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WISH
Compilation issue of Shudderville 1 - 8:
If you could have anything in the world, what would you wish for?
In 1966, two quantum physicists conducted an experiment that changed their lives forever. Now their greatest desires have become their worst nightmares.
In 2012, Sophie McKnight will do anything to get her dead daughter back. When a mysterious stranger offers her a solution, she can’t resist accepting his terms. All she has to do is make a wish.
Don't miss this mind-bending series in the tradition of “The Twilight Zone,“ “American Horror Story,“ “Lost” and “Fringe.”
If you could have anything in the world, what would you wish for?
In 1966, two quantum physicists conducted an experiment that changed their lives forever. Now their greatest desires have become their worst nightmares.
In 2012, Sophie McKnight will do anything to get her dead daughter back. When a mysterious stranger offers her a solution, she can’t resist accepting his terms. All she has to do is make a wish.
Don't miss this mind-bending series in the tradition of “The Twilight Zone,“ “American Horror Story,“ “Lost” and “Fringe.”
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 21, 2013
40 people are currently reading
420 people want to read
About the author
Mia Zabrisky
21 books13 followersMia Zabrisky formerly published under the name Mia Zabriskie; the series Shudderville was begun under that name.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 20, 2013
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted. one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip? - Eminem
Be careful what you wish for....
This book was freaking fantastic and I can not wait to read the others.
To seize everything you ever wanted. one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip? - Eminem
Be careful what you wish for....
This book was freaking fantastic and I can not wait to read the others.
December 2, 2013
4.5 stars
Quite quite good. Intriguing. It is written like a TV series and I assume is designed to have you coming back for more. That, it does do. I am only disappointed at the lack of an ending. I plan to continue reading further episodes. Very talented author.
Quite quite good. Intriguing. It is written like a TV series and I assume is designed to have you coming back for more. That, it does do. I am only disappointed at the lack of an ending. I plan to continue reading further episodes. Very talented author.
October 16, 2013
Very strange stuff. I couldn't stop reading it for a minute!
August 25, 2013
Can't wait for Episode 11!
November 13, 2021
A horrible story
I disliked this story intensely! It is awful. Disjointed. One horror after another. I read it to the end but had forgotten the multiple story lines by the time I read halfway. Sick! Extremely confusing and disturbing, when the timeline changes backwards then forwards, enough to cause whiplash.
Weird, abnormal children capable of murder. A kidnapped daughter whose mother can see her only during intimacy with a particular man, but she is apparently the reincarnation of a disabled but brilliant professor.
In my opinion the author must have been under the influence of hallucogenic substances to have dreamed this story up. Truly awful!
I disliked this story intensely! It is awful. Disjointed. One horror after another. I read it to the end but had forgotten the multiple story lines by the time I read halfway. Sick! Extremely confusing and disturbing, when the timeline changes backwards then forwards, enough to cause whiplash.
Weird, abnormal children capable of murder. A kidnapped daughter whose mother can see her only during intimacy with a particular man, but she is apparently the reincarnation of a disabled but brilliant professor.
In my opinion the author must have been under the influence of hallucogenic substances to have dreamed this story up. Truly awful!
October 16, 2021
Wish seems to be a compilation of the first eight episodes of a serial novel. There are bright spots in the storyline, but they are overshadowed by problems. There are timeline inconsistencies and the author cannot do simple arithmetic. For example, he noticed the child had an extra toe and was excited because 13 was his lucky number. Maybe Zabrisky thinks everyone has 12 toes normally? More problemmatic is that these are not particularly recent stories and Zabrisky seems to have disappeared like one of her characters. Maybe she’s wandering in an alternate universe.
May 29, 2018
Very strange book
The storyline is based on the idea of time travel and changing events a person finds unfair or difficult to deal with. I personally don't enjoy these types of books. I read the whole book hoping it would improve.
The storyline is based on the idea of time travel and changing events a person finds unfair or difficult to deal with. I personally don't enjoy these types of books. I read the whole book hoping it would improve.
January 30, 2019
Creepy good
The story(ies) were very good. They connect with each other in interesting and unexpected ways. I was on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next. The ending has a cliff hanger. The problem is, I can't seem to find the other book.
The story(ies) were very good. They connect with each other in interesting and unexpected ways. I was on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next. The ending has a cliff hanger. The problem is, I can't seem to find the other book.
June 11, 2019
This book surprised me. The first few episodes did not really get me too engaged. However, it got so much more interesting as I continued to read this. The plot twisted and turned and I ended up loving this book!
August 7, 2019
Twisted
Not a plot you can easily figure out before the ending. Keeps you interested and sometimes confused. Great for summer reading.
Not a plot you can easily figure out before the ending. Keeps you interested and sometimes confused. Great for summer reading.
May 16, 2016
Interesting all encompassing story [spoilers?]
A story for those that believe in magic but call it quantum mechanics?
The QM angle of this novel is the basis of the story. It is also the one thing I found objectionable in this book.
For the rest, it is well written, solid characters, interesting storylines, a solid effort.
It's a book where the action is constantly around the corner but when it hits you is both subdued and terrifying. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I first downloaded this book, but now that I know, I would download it again.
Let me go back to the QM theme and why I dislike it. I guess it is the same reason I don't like alien conspiracy theories, ancient mysteries and the like. Not because I wouldn't be thrilled if a spaceship landed in my backyard or if I discovered an alien computer in a Neolithic did. Are you kidding? I'd be ecstatic.
Alas, when I hear theories (hypothesis really) that aliens crossed the universe to teach the Egyptians how to stack large stones one on top of the other, I get annoyed. Would we go to Alpha Centauri to teach the natives how to make large stone buildings or would be maybe teach them how to make stainless steel instead? (That is, assuming we wouldn't kill them all and take their planet, converting the survivors to our religion. Something we are really good at.)
Wouldn't a space faring race of aliens have figured out at least how to make an arch? So why didn't this aliens tell the Egyptians "you are doing it wrong buddy, we are not going to use our antigravity beams to help you move these large stones, but we'll show you how to build lighter and taller instead. About that?"
Likewise my problem with using QM to explain what essentially boils down to Magic and sorcery left me unsatisfied.
Maybe it is because every New Age woo peddler manages to mix quantum entanglement in their magical bull~*^# knowing damn well that your average aging hippie could not begin to understand the basics of QM if it hit them in the face and picked their noses.
The advantage of QM is that it exists, it is incredibly complicated and hard to understand, it does some pretty weird stuff at the empirical level and it is also key to most of the technology we use daily.
It used to be all you needed was a piece of the True Cross, but today you use QM instead because it is just as mysterious yet it's real.
Let me clarify that the author uses the QM angle smartly and probably its use won't bother 99.99% of the readers out there, but it bothered me, even if just a little bit.
I could have digested the "Many Words" theory easily enough. Don't get me wrong. It is some of the other stuff that I found difficult to digest. Without giving too much away, I don't care which of the Many Words you come from, but if you have a human form you are not going to fly, wings or no wings.
You can say "there is no telling what the laws of physics would be on an alternate universe. Indeed. But these people are in this universe, and here humans can't fly under their own power. It just wouldn't work. Lose the human form, and it's another story, but even making radical changes to human physiology it just wouldn't happen. There is a reason large birds are flightless. The same reason that makes us fly United instead of just taking off from our birdbath.
OK, enough of this. Storytelling often requires having to suspend disbelief. I was happy to do it for this book because the rest of it (except the #%^~ cliffhanger ending) was worth it.
Will authors stop doing that someday? If you wrote a good book and you want me to buy the sequel, write a better book or be confident enough that I liked your characters enough to want to read more about them.
I keep going off on tangents. Buy the darn book. It's good. In fact, it is very good. I am grumpy today, but I feel better after getting these pet peeves off my chest.
Buy it, download it, whatever. It's pretty good.
A story for those that believe in magic but call it quantum mechanics?
The QM angle of this novel is the basis of the story. It is also the one thing I found objectionable in this book.
For the rest, it is well written, solid characters, interesting storylines, a solid effort.
It's a book where the action is constantly around the corner but when it hits you is both subdued and terrifying. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I first downloaded this book, but now that I know, I would download it again.
Let me go back to the QM theme and why I dislike it. I guess it is the same reason I don't like alien conspiracy theories, ancient mysteries and the like. Not because I wouldn't be thrilled if a spaceship landed in my backyard or if I discovered an alien computer in a Neolithic did. Are you kidding? I'd be ecstatic.
Alas, when I hear theories (hypothesis really) that aliens crossed the universe to teach the Egyptians how to stack large stones one on top of the other, I get annoyed. Would we go to Alpha Centauri to teach the natives how to make large stone buildings or would be maybe teach them how to make stainless steel instead? (That is, assuming we wouldn't kill them all and take their planet, converting the survivors to our religion. Something we are really good at.)
Wouldn't a space faring race of aliens have figured out at least how to make an arch? So why didn't this aliens tell the Egyptians "you are doing it wrong buddy, we are not going to use our antigravity beams to help you move these large stones, but we'll show you how to build lighter and taller instead. About that?"
Likewise my problem with using QM to explain what essentially boils down to Magic and sorcery left me unsatisfied.
Maybe it is because every New Age woo peddler manages to mix quantum entanglement in their magical bull~*^# knowing damn well that your average aging hippie could not begin to understand the basics of QM if it hit them in the face and picked their noses.
The advantage of QM is that it exists, it is incredibly complicated and hard to understand, it does some pretty weird stuff at the empirical level and it is also key to most of the technology we use daily.
It used to be all you needed was a piece of the True Cross, but today you use QM instead because it is just as mysterious yet it's real.
Let me clarify that the author uses the QM angle smartly and probably its use won't bother 99.99% of the readers out there, but it bothered me, even if just a little bit.
I could have digested the "Many Words" theory easily enough. Don't get me wrong. It is some of the other stuff that I found difficult to digest. Without giving too much away, I don't care which of the Many Words you come from, but if you have a human form you are not going to fly, wings or no wings.
You can say "there is no telling what the laws of physics would be on an alternate universe. Indeed. But these people are in this universe, and here humans can't fly under their own power. It just wouldn't work. Lose the human form, and it's another story, but even making radical changes to human physiology it just wouldn't happen. There is a reason large birds are flightless. The same reason that makes us fly United instead of just taking off from our birdbath.
OK, enough of this. Storytelling often requires having to suspend disbelief. I was happy to do it for this book because the rest of it (except the #%^~ cliffhanger ending) was worth it.
Will authors stop doing that someday? If you wrote a good book and you want me to buy the sequel, write a better book or be confident enough that I liked your characters enough to want to read more about them.
I keep going off on tangents. Buy the darn book. It's good. In fact, it is very good. I am grumpy today, but I feel better after getting these pet peeves off my chest.
Buy it, download it, whatever. It's pretty good.
June 30, 2014
Combination of modern day fantasy, horror, and a touch of X-Files/Fringe science and you have Shudderville, an episodic saga that you can consume at your own pace like a weekly television show or binge on all at once like an ebook version of Netflix.
WISH by Mia Zabrisky is a collection of the first 8 stories (Season One). Some are stand alone, others continue a storyline from earlier. All interconnect in some fashion, slowly unraveling the mystery (while all the while raising new questions) behind the bizarre and odd happenings that seem to all link back to two creepy old men, once friends, now bitter enemies.
I've already read Shudderville 9, in fact I read the 9th episode first and here's what I posted on Amazon awhile back. As you can see, I made good on my word and read the first 8 stories. I recommend the series - but start at the beginning. :)
I picked up WISH (Shudderville Episodes 1 - 8) and then this episode - reading #9 first without knowing any of the back story. This episode stands alone quite well. It's a creepy bookend kind of a tale (with a complete subplot flashback story - that is scary but satisfying in its own right - in the middle). The ending was open-ended, so if you're looking for loose strings that are all tied up, this isn't that kind of storytelling...it's an ongoing series with each episode serving up a good mystery but also moving the reader forward bit by bit. Can't wait to go back and start from the beginning!
WISH by Mia Zabrisky is a collection of the first 8 stories (Season One). Some are stand alone, others continue a storyline from earlier. All interconnect in some fashion, slowly unraveling the mystery (while all the while raising new questions) behind the bizarre and odd happenings that seem to all link back to two creepy old men, once friends, now bitter enemies.
I've already read Shudderville 9, in fact I read the 9th episode first and here's what I posted on Amazon awhile back. As you can see, I made good on my word and read the first 8 stories. I recommend the series - but start at the beginning. :)
I picked up WISH (Shudderville Episodes 1 - 8) and then this episode - reading #9 first without knowing any of the back story. This episode stands alone quite well. It's a creepy bookend kind of a tale (with a complete subplot flashback story - that is scary but satisfying in its own right - in the middle). The ending was open-ended, so if you're looking for loose strings that are all tied up, this isn't that kind of storytelling...it's an ongoing series with each episode serving up a good mystery but also moving the reader forward bit by bit. Can't wait to go back and start from the beginning!
March 27, 2014
Wish at first seemed like a collection of random short stories, good short stories. However, after 3 or so, you realize that the stories are all tied together. It starts out with Sophie, a desperate alcoholic mourning the loss of her beloved daughter. Sophie didn't drink until after her daughter Jayla was killed in an accident - her alcoholic ex-husband shouldn't have been driving. Her neighbor, eccentric old man Tobias tells her that she can have anything in the world, just one wish..... but, she should have been more careful with how she worded her wish. The next story opens with a serial killer who has rented a room from a widow and her two children. He's planning one last kill, but should he kill all 3 or just 2, how will he decide?
July 12, 2014
What a macabre piece of writing. Interesting but disturbing. I was mesmerized by the three initial parts, but then found parts four through eight a bit tiring. Where in this universe did the author get her idea(s) for this novel? I truly believe that once you start reading a book you must finish it and so I did. But, though I own Shudderville parts Nine through Thirteen I'm not certain I will pick them up and read them. I do not recommend this book/series, I will say, however, on the author's defense, I find her work to be quite creative.
July 21, 2014
This was disturbing but in a good way. There were many twists and turns along the way. I didn't realize what this book was when I started reading. I thought it was a selection of short stories that were unrelated. As soon as I started episode 2 I found out how wrong I was. This book ties together nicely. There are some heartbreaking and anger producing moments in this book and that is what a book is supposed to do. I will eventually move on to the second set in the series. This was very interesting and had a X Files or Amazing Stories feel to it.
March 4, 2014
Mind bending! At first I thought it was just going to be a collection of dark and creepy short stories, but turns out I was wrong. Everyone ends up being connected in such bizarre ways and as soon as I thought I had it figured out, there were huge curve balls that I did not see coming.
Absolutely loved it and itching to get my hands on Wish II!
Absolutely loved it and itching to get my hands on Wish II!
February 20, 2014
I enjoyed this book because it had me thinking what I would do if I was made the offer of one wish coming true. Fast paced with horror, tragedy, heartbreak, and crazy realizations about characters. Time travel thrown into a horror novel is always a plus in my book.
February 22, 2014
Different,but captivating..
Different,but captivating..
Couldn't stop reading. Had me from page one.
I highly recommend if your looking for a different kind of reading.
Different,but captivating..
Couldn't stop reading. Had me from page one.
I highly recommend if your looking for a different kind of reading.
June 19, 2014
Cliffhanger!!!!
Decent book...interesting format. It took me a while to get used to it, but I eventually got into it. The story itself is kind of weird and hard to follow, especially in this format. Note: it ends in a cliffhanger.
Decent book...interesting format. It took me a while to get used to it, but I eventually got into it. The story itself is kind of weird and hard to follow, especially in this format. Note: it ends in a cliffhanger.
February 12, 2014
mind-blowing
September 5, 2014
If you could make one wish....what would it be? Interesting story that loops involving each short story.
July 15, 2015
Wish one
I rated 5 stars what a great story bringing all the stories together was great. I can't wait for the next one
I rated 5 stars what a great story bringing all the stories together was great. I can't wait for the next one
August 26, 2015
Weird yet compelling, I enjoyed these interlocking stories, but just found out that there are now 15! I need to get them soon!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews