The Last Stair into Darkness

by Cliff Barlow

The Last Stair Into Darkness is a collection of 20 horrifying tales by author Cliff R. Barlow. Contained within are 20 stories to consume your days in fear and enfold your nights in restless nightmares. From a demon hiding under the basement stairs to the most terrifying specter of all, the monster within, Cliff brings a fresh and unique take to the genre that you won't soon forget. Just remember to sleep with the lights on...

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

187 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2014

Reviews

[TraceyL · Rating 3 out of 5]

I nice collection of short horror stories. Some were better than other, but they were all enjoyable. Nothing really stood out though.

[Victoria G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of these stories are better than others. Some were dark and haunting, while I found others (most) to be too cliche for my taste. I came close to not finishing this, however I remained hopefully optimistic enough to complete the stories. This book seemed to lose me at the halfway point and never piqued my interest again.

[Jeannette Michelsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finished...mostly out of spite. This was something I read. The book was not intriguing and the individual stories were forgettable. I am a massive horror fan and I love a good anthology but this was not it. This book suffered from the "fade to black" trope and it just was not enjoyable.

[Jon Von · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s definitely a fun campfire stories vibe to this collection of horror tales. The author proves himself to be a master of the final line stinger of the “and you’ll be dead too!” variety which keeps a light touch to the often quite spooky stories. They are, however, quite short and only a handful really take off. Many, sadly, seem like idea sketches that are not fleshed out very much. There is some recurring imagery and a general sense of dread and it’s all mostly in good fun so makes for a nice break in between more serious stuff.

[Chaos & Confetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Last Stair into Darkness is a collection of twenty short horror stories by Cliff Barlow. From the supernatural to the more mundane horrors, Barlow’s stories explore the many forms frights can come in.

Like most short story collections, the quality of the different tales do vary and what tales resonate with different readers will be hard to predict. Overall though, Barlow does a solid job of crafting quick and interesting tales. His tone, details, and premises should pull readers in and leave them with a few memories to haunt their nights.

Unfortunately, many of Barlow’s stories did leave me a bit unsatisfied. Often each chapter felt like it was often hitting its full stride when the story would end abruptly. It was like having a restaurant close each time they are about to bring out the main course. It is often the standard for short stories and horror stories in general to leave reader wanting more and to leave endings open or ambiguous, but it still felt like too much was left unsaid. Still, I did enjoy what Barlow did include.

I would recommend The Last Stair into Darkness for fans of horror, short stories, and a little variety when it comes to their scares.

[Lennie Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the other collection by Cliff Barlow I listened to recently. I enjoyed many of these short horror stories. Especially the ones about the cadets'amping trip, Mr. Blinky, the brain surgeon, and The story with the shed in the woods.

The shed one was particularly creepy, and Mr. Blinky sent chills up my spin! I listened to that one while driving alone at night. Not my best move 🤣

Unfortunately, I think the books biggest at down fall was narrator. 😞 this one was slightly better than the reader for "darkness prevails." And they had a few good scenes. But over all, it was a very monotone reading. Narrators can make or break an audiobook & this one was definitely not right for the role.

The stories themselves where still good though! So I'm still glad I gave "the last stair into darkness" a try. Its a good collection and I'd definitely recommend it to my fellow short horror story lovers. Just in a print or ebook format! 😁

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with every short story collection, some were good, some were bad. I can't think of any that specifically stood out to me. I would have liked to review each story in this collection individually but the chapters were not labeled, unfortunately.

The stories were all very campy and in the creepy, ambiguous ending vein. I enjoyed that part. I did not particular enjoy the composition of this collection, however, as listening to them in a string as an audiobook highlighted how similar many of the stories became. At one point I actually thought they had included the same story twice. It took me a few minutes to realize this was a different but extraordinarily similar story.

Overall, not a bad little collection but not something I'd recommend to my horror fan friends.

[David Wagner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strong "campfire stories vibe" saves these short and often even badly written short stories. The point seldom goes beyond "hey it´s bad to be killed by random psycho", the repeating themes (stench, "nothing could prepare me for...") are a bit obnoxious and it feels mostly...dull? Not interesting?

However, as a background listen with one or two interesting ideas it works well. Just be preapred for full hands of cliché.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really short book filled with 20 short horror stories. Nothing too long, easy to digest, perfect for any horror lover. No story is overdone, and many are quite creepy. One in particular about a camping trip got me, I ended up going outside in the dark after getting through it. We live in a rural area and I kept looking into the bushes and woods to see if anything was watching me.

Highly recommend, and would be perfect for someone younger just getting into the genre.

[Ingrid Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to say? I listened to the audio version of these short stories, and I think it may have been a disservice. I found it hard to tell when one story finished and another started because not only was there no pause, the reader had an "Alexia" type reading style; robotic and flat. A few of the stories were pretty good but this whole thing was lost on my because of the narrator.

[hesham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection for the talented Cliff Barlow. Some stories are great others are a bit predictable.
The author follows almost a fixed template of narrating the events where every story ends by a surprising sentence that leads to a mind shift.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to have to try this in the written edition I barely made it through 2 stories before I had to abandon it. The narrator tries very hard but just wasn't able to give a professional reading of the book.

[Leanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not terrible, but not groundbreaking either. All of these short stories had predictable endings and twists with ""spooky"" one liners that were supposed to leave you shocked and awed, but ultimately fell flat. Got me through the last four hours of my work day though, so eh. Could be worse.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories were okay. I kept thinking that other than the occasional foul language the whole book seemed to be more for Young Adults.
The one thing that I found rather annoying was the repetitive use of “However”.

[susan gobis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay, it was not scary one bit, and the writer could of not included all the f-word in the stories. I am not a fan of the f-word! the book was not very good at all!

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hated it

[Ashley Garcia Romans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall the stories were well written and interesting. Some of the stories were a bit predictable but I enjoyed the majority of this book.

[TRAY_C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scary stories that were creepy and entertaining!

[John Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some fun shorts in this one. Each story cuts to the chase and finishes up quickly so you can move on to the next. Perfect for a train ride like I did when I read this.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think this collection was as good as Darkness Prevails, but the price was right! ;)

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s actually only 2 stars, but I had to throw in an extra since Chapter 9 shouts out my hometown. Lol

[Dave Wilkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read if you’re into short horror stories, which I very much am. 4.4⭐️

[LisaMarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hate to be harsh, but this freebie was worth about what I paid for it.
Made it thru the first 4 stories before deciding it was highly unlikely that the remaining ones would be better.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice collection of short dark stories. None of them really stood out though. Some had interesting endings. Overall interesting to listen to.

[R.A. Goli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a few creepy stories here. I enjoyed most of them. Narrator sounded a bit stiff at the start, but either she improved as we went along, or I got used to her :)

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - do NOT try again.

[Temecka · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75* it was fine

[Marshall Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

some of that was fucked up.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most short story collections, some were awesome, and some not so much, but I did enjoyed most of them so that’s a win in my book!

[Stephanie Olevich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great collection of short horror/creepy stories. A fun read, if you like that kind of stuff.