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Cruel Nature: Seven terrifying tales to trouble your sleep.
Cruel Nature is first time author D. B. Albiza's humble love letter to the dog-eared horror paperbacks of our youth. It's a young reader's initiation into what the author hopes will be a life long love affair with the genre.
Seven tales deliver brief terrifying interludes with the supernatural illustrating lessons as old as the woods where much of the action takes place. Debut author Albiza draws on her love of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, Maria Leach's The Thing at the Foot of the Bed and more.
Cruel Nature delivers seven terrifying tales to trouble your
A mysterious hole in the wall reveals a horrifying vision.Beware a creature so evil you dare not speak its name.Cora finds her missing sister, but the happy reunion turns deadly.Henry buys a house next to an empty lot, but soon discovers he's not alone.A midday walk along a graveyard turns into a brush with death.When Caleb vandalizes an ancient tree it's the last thing he ever does.What happens to all the rotted pumpkins people throw away? One town discovers the unbelievable and horrifying answer.
Cover and nine eerie full-page illustrations by talented artist Elizabeth Quiñonez accompany the tales in this eerie collection and are sure to fuel a few nightmares.
Seven tales deliver brief terrifying interludes with the supernatural illustrating lessons as old as the woods where much of the action takes place. Debut author Albiza draws on her love of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, Maria Leach's The Thing at the Foot of the Bed and more.
Cruel Nature delivers seven terrifying tales to trouble your
A mysterious hole in the wall reveals a horrifying vision.Beware a creature so evil you dare not speak its name.Cora finds her missing sister, but the happy reunion turns deadly.Henry buys a house next to an empty lot, but soon discovers he's not alone.A midday walk along a graveyard turns into a brush with death.When Caleb vandalizes an ancient tree it's the last thing he ever does.What happens to all the rotted pumpkins people throw away? One town discovers the unbelievable and horrifying answer.
Cover and nine eerie full-page illustrations by talented artist Elizabeth Quiñonez accompany the tales in this eerie collection and are sure to fuel a few nightmares.
- GenresHorror
Kindle Edition
Published March 14, 2024
2 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 4, 2024
This is a very entertaining and beautifully presented horror short story collection for younger readers written by a school teacher who wanted to engage her students with a book that was fun and creepy.
Reader, she succeeded!
The tales are efficiently told and effective, with some good concepts and an engaging, simple prose style. Don’t let the middle grade label fool you, there’s some creepy stuff in here! DB Albiza definitely has a talent for horror and the illustrations by Elizabeth Quinonez are fantastic.
Recommended, especially if you have younger horror fans in your life, or just fancy a bit of nostalgia for your own formative years as a horror reader.
Reader, she succeeded!
The tales are efficiently told and effective, with some good concepts and an engaging, simple prose style. Don’t let the middle grade label fool you, there’s some creepy stuff in here! DB Albiza definitely has a talent for horror and the illustrations by Elizabeth Quinonez are fantastic.
Recommended, especially if you have younger horror fans in your life, or just fancy a bit of nostalgia for your own formative years as a horror reader.
May 14, 2025
for a middle grade especially, this was so creepy! my favorite story was the one with the roaches, and then the children in the pines one, but every story had such amazing illustrations to go with it too! there are quite a few distracting grammatical errors but nothing terribly off-putting.
thank you to the author for sending me a copy!
thank you to the author for sending me a copy!
November 3, 2024
A wonderfully spooky and nostalgic collection of short stories! Funny, sad, creepy and gross - there was a bit of everything here and it worked really well together. I loved the accompanying illustrations too. A couple of them would definitely have given me nightmares as a child!
November 10, 2024
Not a bad collection of stories! They were hit or miss but some definitely stuck out and will live freely in my brain for quite some time. Particularly the gruesome ones. My personal favorite story was Wetwood.
The book also had some great illustrations and poems that enhanced the reading experience :)
The book also had some great illustrations and poems that enhanced the reading experience :)
March 17, 2024
A variety of good spooks
I loved most of the stories in Cruel Nature. As a fan of all horror media, it was fun to read through so many different takes on horror genres. The first story hooked me but the one the left me most disturbed was Harvester. Second favorite was Under the Ceiba, which had a more unique somber tone that stood out from the rest of the stories. The stories are just the perfect length that you could easily read one or two during some downtime. Or you can binge the whole thing in one day if you’re craving the spooks.
Each story has an accompanying illustration and they are all INCREDIBLE. Honestly, if the stories don’t freak you out the illustrations will. You can tell there was attention placed on how and when to present them too, often on a page flip when you may not be expecting it (or when you know they’re coming and are dreading it!).
If you like horror give it a read, there’s bound to be at least one story or image here that you won’t forget.
I loved most of the stories in Cruel Nature. As a fan of all horror media, it was fun to read through so many different takes on horror genres. The first story hooked me but the one the left me most disturbed was Harvester. Second favorite was Under the Ceiba, which had a more unique somber tone that stood out from the rest of the stories. The stories are just the perfect length that you could easily read one or two during some downtime. Or you can binge the whole thing in one day if you’re craving the spooks.
Each story has an accompanying illustration and they are all INCREDIBLE. Honestly, if the stories don’t freak you out the illustrations will. You can tell there was attention placed on how and when to present them too, often on a page flip when you may not be expecting it (or when you know they’re coming and are dreading it!).
If you like horror give it a read, there’s bound to be at least one story or image here that you won’t forget.
March 26, 2024
A decent effort for a first-time author. The book is for middle-grade readers and looks to deliver straightforward scares. It's very reminiscent of Alvin Schwartz in that you have a sense that you're reading folktales. The illustrations are haunting and bring each story to life. Perfect for a Halloween night or gathering around the campfire.
November 22, 2024
4.5 rounded up for GR! This short story collection would be a great read for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark or for those with young kids who love creative and creepy stories OR both!
January 13, 2026
When I was a kid, I remember sitting around with my friends, telling spooky stories. I remember one day, telling a group a story that was deemed scary enough that someone's mother phoned mine that evening as she couldn't sleep.
This book feels like someone harvested that idea and create a slight but fun book with it. Very dark at times for children's stories, but if you have a kid that likes the macabre, I highly recommend this book. The stories are short and punchy, and think if you have a kid you want to get into reading scary stories, this could be the book for you.
This book feels like someone harvested that idea and create a slight but fun book with it. Very dark at times for children's stories, but if you have a kid that likes the macabre, I highly recommend this book. The stories are short and punchy, and think if you have a kid you want to get into reading scary stories, this could be the book for you.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews