Scraping the Bone: Ten Dark Tales

by William Malmborg

In JIMMY, he made you root for a teenage serial killer; in TEXT MESSAGE, he trapped you in a snowbound mall and asked how far you would go to save someone you love; and in NIKKI’S SECRET, he showed you what could happen when an unstable individual has their heartstrings teased to the breaking point. Now, in SCRAPING THE BONE: TEN DARK TALES, William Malmborg wants to show you worlds where everyday decisions can lead to unimaginable nightmares, good intentions can have torturous consequences, and digging into the locked-away parts of the mind can uncover horrors that are best left buried. So, don’t resist, take his hand, hold it tight, and embrace the journey into the darkest, most disturbing areas of humanity.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Thriller, Suspense, Short Story Collection

150 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2011

About the author

William Malmborg is the author of the novels Jimmy, Text Message, Nikki's Secret, Dark Harvest, Blind Eye, Santa Took Them, Crystal Creek, Daddy’s Little Girl, The Girl Who Played with the Ouija Board, Josiah, He Sees You When You're Sleeping and the novellas Billy's Blade, Till Death Do Us Part and Don’t Go in the Cellar. Future works will include A Taste of Pain, The Murders at Bootleggers Burrow, and Gobble, Gobble.

Reviews

[Glen Krisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a bad story in this collection, which is unusual when reading several stories by one author. Every story has a creepy edge, like the Twilight Zone mixed with 8mm. Favorites: Rest Stop, Code Blue, and The Other Side. Lean, well-written prose, without a wasted word.

[Misty Marie Harms · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten horror tales to get you through the night. A lot of unique stories by unknown authors. Nice read.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying Malmborg again, despite not liking Nikki's Secret. This one is directly liked by Krisch. Can't really imagine why. In short story form Malmborg's somewhat decent (again comparing to much too long and so not worth it Nikki's Secret) and the amount of time spent or wasted is considerably less, but same thing really...flat uninspired tales, recurring themes, unusual for such a tiny volume, nothing but cheap and easy thrills. For the most part the literary equivalents of flaming bags of poop on someone's porch. Kinda nasty, kinda unsettling, not very original. There is a plainness to Malmborg's writing and some authors do marvels with simple succinct language, but in this case it just comes across amateurish. Not worth further attention.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

True to it's cover this book does indeed give you 10 dark tales but what the cover does not tell you that each of the tales also hold it's own level of emotion and loss. William Malmborg does a wonderful job of pulling you straight into all of his writings and this one is no different.
The first story, Redstone Lake, you are drawn into a world where hidden memories have emerged and Tim is forced to face something he has long forgotten. The terrifying past is determined to make him face what he has forgotten.
Now with a beginning like that you know that each story that follows has to be fantastic!!
I think the story that disturbed me most in this book was Sunburn. The things that went through the fathers mind in this story not only showed that he was insane from the loss of his wife but it also shows how horrific things can be once the human mind breaks.
This is a great read if you are looking for a new horror author to enjoy or if you are looking for a few short stories to pass a bit of time.
But I must warn you, since the first book I have read by this author I have been hooked. His writing has a way of getting in your head and you must have more.

[Grimgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

While my favorites were The Phone Call, The Other Side and The Bone Yard (sometimes the best horror is what you find out when you can get inside someone's head) I could easily imagine how each dark tale might come to life in a very "tales from the crypt" manner. Not every horror story needs to include the typical slice and dice of blood & guts and in this case rather each story is an offering to some mental or physical horror - some very possible (e.g., Rest Stop - I could feel her fear) while others trap you in your own head (e.g. Redstone Lake - Someone once asked me if I agreed that drowning would be an easy way to die because of how quick it would be. I don't know that it would be quick, but I think it would be sad. Gulping down water logged memories, fears and regret until your mind is a gray and murky as the water.) Would love to see these tales transformed into some sort of comic/graphic novel to really bring the "death" to "life".

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to not like Scraping The Bone. Despite being an indie release it's good enough to find a mainstream audience. William Malmborg has serious talent and as a horror writer he knows his audience but doesn't take the usual route and give you a few stories that make you all warm and fuzzy. There is a bit of darkness in each of these and while some may end abruptly they allow you to draw your own conclusions as to how the story ended.

For those who have yet to read a William Malmborg book this is a great place to start. Each story is well written and there isn't a clunker in the bunch. Sometimes horror doesn't need to be in your face or gory to be enjoyed. it reminds me of the stuff I grew up reading. The horror was darker and a tad bit creepier. William Malmborg has that style and it works well.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

These ten short stories were excellent! This wasn't a very long book, but each of the ten stories were wrapped up nicely. None of them were cliffhangers which is something I really do dislike in a short story. Almost all of them had a "you gotta be kidding me" ending, because none of them wrapped up nicely. Except for maybe the very last story. I'm not going to do a synopsis of each story, that would take a while and would produce a lot of spoilers. Let's just say that if you like a good thriller/horror story, and you enjoy them dirty and quick, then this is the book for you. There are no zombies (well, maybe sorta kinda in one story), no vampires, no werewolves and only a smidgen of ghosts. These old school tales were perfect on this grey, slightly rainy evening.

[Nicholas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it's a collection of short stories. No one can dispute that. At least two of them seem more like prologues to actual stories.

Slight spoilers:
The first story has a surprise twist ending!
The second story has a surprise twist ending!
The third story has a surprise twist ending!
The fourth story has a surprise twist ending!
And so on and so forth.

I'm actually curious to know whether or not the author can write a story that does not have a surprise twist ending.

Still, they are very quick reads, and not terrible. Just not terribly good either.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm more a fan of books/novels than of short stories but I loved Code Blue. It actually gave me chills. I also liked Rest Stop, though I figured out that the boots were a ruse. These stories left a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, which to me, is the definition of good horror.

This was a super quick, easy read.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stars seems a little low, and four a little high, but "I liked it" or "I really liked it" seems about right. A very quick read of a collection of 10 short twisted tales. My favorite was probably CODE BLUE but all were fun and easy to read. Well written, well edited and well told.

[Brenda Seaberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were some really fun stories. They were short, many of them taking less than 10 minutes, so I could read several of them at a time. I read 'Jimmy' by this author before, and I will seek out more of his stories.

[Bethica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! A quick group of dark short stories well worth the time.

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the variety of short stories in this book. Most of the stories were really good, but I few of them I really didn't understand and so didn't particularly like. Otherwise I would have given this book 4 stars. Still, it was a quick read for an evening and I like those kind of books when I don't have much time to read. Look forward to reading more from this author.

[Joni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Juvenile

Dumb stories. Seem to have been written by some young person trying out writing. Both the ideas and the writing are terrible.

[Suzie Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

A good fast read if you like short suspenseful, Twilight Zone type stories. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthology of usually very short stories, good and creepy. Definitely leaves you with some eerie thoughts. Doesn't always finish the story,which isn't a bad thing. It lets the imagination wander and wonder!


REDSTONE LAKE - a newlywed couple ventures to a family cabin in the woods that conceals a disturbing incident from the past.

REST STOP - a fed up wife runs into terror rather than away from it while fleeing her abusive husband.

JACOB'S GIFT - a boy takes a midnight tip to the graveyard to dig up his brother who he believes is still alive.

THE PHONE CALL - a man impatiently waits for a call from a young woman, only what condition will that lady be in when she makes the call.

THE OTHER SIDE - a desperate young man gives the online dating scene one last try and this time seems to find the girl of his dreams.

SUNBURN - a grieving husband will do anything to keep his daughter from suffering the same painful fate as her mother, even if it involves murder.

RED PICKUP - a police officer gets a hunch that not everything is as it seems with the young man he has pulled over, though the discovery he eventually makes is something he would never have imagined.

THE BONE YARD - a man and his dog take a quiet walk through a town where children frequently disappear.

CODE BLUE - the fiancé of a young lady waiting for a lung transplant faces a decision that will forever change his life.

WRONG TURN - an out of work adult living with his parents goes for a nightly bike ride through the old neighborhood and uncovers a horrible secret from his youth that he had buried long ago.

[Shell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sophomoric effort at best, every story ends with a "surprise" twist that the author goes to great pains to explain. Some of the basic story ideas are good ones but after the first few it simply became a game of trying to figure out what the twist was going to be, about half of them you can see coming a mile away. There was a similarity in characters that carried over from one story to another, at first I was a bit confused because I wasn't sure if they were indeed crossing from story to story but they weren't. Not sure if this was deliberate on the author's part or not. The book was relatively free of typos (I only remember one) and the basic writing style is fine, hopefully the author continues to mature and develop.

[Kay Glass · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had to use one word to sum up this collection it would be 'macabre' which is just what I was looking for! These short stories hit the spot, taking only a few minutes apiece to read. In under an hour I'd read through all ten tales, and I enjoyed them all.

I did have some favorites out of the collection. Jacob's Gift was particularly unexpected, and a very creepy read- not so much for the content, but the "I wonder what happened after?" The Other Side was another one that took a twist I didn't see coming. Sunburn and Red Pickup had me shuddering. My favorite, however, was Code Blue- tragic, creepy, and yet the love shone through.

Will I reread this collection? Probably so. Will I look for more from this author? Without a doubt.

[Dave Pope · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm really looking forward to reading William Malmborg's novels as they've been heartily recommended to me. I must say that this collection of short stories didn't do all that much for me but then I'm not a fan of short story compilations as a rule unless the stories are very good - possibly the collection that I read yesterday (Ad Nauseam - C.W.LaSart) put a bit of a dampener on this one as that is an excellent collection. I didn't find the crunch in these stories that I expect from horror stories as a rule although the one about internet dating was excellent with an ending that I didn't see coming at all. Not bad by any means but not "crunchy" enough for my taste.

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good collection of short stories here. Some dark and twisted tales that have you nodding your head when a character does something you know you would do yourself. Tight writing, ten different stories...well worth a read.

Two problems I had with it that reduced its score - first, it was too short. 80 pages isn't a book, regardless of how you cut it. I would liked to have seen either these stories fleshed out some more or a few more added in. Second, every story seemed to have a "twist" - by the time you get to the 4th or 5th story, you are kind of expecting it and it loses the shock.


Paul
ARH

[Nehlahna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book that I wish I hadn't bothered with.

It's written as if the author was trying his damnedest to be edgy -- to avoid "spoiling" the content of these stories to those that might still want to read it, it doesn't read like horror. It reads like a Stephen King-obsessed high school student's creative writing assignment.

The writing style fits that description, too.

This is not a book for reading; this a book for lying down and avoiding.

I would apply the following trigger and content warnings to this book: sexual assault, violence against women, mild gore, transphobia?

[Dingleberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were delightful. Several were quite predictable. Most have a nice gruesome twist at the end. They're all quite short, so this is a quick read. Just right for waiting for an appointment, perhaps.

With better characterization and some clever framing and red herrings, I would say that Malmborg is on his way to writing some really lovely short horror fiction. I'm curious enough to give one of his other books a try.

[Ozlem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book and found most of the stories very successful. But only a few times through the book I felt like the author should have gone further and should have even written something more disturbing. However, I really liked the stories in general and found it hard to persuade myself that there was no more.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a chilling collection of tales with some interesting characters such as the young boy who could raise the dead, the young man who dug up corpses in the hopes of giving his mother a liver transplant and the serial killers who had the tables turned on them by a waitress.
A clever, easy read.

[Cyc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not really get into any of these stories. If i had to choose 3 of them, I'd say the first one called Redstone Lake, another called Red Pickup, and the last one called Wrong Turn were probably the best 3. The rest I thought were easily forgettable. 2 stars.

[Miranda Frey-myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so great

Not so great of a read. Seemed as though a teenager may have written the stories and I also hadn't realized it was just a portion of an actual novel. Waste of my time.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was worth reading. Not many stories amd they were quite short. The last 15% of the book was a preview for Malmborg's upcoming novel so I skipped it. Got the book for free so it was decent for what was paid.

[Katt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Shorts

When I started this book I wasn't sure I was going to make it through. I thought great the horror here is going to be me bored to death. That was not at all the case! I really found them great. Very simple short horror stories but very good.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent collection of horror short stories

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, though I found a lot of the stories left me wanting to know a little more. nice tension throughout though.