Flies: A Short Horror Story

by Andrew Lennon

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Justin managed to get the day off work. He has plans to make the most of it. Drugs, booze, hookers - total degradation. There's just one problem. Those damn flies!


Including bonus stories from:

Michael Bray
Shaun Hupp
Norman Turrell

Genres: Horror

38 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2016

About the author

Andrew Lennon is the bestselling author of Every Twisted Thought and several other horror/thriller books. He has featured in various bestselling anthologies, and is successfully becoming a recognised name in horror and thriller writing.

His work has appeared alongside horror royalty such as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Richard Chizmar, Clive Barker, and many more.

Andrew is a happily married man living in the North West of England with his wife Hazel & their children.

For more information please go to www.andrewlennon.co.uk

Reviews

[Nev Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mr Lennon has an easy style to read. There are no frills and no airs or graces about it. He tells a story and gets his point across effectively. Whether this is his defined style, remains to be seen. If it is, and he continues to develop it the way he is, it may just become a style that will earn him the full marks from Confessions."

See here for the full review:

Flies

[Matt Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Andrew Lennon's latest offering, he gives us Flies - A short story. I was given an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Justin is a young man, a very wealthy and spoilt young man. He's not really a very likable person. He's a bit lazy, but that's okay because his daddy owns the company that he works for, which gives him the right to be work shy. He's one of those - to hear him talk, he's always swamped under with work; there simply aren't enough hours in the day. Justin is used to getting his own way in more than one sense of the word. He is a man with seriously questionable integrity, believing that people can be bought and sold as a commodity.

One day whilst at work, Justin takes enormous advantage of a fly in his office and calls his father with the impression that the place has a serious infestation and that he has called in a fumigation team. The result; an afternoon off work. He gets himself off down to The Pony Dive, a local gentleman only club, where he instigates a business transaction with his favourite stripper - Cherry.

With a date lined up, Justin departs to set up his upcoming party with recreational pharmaceuticals. As the afternoon progresses, those pesky flies seem to be getting everywhere.

So, what did I think of it? I thought it was a top notch story. With it being a short, I can't really give the game away too much. It flows along nicely at a steady pace giving a decent amount of character development, especially in the case of our friend, Justin. I really felt like I wanted to slap him around the face at moments. You're not entirely sure where the story is going to be headed, you have an idea of what the story involves - hence the title, but that's really about it. Like with most writers, I can see the maturity of Lennon's writing and story telling ability over time. This flows seamlessly, he obviously had a great time whilst writing. An almost tongue-in-cheek, comedic great time.

It is a creepy little number and will most likely make you start scratching, fully intended. It really strikes me as the type of story that would have fitted perfectly in place in Tales From the Crypt or The Twilight Zone. The cover image is actually a really good representation for the feel of the pulpy style of tale contained within. If I had one gripe, it would be that the ending, albeit totally unexpected just seemed to be a little abrupt. I think it could have been strung out just a little further to really strengthen that creepy undertone that's carried throughout so well.

In addition, there is a great short Sci-Fi horror short from Michael Bray and a creepy little number from Shaun Hupp that really sits well with the main title. The third bonus story from Norman Turrell isn't what I would traditionally class as horror, but its worth a read.

All in, a very solid 4/5.

[Mark Nye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Lennons "flies" is a great read. it cracks along at a good pace and the main character is well drawn. the creep factor is kept high with the constant attention from the flies, and you can feel them starting to crawl under your skin. I don't want to say too much as I'm worried I'll ruin the good parts of the story. but it's highly recommended if you want to feel your skin crawl.
as for the the bonus stories from the other authors, they are a bit hit and miss.
implants is about another virus, and I wasn't to keen on it.
strands is a great addition to the book, instead of flies spiders are used to creep you out. it's short and sweet yet still a skin crawler.
little angel is by far the weakest of the three bonus stories.
but please read them and make your own mind up, you might enjoy them.
the highlight of the book is definitely Flies, give it a read and see if you can't feel them on your skin

[Robin Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author, Andrew Lennon is a fairly new, upcoming Horror writer from the UK. I first came across one of his short stories last year, called, “Daddy’s Girl” – A Short Story of Torture. Which is my personal favorite and followed that up with a crazy, action packed, smart serial killer thriller, with a double twisted ending, that left me speechless, called “Bound”. “Bound” is a collaboration with author, Matt Hickman. Both available now on Amazon.com.

Flies and maggots are just disgusting. They both breed and feed on rot and death. Sometimes Forensic teams actually use them to determine the stage of decomposition of a body, to get the time of death.

Andrew Lennon’s story, I found grabbed you from the first two sentences with the disgusting description of the main character, Justin, feeling something crawling on his arm, and squashing it. Then I think you pretty much get the afterthought. The rest of the story moves along at a nice easy pace, with their never-ending, creepy presence building in numbers and intensity. Are they real or a bloody hallucination?

Three Bonus Shorts Included:

Implants-By Michael Bray.

I have not had any prior experience with this author before today. I found this short story to be a terrifying look into the way future technology could be heading. It’s the year 2024, Alec Greenborough has a very important announcement for the nation, coming directly to you from the White House, Oval Office. Don’t touch that dial.

Strands-By Shaun Hupp.

I have read all Shaun Hupp’s short stories and I am never disappointed. This story could affect anyone who suffers from arachnophobia. The extreme fear of possibly waking up one day to that sight, would probably given me an instant heart attack.

Little Angel-By Norman Turrell.

This short story was just okay, actually almost a quick read. Involving a broken psyche and grief.

First, I loved the retro looking cover design. Reminds of some well-read, worn paperbacks I own. Second, all these stories are very, “short” pun, LOL. So, I couldn’t give much more away. Plus, two I found were really good and two of them just okay. Hence, the 4 stars for the total value. The rest is up to you to decide.

Soon to be available on Amazon.com and for Kindle Unlimited Program

See my Blog, robinleehorrorbookreviews.com

[Kelly Rickard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tale of paranoia and drugs

This tale follows Justin in a day of his life. There are of course flies thru his day and a particular horrific incident eating at an all you can eat Chinese buffet.
Justin is well fleshed out and lots of details . This is a well thought out story despite being a short one.

A really enjoyable read.

This is creepy and made my skin crawl.

Plus an extra bonus at the end

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy crap this was awesome. I received a copy of this book for an honest review and as always I was impressed. Andrew Lennon it's a great story teller and as I reached the end of the st finishory I was happy to see there was a few bonus stories, first Michael bray, then Shaun Hupp , also to finish there was a story by an author unknown to me, Norman Turrell I am happy this was a great book

[Andrew Lennon]

***THIS IS NOT A REVIEW***

You can now receive this story and KEITH for FREE by going to:

www.andrewlennon.co.uk

and subscribing to the newsletter.

[Jing Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy as a translator of the book. FLIES was a vivid, graphical and well written horror story. The character is well developed given the length of the story. It was clever at a certain point you thought some horrible scene was going to happen and it didn't, while it caught you right by surprise later on.
The bonus stories are enjoyable too.

[thebonebreaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic short story that leads up to a viciously gruesome ending! I will, without a doubt, be checking out more of Lennon's stories!

Also included in this book are three additional short stories:

Michael Bray's 'Implants' [5 Skulls - a thoroughly engaging tale about the last survivor on Earth - completely unique!]

Shaun Hupp's 'Strands' [5 Skulls - a super short story that is a must read for fans of "spider tales"!]

Norman Turrell's 'Little Angel's' [3 Skulls - while good, this one fell somewhat short of the other stories in this book - my opinion]

[Sparta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got to be honest I didnt enjoy this one as much as the others I have read. Only reason behind this was I felt like the story didnt know where it was meant to be set uk or usa it felt as if it was mixed in a sense and had both cultures going on and I know you dont have to like a character but I really didnt give a damn about this one unfortunately. Still a decent three stars as pace as always was good and I did want the story to keep going.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so happy I didn't read this short story in the summer when the flies were flying and buzzing around. I will never look at flies just as a nuisance anymore but as possibly deadly foes. Justin is an arrogant ass who in my opinion has karma served to him, unfortunately an innocent woman also pays the price. Well done Andrew Lennon making a housefly something to be scared of. i also loved the bonus stories. Strands gave me the creepy crawly's. Thanks Shaun Hupp.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy good! Let me tell you something, if you've ever had that annoying pest buzzing around in your face in a closed car or room of your house, and thought "I want that thing to die," than this story is going to mess up your day in the BEST way possible!!! Freshly written and fun, "Flies" is going to make your skin crawl!!

[Pauline MacLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Flies is a very well written short story. I loved the story and I would highly recommend it. I am looking forward to reading more of Andrew Lennon's stories in the future.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So very impressed with Andrew Lennon here, Flies was an awesome, well written, short yet girthy story. It is over 60 pages, which is plenty of time to make your skin crawl and that's just what he did.
I HATE flies! They are so nasty and really hard to kill for being so puny, cause they are like, super sonic fast. It's unnatural. ew.

I've always enjoyed Lennon's work, I think I've read most of it. HUGE shout out to Twisted Shorts, one on my favorite collections of the year and I read A LOT. However, when I think of Lennon, the first thing that usually pops in my head is the green goblin gut monster from Hexad. That was a great story and has stuck with me all these months. I actually laid off the Big Mac's and pizza delivery's...eh, for a bit.
He's strong with the short stories and mainly sticks with writing them. Honing and perfecting his skills, building his momentum and confidence to tackle more of the longer length novellas and novels and I think he's so ready! :D

Oh and FABULOUS cover, very freaky!! I'd so be interested in this just from that cover alone if I was scrolling the Amazon cyber shelves. It's very old school and yes, just anything threatening the eyes is always scary. EEECK!

Justin is an arrogant spoiled rich kid, a narcissistic little twunt who treats people like garbage, like they aren't even worthy to breathe the same air as him. He has a made up/pointless corner office job at his daddy's firm and he lives in a penthouse. Of course he does...
Well, one day, while heading into that façade of a job of his, he keeps seeing and feeling flies buzzing around. So irritating, it's like they are just pile drive attacking him.
Getting to his office, he sees a whole swarm of them. He barks orders at his verbally abused assistant Tracy, who of course..sees no flies...cause there are not any flies to be seen.
Yet she knows better than to argue with the boss, she quickly tackles that "infestation" problem.
And he decides he needs the day off. Obviously, he's such a hard worker.

Ducking and dodging flies, he heads on over to his favorite titty bar to ogle the beautiful and talented Cherry. He's been a spectator for awhile now but decides now is the day to see if she may be interested in a little 'payment for services rendered' sort of arrangement. He's filthy rich so that's an easy call for Cherry.

With a pep in his step, he heads out again barely noticing the flies, this time to secure the recreational goods to ensure they have a proper good time. He's a little head over heels for her and hopes to make a lasting impression so he's planning to put forth his best and impress.
His tag along insect foe's may have other ideas though.
Damn flies, cramping his style, they are such cock blockers!!

This was a fun, fast paced, and creepy little tale ala Outer Limits style.
I really pictured an episode of that, the creep factor was strong as well as the writing.
A man taunted and tormented to the breaking point. By common house flies.
Money can buy just about everything, except love, respect, and sanity.

Ya know, these spoiled self entitled rich kids are like nasty little bugs too, just swarming and feeding off their rich bloodlines and defecating on everything ~and everyone~ else.
Wouldn't it be nice if they could just...cancel each other out, via Darwinism..or something. :D
Let 'em all battle it out Fight Club style.
Karma IS a buzzzz worthy bitch.

​OH and a fantastic little easter egg to Lennon's fabulous Keith.

!! BONUS STORIES !!

3 generous writers kindly donated a short of their own to Flies. I LOVE hearing about this and I do notice it often in the indie author world. For the most part, they really band together and help each other out, it's not all dog eat dog...sometimes, it's dog pet dog. Awww
None of these guys are dogs though, so yea..that's a horrible comparison... hahaha

Michael Bray is phenomenal, a true genius! He has a lot of popular and high ranking books out there ~ just pick one! I recommend The Island, Funhouse, and Dark Corners. Might be easier to just start with the letter A though and work your way across the alphabet.
His story is called Implants and is set a few years in the future about the last person on Earth. A virus done knocked 'em all dead. How is this guy still kicking? Well, because after a poorly timed unsuccessful 'punch your own ticket' moment rendered him in bad shape, the good science docs deemed him the honorary first ever (and now only) recipient of the new state of the art life preserving organs.
Now, he's like that damn Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going...
All he wants is for it to all end though. Life everlasting is pretty worthless in a lights out-dead world.
Extremely well written and Bray really captures the guys solitude and despair.

Shaun Hupp is another fantastic writer! He also looks good in shorts, that's most of his wardrobe! Check out his Hupp Collection volume one, 4 shorts with a very clever and very intricate weavearound story. Also, his Valentine Rodgers is a must read if you like hilarious and crude slapstick comedy. We all need a little break from horror from time to time and on rare occasion.
His story is called Strands and is very short but punchy. It's only 4 or so pages, so I don't wanna say too much. There is a guy getting sexed up on a beach, a flashback carnival scene, and a small brown spider whose looks are deceiving.
A fun little read as long as you don't have that arachnophobia.

I hadn't yet heard of Norman Turrell before this story, so unfortunately I cannot recommend anything by him but I will definitely check him out and see what else he has to offer and get back to ya. Lol
I enjoyed this story too, another super short but affecting one. Little Angel is a poignant tale about how fragile the mind can be when it's unable to deal with an unimaginable loss.

That's it, 4 very disturbing and highly entertaining stories. I LOVED em all and can't wait to see what Lennon has coming up next!!

[Raven T. Nudd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have any actual triggers (rough life, blah blah), but bugs do make my skin crawl a bit. So, as you can imagine, I was a little hesitant to try this one.

This story follows a rich-man's spoiled rotten adult son. He takes yet another day off work to spend it with booze, coke, and prostitutes.

But these flies...they keep popping up, seemingly randomly. Who likes having flies buzz around while you're trying to party?

Even though my skin crawled a bit at the end, it truly was the perfect ending.

[Naomi Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gave me the creepy crawlys, I hate bugs. Descriptions were good and had real life characters. Bonus stories were good too...spiders *cringes*

[Sea Caummisar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was totally into this story. I was hooked from the beginning, having no clue that flies could lead to such a bloody ending.

[Booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for Flies by Andrew Lennon. Also includes three very short stories which were 2-3 stars each: Implants by Michael Bay, Strands by Shaun Hupp, and Little Angel by Norman Turrell.