These Lonely Places

by R.K. Kombrinck

“Stories that are guaranteed to entertain.”—Doubleshot ReviewsR.k. Kombrinck, co-host of Night of the Living Podcast, delivers a collection of short stories to make you dread the empty house across the street; to make you wonder what lurks in the woods behind the park and question the smile of your kind, elderly neighbor.A new employee uncovers his workplace’s top-secret supernatural history. A little girl unknowingly invites a sinister creature into her family’s home through conversations with her “imaginary” friend. A hellish virus brings a cursed town’s populace back from the dead. A boy discovers something far more dangerous than Saint Nick coming down the chimney on Christmas Eve. The disappearance of a couple spurs an investigation into the dark history of monster sightings in that area.In these stories and many others, These Lonely Places takes the world you know, the world of the familiar and mundane, and turns it into a playground of ghosts, demons, harpies, and murderers.“A great collection if you are a fan of horror stories with some twists in the tail.”—Annette Gisby, author of The Chosen

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Anthologies

354 pages, Hardcover

Published May 23, 2024

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blessed Horror!

This is a good book. I really enjoyed it. And I think that the writer of this book are very good horror writers.

I’m glad they have such a great collection of new iVelox brand of books. They are a powerhouse for horror books.

This book is a great read. I highly recommend it.

Four stars. ✨✨✨✨

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this collection on Audible this morning.
Love the narrator, and I'm picky.
Nice even tone, conveys the story and isn't weirdly over the top.

The stories, oh my darkness.
This is one of reccomed for intermediate horror for Halloween readers, do not try this if you are a weenie lol
It's not extreme but it is horror and it's good.

Simulacrum, I had no idea what would happen in the next two seconds the whole story, I am thrilled.

Late night laundry 🥰😵💀

Permanent Residents

Those are just a few of my holy crap what a read, reads.

[Chrisanne Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of short scary stories

Sometimes you want a break from a novel but still want the same scares n frights. If so, this book is your cup of terror. Original stories and even unexpected twists, were just what was needed for a personal day to get lost in the land of the bad dreams. Take a chance and give it a read the only thing you have to lose is maybe an uneasy night or two of sleep.

[Stephen Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a review of this book before going into it: Gems and junk. I kinda get that, although it might be a bit too harsh.

There are for sure multiple stories in this compellation which are...meh...for two main reasons.

First, body horror. I get people like to be grossed out, but it's just kinda a cheap way to get a feeling of "eww" from a book. I think it's OK when paired with strong narrative plot, but some of these were just misses for me.

Second, some of the plots were just not amazing. Don't get me wrong, I think that Horror is probably one of the hardest types of writing to do right; you have to be creative, unique, and unexpected in ways other types of writing just don't need. Unfortunately, some of these stories checked off one or two off these boxes but not all three. A lot of OK stories.

Now, there are genuine gems in here too. Weirdly, they are the shortest of the stories; literally a few pages in length and that's it. A puppet? Santa? Amazing! Maybe part of the reason these stories are so amazing was the paucity of information they gave you; you barely get introduced to what's happening and NO resolution on it, but it doesn't matter. The plot was there and it was amazing.

Basically, I felt myself unfairly comparing this book to other horror books I've read as I read it, which isn't a great place to be at when trying to escape into the dark depths of horror.

Anyways,
3.5/5 Stars
Recommend if you get it on sale or have spare time

[Betty Bagwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

How does he come up with this stuff?

Most of these stories are so depressing I couldn't read them all. The first thought that comes to mind is despair. The story Flood Pictures touched me though. An old man on his death bed recalling how he lost his dog as a boy. Still mourning her after all those years. It made me cry.

[Nicole Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book!!!

The stories were in this book were unique, easy to fall into, unpredictable, and will keep you up well past your bed time!!! I highly recommend this book to all horror fans!!!
I look forward to falling in love with more books in this collection!!!

Happy reading!!

[britany abernathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoyed

I love horror stories and I must say that this was a great read. I hope to read more from this author

[Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it!!

I've been getting into reading the short horror books, and this one has been one of the best so far. Really good stories!!!!

[khristi campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent stories

I like short stories. Good to have a quick read before bed. Some of these were a little long but most were decent stories. Enjoyed them.

[Rudy R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one gets a star solely be ausw the worst time I had here is still better than the worst time I had with Tripping Over Twilight.

[Jake Goin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hidden gem collection. I enjoyed every story.