The Prey

by Brett James

Josh Siever has a ratings problem. Now that he’s recovered the remains of the Loch Ness monster & put a family of yetis into the San Diego zoo, he’s run out of material for his weekly show, Explaining the Unexplained. His ratings are crashing, his audience is drifting. The only way he can keep his show on the air is to discover something really spectacular. So when Slovietzian scientists claim to have evidence of real-life werewolves, Josh doesn’t care how dubious it sounds, as long as it makes for good TV.

Read this short story for free on brettjames.com!

Genres: Horror

65 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2015

About the author

Brett James makes irrationally large art installations that he has installed in New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, England, and Croatia. He has written and directed six films and been honored at a dozen festivals. He was raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

James hand-makes (most of) the paperback versions of his own books.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 3 out of 5]

well this short story was hella fun. a film crew of an Unsolved Mysteries type tv program travel to "Slovetzia" in search of werewolves. naturally enough, they become prey. since they are all obnoxious Hollywood types, I was avidly looking forward to their slaughter. no disappointment there! the protagonist reminded me of this repulsive Hollywood type I was forced to have dinner with one time (my family's in the business); afterwards, at his barely furnished yet clearly super expensive apartment, he regaled me with tedious tales of his various threesomes - his girlfriend sitting on his lap the entire time! even worse, he made a point of looking from my sister to his girlfriend and back again while telling his tales. the nerve! how can a kid who is barely in his mid-20s already be so rotten? but now I'm rambling. anyway, our hero Josh is just like that guy, whose name was also actually Josh. coincidence? Brett James gets Josh just right. he also gets the pacing and the humor just right. he's a funny guy and I giggled throughout the story. giggling is not too good a look for me, so I giggled in a quiet, dignified fashion. so yeah, good story. Brett James knows how to write and I'm surprised he's an unknown to me. I'd read more by him.

after looking "Slovetzia" up, I learned that it is an imaginary country in which the Fran Drescher vehicle The Beautician and the Beast is set. nice. Fran Drescher! haven't thought about her in years. that crazy voice, that big smile. I think I sorta had a crush on her once.

also, werewolves are my favorite. fuck vampires and zombies.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading "The Prey" my first impression was that I was going to hate it. The characters seemed more like caricatures. The main character is an unlikable spoiled rich "kid". After reading a few more pages all the characters became believable and fit perfectly into the story (but still not that likable). Brett James pulled it all together and managed to tell an interesting and entertaining story.

The book itself is small (fits into my shirt pocket) approximately 4x6 inches. My first thought on seeing it was "where's my gum?". My second thought was what a brilliant way to publish short stories. I can picture people (kids) collecting and trading short stories. They would also be great to have on hand for those times when we have a few minutes to kill (short trips, waiting rooms etc.).

The book actually got a solid 3.5 stars but since it left me wanting more I rounded up to 4 stars (sometimes I round down).

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story recommended to me by its author through GoodReads. I am not particularly fond of horror stories or films, few of them being horrific enough to impress, nor of comic horror, but this piece promised to be a quick read and Mr. James asked politely. In any case, my evaluation is not to be trusted except to note that 'The Prey' is well written. Beyond that, I found it neither very funny nor scary.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super short story, but overall it was a fun read. It took me all of 10 minutes to read this little book, but I cannot say I didn't enjoy it. It is about a film crew who hunts down mythological creatures and documents their adventures before trying to capture specimens. Their latest adventure takes them to a village that has been terrorized by werewolves. Their job is to hunt down and capture a specimen to prove werewolves are real, but before the end they become the hunted.

[Andre · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short novela with a predictable ending, I found it a passable read.