Through a Broken Window

by L.F. Falconer

Take a peek, if you dare, and step into a world that balances upon the fringes of sanity. Meet seven-year-old Ronnie who develops an unhealthy appetite for cranberries--or Andre, a traveler who wanders into the wrong neck of the woods. Meet the ghosts of Virginia City, Nevada, and pray you never cross paths with the Devil of the Desatoya. Ten dark tales of the strange and deranged, this collection of short stories is sure to appeal to the darker side of even the squeamish, so don't be shy. Take a look. See for yourself what lies behind the broken window.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

182 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 14

About the author

Award-winning author L.F. Falconer's powerful, page-turning style of dark fantasy has been consistently praised as both "gripping" and "captivating." Skillful, character-based artistry fuses magic and the supernatural with reality to bring her audience a unique reading experience.

Awards:

The Vagabond's Son: Prelude to a Legacy
Finalist in Epic Fantasy, Readers' Favorite International Book Awards, 2015

A Debt of Survival
Horror Finalist in 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year
Horror Finalist In 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
Horror Finalist in 2017 Reader Views Book Awards

Reviews

[Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a collection of "10 Dark Tales of the Strange and Deranged".
When I saw this was up for review at Horror After Dark, I claimed it and looked forward to reading this collection.

I preface this review with the fact that I love horror short stories. I've been reading them since I was a young teen, starting with Poe, and Lovecraft, and then I moved on to King, Etchison, Ellison, Laird Barron, Steve Rasnic Tem etc. I've read all kinds-dark, weird, flash, bizarro, etc. There isn't very much in the world of short fiction that I haven't read before. It takes something extra special to come through for me these days, and I'm sad to say this wasn't it. That said, this collection may be scary, weird or disturbing to novices exploring this genre. It will not be any of those things to anyone familiar with the short works of King, Barker or Lee.

The standouts for me were: "Sylvan Rain", which I thought was the most unique tale in this collection; the title story "Through A Broken Window" which was an exceptionally well done piece which didn't try too hard to explain things, and "When the Horseman Comes to Town" because I loved Mad Mike MacDougal.

There were a few sections that I thought could have been better edited. For example this sentence from the last story: "Sometime in the night, the Spirit Wind came up and took those few it wanted, then blew sand in from the desert around so fierce it buried the rest of the tribe..." It's an awkward sentence and it tripped me up while reading. Another example, also from the last story, "Yet she couldn't deny that to not to get on the rescue chopper seemed just as ludicrous."

To sum up, this was a decent collection of weird fiction containing a couple of exceptional stories, some moderately good tales and a few total strike outs. A novice to dark, strange, weird, short fiction might enjoy this collection a little more than I did, but I would try this author again in the future.

I received a free e-copy of this book to honestly review for Horror After Dark. Find this review and others like it at www.Horrorafterdark.com.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 fcuked up stars

Ronnie, who knows he must be good until Christmas. If he isn't good, Santa won't bring his presents. He tries to keep the cranberry cravings at bay...

"Her tiny little neck, so skinny in its frailty, trying to hold up her big bobbling head, and maybe her big bobbling head just might pop right off in his hands!
Pop!”

A married man spends his last moments on earth.

"The face of Death wears no disguise."

My top three stories are “Christmas Cranberries”, “Mother May I?”, and “The Plowman”, which I would give 4-4.5 stars each. Then all the others I would give 3-3.5 stars each. Averaging round and about 3.5.

I enjoy a variety of short and long stories, and these are the perfect combination, with some spanning a mere two pages each, and up to 73 pages long. Whatever you like, this book has it, well, except for a happy ending. Some of them end quite ominously, and lets your imagination explore the whys and the hows of what the motherfcuk has just happened.

This book has given me the creeps, if it doesn't give you them... Go seek help.

These stories are exactly what it says on the cover. TALES OF THE STRANGE AND THE DERANGED.

The only thing I don’t like is that they are all set in the same writing style, which gets a little boring after a few stories.

I would definitely recommend for you to read if you like short and long stories, and of course creepy tales.

A copy of Through a Broken Window was kindly provided to me by L. F. Falconer, the author, in exchange for an honest review

[Lance Carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

These ten well written short stories are billed as strange and deranged and they do not disappoint. One of my favorites “Christmas Cranberries” intrigued me, made me uncomfortable, and as a father with a son, made me shudder. Three of the tales are short but powerful. Once I realized they were over, I felt the need to read them again to make sure I caught every detail.

The author is from Nevada and the stories revolving around the desert reeled me into the terrain and made me experience the beauty and the terror. “When the Horseman Comes to Town” is a spooky fireside tale come to life. Another favorite “Mother May I?” is a twisted tale of a mother trying to keep a bed and breakfast going in a dying town despite her daughter’s rebellion. The twist at the end really shocked me! The longest story “The Devil of Desatoya” follows private investigators as they investigate two Navy pilots who crashed in Coyote Canyon under mysterious circumstances. It starts as a hard-boiled detective novel and ends with a supernatural flourish.

So, if you dare, enter “Through a Broken Window”. You will not be disappointed.

[William Bitner Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Through A Broken Window: Ten Dark Tales of the Strange and Deranged” by L.F. Falconer is a bit of storytelling brilliance. Here we have ten demitasse servings of macabre dark fantasy and horror, served up with darn near perfection.

There are moments when you are reading that you say to yourself “this person must love to write”, this is one of those instances because it oozes from the pages how much care and talent goes into each and every word. L.F. Falconer has the ability to suck you in in a most welcoming way and asked you to stay awhile and spend time with her. She makes the reader a part of the experience in every way possible almost to the point that you can imagine yourself as a bit of a voyeur in the stories you are reading. L.F. Falconer is quickly and easily becoming one of my favorite authors on my list of favorite authors.

From a young boys love of cranberries to a sand devil in the desert of Nevada this gem of a read has just about everything you need for a bit of a scare. It’s a quick read, but worth every second. I am looking forward to growing my library with more of L.F. Falconer's books.

Synopsis (from back cover): Dare To Look—Through A Broken Window.

“Take a peek, if you dare, through this broken pane of glass. Tell me what it is you see and maybe I will disagree. What you perceive may not be, or too, may come to pass.” Step into another world with these short, dark tales of the strange and deranged. Meet seven-year-old Ronnie, who desperately hungers for the taste of cranberries; or Andre Dubois, a traveler who ignores the gypsy’s warning and ventures into the wrong neck of the woods. What happens to Nexie Wells when she’s confronted with the yesterdays that bleed into the present? And glimpse the events that led to the Mad Scotsman’s curse upon the town of Seven Troughs. This collection of ten short stories by L.F. Falconer is sure to appeal to your darker side, so come take a look. Don’t be shy. Discover for yourself what lies in wait behind the broken window.

[Charles Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met this author basically through Facebook and have seen her ads pop up from time to time and I finally clicked on this one and I'm glad that I did. This collection of short stories is nothing short of fantastic with my personal favorites being Christmas Cranberries and Sylvan Rain. The stories are all distinctly different but the author has the great ability to grab your attention very quickly and keep your attention throughout each and every tale. Being an author myself, I know how difficult short stories can be to write (I find myself almost wanting to scrap it as I'm writing one and turn it into something bigger than intended, but that is me) and L.F. Falconer has the timing and the rhythm of a short story down pat. I will read one of her novels at some point but this collection of short stories was so good and I certainly give this book a high recommendation. Great job!!! Keep them coming.

[Cathie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and suspenseful story collection. A good variety of stories some being longer than others and varying levels of creepiness. Really good settings with attention to detail that move the stories along nicely with unexpected twists. I especially liked those set in Nevada. Darkest story I thought was "Christmas cranberries" and really liked the title story. "The Black Dog" a favorite also. Looking forward to more short stories.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Macabre and sinister, these ten tales vary widely in length (ranging from a few flash fiction vignettes of only a few pages to the comparatively lengthy “The Devil of the Desatoya”). However, what they do all have in common is a disquieting setting that intrigues the reader and pulls you into an unsettling environment that makes even the commonplace occurrences of everyday life take on an aura that pulsates with evil and the disturbed. The points of view that are reflected in the stories are distinctive and range across the ages, starting with the warped mindset of a seven-year-old boy, whose obsession with cranberries turns into a fixation on “a shimmering red baseball bat,” which he wields with crazed fervor as a weapon of assault on a family pet (“Christmas Cranberries”). Top that with the allegorical figure of Death itself, traditionally fitted with a scythe, which comes to fetch the murderer of a man who was sleeping with his wife (“Death at Jungo”). Although the situations described are quite gritty in nature, the language used to describe the unfolding scenarios does not make excessive use of profanities or obscenities, so that it is not offensive in any way. While some of the tales fringe on science fiction, others make skilful use of the natural environment to heighten the sense of impending doom (for a blending of the two, see the use of the forest in “Sylvan Rain”).

L.F. Falconer’s vivid descriptions of an imaginary, haunted and haunting world makes the elements of these tales so tangible and readily accessible that they masterfully encapsulate the vulnerable elements of the human psyche within a microcosm of the broader society. By prefacing the tales with author’s notes, Falconer, as it were, distances herself from the actual contents themselves, so that the stories can be seen to take on a life of their own. By creating a midpoint between herself, as the author of the stories, and her audience in this way, she is able to achieve a triangulation of the text―author―audience, so that the protagonists can all the more clearly be seen as existing in their own right, and as having a distinctive voice that is quite separate from her own. This illusion of separateness is a way in which Falconer can relate the madness and weirdness of the narrative, while retaining the objectivity and apparent sanity of the omnipresent, but implicit, creator of such a disturbed universe.

Generally, an impressive collection that is likely to appeal to a wide audience, Through a Broken Window: Ten Dark Tales of the Strange and Deranged is penned by a Nevadan author who has already done herself proud with “Hope Flies on Broken Wings,” “Hope Rises from the Ashes,” and “Exit Strategy.”
 

[Shawn Remfrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious creep factor of ten!

I fell in love with Falconer's work while reading her fantasy novels. In them, you get just a glimpse of the dark and twisted side that she has. In this book, she's put together a collection of short stories that showcases this side.

Not only does she have a flair for the dark and strange, she has this wonderful irony. At the end of nearly every story I felt this wonderfully odd sense of justice and elation. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing happy happening in any of these stories, but she has a way of taking the bad guy and having him get his 'just desserts' in the most luscious ways. And no one is exempt. It doesn't matter if you're a six-year-old child or an undercover porn star.

If you like to read twisted tales that are a little different, I can't suggest this book highly enough. Falconer's work is always well written and she has characters that absolutely burst with life. Even in these short stories, she's still able to pull off the captivating drama that I've come to know her so well for.

Come, take a peek if you dare. You probably won't get nightmares, but these stories will stick with you long after you read them. They'll also make you rethink your actions the next time you're thinking about doing anything that could be slightly immoral or wrong. Punishment is waiting just around the corner, and in the least suspected shadow of it.

[BondJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I think the thing I liked the most was that each story was different from the other, there was no repitition. The stories were also very original - I hadn't read them before and I didn't see the end coming in most of the stories. The stories vary in length and range from odd, to supernatural, to creepy.I will definitely read more by this author in the future.

[Pam Tole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short Horror stories are filled with the gruesome, the gory and the spooky.

L.F. Falconer, I felt, at times, explores how far she is willing to go and push boundaries without crossing the line into gratiuitious exploitation. The events lend themselves to the stories and give validity to the ensuing plot.

I also thought that the title of the book, Through a Broken Window, taken from one of the stories fits the collection as an entirety. It made me feel as a reader, I'm doing something ordinary with a gruesome twist. I'm gazing through a window into Ms. Falconer's mind, into these stories, but the window is broken and shattered and something is terribly wrong within these fictional landscapes.

I think another important part of storytelling is irony. A grifter getting scammed, a murderer getting murdered, a relatable hero dying after a long and arduous journey. This works well in the Horror genre and Falconer knows how to utilize it.

The most disturbing tale, for me, is the first one, Christmas Cranberries about a serial killer in development and I also loved Sylvan Rain, which I felt was quite prolific, eerie and totally surprised me. The aforementioned Through a Broken Window was quite nice as well and I wish the main character had taken the plunge because I myself as a reader wanted to know more than I was shown. Still a cool story though. Although I feel that the writing could use some work and polish, this was an interesting collection that had me pondering the stories when I was done.

Starstruck Over: The originality of some of the pieces.

[Jane Mercer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a goodreads giveaway and I was chosen for a free copy THANKS
10 tales of the dark and disturbing definitely describes this book. Who doesn't like a good horror story and these are very atmospheric. I liked the ironic twists at the ends of Christmas Cranberries and Mother May I?. The classic almost fairy tale horror of Sylvan Rain, the wry humour of Whatever Happened to Edward? In fact there seemed to be an almost hint of dark humour throughout the book but that could just be my own twisted sense of humour seeing something that isn't there. When the Horseman Comes to Town has a lovely lyrical feel, I liked the tale of Mad Mike MacDougal and Death at Jungo made me smile. I didn't like The Plowman, or the ending of The Desatoya Devil it was too inconclusive, I did like the creative build up though in fact the descriptions and characterisations throughout are eminently believable. It's the endings that get it the 4* instead of 5. Often it's a summary paragraph or a short page when it could be more and leaves you feeling it's been rushed.
I did like the ending of the title story in fact the whole ghost story Through a Broken Window it's a great read to put a few chills up and down your spine

[Elizabeth Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, I am a huge fan of L.F. Falconer. I'll read anything she puts to print!

I'm not a fan of horror or the macabre. Actually, I'm a true scaredy-cat, avoiding any books, movies and TV shows that go bump in the night.

But this collection of 'deranged' short stories did not make me quake in my shoes. Instead, I was thoroughly entertained without being scared out of my wits! I liked that!

These stories were delightful morsels much like feasting from a table of small tasting plates---just enough food for thought, just enough spice to get your heart racing, and just enough to satisfy any appetite, deranged or otherwise.

My favorite story is smack in the middle of the book, chapter 8 entitled the same as the book itself---Through A Broken Window. This was so well done, descriptive and contained just enough creepiness without freaking me out.

My second favorite is When the Horseman Comes to Town. This particular short story reminds me of one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies called High Plains Drifter. If you know that film's plot you'll have a good idea what chapter 8 is all about.

As always, Ms. Falconer delivers. I can't wait to read her latest book, The Vagabond's Son:Prelude to a Legacy.

[J C Mitchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of spooky or dark short stories.

Things I liked:

- Most of the stories were based on really good ideas/concepts, I thought.

- Well written in the main and easy to read

- Particularly liked the concepts of Sylvan Rain and what happens to the man that killed the girl, great idea. Also loved the Broken Window story, right until the end when I felt it petered out.

Reservations

- I suppose I felt like some of the stories didn't follow through, just fell short. It's like there were some good ideas but at the end it kind of trailed off, in some cases.

Summary: Mostly entertaining group of tales, great ideas, marred only by some pacing/structure issues and sometimes a lack of a strong ending.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful creepy collection of stories! If you like horror, do not miss this book!! Some of the stories were as short as two pages and still were creepy. Regardless of the length, the author wrote the stories perfectly. They do not have happy endings. The stories let you use your imagination on why and how it just happened.

I'm not telling you the plot of each story as it would spoil it for you. I enjoyed these stories and hope others will. If you are a horror fan and don't read this you are truly missing out!

[BlaiddDrwg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a goodreads giveaway and I was chosen to receive a free copy. THANK YOU.


It took me ages to read this tiny book. Well, okay. Four months.

After every story I was putting this book back to my shelf screaming that I will never read a single word of it.
But I did.

These alarming, strange and terrifying stories will stay with me for a long time. Especially 'Christmas Cranberries'.
Very well written, original, dark and absolutely mental.

This book is not for everyone. But it's so worth reading that I would recommend it to anyone.

[The Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through A Broken Window: Ten Dark Tales Of The Strange And Deranged By L.F Falconer is a compilation of short and long horror, Grimm like, fairy-tale stories.

Each story fell short on the gore factor. From the synopsis, I was expecting to be spooked by the stories, but I unfortunately that did not happen. Although, the two stories that stood out were “Christmas Cranberries” and “Sylvan Rain.” These two were original and had unexpected ending. With some of the other stories, I wish the author would have gone into more detail, and then they might not have seemed so rushed.

Billie Jo

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a stroke of genius, starting this collection with "Christmas Cranberries"! This story is disturbing to say the least, and makes you want to see exactly what else the author has in store for you. She doesn't disappoint and continues to deliver stories that draw you in.

I would recommend this to anyone wishing to read something out of the ordinary!

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of the short stories in this book while wanting to fast forward through some others. I am a big fan of horror books but I found I had a hard time connecting with some of these stories. I almost wish some of the stories had been longer to give more background to connect and explain the characters. I liked through the when the horse man comes to town the best.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book. It is very well written and I like short stories as sometimes it gets very crazy here and I cant always remember and have to go back and reread a few pages. Th at was no problem with this book,as the stories were very memorable anyways.Great book!

[Jacci · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like to be scared, if you love the macabre, the dark side of humanity, this books for you. L.F. Flaconer is is a multiple award winning author of the short story. She is a master of tales that stick with you and haunt. I would have given this book five stars but I'm still having nightmares!

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Great stories! Well written & I didn't want to put it down,I just wanted to keep reading it& I read it in two nights....two thumbs up!