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Don't Look: 30 Tales of Terror

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My wife and I have been playing hide and seek for three days straight.

I babysat a parrot. It said some... disturbing... things.

The same man is appearing behind my friends on Zoom. But we live hundreds of miles apart.

The light switches in my house are on the wrong walls.


DON'T LOOK brings you 30 terrifying tales for your darkest nights. This collection has every flavor of horror, from terrifying spectres to strange medications, from haunted farms to sinister games. Read... if you dare.

Praise for Don't Look
"
Wonderfully chilling tales which bring to mind old Stephen King."

"Blair Daniels is an amazing storyteller."

"Genuine creepypasta vibes, disturbing moments hitting all the right spots, even if you read the book in one sitting!"

"Blair Daniels' work needs to be translated to the screen. Goosebumps for grown-ups. Think Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, even a little M.R. James (especially in this volume), with a distinctly modern woman's voice."

About Black Widow Press
We're passionate about scares, thrills, and all things that go bump in the night. Stay tuned for more books this year to keep you up all night! Don't Scream and other Black Widow books contain mild to moderate violence and sexual content not suitable for those under 18 years of age.

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2023

355 people are currently reading
214 people want to read

About the author

Blair Daniels

45 books167 followers

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5 stars
236 (38%)
4 stars
229 (37%)
3 stars
120 (19%)
2 stars
22 (3%)
1 star
8 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
Profile Image for Rachel.
495 reviews77 followers
October 4, 2023
4.5 stars*
holy moly! this horror short story collection was fantastic. ever since i read At Home with the Horrors, i’ve been wanting to read another horror short story collection. when i got an email from BookBub that this book was on sale for 99 cents, i snatched it up. this collection is also available on kindle unlimited.

this collection did not disappoint! a lot of the stories were unique. they are also very short—so much so that i wanted to keep reading and read this entire collection in one sitting! the longest story took me about 20 minutes to read. i really enjoy reading horror in short form (short stories, novellas) because i find that sometimes, full length horror novels can feel a bit drawn out. that being said, i wanted a bit more from some of the stories, and i liked some more than others (which is bound to happen when you have different stories in the same book).

i can’t wait to check out more from this author, and i’m so excited that she has more short story collections. i highly recommend this collection! it will only take you a few hours to read.
Profile Image for Milt Theo.
1,842 reviews154 followers
September 21, 2023
Another superb collection from Blair Daniels! She masterfully offers thirty snapshots of the absolutely scary and weird, full of chills and uncanny moments. Genuine creepypasta vibes, disturbing moments hitting all the right spots, even if you read the book in one sitting! Just look at those titles and take your pick. My favorites were: "My neighbor got a dog. I don't think it's a dog" - this reminded me of some unforgettable urban legends I'd heard in school! "I used ChatGPT and I regret everything" - this was great fun to read, and I'm sure some indie authors will relate! "The same man is appearing behind my friends on Zoom" - probably the creepiest story of all! "FACEBOOK is showing me memories I don't remember having" - this short is meant to disturb and it delivers aplenty! "All the cells in my body are dead" - absolutely brilliant! And last but not least, the simply titled "Side effects," with a great twist in the end! Recommended.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Jason Thomas.
258 reviews
November 18, 2024
DNF around 19%
The stories in this collection are weaker than the Creepy Pasta tales on reddit they are trying to imitate. The writing is at a high school level (sophomore year), and the stories are unoriginal and often absurd.

1 no good at all star
Profile Image for Nicole.
3,644 reviews19 followers
November 5, 2024
I feel the same way about this collection as I did the last one I read by Blair Daniels. The individual stories here are pretty forgettable and very average. 30 tales in this one and there are only a couple that I can think of as stand outs in the collection...but they're not stories I've really thought about after reading them. But there are also none I really disliked. They're almost all really short and sweet...that little taste...a bite sized bit of spooky...and that's what I love. Each story is about 5-10 minutes long. I read one or two stories a day and that experience of just adding a little bit of creepiness to my reading day is what I find so enjoyable about her books. The stories in this particular collection all had a reddit no sleep feel to them...not sure if they are a collection of actual reddit stories or just meant to feel that way? But either way I had a fun time reading this and look forward to reading more from Blair Daniels.

My favorite stories from the collection were:

I Used ChatGBT and I Regret Everything
Side Effects
I Visit My Dead Mother Every Night
I Babysat A Parrot. It Said Disturbing Things
Profile Image for Russell Gray.
682 reviews137 followers
December 16, 2023
This was easily one of the best horror short story collections I've read.

I'm a fan of short stories, horror shorts especially, but most anthologies I've read were collections of many authors' stories. I've read collections from a single author before, but not one with so many stories in a single volume.

It's often the case with short story collections where some stories don't do it for me and the book is a bit of a mixed bag. Not the case with this one. I didn't dislike a single story in this collection.

There were a few that weren't as strong, namely the ones that likely originated from a writing subreddit like NoSleep, which I'm pretty sure the author has written for. There's always a certain level of suspension of disbelief, but when you expect me to believe the character is typing updates onto Reddit as these things happen, it's too much for me and detracts a bit from the story. It reminds me of some Lovecraft stories where there's a character writing their experience out in a letter and then they are like "Oh God, they're at the door. The window! I must aaaarrrgghh!" As if the guy literally still has the pen in his hand while diving out the window. It's fun as an homage, but I also wish we would move past such a gimmick. So yeah, a lot of NoSleep-style stories lose rating points for me.

There is also an undeniable repetition and redundancy factor in this volume. If you made a drinking game and took one every time a character said the blood drained from their face or responded with "No no no no", you would be sloshed after a few stories.

That being said, I enjoyed all these stories. Each one demonstrated a strong understanding and grasp of the short horror story structure and tropes. I enjoyed the more modern twists of classic urban legends like when people stop at a place, have a weird experience, and later find out the place doesn't exist or burned down decades ago.

There's also an undeniable sense of humor in many of the stories which may not be to every person's liking, but was to mine. Humor and horror walk hand in hand since they both involve managing the tension levels in your audience. You have to ramp it up while also knowing how to release it now and then so they don't become numb to it.

Some of my favorite 'serious' horror stories from the collection were:
We have been playing hide and seek for three days
I used ChatGPT and I regret everything

Some of my favorite 'funny' horror stories from the collection were:
My milkshake brings something terrible to the yard
Cheese
Caution: Falling Rocks
The town of Chelm

For brevity, I had to trim the list of funny ones I liked since they were my constant winners of the collection. I love straight horror, I swear, but there was something great about taking an absurdly comic premise and then following it to a conclusion with the framework of a horror trope.

This was a great collection and it helped me maintain a frame of mind while working on something of my own last weekend. I would highly recommend checking out any of Blair's work!
Profile Image for Paperwitches ♡.
207 reviews14 followers
October 5, 2023
I found myself always entertained, even if the story in the anthology I was enjoying fell flat or ended too early. The first story in this book is by FAR the best, and I was super paranoid of my dark house after that. Especially because I’ve played enough hide and seek as a kid to know something weird ALWAYS happens. The author perfectly captures scenes of horror, like black hair poking out from gaps in stairs - or catching a pale calf in your peripheral. The air vent scene in the first story is CHEFS KISS. I also liked the incorporation of these being like Reddit posts or forum posts. This definitely reads like great short stories that would also make a great Tv series.

My favorite stories were ‘We have been playing hide and seek for three days’ and ‘Rules of the farm’ there’s also some great current day discussion stories, like a funny ChatGPT author who gets what they deserve. Some golems, some fairies, some murderers and provolone cheese! However, some of the stories I wish had more pages. Either because they were so good I wanted more, or because they tried to make a point way too quickly.

I highly recommend this!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Susan Vrabel-Williams.
104 reviews2 followers
September 21, 2023
I really like the work of Blair Daniels. Thank you to BookSprout for this free copy.
I've read most of this authors work, I even follow her on Reddit (yes, I'm a redditor). Her writing style speaks volumes to me. I love the characters, the storyline(s), the dialogue is snappy and sometimes laugh out loud funny! I like that the majority of the tales feature ordinary people in extraordinary situations. I like the "visual sound effects" as I call them...you know the creeeaaakkk of a door, the riiinnnngggg of a phone....I can actually hear the sounds in my head as I'm reading.
If you're a fan of short horror, then run and get this book! Just make sure you leave a light on as you're reading!!!!
Profile Image for Kimberly Purcell.
62 reviews6 followers
August 12, 2025
Fifth Grade Stories

I can barely give these stories a two star rating. I won’t be reading any more from this series. The stories are just too juvenile.
1 review
March 21, 2024
This author is one of my favorite short story horror writers. You are drawn into the characters and you feel their trepidation. As the story unfolds the intensity builds. You cheer for the characters safety because you know the danger is lurking.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Amber Terry .
363 reviews30 followers
September 24, 2023
I really like Blair Daniels' short stories. I've read several of her books in the past and the stories are always fun and, most importantly, extremely eerie. This particular set of stories was really good. I like the little twists at the end. One thing that drove me a little crazy: the formatting is very off. The story titles are off center and the paragraph indents are really far to center. It may just be because this is an advanced copy of the book so everything isn't perfect yet. (I know this doesn't ultimately matter because it doesn't affect the actual material. Just throwing it out there.) Anyway, I would absolutely recommend this book and any other book by this author. If you're looking for creepy stories that are fairly quick reads, check these out.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for N.J. Gallegos.
Author 35 books100 followers
March 19, 2024
This is the second book of Blair Daniels I've read and like the other, I enjoyed this one. Short stories are great since I can gobble up a few at a time, I like reading them before bed. Daniels has a great way of making the mundane terrifying. If you're into horror, you'll like these.
Profile Image for Sentinelle23.
2,022 reviews33 followers
September 30, 2023
❤️❤️❤️ A crush !

Story 1:

My wife and I were playing hide and seek with our two young children...

But now, my wife had really vanished...

------------------------

A big crush for this anthology of 30 scary and mysterious stories to read without moderation!

I admit I took my time to prolong the pleasure of each of these incredible stories! I have not been disappointed.

I recommend this great novel and this author with his boundless imagination!


######################################

❤️❤️❤️Coup de coeur !

Histoire 1 :

Ma femme et moi étions en train de jouer à cache-cache avec nos deux jeunes enfants...

Mais voilà, ma femme s’était réellement volatilisée...

------------------------

Coup de coeur pour ce florilège de 30 histoires effrayantes et mysterieuses a lire sans modération !

J’avoue avoir pris mon temps pour faire durer le plaisir de dec chacune de ces histoires incroyables ! Je n’ai pas été déçue.

Je recommande ce roman super et cet auteur à l’imagination débordante !
Profile Image for Billie.
5,784 reviews71 followers
October 2, 2023
My wife and I have been playing hide and seek for three days straight.

I babysat a parrot. It said some... disturbing... things.

The same man is appearing behind my friends on Zoom. But we live hundreds of miles apart.

The light switches in my house are on the wrong walls.

DON'T LOOK brings you 30 terrifying tales for your darkest nights. This collection has every flavor of horror, from terrifying spectres to strange medications, from haunted farms to sinister games.

This is a thrilling read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
1 review3 followers
September 23, 2023
Ms. Daniels has a genuine skill at building dread, taking the reader to the point of skin crawling horror, and then abandoning us there. Each short story has moments that hit hard and make you need to stop for a moment to breathe. While a couple stories weren’t quite up the the level of skill of the rest in the book, this is a solid collection of short tales. It should be picked up and read by any fan of the genre. I’ve been following Ms. Daniel’s work on Nosleep (on Reddit), and I was very excited to hear she had a book of her short fiction. Not only was I not disappointed; the collection went beyond my expectations. I rated 4 instead of 5 based on the couple stories that fell short.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Rex Nichols.
31 reviews
March 6, 2025
it was fine

it was fine…

i’m not a horror or horror adjacent consumer by any means. they’re usually predictable or outplayed stores & concepts. i gave this a chance because i needed a palette cleanser & i saw a review that sold it like it was a bunch of unique concepts. some were. some weren’t. i would say about half of them really intrigued me & the other half were absolutely either spins on common themes or just underwhelming. i got a little over so many stories ending with the “so if you’re reading this” type vibe.

but i finished it, which means i enjoyed it enough to stick it out.
Profile Image for Danelle✍🏽 Reviewer.
63 reviews5 followers
March 21, 2024
Don’t Look: 30 Tales by Blair Daniels was a bit underwhelming compared to Blair's previous work, with Side Effects, Streetlights Blinking, and Strip Mall, being the only ones actually worth reading. The rest felt like it was just put together to complete the number 30– it didn’t stand out as a whole and was even sloppy at turns. The creativity was apparent yet lacked the magic of You Can't Hide: 30 Tales of Terror and Terror of the Forest: 13 Tales From The Campfire. I wouldn’t recommend it to fans of the genre, but if you prefer not-too-scary, then this might be just the thing for you.
Profile Image for C.J.
128 reviews3 followers
September 22, 2023
I love books by Blair Daniels. When I saw it was one of hers and a free copy, I jumped at it immediately because I knew it'll be great and I wasn't wrong. I must say, I wasn't disappointed and would definitely recommend this book a thousand times over, loved ALL the stories and characters. This book will not be leaving my phone library anytime soon.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Erica.
45 reviews
September 25, 2023
I love short horror stories and these came right on time for spooky season! Each story was a gem of its own and kept me encaptured from start to finish. From psychological horrors that play tricks on the mind to spine-tingling supernatural encounters and gruesome tales of the unexplained, I would recommend others check this one out if you're a lover of horror.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
987 reviews12 followers
October 1, 2023
Bizarre and Terrifying

Babysitting a parrot is quite enlightening, especially if the parrot reveals dark deeds. A young lady checks her ancestry and discovers some thing horrifying about her bloodline. An employee working at a farm is puzzled by the weird rules to be followed and sinister happenings. Most of the stories are
well crafted and haunting.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
1 review
September 25, 2023
I really enjoyed reading this one. I became engrossed in each story completely and didn't want any of them to end...until I got to the next and the next. The Porcelain Lady and the one about the neighbors dog really stuck with me. Great book by a great author that I'm glad I found, originally on Reddit. 10/10 recommend. Received a free copy from BookSprout, review is my own opinion.
Profile Image for Melissa Payne.
5 reviews
September 25, 2023
Another book that delivers the horror by Blair Daniels! I couldn’t put it down read it within one sitting. Lookout Stephen King! Blair delivers quick scrapes that keep you thinking long after the story is finished.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
112 reviews
September 5, 2024
An Interesting Read

This is not my favorite collection by Blair Daniels, but I will go ahead and give it 5 stars . I finished it fast due to always wanting to read more by this author. I keep starting other books by other writers, but lately, I have finished more by this author than anyone else.
Profile Image for Kate L.
131 reviews
March 19, 2025
I have no one else to blame but myself, even a ⭐️ review from Ellen Datlow didn’t stop me. Even that dumbass cover didn’t stop me. I brought this one on myself.
Woof. A best, these stories are like a middling Black Mirror episode, at worst … well let’s just say, one of these stories’ main plot point is based around Milkshake by Kelis.
8 reviews
August 24, 2025
Praise

U have no idea how brilliant u r. I started reading your book (Don’t Look:30 Tales of Terror). I could not put it down! I ended up reading the entire thing, plus I’ve read another of your book, just starting the 3rd. Let me in, I am so impressed! I have read a lot of different authors but I tell u, u take the cake.
Profile Image for Emle  H.
32 reviews
September 13, 2023
The shorts are not super scary but they are very entertaining. Some of them are more strange than anything else. They give me the old school creepypasta or Reddit vibes. Overall, a good read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Madison Stonerock.
1 review
September 22, 2023
The stories in this were extremely captivating. I read it in one sitting! Amazing work as always! Can’t wait for the next one!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
346 reviews5 followers
September 23, 2023
This is an horror novel for adults it's got 30 different stories all are good I enjoyed reading all 5he books.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
333 reviews3 followers
September 26, 2023
I personally really liked the short stories, some better than others. But I was really happy to find this book and see she has 2 more out. Which I will be happily reading.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
2 reviews
October 23, 2023
I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a collection of great short horror stories. Blair does a great job building up suspense with realistic characters!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for RdeLT.
58 reviews
November 11, 2023
Freaking stories

Good light reading. Most of the stories make reading them worthwhile. I'd recommend reading many of these short stories in bed, alone, all lights out, just before you (try to) go to sleep!
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