Mostly Dark

by Miranda Kate

Like the phases of the moon, Mostly Dark waxes and wanes with thirty tales of darkness and light. An intriguing maelstrom of broken minds and broken hearts, from revenge to desire, from new found love to soulmates, herein lies a tale for everyone. Prepare your senses for an emotional and sometimes terrifying ride.

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Short Story Collection

82 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2016

About the author

Book loving, writer, who likes to read several books at a time because she's a bit crazy like that.

Go-to authors are Stephen King, James Herbert, Terry Pratchett, Raymond Feist and Clive Barker, with Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert A Heinlein and lots of others in between.

It's not so much about loving particular genres, as much as finding stories and characters to engage and resonate with - but I will always head for Horror, Thrillers, and Science Fiction, before any others (my guilty pleasure is Self-Help.)

I write dark stuff, sci-fi stuff, surreal stuff, psychological stuff and a mixture of all four.

I also write as M K Boers

I have a newsletter, which you can sign up for here.

I'm on Facebook

Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miranda Kate’s MOSTLY DARK perfectly describes each brief tale of a darker slice of life, death and even love. These complete tales are rich in the atmosphere of a much larger read and leave the doors open to the reader’s imagination for more!

Take a moment or two to read one piece at a time or feast on the entire menu! Get your darkness fix with brutal murders and dark love, guns, knives and always expect the unexpected!

A wonderfully dark collection from an author who has created something for almost everyone!


Publication Date: May 18, 2018
Publisher: Miranda Kate
Genre: Dark Flash Fiction Short Stories
Print Length: 87 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Bandit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kindle freebies…ubiquitous and quality challenged. When they turn out to be good, it’sa plesant surprise. Otherwise it’s a waste of time, but time only. The otherwise category (for this reader anyway) is easiest classified as something like…things I think are complete crap and things that aren’t really crap but definitely don’t work for me. This one is somewhere in between, though closer to the former. When I think of flash fiction, I think of really short, one page or less, stories. This collection appears to classify itself as flash fiction, but the stories are longer, a few pages each, so they end up being too bloated for flash and too quick and insubstantial for fiction. Mostly, anyway. The collection is separated into sections thematically, there are homicidal madness tales, feminist angle tales, romance angle tales…but the entire thing is predominantly scenes of murders, more along the lines of sketches than properly formed narratives, which would have been probably fine for flash fiction, but here it just doesn’t work. The quality of writing itself is serviceable and the book appears to be professionally edited, but the stories aren’t satisfactory in their underdeveloped states and abruptly deadly endings. They either needed to be shorter or longer, but this crop top version is pure muffin tops. The best thing to be said about this freebie was how quickly it went by, but then again that’s still 45 minutes that might have been put to a more interesting use.

[Sea Caummisar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each page in this story is short, none longer than a few pages. The author did exhibit skill in portraying stories in such few words. It started with FULL DARK, which was mostly murder stories. Then WAXING, which wasn't as hard core horror. Then the FULL MOON section must have been the 'light' of the book, not scary yet still interesting. Then WANING was twisted, but not horrific or bloody. The last part FULL DARK was my fave, including a cannibal story.... I did enjoy this book, but horror is my fave genre. I appreciate how the stories changed with moon phases,but I may have given it 5 stars if each story was FULL DARK.

[Victor *You Bow to No One* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking a favorite isn't easy

There are quite a few that stood out for different reasons:

Traceless
Kindred
Soul Search
Rehab
Prickly Fingers
In The Dark, They Sing

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Equal parts terrifying and bittersweet, Miranda Kate's masterfully crafted Mostly Dark held me hostage from page one. Swept up in brutal murder scenes and intimate moments between lovers, the pages flew by and left me wanting more. Each piece of flash fiction felt complete while tickling my soul with unanswered questions and an ache to know more.

Miranda Kate has long been one of my favorite flash fiction writers. When I saw this anthology on sale I bought it without hesitation. I'm eager to read more from this seasoned and well honed author.

[D. George · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is incredibly difficult to tell a satisfying tale in a short story, much less flash fiction, but this author does a very good job doing so. These 30 tales are all 3 pages or under (bearing in mind that this is a mini book, only 4.75" x 7"), yet you feel satisfied that you know all there is to know about each particular situation. And there were surprises in the stories - some didn't end up where I thought! I read the book quite quickly, always wondering what would happen in the next story. (As in, my attention was gripped!)

The stories are arranged in sections, like the phases of the moon, something I found very clever and well done. The sections are: "Full Dark", "Waxing", "Full Moon", "Waning", and then a final "Full Dark" section.

Although all the stories are classified as "dark" fiction, some have supernatural elements, and some have evil elements. They touch on abuse, love, death, murder, mental illness, and more. They are all written in 3rd person, yet you feel like you know the main character.

Of particular note is the story "The Voices", about a battle a man is having with himself. It really touched me, personally (but I won't tell you any more details!).

Recommended.

[PinkPanthress · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice 3.6 Stars for this! Worth a Roundup!

Interesting collection of 30 Flash Fiction stories which are kind of sorted irregularly by 5 of the Moon phases.

The stories are not entirely of the horror genre. Some where thriller, phantastic, etc.

Since they're almost all less than 2-3 pages long I can't tell you any summary of them. Some are better written, some less so. But all in all an enjoyable combination of Genres.

My absolute favourit was "Doing what you have to".
I also loved "Echo of a Whistle" and "Hidden Desire" (which had a nice twist).

Free to read here -> Mostly Dark

[Shelly Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like flash fiction then you will like this book!
Mostly Dark has a lot of stories in a nice little package. It's not an easy task to tell a whole story in such a short amount of time but it's accomplished well here. I'm new to the flash fiction scene so there were a few times I was left looking at the page wanting to know what happened next but for the most part these are a page or less and completely told stories. They range from horror to love stories and every single thing in between. I absolutely love the variety in here. I can't really tell you much about the stories because they are quite quick so you don't need to know, you just need to read! I can tell you that if you like revenge type stories there is one at the end of the book that is brilliant. It had me cringing and laughing at the same time.
All in all I would definitely give this book a shot. It's got something for everyone and then some. Excellent!

[Shirley Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, 2-page short stories are a bit of an acquired taste and I'm getting there. Clearly, I must read more super short stories to fully appreciate them.

[Dhramveer Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant read, small stories, each of which instill some of the emotions fear, hatred, scorn etc.. anything but joy..
And that makes it a successful read..

[Mark Tiemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I found Miranda Kate's excellent short story anthology, "Mostly Dark." She has finely crafted each story and arranged them brilliantly using the cycle of the phases of the moon. This is the first of her stories I have read, but it certainly will not best the last. An excellent collection of superb storytelling that I would gladly recommend to anyone seeking tales that are mostly dark.

[E. S. Charree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

Very interesting collection of short stories! Enjoyed each one and several really made me think about life and love and whatever comes after. Thanks for a good read.

[Valencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't actually read this book but I'm majorly excited and will update this review when I do!

[Jessica Maybury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in two bus journeys, and felt like I was anywhere but on public transportation. MK has a clarity to her writing and an immediacy of description that is often attempted but rarely achieved.

Each story in this piece could so easily be the beginning of something bigger. Here are characters at their most raw turning points; here they are when they are most uniquely themselves.

[Trevor Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miranda is very possibly the best author of my experience , her Mostly Dark is apt description of the content of the stories . Many of which provide uncomfortable reading that speak to the peachy of the reader . These are powerful in that they smack of reality and no-one definitely more than myself , I found Drunken Sailors particularly troubling not that I was , ever a sailor rather a Marine but I'm aware of similar real situations but not by my kind though we were no angled far from it . I don't believe in giving spoilers and I hope that I haven't here , Bravo Late I shall be looking for more of your books 📚 .

[Lizzie Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disturbing and dark bite sized stories that will stay with me long after finishing them.
Well written in a crisp, clear and succinct style, the stories grip you, filling and feeding your mind with Miranda's wonderfully dark imagination. Excellent to dip in and out of or, like me, you devour one story after the other.

[fred jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent short dark story anthology

A set of various very short stories, ranging from dark romance through macabre to gruesome. The writing is excellent and has great style, some stories are stronger than others but there are no bad ones in the series. Enjoyable dark tales for an evenings entertainment.

[Megan Diedericks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The chapters of Mostly Dark are sectioned off according to the phases of the moon—lighter stories under chapters like FULL MOON, while the darker ones are under FULL DARK—which is something I found insanely creative!

I also enjoyed the concepts Miranda Kate explored in the darker parts of this collection.

[A.J. Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed all thirty of these stories. Each are between 400 - 1000 words or so, so it's easy to dive in an out of. It's amazing how much Miranda can pack into a few small packages. It's part of the attraction of writing flash and short stories; getting sharp prose where not a word is wasted yet a scene or a feeling can be expertly described.

The tales are largely of love and death and the messy bits in-between. Expect guns, knives and poisons and that's just with the straightforward ones.

A lovely little book of mostly dark yet ultimately uplifting stories. Enjoy ...

[Patty Mele · Rating 5 out of 5]

thought this book was very good and quite creepy and I read it from the very beginning to the very end.

I thought the story line was very clerverly done in my opinion.

I thought the charcters were vital to this story.

I got this book for free, with an honest review freely given.

[Billie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

[DeeDeeWReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

You like dark stories, but so short, you might scratch your head and say 'WHAT did I just read in the last 2 pages?' Well THIS is the book for you. They are short, but so sweet.

I recommend you take a few hours and just give it a read.

[Samantha Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎃👻 Book #11 for #Halloween2021 🎃👻

"Mostly Dark: A Collection of Small Pieces" by Miranda Kate

This is a collection of mostly dark flash fiction stories. I really enjoyed stories "Drunken Sailors", "Being Prepared", and "Rehab". I also thought it was really cool that the author categorized her stories like the phases of the moon. 3 🌟

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It’s a bunch of two and three page short stories, each under the different phases of the moon. The stories range from love stories to kidnappings and murders. They were short and sweet and it’s a quick read.

[J.M. Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collection of short stories.

This collection gives good insight into Kate's style and the world she created in the shorts.

Loves how she tied the theming around the phases of the moon.

Looking forward to diving into more from Kate.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is good but the stories are much too dark for me.

[Jenny Coyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great variety of short stories

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Mostly Dark” by Miranda Kate is a gripping mix of beauty and brutality—thirty flash tales that twist between love, madness, and revenge. Haunting, emotional, and impossible to put down!

[Catherine Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about this book?? Miranda Kate is ONE of my most treasured author. I read her books so slow because I want to savor the book. That is how great of an author she is. This book is also magnificently (making up words now lol) and beautifully well written. I LOVE dark short stories, that way she can go back and turn them into novels. I swear that a lot of these stories need to be novels!! Actually wish they were lol. She put several stories in phases of the moon and I swear to you, they seem to get darker and darker with every phase. I NEED to actually BUY this book. I love dark books, so if you like dark books give this one a try and give it a lot of love!!!!

[Laura Huntley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delectable and entertaining collection of flash-fiction tales. I love the way that they come in separate sections based on the phases of the moon: waxing and waning.
Many of the stories, as the name of the book suggests, are extremely dark, which is what most appealed to me as a fan of all things horror. I wasn't disappointed.
Due to the short length of the stories, I thought that I would dip my toe and quickly read a couple of stories this afternoon. However, I read the entire book in one sitting, I did not want to put this book down.
Miranda writes with such authority that my mind instantly accepted and went along with each individual character, setting and situation. She clearly has a special talent. There are some harrowing themes effortlessly dealt with, but there's also time for lots of truly wonderful and beautiful writing.
Even if you're not necessarily a fan of horror, I think that there's something in this book for everyone; because it's Miranda's unique voice that makes each story sing.
These stories will stay with me for a long time. It's difficult to pick a favourite with so much variety, though I especially loved the chilling end of 'Last Supper.'
I would recommend this book to everyone and I very much look forward to reading much more of Miranda's work.