Tell Me A Story

by Joel Farrelly

While hosting a popular late-night radio segment called "Tell Me a Story," author Joel Farrelly encounters a vast array of different callers from all walks of life, each with their own unique and often terrifying tale to tell.

This is a collection of the show's most memorable segments as well as a memoir of how it all went horribly wrong when, at the height of his success, a mysterious caller forced Joel to recount a disturbing story from his own past... The one story Joel hoped he would never have to tell.

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Fiction, Short Stories, Novella, Anthologies, Horror Thriller

82 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 13, 2015

Reviews

[Lyn❤Loves❤Listening to Real Voices Only!!!!❤️🎧📚 Addict ON HIATUS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio 5 stars
Story - 3.5 Stars

[Michelle {Book Hangovers} · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a cheesy, horrifyingly good time!!!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept of the book more than the actual stories. Some of them were just too far from believable. Certainly they were original and some weren't too bad.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one! It was short, sweet, and creepy good fun!

[Echo Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! It's a book of short stories within one over arching Story of the narrator/talk show host of a radio broadcast that features eery tales of the occult and supernatural. A great quick read that tickles those goosebumps!

[Adrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Included in the Plus Catalog on Audible so I gave it a listen. The overall concept was fun - the late night radio host, and the stories were entertaining enough. The author described it as Goosebumps for adults, and that seems pretty accurate. The stories are cheesy with gore on top.

[Mark Horner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insomnia

I genuinely thought my insomnia was under control until I chanced upon Thought Catalog & Joel C. Farrelly. Nowadays, darkness makes me paranoid & I hesitate to sleep with my feet exposed. However, this book has ratcheted everything to another level because I honestly cannot disseminate fact from fiction. Most everything is too damn plausible even the truly fantastical elements. If even half of these things are true, I'm renewing my prescription of Ambien & possibly Xanax. If you are hesitant to buy this book lookup Joel at Thoughts Catalog, read one or two of his stories then decide. You, sir, are the the twisted white rabbit leading us down the rabbit hole.

[Jack Follman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is killer in a lot of ways. One, excellent format for a book of short scary stories, the way the author lays out how you hear the stories makes it a more natural read and adds a layer of authenticity and creep. The stories flow into each other so you end up flying through them with reckless abandon.

The author has a one-of-kind, personal voice that sets him apart. I would be really excited to see him take on a novel with a singular story line.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book of scary stories that tie neatly into the author's very own story. Definitely a must read for anyone who enjoys all the spooky stories on Thought Catalog or just a well written creepy story in general. Joel is an excellent storyteller, and I hope to see him continue to scare me enough to sleep with a night light!

[Ericka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had fun listening to the series of short scary stories at 6am, they surely woke me up and made my drive to work very pleasant and short. It’s about the recollection of the most interesting, bizarre, and scary stories told in a late-night college radio show; they are described by the radio show host, a student himself, who starts relating how he end up hosting the show, where he was supposed to just play music but what it started with a song request, it ended up with the radio listener telling a ghost story that happened at her workplace, from that, the popularity of the radio show fire up. As time progressed, the radio show skyrocketed and there where endless lines of listeners wanting to tell their story, when suddenly, it turned for the worst. I recommend this quick read/listen, it is very entertaining and scary, ha-ha

[JPT · Rating 3 out of 5]

*
*
*
Audiobook
Story: C, Narration: A

Not a review, just some thoughts for personal reference. Spoilers.

This started out strong. I really enjoyed the idea and stories at first, and kinda thought I'd saved it for spooky season. But the stories got weaker and I found myself thinking that, even tho this was under 3 hours, it was still too long.

The last several should have been a build up to a final bang, but I thought they fell flat. The two stories about the "author/narrator's" life were particularly meh. Yeah, puppets/dolls can be creepy, but not these. Same with twins killing or absorbing their siblings in the womb. Could be riveting, but it was more meh than anything.

[Jessica Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the reviews prior to trying this book and thought ok, worth a shot. I was disappointed. This is just not my type of "horror". It's very "Scary Stories" or "Urban Legends" type stories that are so ridiculous and far fetched that I caught myself annoyed and rolling my eyes throughout reading. The only part I really cared for was the moments in between the caller stories when they interacted with the DJ because he is very funny. I honestly couldn't finish it with only 1 chapter left. At least it is a short story. I'm sure some would get a kick out of this but to me, it's more like a children's book with cussing in it. ha!!!!

[Nevathalless · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this format thoroughly. It's like the found-footage version of the written/spoken word, but done well enough it doesn't immediately make you think shakey cam and far-fetched plots.
Granted, they begin to encompass more fantastical elemnts as they go on, but it's done gradually enough to where - by the end, why not?

I look forward to more from Farrelly. (I've also gathered from the other reviews he has older material, which now I have to go ferret out.)

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a pretty good book. Most of the stories are actually pretty scary and I love the fact it’s placed from the viewpoint of the author. But there is just a little bit of disbelief toward the end that took me out a bit and wished that it hadn’t gone that way a bit, but still enjoyed the last little bit. Overall, due to its length, a good one for reread, and I have the audiobook that I listen to to fall asleep to. Pretty good!

4*

[Karin Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and genuinely scary collection of short stories that I listened to via audiobook. While most 'horror' tales don't overly scare me, there were some properly creepy / unsettling narrative devices in these stories that caught me off guard. That being said, I've left my rating at 3/5 as the individual stories were a bit all over the place and, if I'm honest, I was unclear who the 'narrator' was and the full extent of their role throughout the various events.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't bad. However, the tales tended to be a little bit too fantastical. Like borderline completely absurd to the point where there is no way to think "maybe it could be real." I've said it before and I will say it again, I like my fictional horror stories to have an iota of believability. ;)

[Rambling Irishman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It Didn't Satisfy The Hunger It Created

I enjoyed this novel, "BUT" I kept feeling like I needed more from the stories.
The writings were creating interest and drawing me in but they just didn't seem to satisfy my curiosity.

I would recommend giving this a read however as it was cheesy horror and I did enjoy it.

A solid 4/5 from me.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is something about listening to horror stories at night that make them a bit more effective. I chose this one as a story to listen to before bed, and I believe it made it that much better. The stories are not very realistic, but something about the description and narration in the dark drew my attention in and haunted me until I fell asleep!

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to waste a ton of time talking about this one. It was REALLY interesting, but I think it would've made a better book than novella. There could've been more stories and Farelly could've went into more depth about his main character. So, I'm giving it a C-.

[Erin Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of great things about this little novel- but in the end, multiple stories relied on tokenizing/bastardizing “ native american “ mythology. It’s frankly lazy writing and just continues the long history of colonizing indigenous cultures.

[Renata Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT!!!
I think I should have waited for the ride home to start it, instead I started it at 3am and being the only person in the building. My imagination was not being kind to me. Highly recommended for a fun quick read

[Lexie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. I really enjoyed this. It had a variety of stories that really kept me engaged and I liked that the character's name was the author's name. Makes the illusion of "did this really happen?" I liked the ending a lot too. Would and will definitely recommend to people.

[Content Sabina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just fantastic. Detailed characters and stories without becoming laborious with adjectives. This is all true and my goodness what a great idea, so uh, hey, tell me a story?

[Lk · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Really enjoyed listening to the audiobook, I felt that the horror and fantasy were perfectly conveyed. The ending was clunky though, the last horror story was the weakest in the collection.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun short story about a radio dj who asks other people to tell him scary stories. So, it`s a short book about fun short, spooky stories.

[LisaMarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Each story starts out strong and but devolves into something either cliched or outlandishly unbuyable (even for horror fiction). It was free, tho.

[A V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best read at night, while camping.

[Alan Villafana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good short horror anthology. If you like spooky stories and horror, give this a try.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well...this was surprisingly fun and entertaining. A quick listen but kept me engaged from start to finish. Free on Audible Plus.

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry, but there is zero way these stories are true. ZERO!