The Tales of Terror and Torment Vol. I: A Horror Story Collection

by David Parkinson

Take a bite, if you dare, and on the tasting, see what it is I see…

Presenting the first volume of a five-part horror collection straight from the unique, controversial, and dangerous mind of David Parkinson.

These are The Tales of Terror and novellas, novelettes, and short stories that explore the miraculous yet flawed and fragile flesh we wear through the medium of dread fantasy. They will take you to familiar places – to train stations and suburban streets - and to hidden sun-kissed islands, to the halls of hell, deep into the past, far into the future, and even across the galaxy. But wherever they send you, you’ll always return hooked and hanging, and deliriously dreaming of being bled just a little longer.

Collected here

Frank’s Rewards
DannyDawn
Lunar Lebensraum
Eve’s Evolution
Children of the Storm

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 30, 2023

Reviews

[Uilleam Whitedale · Rating 5 out of 5]

TALES OF TERROR AND TORMENT Vol. 1 is a ghastly ride in all the right ways. Ranging in genre, the stories are written in a slick, dense prose that ties them together in a Wellsian but dark atmosphere, and that quaint, classical tone adds heavily to the madness and horror of the stories. The reader may often be caught off guard, as the narratives seamlessly shift into anomalous, dread-soaked helplessness. Though the characters are doomed, and that doom is earned, they are written in such a way that the reader may still empathize with their plight. There is something ethereal about each tale, melding horror and fantasy, but the truth of the characters' fates remains grounded in the rashness of their immorality and vanity. A must read!

[Josh Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Nice Collection

This is a solid collection of horror novellas. Five very distinct tales with their own horrors. All are well written and do a good job in bringing you into their world quickly. Whether its a quiet residential street, or a space station on Europa, even Hell itself, the different settings are characters themselves.

Highly recommended, looking forward to seeing what the other collections in the series have to offer.

[Jon Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inside this book, you’ll find five novellas with five very different stories. There’s a journey through Hell, a night at a mysterious private party, deep space horror, a sinister jungle island, and a storm that brings terror to the suburbs. To say any more would spoil things, as these tales are best enjoyed by diving straight in.

The stories are written in detailed and descriptive prose. The characters are grounded and recognisable, real people thrown into unreal situations. I could easily see any one of these stories adapted to the big or small screen (like the best episodes of the 90s The Outer Limits, or the Hammer House of Horror television series from the 80s).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I’ll be buying Volumes Two and Three and reading more of Parkinson’s work. Highly recommended.

[Jan Miklaszewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming to review this excellent collection of horror shorts, I am shocked at how little attention it has garnered so far. This author is such a talent, each tale sinister, gorgeously written, and full of wit and imagination. Hellscapes, lush tropical islands, space stations, swingers’ mansions, all rendered in exact detail and peopled with vivid characters in hair-raising scenarios. Highly recommended. I’m off to buy Vol II now.