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Stoney Brook Farms: a psychological horror
It started with the body of a young child, encased within a scarecrow.
When the rotting corpse of a young child is found hidden in the body of one of the farm’s scarecrows, Stoney Brook Farms is immediately closed to the public as police investigations begin.
Forced to move away, as their home becomes a crime scene, the owners can do nothing but wait to see where the investigations lead and - more importantly - who was responsible for the young boy’s death.
Psychological horror
When the rotting corpse of a young child is found hidden in the body of one of the farm’s scarecrows, Stoney Brook Farms is immediately closed to the public as police investigations begin.
Forced to move away, as their home becomes a crime scene, the owners can do nothing but wait to see where the investigations lead and - more importantly - who was responsible for the young boy’s death.
Psychological horror
- GenresHorror
62 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 27, 2024
61 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Matt Shaw
530 books2,205 followersBiography
MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.
Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.
Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.
MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.
Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.
Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 16, 2025
3.5 stars. A very creepy little tale. I really wanted a deeper dive into all of the characters, namely Ashley and Brad, and the plot could have been paced a tad slower. A really great visual mid-way through chapter 18. But, overall, a very satisfying and unique horror experience from Matt Shaw. Not the longest or most captivating review, but short can be good sometimes. Just ask Danny DeVito.
February 27, 2025
be so fucking serious?
George Floyd jokes? A grown man jumping a scarecrow with a kid in it on the first chapter? this is fucking sick and not in the good way. I love a good horror, even extreme horror but be so for real. Never
George Floyd jokes? A grown man jumping a scarecrow with a kid in it on the first chapter? this is fucking sick and not in the good way. I love a good horror, even extreme horror but be so for real. Never
Read
October 3, 2025we gotta stop telling white men they can do anything they want because they're out here thinking they're actually GOOD at what they do.
this should tell you enough about what a piece of shit this story and author are:
As she continued to panic, he started shuffling his way up her body until his knees were on her neck. Husband and wife and a George Floyd role-play.
go fuck yourself lmfao
this should tell you enough about what a piece of shit this story and author are:
As she continued to panic, he started shuffling his way up her body until his knees were on her neck. Husband and wife and a George Floyd role-play.
go fuck yourself lmfao
July 7, 2025
I wish there was MORE! This could have easily been made into a normal length book and it would have been 5 stars. But unfortunately, the ending was less than satisfying.
March 13, 2025
Not my favorite Shaw book by any stretch, but a quick, creepy read that filled the slight reading gap I’m in.
August 29, 2025
I for sure thought this would end differently. I wanted Ashley to win this. However, that wasn’t the case. This was a pretty interesting story. I enjoyed it. Slightly morbid but not too much.
September 27, 2024
Not a very good Matt Shaw book. A quick read is the best I can give it.
October 26, 2024
stones brook farm
Didn’t really understand the ending but will continue to read Matt shaw books as I find them very good horror stories
Didn’t really understand the ending but will continue to read Matt shaw books as I find them very good horror stories
November 8, 2024
Predictable
Very predictable and basically not worth the time to read. Plot and characters undeveloped. Errors in grammar and verb tenses so not proofread very well
Very predictable and basically not worth the time to read. Plot and characters undeveloped. Errors in grammar and verb tenses so not proofread very well
December 13, 2024
the George Floyd reference?? most disturbing thing about this book
September 7, 2024
The cover of this book intrigued me, so I purchased it on Amazon kindle and read it all the way through without stopping!
If you’re a fan of Matt Shaw, then this won’t disappoint!
The beginning has a feeling of ‘the children of the corn 🌽’to it, you get an eerie sense that something sinister is lurking in the farm where the teenagers are walking through.
Cut forward and the two main characters who own the farm are also very well written, if you’ve seen the Netflix’ programmed ‘Ozarks’ then you’ll get a slight resemblance to the ‘Snells’ who run the poppy plantation, you almost feel like you’re right there with them on the farm, a supposed ‘loving couple’ but under the surface you can tell the relationship isn’t quite what is seems from the outside.
It’s well written, the story has a good pace, and there’s a few cleaver twists and turns to keep you hooked on throughout.
Definitely worth a read, if you like Matt’s other books, then you’ll enjoy this one for sure 👍
If you’re a fan of Matt Shaw, then this won’t disappoint!
The beginning has a feeling of ‘the children of the corn 🌽’to it, you get an eerie sense that something sinister is lurking in the farm where the teenagers are walking through.
Cut forward and the two main characters who own the farm are also very well written, if you’ve seen the Netflix’ programmed ‘Ozarks’ then you’ll get a slight resemblance to the ‘Snells’ who run the poppy plantation, you almost feel like you’re right there with them on the farm, a supposed ‘loving couple’ but under the surface you can tell the relationship isn’t quite what is seems from the outside.
It’s well written, the story has a good pace, and there’s a few cleaver twists and turns to keep you hooked on throughout.
Definitely worth a read, if you like Matt’s other books, then you’ll enjoy this one for sure 👍
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2025
Set in small-town Minnesota.
Stoney Brook Farms has a reputation for being a fun time in the rural country town.
When a group of college kids visits the Farms, a dare from one of the girls leads to disturbing revelations.
The corn maze. The small, creepy scarecrow at the entrance.
Brad and Ashley are the owners of the estate.
(The Britspeak in thought is one thing…but in speech… 😔 Oh, Matt. You will never get a proper editor, will you?)
The discovery of the corpse causes the farm to shut down.
All staff, especially the workers, are under suspicion.
Luke…and the accident.
Plans go very awry.
The grave. Bad dreams.
The close-knit team helping to run the farm circle the wagons.
Todd.
Who’s the real killer?
Staying in the RV. The murder investigation.
Creepy and ominous vibes throughout.
Ashley’s POV is super irritating.
Not the most thoroughly explained—but solid ending.
“Do I regret everything we’ve had to do? Yes. But I also know we had to do it to save ourselves, and the farm.”
Stoney Brook Farms has a reputation for being a fun time in the rural country town.
When a group of college kids visits the Farms, a dare from one of the girls leads to disturbing revelations.
The corn maze. The small, creepy scarecrow at the entrance.
Brad and Ashley are the owners of the estate.
(The Britspeak in thought is one thing…but in speech… 😔 Oh, Matt. You will never get a proper editor, will you?)
The discovery of the corpse causes the farm to shut down.
All staff, especially the workers, are under suspicion.
Luke…and the accident.
Plans go very awry.
The grave. Bad dreams.
The close-knit team helping to run the farm circle the wagons.
Todd.
Who’s the real killer?
Staying in the RV. The murder investigation.
Creepy and ominous vibes throughout.
Ashley’s POV is super irritating.
Not the most thoroughly explained—but solid ending.
“Do I regret everything we’ve had to do? Yes. But I also know we had to do it to save ourselves, and the farm.”
November 1, 2025
I was a bit confused as to where this story was going to go at first since the 'whodunit' bit was immediately resolved. It was rather obvious after but still interesting.
How Brad goes about things...? Yikes.
I liked how it ended well enough; how they were both thinking along the same lines but different ways of doing it. One was definitely a lot quicker!
This needed better editing, errors throughout especially for being such a short story. Not my favorite Shaw but I'll continue to read.
How Brad goes about things...? Yikes.
I liked how it ended well enough; how they were both thinking along the same lines but different ways of doing it. One was definitely a lot quicker!
This needed better editing, errors throughout especially for being such a short story. Not my favorite Shaw but I'll continue to read.
February 14, 2025
Not my usual genre and first proper short story - I really enjoyed it for what it is. I was engaged throughout with the strong visual imagery throughout it. One of the rare times I felt like I wasn’t trying to guess who the killer was or what the intentions were as I felt like I was reading it from an insider perspective. As they say, the truth will out!!
October 2, 2024
This a solid quick read that kept me engaged throughout. The sense of unease in this book was really well done. The way each character reacts to what has happened and how they feel gave this story depth and kept me second guessing. I thought I knew how it was going to end but was proven wrong. Definitely worth a read.
October 2, 2024
Very short read, which itself isn't a bad thing. But the pacing of the story felt very rushed. It did not feel like a psychological horror book to me. I feel that this story could of been great as a full length novel. Getting more into the characters, more into the who did it aspect.
October 19, 2024
Could've been full story!
Loved how this book went. It kept you thinking it was going onto go differently than it did. He could've extended it to a full blown book but kept it short and sweet. Read it in a day! Worth the time too!
Loved how this book went. It kept you thinking it was going onto go differently than it did. He could've extended it to a full blown book but kept it short and sweet. Read it in a day! Worth the time too!
December 3, 2024
Easy to read
It was to me so obvious who it was, the police where no where to be seen, other then in the background and the twisted end in my mind was predictable, l would recommend the reading age to be 12-16 to fully enjoy
It was to me so obvious who it was, the police where no where to be seen, other then in the background and the twisted end in my mind was predictable, l would recommend the reading age to be 12-16 to fully enjoy
December 8, 2024
Quick overall creepy short story. I would have liked to learn more about the characters.
The beginning was predictable but set the stage for the pace of the book. Overall I liked it and is included with kindle unlimited.
The beginning was predictable but set the stage for the pace of the book. Overall I liked it and is included with kindle unlimited.
September 29, 2024
This was a very enjoyable and different read for a Matt Shaw story! I had a blast. It was spooky yet horrific in certain parts. Just the story to kick off spooky season!
This story can be knocked out easily in one sitting as it’s under 100 pages and fast-paced. The ending was very nicely done!
This story can be knocked out easily in one sitting as it’s under 100 pages and fast-paced. The ending was very nicely done!
October 1, 2024
Tiny but might. It packed a punch that I didn't expect and the ending blew me a way. I was stunned. I cannot wait to read more by Matt!!
October 22, 2024
Matt Shaw really is the top man of authors
i read this book in one sitting ,something I never do even with novellas , I must admit the ending wasn't what i expected brilliant book
i read this book in one sitting ,something I never do even with novellas , I must admit the ending wasn't what i expected brilliant book
October 31, 2024
Matt is doing his finest work !!
Another book that draws you in. This book had you involved from starting till the end. The ending had a nice twist at the end. Keep it coming!!
Another book that draws you in. This book had you involved from starting till the end. The ending had a nice twist at the end. Keep it coming!!
November 11, 2024
Short and sweet
I really enjoyed this short read from Matt Shaw. Though I wanted more when it ended, it was brilliant anyway.
I really enjoyed this short read from Matt Shaw. Though I wanted more when it ended, it was brilliant anyway.
December 11, 2024
Solid entry into the world of Matt Shaw.
Interesting premise and like the direction he took. Dig the ending.
Looking forward to checking out more of his work.
Interesting premise and like the direction he took. Dig the ending.
Looking forward to checking out more of his work.
December 18, 2024
What a f’ed up group of people lol
January 23, 2025
I absolutely loved this one, as usual Matt knocked it out of the park. Brilliant! One of my favorite indie authors hands down.
July 27, 2025
confusing ending
So like which was it? For such a short story I would have liked the ending to be more fleshed out
So like which was it? For such a short story I would have liked the ending to be more fleshed out
September 29, 2025
Psychological horror
Short story to read. It was interesting story as it kept til end which was twisted surprising. I enjoy the story
Short story to read. It was interesting story as it kept til end which was twisted surprising. I enjoy the story
October 20, 2025
Which one.
Story has two endings. Which one is real? What became of luke? I'm a little confused. Where's the rest of the story?
Story has two endings. Which one is real? What became of luke? I'm a little confused. Where's the rest of the story?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews