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Not A Good Fit At This Time
A collection of horror and sci-fi stories for all tastes. Adam Hulse (Below Economic Thresholds, The Growth) brings you scares from the past, present, and future. Features two collaborations with Sarah Jane Huntington (Cabin Terror, Bleeding Into New Worlds).
185 pages, Paperback
Published August 13, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 21, 2023
I want to say this first: if you've yet to read Adam Hulse, this is the place to begin. It's a wonderful sample of his style. His impressive range and storytelling skills--and the personality behind the pen, too--emerge from these pages, flashing a dark-heart-bright-heart-bleak-heart-angry-heart like a flickering torch down in the back of an alley. The heart is the one constant, regardless of the chill or heat of the flesh sheltering it.
Hulse explores westerns, gothics, science fictions, and horrors here. He even gifts us two collaborations with the great Sarah Jane Huntington.
My favorite tale is Night Swimming with Mickey. My favorite aspect of this collection, though, is the inclusion of personal notes with each story. I enjoyed the sentiment and insight, and I loved seeing the joy of telling stories shine through.
Hulse explores westerns, gothics, science fictions, and horrors here. He even gifts us two collaborations with the great Sarah Jane Huntington.
My favorite tale is Night Swimming with Mickey. My favorite aspect of this collection, though, is the inclusion of personal notes with each story. I enjoyed the sentiment and insight, and I loved seeing the joy of telling stories shine through.
November 14, 2023
A great little collection from Adam Hulse, and quite tricky to pick a favourite if I'm honest. I enjoyed them all. The author notes were a nice bonus, too.
All of these short stories are fairly action packed, nothing lags here whatsoever, and the imagery, especially in the story LEECH, was incredibly unsettling. I loved it.
There are moments of dark humour sprinkled throughout. There's a little absurdity, too, but that could just be me. I find myself smiling at the strangest of things at times. Anyway... each story is unpredictable and very different from the one before. There is a fair bit of ground covered here. Experimental. I meant that in a good way. Definitely one that shows the author's wide tastes and capabilities of handling different genres. I also have to add that the final moment in OPT-OUT was just perfect.
I also think both collaborative efforts with Sarah Huntington were a great addition to this little book, too. Great to read how those stories came about and that they are finally available for us to read.
It's a nice little insight into another great author's work. Both styles indeed blended well.
I highly recommend you check this one out. A great entry into Adam's imagination. Truly.
Highly enjoyable.
All of these short stories are fairly action packed, nothing lags here whatsoever, and the imagery, especially in the story LEECH, was incredibly unsettling. I loved it.
There are moments of dark humour sprinkled throughout. There's a little absurdity, too, but that could just be me. I find myself smiling at the strangest of things at times. Anyway... each story is unpredictable and very different from the one before. There is a fair bit of ground covered here. Experimental. I meant that in a good way. Definitely one that shows the author's wide tastes and capabilities of handling different genres. I also have to add that the final moment in OPT-OUT was just perfect.
I also think both collaborative efforts with Sarah Huntington were a great addition to this little book, too. Great to read how those stories came about and that they are finally available for us to read.
It's a nice little insight into another great author's work. Both styles indeed blended well.
I highly recommend you check this one out. A great entry into Adam's imagination. Truly.
Highly enjoyable.
December 5, 2023
I picked up this collection after loving BELOW ECONOMIC THRESHOLDS, and was once again impressed by Hulse's craft as a storyteller. There is not a weaker tale in this book, which covers a wide spectrum including horror, sci-fi, gothic and splatter western. I also liked the inclusion of notes after each story. My favorites were NIGHT SWIMMING WITH MICKEY, NOTHING BUT ASHES and OPT OUT. The two collaborations with Sarah Jane Huntington are also excellent. This is a great sampler of the skill of both authors, and I recommend checking it out.
September 15, 2024
What a fantastic short story collection. I was very impressed with the versatility throughout and Adam's amazing shape shifting ability to demonstrate such skill with all the genres, from Sci fi to Gothic.
Adam has this enviable knack of pacing his short stories in a way that doesn't feel hurried or too slow, yet the stories feel very expansive and well fleshed out.
I enjoyed all the stories with the two standouts being LEECH and That ain't no wayward Grizzly.
I could feel the Clive Barker vibes with LEECH, as Adam mentioned in his notes. (Which are a great added bonus). It was creepy and claustrophobic with a fantastic ending. One of the best shorts I've read.
The Grizzly story is a western with a twist, right up my alley being a massive Western fan, and someone who feels that the genre has been overlooked in recent times. Loved this one, the Western feel was there with some great horror and grisly (pun intended) action.
I'll be checking out Adam's other books.
Thank you.
Adam has this enviable knack of pacing his short stories in a way that doesn't feel hurried or too slow, yet the stories feel very expansive and well fleshed out.
I enjoyed all the stories with the two standouts being LEECH and That ain't no wayward Grizzly.
I could feel the Clive Barker vibes with LEECH, as Adam mentioned in his notes. (Which are a great added bonus). It was creepy and claustrophobic with a fantastic ending. One of the best shorts I've read.
The Grizzly story is a western with a twist, right up my alley being a massive Western fan, and someone who feels that the genre has been overlooked in recent times. Loved this one, the Western feel was there with some great horror and grisly (pun intended) action.
I'll be checking out Adam's other books.
Thank you.
September 23, 2023
This solid collection of eleven short stories by Adam Hulse offers imaginative, engaging tales of sci-fi, dystopia, western, demons, dark fantasy, eerie murder, and more.
I won’t soon forget the nightmarish imagery of “Leech”, but my favourite story in this collection might be “The Pied Piper of Hamlintown”. Never trust a clown who is eating in a diner, I thought at the beginning of the story, but I won’t say any more about that. I will say the story played out beautifully, like watching a film and the end notes give a good reason for this.
I liked the dark fantasy and folk horror collaborations with Sarah Jane Huntington. “Even Gate Keepers Die” is my favourite of the two tales.
Finally, I’ll say that it was nice to read the author notes after each story. As some of these shorts were written for submission calls, it just goes to show that good stories are declined all the time, and I am glad they were collected here for us to read.
I won’t soon forget the nightmarish imagery of “Leech”, but my favourite story in this collection might be “The Pied Piper of Hamlintown”. Never trust a clown who is eating in a diner, I thought at the beginning of the story, but I won’t say any more about that. I will say the story played out beautifully, like watching a film and the end notes give a good reason for this.
I liked the dark fantasy and folk horror collaborations with Sarah Jane Huntington. “Even Gate Keepers Die” is my favourite of the two tales.
Finally, I’ll say that it was nice to read the author notes after each story. As some of these shorts were written for submission calls, it just goes to show that good stories are declined all the time, and I am glad they were collected here for us to read.
September 15, 2023
I snapped up this collection of Adam’s short stories, primarily because I know Adam’s work through his Tupuqa series of creature features, and through one off’s such as Below economic thresholds, or the two-part Growth (the second part I still have to read), but secondly, because Adam is a constant cheerleader for other authors, myself included, and damn it, that makes it that I have to buy all his books, right?
Right.
So, here’s the thing, and I’ll say straight up, that doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy all of his books to the same degree. Not a good fit… - I enjoyed. It’s a great spread of stories, from spaceships to dark fantasy villages, a woman being hunted by hunters to leech-like humans that live in a world under a hotel… There’s plenty of scope here.
I’ll say that the spark that ignited The Cursed series didn’t spark here for me, I enjoyed the shorts, with Opt out and Nothing but ashes my favorites amongst the collection, and the progression in the writing is very clear, some of the earlier shorts are a writer finding his flow, getting into his groove, finding his voice. Some of what felt slightly off might have been the restrictions of the pieces – most were written to specific restraints, concepts – word count – contents (specific requirements) – and given those restrictions, you can still feel Adam having a blast writing within them, but I think his unrestrained talent on his novels (where there are no constraints) are where he shines.
This is a good snapshot of a writer and his imagination and a great springboard for his longer works.
I’m giving this 3,5 stars, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.
Right.
So, here’s the thing, and I’ll say straight up, that doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy all of his books to the same degree. Not a good fit… - I enjoyed. It’s a great spread of stories, from spaceships to dark fantasy villages, a woman being hunted by hunters to leech-like humans that live in a world under a hotel… There’s plenty of scope here.
I’ll say that the spark that ignited The Cursed series didn’t spark here for me, I enjoyed the shorts, with Opt out and Nothing but ashes my favorites amongst the collection, and the progression in the writing is very clear, some of the earlier shorts are a writer finding his flow, getting into his groove, finding his voice. Some of what felt slightly off might have been the restrictions of the pieces – most were written to specific restraints, concepts – word count – contents (specific requirements) – and given those restrictions, you can still feel Adam having a blast writing within them, but I think his unrestrained talent on his novels (where there are no constraints) are where he shines.
This is a good snapshot of a writer and his imagination and a great springboard for his longer works.
I’m giving this 3,5 stars, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.
September 14, 2023
If you haven't read anything from Adam first fix that, this would be an excellent way to make things right. A handful of these are good. The rest.....well hmmm the rest blew me away. Nothing but ashes was my favorite wait till you read it. There's a story for everyone within the pages. So sit back and enjoy.
May 18, 2024
I've always enjoyed Adam's writing, as evidenced by my reviews of THE GROWTH and BELOW ECONOMIC THRESHOLDS, and he's an upstanding human, as evidenced by my interview with him. You'll notice that's also fairly old, and that's because he was supporting me waaaaaay back when the website was Scribbles with Tasha instead of The Sinister Scoop.
This collection contains brilliant stories that may not have been good fits elsewhere, but absolutely fit into a glorious space between the front and back cover. My favorite tale involves a mysterious killer that will make your heart spasm next time you hear someone whistle, and in another, who isn't horrified whenever leeches are involved? He also includes a couple of stories he wrote with the superb Sarah Jane Huntington!
Adam continues to show how his range is constantly growing, and should definitely make you question what goes on in that shiny dome sometimes!
This collection contains brilliant stories that may not have been good fits elsewhere, but absolutely fit into a glorious space between the front and back cover. My favorite tale involves a mysterious killer that will make your heart spasm next time you hear someone whistle, and in another, who isn't horrified whenever leeches are involved? He also includes a couple of stories he wrote with the superb Sarah Jane Huntington!
Adam continues to show how his range is constantly growing, and should definitely make you question what goes on in that shiny dome sometimes!
August 27, 2023
Hulse has done it again, with a little help from his friends.
While the 11 tales in this collection were not a good fit when subbed, they gel perfectly together when presented here for the first time.
There is something for everyone in here: a splatter western, gothic horror, a ghost story, apocalyptic horror, alien invasion, folk horror. All of them showcase Hulse’s talent for action-packed storytelling.
My favourites are Valley of the blood shadows, night swimming with Mickey, the pied piper of hamlintown, opt-out and his collaboration with Sarah Jane Huntington entitled even gatekeepers die.
The story notes are a nice touch and give the reader an insight into how these tales came to be.
A recommended read.
May 10, 2024
A truly enjoyable collection of stories, ranging from classic horror to apocalyptic visions to science fiction. Each story ends with notes that give interesting backstory and insight into the author’s thought process for that section.
If you’re looking for a fast moving short story collection, this one is a great choice.
If you’re looking for a fast moving short story collection, this one is a great choice.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews