Baby Bird

by Travis M. Riddle

Someone is trying to get into Chloe's house

They left something inside

What they left is waking up.

A new home invasion/body horror novella in the world of The Narrows.

76 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2024

About the author

TRAVIS M. RIDDLE lives with his girlfriend in Austin, TX, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in English Writing & Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University. His work has been published in award-winning literary journal the Sorin Oak Review. His novels "Flesh Eater," "On Lavender Tides," and "Spit & Song" were all semi-finalists in Mark Lawrence's SPFBO.

Reviews

[charlie berghäuser-l · Rating 5 out of 5]

so incredibly graphic towards the end, it made me gag. That’s how you know a book is good. Highly recommend to any horror fan.

[heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Baby Bird" is a truly unsettling horror novella that introduces both weird and fascinating characters. the author's vivid descriptions of graphic body horror are disgusting yet oddly compelling. such a captivating read!

[Trudie Skies]

Read for SFINCS 2. RTC.

[Delaney Spires · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifying.

I loved it. At no point did I know what was going to happen next, I just sat back and let this book take me wherever it wanted.

[Makenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish y'all could see the face I had while reading the last half of the book. While the peak of the gore takes place in the latter half of the book, I was still engaged in the events leading up to it; the book made me laugh as much as it made my palms sweat all over the back of my kindle (true story). Horror is a genre I avoid because l'm squeamish, and squeamish I was! Despite me often times yelling out of disgust, I like when a book is both engaging and gets a strong reaction out of me. The book also contains humorous relatable moments that balance it all out. 3 words to describe this book (in no particular order): funny, relatable, and repulsive.

[E.J. J Doble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for "SFINCS", as part of Team 3: Swordsworn

Rating: 6/10 ⭐

✅ Believable, well described character emotions
✅ A tense, creeping atmosphere, exaggerated by the close confines of the apartment room
✅ Gory and suspenseful with exquisite descriptions

❌ Very little character development, or connection
❌ A largely unexplained plot, with several intriguing ideas just "said" with nothing else
❌ An inconclusive ending, without coherency

[Carter · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was fucking weird man…. it started off really slow and then the last 30 pages things really GOT GOING. On one hand i wish it wasn’t so short cause… wtf did i just read? i need context?

[pamyr oz · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly, i would just agree to have a centipede in my throat but hey maybe that's just me idk man, you do you