When Strange Things Bite: A Collection of Short Stories

by L. Stephenson

The first full-length collection of short horror stories from L. Stephenson, author of The Boatmore Butcher.

173 pages, Paperback

Published January 31, 2025

About the author

I write horror. S'up?

Reviews

[Yvonne (the putrid Shelf) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some collections are created but some are just born with that natural storytelling gene. When Strange Things that Bite by L. Stephenson was concieved it shook with knowledge, with power, with decadence, that is the strength of the writing and natural grit. Rarely does collections pull me in from the first story but as with The Boatmore Butcher, Stephenson’s debut novel, it grabbed me by the throat and told me to listen. It’s the kind of collection that makes you remember the time, the place and what you were doing when you consumed it’s impactful words.

Right from the start, you just know what kind of collection it would be.

The Harvester
When young James is taken by the legendary Harvester—creature of the fields, appeased only by stickmen hung above every door—his brother Samuel bravely confronts and destroys the monster, but pays a terrible price for his defiance. With the Harvester slain, the town soon discovers that its dark magic demands a second sacrifice for resurrection, unleashing chaos and carnage upon the villagers.

Bad Bulb- After thirty-nine years of marriage, Ethie and Jim's lives are upended when Jim brings home a sinister lamp once owned by a witch, leading to a night of terror that lands them in the hospital under their daughter Donna's care. Donna soon uncovers the lamp's horrific secret: the old crone who made it steals eyes to see into the present and past, and now seeks Donna's eyes to glimpse the future.

Bad.Dreamer84 – An online forum help post. Dreams about a serial killer.

What sets Stephenson apart is the unflinching authority of their imagination, each story humming with a dark pulse that finds new ways to unsettle, enchant, and mesmerise. The prose coils itself around the reader, taut and evocative, drawing you into landscapes both familiar and grotesquely transformed. There’s a raw honesty at the heart of these tales—Stephenson writes not just to entertain, but to awaken dormant fears and forgotten wonder alike. Their brilliance lies in an uncanny ability to fuse myth and modernity, all while making the extraordinary feel intimately, dangerously real.

[Amber Hathaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Strange Things Bite is an unnerving collection of stories bound to keep readers on the edge of their seats. The stories are quite varied in terms of tone and content, so there's never a dull moment. While all the stories have their merits and are worth reading in their own right, here are a few standouts for me:

Itch—This one completely took me by surprise. I read it with equal parts dread and fascination, never knowing what the next page would bring. A superbly strange story that will have your skin crawling.

The Ivory Phone—A wonderfully atmospheric tale. I love how it all came together.

The Red Candle—All I can say is, that ending! Great for fans of witchy horror.

If you're looking for a horror collection to delve into the spooky season, definitely check this one out. The opening story, The Harvester, is perfect for Halloween season.

[Dee Groocock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable collection of short stories from the author. I do always look forward to seeing new stories from him, I just know they are going to make me grimace, even though I love them!

The Harvester and Bad Bulb were my two favourites, and The Harvester managed to turn my stomach a bit too.

These short stories are extremely dark and certainly kept me on the edge of my seat. They are gruesome stories, and I can’t help but wonder where the author gets his ideas from.

My thanks to the author and Zooloo’s Book Tours for a copy of this book.

[Bookworm86 · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'When Strange Things Bite' by L. Stephenson

OMG!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, LOVE ,LOVED THIS BOOK OF SHORT STORIES, AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, GRIPPING AND PAGE TURNING EXPLOSIVE MUST READ!! ANOTHER FAB READ BY L.STEPHENSON! ONE OF THE BEST, CHILLING AND DISTURBING HORROR ANTHOLOGIES I HAVE EVER READ!! L STEPHENSON DOES IT YET AGAIN!! CANNOT WAIT TO SEE WHAT ELSE HE COMES UP WITH NEXT!

OMFG!!!! WTF!?? JUST WOW!!! Just flipping wow!!!! What another absolutely epic page turner!!! Well done to L.Stephenson on yet another absolutely incredible book!!

This is the fourth book I have read by this extremely talented author. I have also read 'the Boy At 9 Whitlock, 'Violent Advents' and 'the Boatmore Butcher and would HIGHLY recommend them all. My favourite being 'The Boy At 9 Whitlock' with my surname Whitlock being used of course!!

This book is very well written with vivid descriptions that absolutely grip the readers attention and puts them right in the middle of it all making your heart pound and you constantly second guessing.

An addictive and horrific collection of 14 short stories filled with the supernatural, warnings, secrets, mysteries, horror and absolutely everything you could ask for in a gripping page turner plus so very much more!!!!. As I always do with books of short stories or poems I will say a bit about them individually and then give an overall rating at the end. These are the stories that are included in order, a short description of what they are about:


🚜 The Harvester: Samuel and his younger brother James are camping in their back garden when Samuel starts hanging stick figures up. James asks him what they are for and Samuel, John (the family's farmhand) and Philip (John's son) explain that they are to protect them from The Harvester. The Harvester is there to help the crops grow well but it comes at a price which Samuel, John and the rest of the family learn the hard way. There were several twists in this one plus lots of gore. A fantastic start to this anthology!! 5/5

🌊The Last Day Of The First Month: Aimee and her children Isaac, Vance and Claudia are at home on the last day of January with Aimee's husband Jonathan working away. It is Aimee's birthday and the anniversary of Aimee's Mothers death. Suddenly the weather turns and something strange starts happening. When Jonathan arrives home he is shocked at what he discovers his wife has done but realises it may be the only way to save the last of his children. There is something that happens to the children in this story but I wont go into details but wanted readers to be aware. 4/5

💡Bad Bulb: Jim Rowland arrives home from an antique auction with a strange looking lamp. His wife Ethie is not at all impressed and does not want the ugly thing in her home. However, Jim is fascinated with the fact that it used to belong to a witch so it ends up staying. If only he had not brought it home things would have been very different. 5/5

🛥The Cuttleman: A group of five college friends are enjoying themselves on Cala Llentrisca beach when one of them discovers a guitar. It turns out the guitar belonged to a man that went missing a few days ago never to be seen again. They soon find out what happened to him but will they come to the same fate? 3/5

☎️The Ivory Phone: I have heard a similar story told previously but I love it and it never gets old!! It is definitely one of my favourite horror stories of all time of revenge and justice!! Professor Lord lost his kind and loving wife after she contracted sickness from being a nurse and helping others. He had bought her an ivory phone as a gift and she was buried with it and a photo. However, he soon discovers the phone on his table and things go from bad to worse when it starts ringing! 5/5

💤 bad.dreamer84: This is a short story told in emails, texts and forum discussions which I loved!! A person known only as bad.dreamer84 discusses a nightmare he keeps having on a forum and wants to know if he is seeing something that has actually happened. He gets friendly with another user and they meet up. be careful who you talk to!! 4/5

👨‍👦The Sweat Of A Guilty Man: Tony and his sibling Danny have a falling out and all I will say about this one is it teaches you never to leave a loved one after an argument but I also loved the unexpected twist!! 4/5

😷Itch: This story was just gross and made me itch but I also really enjoyed reading it! Hayley's brother Seb is constantly scratching, leaving dead skin everywhere. Hayley is constantly cleaning and watching to make sure it does not get on her. She is constantly worrying about dead skin, carpet bugs and more. When she gets a rash she starts to panic. 5/5

🕯 The Red Candle: When Craig's Grandma passes away she leaves something for him hidden in a red candle which enables him to be who he wants to be. 3/5

👄When A Stranger Bites: It is the day of the moon landing when reports start coming in of a strange man biting an unsuspected woman and after a body is also discovered. Jo returns from the cinema and cannot find her Mother anywhere. What she encounters is much stranger and not happy that their moon is being messed with! 4/5

🪚 Rip Saw: Mary Crop finally manages to get away from her abusive husband but could not take her baby with her. 18 years later and Mary and her daughter are reunited but it is not a happy reunion!! 5/5

🗼 The Crimson Tower: Alec is in the tower block that he calls home when a large crimson cone appears from space. When Steve turns up to pick up the children Alec cannot understand why he is not panicking about the tower outside. However Steve soon starts panicking but not what you expect the reason is! 3/5

❄️ The Old Man In The Snow: Ruth is banned from her sister's Christmas dinner after her drinking and arguing from previous years. She has her nephew Wesley working Christmas Eve with her but goes darker and further to make her sister feel as lonely as she does. 5/5

This story is also in 'Violent Advents' edited by L.Stephenson and I would also highly recommend that anthology too!

✨️ The Glittering Cold: Billy is four years old and scared of the dentist. His older brother Nick who has taken him plays on this fear and tells Billy that the dentist that Billy is going to see is actually an alien who is going to put bugs and cameras in his teeth so the aliens can find him and take him away in the night. A brilliant twist that you wont see coming! 5/5


An absolutely amazing collection of dark, disturbing, gory, ghostly, suspenseful and tension packed short stories each filled with horror and PERFECT for fans of horror!!! A fantastic collection of short stories with an excellent range of situations, characters, locations and narratives. My favourites were definitely 'The Harvester', 'The Ivory Phone' and The Old Man In The Snow

Grab your copy of 'When Strange Things Bite' to discover your favourite story!!

These stories include suspense, horror, tension, murder, death, betrayal, revenge, fear, the supernatural and much more! There is a great mix of stories so there is definitely something in there for everyone. This book is ideal to be able to pick up and read a story during a break or while making a cuppa!! I would probably avoid reading them as a bedtime story though!!! I am a huge fan of horror stories and the gorier the better for me!!! The excellent descriptions throughout ensures you feel the hair raising on your arms and the chill on your skin!!! The fact that these are short stories also allows you to pick it up and read a story at a time or read it in one sitting which is perfect for those who like to read multiple books at one time. L.Stephenson has absolutely amazing writing skills and an incredible imagination and I cannot wait to read more of her books!!

Grab your copy of 'When Strange Things Bite' and discover which stories you love!!! This is why you are one of my favourite horror authors L.Stephenson and I cannot wait to sink my teeth into more of your books!!

Overall an amazing selection of creepy, horror, gothic and suspense filled stories with something for everyone!!

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[A.D. Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a sublime beauty in the variety one gets from a short story collection. The ability to be dropped into a little piece of fiction that doesn't require all your build up and time.... A little slice of a fresh world. There is finesse in getting that just right with regard to the length of each particular tale, and providing just enough to whet your appetite.
Stephenson does so here, with a really varied collection of shorts that hit you from many different angles. Some horrific, some bizarre, and some just fascinating.
I really enjoyed going from story to story and seeing what would be next, with Stephenson having a wonderful hold on the otherworldly bizarre as much as the horrifying (and at times uncomfortable) tales.
There's a fine fusion of stories that feel reminiscent of Clive Barker and Eric LaRocca, in how they are presented, which made me absolutely eat them up.
I won't detail each story, as the blurb gives you a general overview, but I can confirm it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Christopher Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

The BoatMore Butcher was the first time I experienced L.Stephensons work and found it to be an enjoyable read for sure. Now with When Strange Things Bite we get a collection of tales that dabble in all sorts of fields. From monsters and Witches to other spooky things that go bump in the night. Itch was one story that really stuck with me. This collection has something for every taste, though now every time I get an Itch that story pops back up in my brain. L.Stephenson seems to Uber a knack for hitting that fear nerve whether it’s a killer on the loose or something as simple as itchy skin(see told you that story sticks, read it and see what happens when you get itchy) with each story this author adds another lingering tale to his collection.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection of short stories by L. Stephenson and a perfect read for the season.

I liked the majority of stories but the ones which stood out most to me were:-

- The Harvester (stayed with me long after reading and genuinely felt it was the best of the bunch!)

- bad.dreamer84 (this was quite a short one but I loved the writing style, I loved the idea of it and I particularly enjoyed the ending. A proper Black Mirror style story!)

I look forward to reading more work by this author

[Lennox Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

L. Stephenson’s When Strange Things Bite was an entertaining read that offered me a satisfying variety, from creature features and survival horror plots to psychological horror that reads like a fever dream.

I was happy to revisit the atmospheric dread of “The Last Day of the First Month” (also known as the story that introduced me to Stephenson) and the emotional devastation of “The Old Man in the Snow”, as well as find all new favorites.

“The Ivory Phone” had the good old-fashioned haunting feeling I remember from a childhood spent reading classic ghost story anthologies, as well as a twist I well and truly did not expect. I had a lot of fun with both the story and the format of “bad.dreamer84”, and “The Red Candle” warmed my heart. I wonder if it’s too much to hope Stpehenson writes more about the story’s main character someday (if you wanna know why I’m hesitant to use their name, you’ll just have to read the book). . .

A good introduction to L. Stephen’s work and something to whet the appetite for his longer fiction!

[A.D. Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a sublime beauty in the variety one gets from a short story collection. The ability to be dropped into a little piece of fiction that doesn't require all your build up and time.... A little slice of a fresh world.

There is finesse in getting that just right with regard to the length of each particular tale, and providing just enough to whet your appetite.
Stephenson does so here, with a really varied collection of shorts that hit you from many different angles. Some horrific, some bizarre, and some just fascinating.

I really enjoyed going from story to story and seeing what would be next, with Stephenson having a wonderful hold on the otherworldly bizarre as much as the horrifying (and at times uncomfortable) tales.
There's a fine fusion of stories that feel reminiscent of Clive Barker and Eric LaRocca, in how they are presented, which made me absolutely eat them up.

I won't detail each story, as the blurb gives you a general overview, but I can confirm it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.