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Pray Lied Eve: Short Tales of the Untoward
Horror, weird tales, stories of the supernatural. Call them what you will, these three tales were too long to be considered short by most markets and not long enough to be novellas. It takes only as many words used to tell a story; no more and no less. Instead of hacking Pray Lied Eve into pieces, we bind these three into one offering.
Kaia is haunted by fingerprints marring the basement door. No matter how hard she scrubs, they return day after day. The only things in the cellar are old Halloween decorations, and she double checks, everyday.
Connor has sighted the most miraculous and mysterious thing in his life. Either no one else can see them, or no one believes it. Ice balls larger than a fist smash to the ground regularly. When the church bells ring just right, another one falls.
Laurel knows animals can talk. Sometimes they ask her to do things. One will explain why they have always been drawn to her. By that time, she has grown and so have they; into hideous demons with terrible demands.
Three tales of fear, confusion and hopelessness from the author of Nightface, Lydia Peever.
Kaia is haunted by fingerprints marring the basement door. No matter how hard she scrubs, they return day after day. The only things in the cellar are old Halloween decorations, and she double checks, everyday.
Connor has sighted the most miraculous and mysterious thing in his life. Either no one else can see them, or no one believes it. Ice balls larger than a fist smash to the ground regularly. When the church bells ring just right, another one falls.
Laurel knows animals can talk. Sometimes they ask her to do things. One will explain why they have always been drawn to her. By that time, she has grown and so have they; into hideous demons with terrible demands.
Three tales of fear, confusion and hopelessness from the author of Nightface, Lydia Peever.
- GenresHorror
56 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2013
1 person is currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Lydia Peever
12 books130 followersShort horror and fantastic stories have poured out of me for as long as I could write them down. I have been writing both fiction and non-fiction forever. My work has been published in the Ottawa Citizen, other smaller newspapers, and various places online.
Please visit lydiapeever.ca for more about my debut novel.
Please visit lydiapeever.ca for more about my debut novel.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 23, 2013
Three disquieting horror tales in the best tradition of the genre. Some blood and guts, but mostly Lydia puts you into situations of everyday people facings the horrific. Nothing melodramatic or end-of-the-world, but definitely the end of how you think the world is. Creepy and subtle, these stories get under your skin.
May 18, 2020
These tales are both intriguing and terrifying. When the haunted becomes the ghost. A conspiracy theorist proved right. Perhaps there is a supernatural explanation for the psychopath?
Uncanny and spooky, rather than gore or shock-scares.
I have not been properly frightened in a long while. Pray Lied Eve kept me up at night, and stayed with me during the day.
4.5 stars for this trio of clever and creepy stories.
Uncanny and spooky, rather than gore or shock-scares.
I have not been properly frightened in a long while. Pray Lied Eve kept me up at night, and stayed with me during the day.
4.5 stars for this trio of clever and creepy stories.
May 11, 2021
I met Lydia through the BookTube community, I knew she was an author and honestly I can't believe it took me this long to read some of her work!
I was putting together a Canadian Horror author giveaway and Lydia was so kind to contribute a few copies of her pieces. Not only did she contribute to the giveaway, she was so sweet and sent me copies to dive into myself and to have on my very own shelves. I couldn't be more appreciative that she did so, because I am loving what I have read so far!
I mean, Lydia can write! This short story collection was fantastic. Lydia has such a way with words. I mean her word choice, the descriptions, everything about her story telling simply sets up the atmosphere perfectly for the reader.
These odd, eerie tales are so much fun. I don't think I could even pick a favourite from the collection. Each story had it's own way of pulling me in and sinking it's teeth into me. These stories are full of absolute curiosity and will leave you thinking at the end, perhaps even a bit stumped.
I thoroughly enjoy this collection! If you're looking for some strange tales, I would definitely recommend you pick this collection up, you could also pick up "Pray, Lied, Eve 2".
Thank you all for reading
Your ODD Book Worm
Nichi
I was putting together a Canadian Horror author giveaway and Lydia was so kind to contribute a few copies of her pieces. Not only did she contribute to the giveaway, she was so sweet and sent me copies to dive into myself and to have on my very own shelves. I couldn't be more appreciative that she did so, because I am loving what I have read so far!
I mean, Lydia can write! This short story collection was fantastic. Lydia has such a way with words. I mean her word choice, the descriptions, everything about her story telling simply sets up the atmosphere perfectly for the reader.
These odd, eerie tales are so much fun. I don't think I could even pick a favourite from the collection. Each story had it's own way of pulling me in and sinking it's teeth into me. These stories are full of absolute curiosity and will leave you thinking at the end, perhaps even a bit stumped.
I thoroughly enjoy this collection! If you're looking for some strange tales, I would definitely recommend you pick this collection up, you could also pick up "Pray, Lied, Eve 2".
Thank you all for reading
Your ODD Book Worm
Nichi
September 6, 2013
A review of Lydia Peever’s Pray Lied Eve: Tales of the Untoward (Hora Minor Productions, 2013)
By Derek Newman-Stille
Lydia Peever’s short story collection Pray Lied Eve is deeply psychological, exploring the inner recesses of her characters’ minds as their worlds are shifted slightly into The Weird. Her characters are whirled up in plots beyond them, motivated by forces outside their understanding and forced to explore the meaning of their selfhood as their worlds are shaken.
Her characters are pushed into places of unfamiliarity as their mundane worlds are altered, shifted, and changed. From demonic interventions into a small farm house and a little girl’s small town life, to a man’s obsession with church bells that may be tolling a major change for his world, to a woman’s discovery that apparitions are roaming through her house, Peever takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary and opens windows for an abnormal undercurrent to her readers’ everyday observations of the world around them. With her deep descriptive style, her world becomes real and her vision shared with readers. Readers become enwrapped in a spell of revelation, showing them the potential for oddity in all of the norms that they create and that allow them to feel comfortable about their world.
To find out more about Lydia Peever and her short story collection Pray Lied Eve, visit her website at http://nightface.ca/portfolio/ .
You can explore some reviews of individual stories from Pray Lied Eve at
http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.co...
http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.co...
By Derek Newman-Stille
Lydia Peever’s short story collection Pray Lied Eve is deeply psychological, exploring the inner recesses of her characters’ minds as their worlds are shifted slightly into The Weird. Her characters are whirled up in plots beyond them, motivated by forces outside their understanding and forced to explore the meaning of their selfhood as their worlds are shaken.
Her characters are pushed into places of unfamiliarity as their mundane worlds are altered, shifted, and changed. From demonic interventions into a small farm house and a little girl’s small town life, to a man’s obsession with church bells that may be tolling a major change for his world, to a woman’s discovery that apparitions are roaming through her house, Peever takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary and opens windows for an abnormal undercurrent to her readers’ everyday observations of the world around them. With her deep descriptive style, her world becomes real and her vision shared with readers. Readers become enwrapped in a spell of revelation, showing them the potential for oddity in all of the norms that they create and that allow them to feel comfortable about their world.
To find out more about Lydia Peever and her short story collection Pray Lied Eve, visit her website at http://nightface.ca/portfolio/ .
You can explore some reviews of individual stories from Pray Lied Eve at
http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.co...
http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.co...
March 22, 2013
PRAY LIED EVE is a three story anthology of horror that delivers.
Big time in fact.
The author of NIGHTFACE returns with this short, yet totally satisfying small anthology with three of the creepiest stories I've read in a while. In the first story, 'Everyday,' a woman keeps finding fingerprints on her basement door. She cleans them, and they return. It evolves into this very deliciously creepy tale of "what's in the basement" that's been done to death, but Peever breathes new life into it with a great little twist.
In "Shrinking Dwell" Peever gives us a man obsessed with balls of ice crashing out of the sky in a pattern. This story has all the chill evocative of Stephen King's "N" from JUST PAST SUNSET (one of my personal favorites.) How far should an obsession take you and at what cost? The story escalates at a nice pace for it's very satisfying conclusion.
My pick of the litter is "Bad Shepherd" and with good reason! What begins as an innocuous story about a little girl who can talk to animals rapidly turns into a tale of a young woman who becomes the Bad Shepherd for demons. To tell too much about it, would give away a lot, but I will say that the story goes from insanely cute to brutal and violent at the end. To pull that off is a small miracle and Peever has proven again, that she is more than capable of doing miracles with words to terrify.
Grab this one-well worth it!!
Big time in fact.
The author of NIGHTFACE returns with this short, yet totally satisfying small anthology with three of the creepiest stories I've read in a while. In the first story, 'Everyday,' a woman keeps finding fingerprints on her basement door. She cleans them, and they return. It evolves into this very deliciously creepy tale of "what's in the basement" that's been done to death, but Peever breathes new life into it with a great little twist.
In "Shrinking Dwell" Peever gives us a man obsessed with balls of ice crashing out of the sky in a pattern. This story has all the chill evocative of Stephen King's "N" from JUST PAST SUNSET (one of my personal favorites.) How far should an obsession take you and at what cost? The story escalates at a nice pace for it's very satisfying conclusion.
My pick of the litter is "Bad Shepherd" and with good reason! What begins as an innocuous story about a little girl who can talk to animals rapidly turns into a tale of a young woman who becomes the Bad Shepherd for demons. To tell too much about it, would give away a lot, but I will say that the story goes from insanely cute to brutal and violent at the end. To pull that off is a small miracle and Peever has proven again, that she is more than capable of doing miracles with words to terrify.
Grab this one-well worth it!!
December 3, 2013
In a word: creepy.
Three tales of weirdness in the best possible way, Pray Lied Eve is one of the best short collections I've read in years. Yes, it's only three stories, but the three really hooked me from the start.
In the incredible creepy-kids tale Everyday, fingerprints appear on the basement door and return each night no matter how hard Kaia cleans.
In Shrinking Dwell, poor Connor sees things that no one else will see, and he believes a conspiracy is the reason.
The collection ends with Bad Shepherd, which follows Laurel's relationship with animals from child to adult. Of course, the animals aren't just animals, and their relationship gets weirder the longer it goes on.
I loved this collection and wish I could give it 4 1/2 stars. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars is I didn't love one of the three stories (I still really liked it, just didn't LOVE it).
This is a really solid collection that's short enough to read in one sitting but will last with you for much longer.
Three tales of weirdness in the best possible way, Pray Lied Eve is one of the best short collections I've read in years. Yes, it's only three stories, but the three really hooked me from the start.
In the incredible creepy-kids tale Everyday, fingerprints appear on the basement door and return each night no matter how hard Kaia cleans.
In Shrinking Dwell, poor Connor sees things that no one else will see, and he believes a conspiracy is the reason.
The collection ends with Bad Shepherd, which follows Laurel's relationship with animals from child to adult. Of course, the animals aren't just animals, and their relationship gets weirder the longer it goes on.
I loved this collection and wish I could give it 4 1/2 stars. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars is I didn't love one of the three stories (I still really liked it, just didn't LOVE it).
This is a really solid collection that's short enough to read in one sitting but will last with you for much longer.
April 5, 2013
This collection is great. Three tightly written, haunting short stories just perfect for a rainy day. I was lucky enough to have one and read them all while it drizzled outside. A perfect day.
Peever has a real gift for description, a flare at bringing the supernatural and macabre to life with tight and telling prose. Her stories are engaging, personal, and of course, disturbing. You won't be sorry to own these.
Peever has a real gift for description, a flare at bringing the supernatural and macabre to life with tight and telling prose. Her stories are engaging, personal, and of course, disturbing. You won't be sorry to own these.
February 21, 2022
The short story is the most unique of all the genres as it can pack a punch like no other narrative. Whether it delivers humor, mystery, or drama, the short story holds something for every reader. When it comes to horror, however, the short story takes on an entirely different look and has the power to captivate readers, lead them down a rapidly spiraling rabbit hole, and leave them breathless by the story’s end. Nowhere is there a better example of this than in Pray Lied Eve: Short Tales of the Untoward, by Lydia Peever.
Author, Lydia Peever, has handed readers a collection of short stories steeped in horror and the macabre. Each of Peever’s shorts features a unique take on the horror genre. The author leads readers down a path filled with shocking discoveries, long-hidden mysteries, and abrupt and unexpected endings.
For the most part, Peever’s stories have endings that hit hard and seem to come out of a dark and foreboding left field. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Short stories are meant to be savored, and many of Peever’s beg for immediate rereads. This is one collection readers will find themselves coming back to time and time again.
My favorite among Peever’s stories has to be “Grave Marginalia.” I love the fact that it is set in a library and the very books themselves seem to play a sinister role in the strange and unsettling events taking place before the characters’ very eyes. This was one of those stories I stopped and poured over once more before reading the rest of the book.
In addition, Peever breaks down the origins of each of the stories for readers. I enjoy hearing about the thought process behind an author’s work and find it interesting to see how their stories originated. I appreciated this little addition to the conclusion of the book.
Pray Lied Eve: Short Tales of the Untoward is a spellbinding collection for horror fans that enjoy gruesome scenes and vividly frightening imagery. Anyone looking for quick reads that feel like spine-chilling rides on the most horrifying of rollercoaster rides will find the thrill they are seeking in Peever’s work.
Author, Lydia Peever, has handed readers a collection of short stories steeped in horror and the macabre. Each of Peever’s shorts features a unique take on the horror genre. The author leads readers down a path filled with shocking discoveries, long-hidden mysteries, and abrupt and unexpected endings.
For the most part, Peever’s stories have endings that hit hard and seem to come out of a dark and foreboding left field. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Short stories are meant to be savored, and many of Peever’s beg for immediate rereads. This is one collection readers will find themselves coming back to time and time again.
My favorite among Peever’s stories has to be “Grave Marginalia.” I love the fact that it is set in a library and the very books themselves seem to play a sinister role in the strange and unsettling events taking place before the characters’ very eyes. This was one of those stories I stopped and poured over once more before reading the rest of the book.
In addition, Peever breaks down the origins of each of the stories for readers. I enjoy hearing about the thought process behind an author’s work and find it interesting to see how their stories originated. I appreciated this little addition to the conclusion of the book.
Pray Lied Eve: Short Tales of the Untoward is a spellbinding collection for horror fans that enjoy gruesome scenes and vividly frightening imagery. Anyone looking for quick reads that feel like spine-chilling rides on the most horrifying of rollercoaster rides will find the thrill they are seeking in Peever’s work.
January 22, 2022
Pray Lied Eve is composed of three short stories.
Everyday - it begins with mysterious fingerprints on the basement door and leads somewhere unexpected. I enjoyed the Halloween-vibes of this one. An ideal time to read this short story would be Halloween night with a glass of red wine.
Shrinking Dwell - I LOVED this story. An accountant becomes obsessed with mysterious ice balls falling from the sky. After conducting research, he determines that the ice may somehow be connected to the church bells in the city. But how? Why? I really fell into this absorbing story.
Bad Shepherd - we follow the life of Laurel, from the time she is a little girl and meets (and helps!) her first of many demons. I overall really enjoyed this story. I found Laurel an interesting character and the creatures she encounters throughout her life very compelling. There is a scene towards the end involving possession that I thought was a little over-the-top (and wouldn't work unless the implication was that Laurel had superpowers . . . which given the subject matter, maybe?)
These three stories were very well written and intriguing. There is a follow-up to this collection and I will definitely be reading it!
Everyday - it begins with mysterious fingerprints on the basement door and leads somewhere unexpected. I enjoyed the Halloween-vibes of this one. An ideal time to read this short story would be Halloween night with a glass of red wine.
Shrinking Dwell - I LOVED this story. An accountant becomes obsessed with mysterious ice balls falling from the sky. After conducting research, he determines that the ice may somehow be connected to the church bells in the city. But how? Why? I really fell into this absorbing story.
Bad Shepherd - we follow the life of Laurel, from the time she is a little girl and meets (and helps!) her first of many demons. I overall really enjoyed this story. I found Laurel an interesting character and the creatures she encounters throughout her life very compelling. There is a scene towards the end involving possession that I thought was a little over-the-top (and wouldn't work unless the implication was that Laurel had superpowers . . . which given the subject matter, maybe?)
These three stories were very well written and intriguing. There is a follow-up to this collection and I will definitely be reading it!
July 3, 2018
Disclaimer.
I had requested and received audible version of this book for free from the author, in exchange for an unbiased review.
What I liked about the book -
This is a collection of three short stories of the supernatural / horror. Managing to tell 3 stories in a short span of 2 hours, each story being uniquely scary, is a talent worth applauding. All 3 stories have their strong and unique plots and are very well written. They are dark, spooky and leave you stunned. I had to take a break from listening to horror books after this one.
What I disliked about the book -
Mentioned below.
Narration -
Narration by D. Michael Hope was a good match for the content. His delivery made the atmosphere all that more spooky and tense. What did throw me off was lack of gap / pause between different stories. Second one starts immediately up on the first one finishing.
I had requested and received audible version of this book for free from the author, in exchange for an unbiased review.
What I liked about the book -
This is a collection of three short stories of the supernatural / horror. Managing to tell 3 stories in a short span of 2 hours, each story being uniquely scary, is a talent worth applauding. All 3 stories have their strong and unique plots and are very well written. They are dark, spooky and leave you stunned. I had to take a break from listening to horror books after this one.
What I disliked about the book -
Mentioned below.
Narration -
Narration by D. Michael Hope was a good match for the content. His delivery made the atmosphere all that more spooky and tense. What did throw me off was lack of gap / pause between different stories. Second one starts immediately up on the first one finishing.
July 8, 2018
This is a collection of three short stories, each oozing with creep. Very unique, original stories, really enjoyed em. Narration was good too. If you love a short, unique, creep factor short story, this will do a great job for you! Really interesting, I enjoy the writing and look forward to reading/listening to more from Lydia. Really cool!
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews