time on her story in the anthology, but will touch on the other two as well. The anthology explores all types of tentacle creatures. In space, in the ocean, on other planets, past, future and present. In addition to The Sacrifice by Whitehall, there are also two tales by Eva LeFoy, and one by D.R. Larsson. All the stories are well written, and each is unique. That's a point I was slightly apprehensive about. I hoped for an anthology where the stories are vastly different, with only tentacles as the binding thread between them. I got what I wanted, and even better, I got four pretty good short stories. The entire book is 56 pages. As with most shorts, reading the entire thing without 'skimming' is often crucial to understanding the story. The pacing was exactly what I needed to start my 8 books to finish reading, 8 books to review week. It's other worldly enough, and vague enough to give the reader a chance to imagine each individual world on it's own. It's also pretty, and that helps. (I promise not to rant on the whole good books/bad cover = bad sales.) The Sacrifice, written by Whitehall was my favorite, with Zaural drawing a close second. There was no more sexual content than the equivalent of any given episode of Star Trek TNG.
[caption id="attachment_1262" align="aligncenter" width="350"]
Yup. Back to star trek :P[/caption]
Science fiction horror, Science fiction, Science fiction historical, and science fiction with sexual content (sort of) gave me a good indication there was hope for this book. I also really liked the cover's use of tentacles in the font. I'd say the same of The Sacrifice as well. They both develop characters and relationships between them very well, and while Zaural is the longest of the four, and The Sacrifice the shortest, they are equally well written and enjoyable. I loved the development of both tentacle creatures and the descriptions of birth and rebirth - specifically in The Sacrifice. Check out Whitehall's page on the Blogger Book Fair and see what she's up to now. You can also check out prizes and giveaways here, or buy the anthology from Amazon here. If you really have time on your hands, you can join in the Reader's choice awards here, and the blog here.
What is the blogger book fair? It's two weeks every year that I get to make myself go crazy with contest, reviews, blog posts, and have the ability to meet hundreds of new authors all in one week. So clearly, you should check out the picture up there links to. It's a great week to be exposed to not only new authors, but new titles to add to your every growing library. First in a series of 8 reviews this week - and yeah, it's Sunday night and I'm writing them all this week as I go - is the short story anthology Tentacles. Bet you didn't know I liked slippery slimy sea and space creatures did you?[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="317"]
Click Image for Goodreads synopses and author biography[/caption]I offered to review this for Haley Whitehall, so I'll spend more time on her story in the anthology, but will touch on the other two as well. The anthology explores all types of tentacle creatures. In space, in the ocean, on other planets, past, future and present. In addition to The Sacrifice by Whitehall, there are also two tales by Eva LeFoy, and one by D.R. Larsson. All the stories are well written, and each is unique. That's a point I was slightly apprehensive about. I hoped for an anthology where the stories are vastly different, with only tentacles as the binding thread between them. I got what I wanted, and even better, I got four pretty good short stories. The entire book is 56 pages. As with most shorts, reading the entire thing without 'skimming' is often crucial to understanding the story. The pacing was exactly what I needed to start my 8 books to finish reading, 8 books to review week. It's other worldly enough, and vague enough to give the reader a chance to imagine each individual world on it's own. It's also pretty, and that helps. (I promise not to rant on the whole good books/bad cover = bad sales.) The Sacrifice, written by Whitehall was my favorite, with Zaural drawing a close second. There was no more sexual content than the equivalent of any given episode of Star Trek TNG.
[caption id="attachment_1262" align="aligncenter" width="350"]
Yup. Back to star trek :P[/caption]Science fiction horror, Science fiction, Science fiction historical, and science fiction with sexual content (sort of) gave me a good indication there was hope for this book. I also really liked the cover's use of tentacles in the font. I'd say the same of The Sacrifice as well. They both develop characters and relationships between them very well, and while Zaural is the longest of the four, and The Sacrifice the shortest, they are equally well written and enjoyable. I loved the development of both tentacle creatures and the descriptions of birth and rebirth - specifically in The Sacrifice. Check out Whitehall's page on the Blogger Book Fair and see what she's up to now. You can also check out prizes and giveaways here, or buy the anthology from Amazon here. If you really have time on your hands, you can join in the Reader's choice awards here, and the blog here.
September 25, 2013
This anthology may be called Tentacles, but if you want that kind of thing, I'm afraid you have to look elsewhere. The stories in this collection are "serious" business, with fiends and allies that just happen to have tentacles.
Eve LaFoy kicks things off with Solar Pioneer, where a volunteer spaceship captain arrives at a satellite laboratory of sorts only to discover that there is a mad scientist running loose in cahoots with a tentacled alien fiend. Will our hero survive the whole thing or will this be his personal Event Horizon space horror?
DR Larsson follows with Mr. Sweede, a futuristic tale of a body-stealing Cthulhu-thing on the loose, preying on various people until a victim is finally on to it and wants to put an end to his activities. Will this fellow succeed or will Cthulhu live forever?
Eve LaFoy is back with Zaural, which has a more space opera feel to it than the previous two space horror stories. This one has a tough captain who, in an attempt to solve some colonists' problems with the local tentacled inhabitants, finds out that she may have bitten off more than she can chew when those tentacles come a-calling. This one isn't kinky or weird at all, mind you. The story is more in line with those "native aliens just want to be free so let's hug and hump an alien tree today!" tales that pepper the genre, although this one is a bit more ambivalent and even bittersweet compared to those PETA commercials in space.
Finally, Haley Whitehall closes the anthology with The Sacrifice, which sees a kitchen servant girl kidnapped by pirates and thrown to the neighborhood sea kraken as a sacrifice. This one is set in a more historical fantasy setting, unlike the previous three stories, and the author somehow manages to turn the idea of being sacrificed to a kraken into something akin to a female revenge fantasy. It works, mind you.
I've given short summaries of the stories found in this anthology because they are all short to the point that there's no point trying too hard to analyze them. All I can say is that they are all entertaining stories in their own right. The length and pacing all feel right, and when the story ends, it really feels like the door has closed at the right place and moment. The four stories here are all different from one another in tone, feel, and even genre, but they all work very well in their own ways.
For its price and length, Tentacles is worth the money, if you ask me. It gives me what I'm looking for: a good time with a pleasant diversion, so what's not to like? The authors couldn't do a better job if they had a bunch of Disney squids happily serenading me with Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open The Door". Love the tentacles, people, they really aren't that bad.
Eve LaFoy kicks things off with Solar Pioneer, where a volunteer spaceship captain arrives at a satellite laboratory of sorts only to discover that there is a mad scientist running loose in cahoots with a tentacled alien fiend. Will our hero survive the whole thing or will this be his personal Event Horizon space horror?
DR Larsson follows with Mr. Sweede, a futuristic tale of a body-stealing Cthulhu-thing on the loose, preying on various people until a victim is finally on to it and wants to put an end to his activities. Will this fellow succeed or will Cthulhu live forever?
Eve LaFoy is back with Zaural, which has a more space opera feel to it than the previous two space horror stories. This one has a tough captain who, in an attempt to solve some colonists' problems with the local tentacled inhabitants, finds out that she may have bitten off more than she can chew when those tentacles come a-calling. This one isn't kinky or weird at all, mind you. The story is more in line with those "native aliens just want to be free so let's hug and hump an alien tree today!" tales that pepper the genre, although this one is a bit more ambivalent and even bittersweet compared to those PETA commercials in space.
Finally, Haley Whitehall closes the anthology with The Sacrifice, which sees a kitchen servant girl kidnapped by pirates and thrown to the neighborhood sea kraken as a sacrifice. This one is set in a more historical fantasy setting, unlike the previous three stories, and the author somehow manages to turn the idea of being sacrificed to a kraken into something akin to a female revenge fantasy. It works, mind you.
I've given short summaries of the stories found in this anthology because they are all short to the point that there's no point trying too hard to analyze them. All I can say is that they are all entertaining stories in their own right. The length and pacing all feel right, and when the story ends, it really feels like the door has closed at the right place and moment. The four stories here are all different from one another in tone, feel, and even genre, but they all work very well in their own ways.
For its price and length, Tentacles is worth the money, if you ask me. It gives me what I'm looking for: a good time with a pleasant diversion, so what's not to like? The authors couldn't do a better job if they had a bunch of Disney squids happily serenading me with Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open The Door". Love the tentacles, people, they really aren't that bad.
February 14, 2017
Cinsidering it was free and short sweet find....not complaining too much. Yes its a bunch of short stories involving tentacles, and cephalopods alike with heavy doses of horror!
January 4, 2013
‘Tentacles’ is a small gem of an anthology. The four stories are all written around the theme of tentacles, but that is the only thing they have in common; all give you the creeps in a very different way. ‘Solar Pioneer’ is a short space opera where an attempted rescue operation goes horribly awry- ‘Alien’ has nothing on this story! ‘Mr. Sweede’ doesn’t have the crashing action of the first story; instead, it has a horror that creeps over you in a near physical way. ‘Zaural’ is a work of hard science fiction; it’s not horror but has a kind of weird beauty to it, while ‘The Sacrifice’ is, while horrifying in a way, quite touching and funny, too. If you have a love for the slimy, creeping tentacle, read this book!
February 20, 2018
Sometimes I get books and I'm thrilled with the mystery, the ambiguity and even the baffling of it all. Then there's Tentacles. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to make of it.
It's a book of short stories, each one having carrying the theme of tentacles. I thought that was cool, unique and monstrous. What I got was, Tentacles. Don't get me wrong, one was completely amazing, (Solar Pioneer), but even it left me confused by the ending.
By the time I finished the book, I was hungry for a real science fiction thrill.
Check out Tentacles: An Anthology, if you dare. Me, I'm off to the next read. Cheers!
*www.areneehunt.com
Tentacles: An Anthology
Haley Whitehall, Eva LeFoy & D.R. Larsson
Expanding Horizon Press, Dec. 2012
75-pages
Science Fiction/ Thriller/Short Stories
It's a book of short stories, each one having carrying the theme of tentacles. I thought that was cool, unique and monstrous. What I got was, Tentacles. Don't get me wrong, one was completely amazing, (Solar Pioneer), but even it left me confused by the ending.
By the time I finished the book, I was hungry for a real science fiction thrill.
Check out Tentacles: An Anthology, if you dare. Me, I'm off to the next read. Cheers!
*www.areneehunt.com
Tentacles: An Anthology
Haley Whitehall, Eva LeFoy & D.R. Larsson
Expanding Horizon Press, Dec. 2012
75-pages
Science Fiction/ Thriller/Short Stories
February 8, 2013
Well I can’t say that I was surprised except that I was. The first three stories had me yelling ‘what’ every few minutes and just flailing at the creepiness that was occurring. All these stories were very well written and had me staring wide eyed at my screen as I read the unbelievable (and often horrifying) events in these stories.
This anthology is a great way to get a glimpse at these authors and I definitely plan on checking out their other works. If you’re into horror, sci fi and tentically monsters, this is the anthology for you.
This anthology is a great way to get a glimpse at these authors and I definitely plan on checking out their other works. If you’re into horror, sci fi and tentically monsters, this is the anthology for you.
February 20, 2013
When I saw this title in the Member Giveaway, it intrigued me. Stories that only have one element in common--tentacles. I decided to request it in the hope of getting it. I am glad I did. It was a quick read, but very entertaining. There is only four stories in this anthology, but each one is worth a read. Great job by the authors (two that are debut authors). Highly recommend this book for anyone looking for entertaining sci-fi/fantasy stories all involving tentacled monsters.
*** Member Giveaway copy ***
*** Member Giveaway copy ***
January 25, 2017
"Memories coalesced into history"
True to its title, there is some sort of tentacle connection in every story. The stories aren't bad, but they are not great either - though all 4 stories are very different from each other.
If you are looking for something to read to pass the time, and like sci-fi (with, maybe, a touch of horror), then you can definitely do much worse than this book.
One thing that did annoy me was there was at least 1 typo or grammatical mistake per story.
True to its title, there is some sort of tentacle connection in every story. The stories aren't bad, but they are not great either - though all 4 stories are very different from each other.
If you are looking for something to read to pass the time, and like sci-fi (with, maybe, a touch of horror), then you can definitely do much worse than this book.
One thing that did annoy me was there was at least 1 typo or grammatical mistake per story.
June 17, 2017
rating : 1 star
challenges :
#TBRTakedown 3.5
1. Standalone & . TBR Shelf Over a Year (or the longest)
#Genrethon
shoet stories
what did I think of it:
I disliked it, it wasn't a good as I was hoping it was going to be, it was strange but that's all it had going for it, it didn't pull me in to any of the 4 short stories at all. So I won't be keep it on my kindle app .
challenges :
#TBRTakedown 3.5
1. Standalone & . TBR Shelf Over a Year (or the longest)
#Genrethon
shoet stories
what did I think of it:
I disliked it, it wasn't a good as I was hoping it was going to be, it was strange but that's all it had going for it, it didn't pull me in to any of the 4 short stories at all. So I won't be keep it on my kindle app .
December 28, 2015
This is a short (59 pages) collection of four short stories revolving around various creatures with tentacles. While none of these stories knocked my socks off, all were well written and had enough meat to keep me reading. This is a good quick read for a winter day.
March 9, 2016
Bravo, Hope To See More.
This was a fun, exciting, and dark swim through the depths of some new authors imagination. I recommend it to anyone who likes Dark Space fiction and/or Cthulhu & tentacles. I really hope to see more from these authors.
This was a fun, exciting, and dark swim through the depths of some new authors imagination. I recommend it to anyone who likes Dark Space fiction and/or Cthulhu & tentacles. I really hope to see more from these authors.
December 17, 2016
It'll reach out and grab ya!!
I don't read very many anthologies, especially sci-fi horror anthologies. Welp! I think I'm going to from now on!!
Once I picked Tentacles up I didn't put it down until I finished it. Check it out!
I don't read very many anthologies, especially sci-fi horror anthologies. Welp! I think I'm going to from now on!!
Once I picked Tentacles up I didn't put it down until I finished it. Check it out!
February 18, 2013
I absolutely loved this book. Each of the four stories will creep you out in a different way. I cannot wait to read more by these authors.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews