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Hunger
Dark, tense, and threatening, Hunger by Samuel Best is a horror novelette about parenting, fear, and loss.
Steven lifts his phone up, raising the torchlight from the floor to the window. There’s something out there. He knows it. He walks over and presses his phone to the glass. He stands, stunned for a second, before fumbling for the button to turn the light off.
Steven and Claire have a nice life with their new baby and fixer-upper house. But when Steven finds a wooden box hidden under the old floorboards, he awakens something ancient and starving.
Something which threatens everything he holds dear.
Something which won't rest until it's fed.
Praise for Hunger:
"With a tangible atmosphere of dread and the macabre that plucks at the hairs on the back of your neck, Samuel Best's Hunger revels in mystery and mistrust. A terrifying glimpse of madness and the worst fears a man can face when it comes to his own family."
- Brennan LaFaro, author of the Slattery Falls Trilogy
"Unsettling and creepy. Hunger really gets under the skin, causing the reader to feel all the fear and anxiety on the page!"
- Ross Jeffery, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Tome & The Devil’s Pocketbook
"Haunting and hypnotic. You will lose yourself in Samuel Best's terrifying story."
- Katherine Silva, author of The Wild Dark
"A spine-tingling story where the supernatural and parenthood collide. You'll experience fear, uncertainty, and the unknown in reading this chilling tale. Best has expertly combined the horrors of a haunted house with the thrill of becoming a new parent. Read at your own peril."
- A Douglas, Divinations Magazine
"A beautifully understated and deeply uncanny novelette which skewers a parent’s worst fears. Disturbing and genuinely unsettling, and luckily, the perfect length for a one-sitting read, because I really couldn’t put it down." - Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of Water Shall Refuse Them and Dead Relatives
Praise for Samuel's novel, Shop Front:
"A howl and a sigh from Generation Austerity. Samuel Best is there on the ground, finding jewels among the shattered graduate dream. Best is a bold, new, Scottish voice that tells it like it is and keeps us enthralled in the process." - Alan Bissett, author of Boyracers, Pack Men and Death of a Ladies' Man
"A brilliant read that will surprise, shock and have you choosing a character to root for - and rooting for them come hell and high water." - Our Book Reviews Online
"a humorous, human and at times darkly gritty story." - Undiscovered Scotland
"Shop Front is an important novel of its time and place, while also amusing, tender, and hopeful." - Subtle Melodrama
"This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand masculinity, Scotland and the way out of the traps that men sometimes let themselves fall into because they have to prove that they are 'real men' - whatever that means. " - whichbook
"The novel’s speciality is the way that it gazes at the stars" - Epic Volumes
Steven lifts his phone up, raising the torchlight from the floor to the window. There’s something out there. He knows it. He walks over and presses his phone to the glass. He stands, stunned for a second, before fumbling for the button to turn the light off.
Steven and Claire have a nice life with their new baby and fixer-upper house. But when Steven finds a wooden box hidden under the old floorboards, he awakens something ancient and starving.
Something which threatens everything he holds dear.
Something which won't rest until it's fed.
Praise for Hunger:
"With a tangible atmosphere of dread and the macabre that plucks at the hairs on the back of your neck, Samuel Best's Hunger revels in mystery and mistrust. A terrifying glimpse of madness and the worst fears a man can face when it comes to his own family."
- Brennan LaFaro, author of the Slattery Falls Trilogy
"Unsettling and creepy. Hunger really gets under the skin, causing the reader to feel all the fear and anxiety on the page!"
- Ross Jeffery, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Tome & The Devil’s Pocketbook
"Haunting and hypnotic. You will lose yourself in Samuel Best's terrifying story."
- Katherine Silva, author of The Wild Dark
"A spine-tingling story where the supernatural and parenthood collide. You'll experience fear, uncertainty, and the unknown in reading this chilling tale. Best has expertly combined the horrors of a haunted house with the thrill of becoming a new parent. Read at your own peril."
- A Douglas, Divinations Magazine
"A beautifully understated and deeply uncanny novelette which skewers a parent’s worst fears. Disturbing and genuinely unsettling, and luckily, the perfect length for a one-sitting read, because I really couldn’t put it down." - Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of Water Shall Refuse Them and Dead Relatives
Praise for Samuel's novel, Shop Front:
"A howl and a sigh from Generation Austerity. Samuel Best is there on the ground, finding jewels among the shattered graduate dream. Best is a bold, new, Scottish voice that tells it like it is and keeps us enthralled in the process." - Alan Bissett, author of Boyracers, Pack Men and Death of a Ladies' Man
"A brilliant read that will surprise, shock and have you choosing a character to root for - and rooting for them come hell and high water." - Our Book Reviews Online
"a humorous, human and at times darkly gritty story." - Undiscovered Scotland
"Shop Front is an important novel of its time and place, while also amusing, tender, and hopeful." - Subtle Melodrama
"This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand masculinity, Scotland and the way out of the traps that men sometimes let themselves fall into because they have to prove that they are 'real men' - whatever that means. " - whichbook
"The novel’s speciality is the way that it gazes at the stars" - Epic Volumes
46 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2023
4 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Best
4 books4 followersSamuel Best's first novel, Shop Front, was published by Fledgling Press and described as "engaging, moving and fulfilling" and "genuinely shocking".
He has published a number of short stories in the UK, America, and Europe - most recently with Ghost Orchid Press, The Wild Hunt, and Firewords - and he founded Octavius Magazine before running Aloe during the first COVID lockdown.
When he is not writing he teaches English in the east end of Glasgow.
You can find him haunting social media @storiesbysamuel.
He has published a number of short stories in the UK, America, and Europe - most recently with Ghost Orchid Press, The Wild Hunt, and Firewords - and he founded Octavius Magazine before running Aloe during the first COVID lockdown.
When he is not writing he teaches English in the east end of Glasgow.
You can find him haunting social media @storiesbysamuel.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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August 11, 2023‘Unsettling and creepy. Hunger really gets under the skin, causing the reader to feel all the fear and anxiety on the page!’ Ross Jeffery, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Tome & The Devil’s Pocketbook
January 13, 2024
The horror of the book is a creeping dread that really builds towards the climax. It certainly captures the sleep deprivation of being a new parent. A cracking, bitesize bit of horror
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September 10, 2023Haunting and hypnotic. You will lose yourself in Samuel Best's terrifying story.
January 22, 2024
Could have definitely been a full-length book. Left me wanting to know more.
September 24, 2023
“ℋ𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒶 𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓇-𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒶 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝒶𝓃𝓍𝒾𝑒𝓉𝓎, 𝒶 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓋𝓊𝓁𝓃𝑒𝓇𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒.”
I’m so confused after I’ve just finished reading Hunger.
I didn’t found the story scary at all and I’m feeling so lost. I don’t understand the ending of this book at all.
Thank you @booksprout for providing me an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
I’m so confused after I’ve just finished reading Hunger.
I didn’t found the story scary at all and I’m feeling so lost. I don’t understand the ending of this book at all.
Thank you @booksprout for providing me an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews