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Black Willow: A Disturbing Short Story
They were young and they were dumb. Strangers brought to the same place by the same call. Helpless victims plagued by a demonic summoning...
And now they're back. Years have passed but the Act remains. The curtain opens on a world the same, and now it demands their presence... But how will strangers once united determine their fate? The time has finally come, for the world to open.
The monster of Willow Park is back... and this time, it's got something in store...
And now they're back. Years have passed but the Act remains. The curtain opens on a world the same, and now it demands their presence... But how will strangers once united determine their fate? The time has finally come, for the world to open.
The monster of Willow Park is back... and this time, it's got something in store...
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
Audible Audio
First published November 26, 2013
5 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Evan Bollinger
27 books50 followersEvan is...
A seasoned writer and practitioner of telepathy. A student of human psychology. A supporter of all causes humanitarian. A people-watcher. Extremely motivated... in extremely narrow areas of interest.
And speaking of interest...
He likes a mild Autumn day.
And a good Lager ;)
***CHECK OUT MY NEW BOOK, NOW ON KINDLE SCOUT: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2X6Y... ****
A seasoned writer and practitioner of telepathy. A student of human psychology. A supporter of all causes humanitarian. A people-watcher. Extremely motivated... in extremely narrow areas of interest.
And speaking of interest...
He likes a mild Autumn day.
And a good Lager ;)
***CHECK OUT MY NEW BOOK, NOW ON KINDLE SCOUT: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2X6Y... ****
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 28, 2015
(Review) Black Willow by Evan Bollinger
Synopsis:
Children aren’t the only ones afraid of monsters… The first scream was the loudest. It pierced the patchwork of sound and sight as would something that didn’t exist. As if, it did exist, but not here, in the now and real. As if, there was another level of sense, another realm of feeling; from a place where even nightmares came to die. To say that it made your blood curdle, or that it made your mind race, would make little sense. For what came through that heavy air was not so much acting upon the human mind and body, as it was a part of the human mind and body. To try to combat it was to fight your own mechanism. To free yourself from the scream, was to destroy yourself from the inside out. In that moment, they were already dead. The first time was 12 years ago when they were young, and clueless. It was supposed to go away--this wasn't supposed to happen. But something went wrong, and now it's back. Something strange stalks the skeletal woods of Willow Park... But can the park contain it?
Review:
I wish this was a full length novel. It is well written but I would've like to have seen this story extended. It ended leaving me wanting more... that is a good thing. This short is deeper than the sum of its parts. There is more here than a group of three adults coming back to face a fear they first encountered many years ago. The writer creates a powerful underlying message to his story in just a few pages. The story contains some great characters and a most vile creature, well written, fleshed out and detailed. I think the author has a future in writing. I would love to read more from this author.
I strongly recommend checking out Black Willow. It's a subtle, quiet type of horror that will stay with you long after you finish it.
Synopsis:
Children aren’t the only ones afraid of monsters… The first scream was the loudest. It pierced the patchwork of sound and sight as would something that didn’t exist. As if, it did exist, but not here, in the now and real. As if, there was another level of sense, another realm of feeling; from a place where even nightmares came to die. To say that it made your blood curdle, or that it made your mind race, would make little sense. For what came through that heavy air was not so much acting upon the human mind and body, as it was a part of the human mind and body. To try to combat it was to fight your own mechanism. To free yourself from the scream, was to destroy yourself from the inside out. In that moment, they were already dead. The first time was 12 years ago when they were young, and clueless. It was supposed to go away--this wasn't supposed to happen. But something went wrong, and now it's back. Something strange stalks the skeletal woods of Willow Park... But can the park contain it?
Review:
I wish this was a full length novel. It is well written but I would've like to have seen this story extended. It ended leaving me wanting more... that is a good thing. This short is deeper than the sum of its parts. There is more here than a group of three adults coming back to face a fear they first encountered many years ago. The writer creates a powerful underlying message to his story in just a few pages. The story contains some great characters and a most vile creature, well written, fleshed out and detailed. I think the author has a future in writing. I would love to read more from this author.
I strongly recommend checking out Black Willow. It's a subtle, quiet type of horror that will stay with you long after you finish it.
March 30, 2013
Black Willow by Evan Bollinger is an eerie and very creepy short story. The three main characters: Jack, Kermie and Brianna are very well developed and the storyline is wonderfully crafted. This story really keeps the reader on edge and is exciting from beginning to end.
The way that this author writes the story makes the reader feel like they are actually with these three characters when they return to Willow Park to satisfy a morbid curiosity about creatures that they had encountered twelve years earlier.
I would liken Black Willow to a Stephen King novel. It is twisted and frightening. I would definitely give this story 5 stars. I would highly recommend Black Willow.
The way that this author writes the story makes the reader feel like they are actually with these three characters when they return to Willow Park to satisfy a morbid curiosity about creatures that they had encountered twelve years earlier.
I would liken Black Willow to a Stephen King novel. It is twisted and frightening. I would definitely give this story 5 stars. I would highly recommend Black Willow.
October 21, 2018
Good writing style but I don't get what happened....
March 21, 2013
Three school kids head into the woods discovering "some-thing" chilling; a dark connection between this world and the next. Twelve years later, we witness them re-enter Willow Park and the darkness once again unfolds. In fact, this short story has a tense feel throughout, darkness pervades every page/screen, with some refreshingly nice and well-defined characters. The tough guy who hates his job, the nice and curvaceous teacher and the weird wiry nerd. Bollinger also weaves some nice lines within the darkness:
"She knew that this went as far back as her childhood; she hadn't known at the time what it was. You tried to understand, you tried to find ways to explain the impossible; ways to rationalize anything in your favor. If you could feign normalcy, nobody would ever know, would they?"
The monster of Willow Park is calling... and with faint Echoes of Stephen King's, 'IT', fans of horror should answer the call!
"She knew that this went as far back as her childhood; she hadn't known at the time what it was. You tried to understand, you tried to find ways to explain the impossible; ways to rationalize anything in your favor. If you could feign normalcy, nobody would ever know, would they?"
The monster of Willow Park is calling... and with faint Echoes of Stephen King's, 'IT', fans of horror should answer the call!
March 19, 2013
Three people, Kermie, Jack and Brianna, met up as teens and witnessed their encounter with some dark, evil creature. They didn’t know each other then, and went their separate ways afterward, trying to forget. Twelve years later, Kermie brings them back together into the woods, because he kept watch, and ‘he saw them again’.
For you who remember ‘The Body’ and ‘It’ by Stephen King, Willow Park by Evan Bollinger will give you the same sort of thrill, in only a few pages.
Bollinger’s writing style is particularly interesting, with direct, short sentences that match the growing impression of having someone (or something) lurking the shadows and waiting.
For you who remember ‘The Body’ and ‘It’ by Stephen King, Willow Park by Evan Bollinger will give you the same sort of thrill, in only a few pages.
Bollinger’s writing style is particularly interesting, with direct, short sentences that match the growing impression of having someone (or something) lurking the shadows and waiting.
March 20, 2013
Undeniably real characters, unearthly creatures and unspeakable eeriness. These are three elements that pervade all of Bollinger's writing that I have read to-date. Shadowy menaces are in all of them. I view Bollinger's shadowy menaces to not only be horribly manifested and hulking creatures yet metaphors for the human condition that is fear. We all have fears. Fear not, though, if you wish to be catapulted along by Bollinger's imagination. He gives his readers the ultimate thrill ride.
May 3, 2013
I noticed that in some of the reviews, readers compared Black Willow to a Stephen King novel. I agree with this 100%. The author grips you from the beginning, playing on the reader’s curiosity to find out what this creature was that the three main characters encountered many years ago and why they were so hell bent on going back. Tread carefully. Even for a short novel this story will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on ends.
October 1, 2017
Beautiful
A beautifully written short story! I loved everything about it! Looking forward to reading more from this author! Well done!
A beautifully written short story! I loved everything about it! Looking forward to reading more from this author! Well done!
December 22, 2017
Contrary to what some people might think, coming up with a surprise ending for a story isn't difficult. Simply put the most incongruous, outrageous thing you can think of as the end of the story, like having Santa Claus show up to lead the characters out of a burning building. Odds are, unless you're writing a Christmas story, this will come as a complete surprise to the reader. On the other hand, coming up with a good surprise ending, one that won't have readers rolling their eyes and shaking their heads, is considerably more difficult. In his short story, "Black Willow," Evan Bollinger certainly surprised me with his ending, but he also ended the story on a very sour note and ruined much of a good, atmospheric buildup.
"Black Willow" is the story of three 30ish people who shared a bizarre adventure a decade earlier when they were in high school. One day, Jack Green, Kermie Karmen, and Brianna Mulner had gone into Willow Park, a natural preserve near their high school, where the three encountered something terrifying. The three had gone their separate ways since then. Jack and Brianna started their careers, but Kermie was never quite the same. Now, he claims that he’s again seen whatever it was they encountered before and calls the other two up to go back to the park with him. And, once they start going down the trails into the quite spooky park, they encounter… something.
“Black Willow” is only about 25 pages long, so the author doesn’t have a lot of time for character development or the creation of a fully fleshed out backstory. That’s not really a problem here, since Bollinger’s emphasis is on creating a mood, and, frankly, discussing in detail what went on years earlier would spoil that mood. It’s the uncertainty of what’s in the woods that drives the story. We get just enough hints to stir the imagination and just enough about the three main characters to make them distinguishable from each other for the reader.
However, although the author tries to streamline the story, he stumbles right off the bat by employing an increasingly popular gimmick, the cliffhanger flashforward. The story begins with Jack and Kermie already in the woods with something bad having happened to Kermie, then goes back to the earlier events that got them there. Since the readers will quickly grasp that there’s something dangerous in the woods, the flashforward really does nothing but waste two pages in an already short story.
Once past the flashforward, however, Bollinger regains his feet and does an excellent job of setting the mood. This is a creepy story, and the park where the three go is a definitely spooky place to go. The author’s writing is quite descriptive here, setting out a landscape that’s menacing despite its seeming placidity and showing just how fragile the main characters’ psyches are as they press on for their encounter with whatever’s waiting for them.
Eventually, though, they find what they’re looking for, and the story goes downhill in the last five pages or so. Bollinger describes what they find rather thoroughly, but he has the same problem that every horror writer faces… namely, that once the horror is revealed, it’s not quite as horrifying. Plus, because he’s used up so much time and space setting up the final confrontation, they whole encounter is rushed, confusing, and ends on a truly puzzling, rather than scary, note. As I said earlier, it’s a surprise, but a befuddling, head scratching, mood killing one.
“Black Willow” is a story that really needed to be longer. Author Bollinger does an excellent job of describing the scene and establishing mood, which leaves too little time to resolve his story. What could have been a terrific horror thriller as a longer tale becomes, at this length, merely passable. In addition, I should point out that the story sells on Amazon for $2.99 (I got it for free as a promotion, but the author usually charges for it.). That’s a lot of money to pay for any story this length, let alone a somewhat disappointing one like this. The story itself is worth a read, albeit marginally, but at that price, would-be readers may very well find better value elsewhere.
"Black Willow" is the story of three 30ish people who shared a bizarre adventure a decade earlier when they were in high school. One day, Jack Green, Kermie Karmen, and Brianna Mulner had gone into Willow Park, a natural preserve near their high school, where the three encountered something terrifying. The three had gone their separate ways since then. Jack and Brianna started their careers, but Kermie was never quite the same. Now, he claims that he’s again seen whatever it was they encountered before and calls the other two up to go back to the park with him. And, once they start going down the trails into the quite spooky park, they encounter… something.
“Black Willow” is only about 25 pages long, so the author doesn’t have a lot of time for character development or the creation of a fully fleshed out backstory. That’s not really a problem here, since Bollinger’s emphasis is on creating a mood, and, frankly, discussing in detail what went on years earlier would spoil that mood. It’s the uncertainty of what’s in the woods that drives the story. We get just enough hints to stir the imagination and just enough about the three main characters to make them distinguishable from each other for the reader.
However, although the author tries to streamline the story, he stumbles right off the bat by employing an increasingly popular gimmick, the cliffhanger flashforward. The story begins with Jack and Kermie already in the woods with something bad having happened to Kermie, then goes back to the earlier events that got them there. Since the readers will quickly grasp that there’s something dangerous in the woods, the flashforward really does nothing but waste two pages in an already short story.
Once past the flashforward, however, Bollinger regains his feet and does an excellent job of setting the mood. This is a creepy story, and the park where the three go is a definitely spooky place to go. The author’s writing is quite descriptive here, setting out a landscape that’s menacing despite its seeming placidity and showing just how fragile the main characters’ psyches are as they press on for their encounter with whatever’s waiting for them.
Eventually, though, they find what they’re looking for, and the story goes downhill in the last five pages or so. Bollinger describes what they find rather thoroughly, but he has the same problem that every horror writer faces… namely, that once the horror is revealed, it’s not quite as horrifying. Plus, because he’s used up so much time and space setting up the final confrontation, they whole encounter is rushed, confusing, and ends on a truly puzzling, rather than scary, note. As I said earlier, it’s a surprise, but a befuddling, head scratching, mood killing one.
“Black Willow” is a story that really needed to be longer. Author Bollinger does an excellent job of describing the scene and establishing mood, which leaves too little time to resolve his story. What could have been a terrific horror thriller as a longer tale becomes, at this length, merely passable. In addition, I should point out that the story sells on Amazon for $2.99 (I got it for free as a promotion, but the author usually charges for it.). That’s a lot of money to pay for any story this length, let alone a somewhat disappointing one like this. The story itself is worth a read, albeit marginally, but at that price, would-be readers may very well find better value elsewhere.
August 14, 2013
Black Willow is a dark and unnerving short story that begins with a flash forward to future events. This grabs your attention from the get-go, leaving you eager to discover what led to the characters landing themselves in such a dire situation. As the reader is brought back to the present you are introduced to the main characters, Jack, Chris (Kermie) and Brianna. As you find out more about their lives it becomes apparent that they all have something in a common, which is a terrifying experience they all shared twelve years ago. These changes in point of view keep the narrative fresh, allowing you to experience the tension that is building from each characters perspective. The plot of this story is a slow burner, and the author drip feeds you hints and clues as to what happened all those years ago. This causes intrigue to grow and grow until you are desperate to find out. Jack, Kermie and Brianna are likeable characters who seem just like everybody else, just harboring a disturbing secret. This makes them easy to relate to, meaning the reader can readily empathize, and the terror they experience becomes the reader’s terror as events unfurl. This talented author uses vivid descriptions and short punchy sentences to make this story very dramatic as it takes the reader on an eerie journey to another world. When Black Willow reaches its conclusion you are finally invited to witness the evil that has haunted the characters for over a decade. As you read the final words you find yourself wanting to know more. What really happened to the three of them? And what is the dark creature that lurks in Willow Park? Maybe the author will let us in on the secret in a further publication, or maybe some things are best left a mystery.
January 7, 2014
I was a bit disappointed. I felt like it was building to something but that it ended a little too quickly. I will watch for other stories by EB, though.
September 8, 2013
An awesome horror story. I highly recommend for a short, chilling read!
January 2, 2014
Wow I picked this up because it was free but so glad I did. What an amazing story that had me gripped at the first line. Evan has a new fan.
April 11, 2015
Well written story which did make me wish it was longer.
September 19, 2015
Meh A middle-of-the-road little tale with an ending that seems to be more of a sequel hook than anything else. Neither horrifying nor exciting.
July 13, 2015
Glad it was short because that was a waste of time.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews