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Word
Author Edward Lorn is best known for his horror stories. These are not those. WORD is a collection of literary fiction that celebrates Story in all its forms. You will find tales of odd lovers, social outcasts, and leaving your childhood behind. These six stories, four of which are published here for the first time ever, take a considered look at the different facets of society and how Normal is a word always in search of meaning. Table of Contents: Burrito Skinny Come (previously published) Margins (previously published) Lounge Glamis
215 pages, Paperback
Published December 31, 2016
42 people want to read
About the author
Edward Lorn
63 books2,919 followersEdward Lorn (E. to most) is a reader, writer, and content creator. He's been writing for fun since the age of six, and writing professionally since 2011. He can be found haunting the halls of Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
E. lives in Alabama with his wife and two children. He is currently working on his next novel.
E. lives in Alabama with his wife and two children. He is currently working on his next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 1, 2016
Six widely differing short stories, each one ending with a word from the author.
Burrito - Hap takes on a 30 pound burrito. Is he up to the challenge? A little life may hang in the balance.
Skinny - 'High school is survival of the most invisible.' Word. You do not want to be the one who stands out as different in any way. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes and walks of life. Don't be a bully.
Come - Nope, not nuts (!) about this one. With regard to the author's note at the end of the story, I freely admit he did his job here.
Margins - Charming love story found within the pages of a book. Magic.
Lounge - Strange times make for strange bedfellows.
Glamis - This nonfiction offering just may be my favorite of the bunch. Lessons learned at the age of twelve.
Burrito - Hap takes on a 30 pound burrito. Is he up to the challenge? A little life may hang in the balance.
Skinny - 'High school is survival of the most invisible.' Word. You do not want to be the one who stands out as different in any way. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes and walks of life. Don't be a bully.
Come - Nope, not nuts (!) about this one. With regard to the author's note at the end of the story, I freely admit he did his job here.
Margins - Charming love story found within the pages of a book. Magic.
Lounge - Strange times make for strange bedfellows.
Glamis - This nonfiction offering just may be my favorite of the bunch. Lessons learned at the age of twelve.
February 19, 2017
Consider this one a sort-of Lorn Literary Sampler!
Edward Lorn is mostly know for his work as a horror storyteller, and while this book can be seen as a departure by some and is a collection of stories that aren't horror at all, several of the stories definitely can qualify as horrifying, with one about a man dangerously taking part in a 30-pound burrito eating contest, and another about a dude obsessed with masturbating and spreading his man juice all over things that people will likely touch.
Each tale in the collection is different in terms of story and concept but the through-line here is the same talent that you can find in Lorn's other work: the general verve and maturity with the way he approaches story, characters, and themes. Almost all of the tales were pretty enjoyable, with the exception of the last one, "glamis" (a true story that I found a bit tedious and boring). But none of them particularly blew me away. The closest was "lounge," a story of a varied group of survivors drinking away their sorrows at a bar in a war-torn American city. Don't start with this as your first book by Lorn, but definitely give it a go once you get into his work.
Edward Lorn is mostly know for his work as a horror storyteller, and while this book can be seen as a departure by some and is a collection of stories that aren't horror at all, several of the stories definitely can qualify as horrifying, with one about a man dangerously taking part in a 30-pound burrito eating contest, and another about a dude obsessed with masturbating and spreading his man juice all over things that people will likely touch.
Each tale in the collection is different in terms of story and concept but the through-line here is the same talent that you can find in Lorn's other work: the general verve and maturity with the way he approaches story, characters, and themes. Almost all of the tales were pretty enjoyable, with the exception of the last one, "glamis" (a true story that I found a bit tedious and boring). But none of them particularly blew me away. The closest was "lounge," a story of a varied group of survivors drinking away their sorrows at a bar in a war-torn American city. Don't start with this as your first book by Lorn, but definitely give it a go once you get into his work.
July 4, 2016
Edward Lorn has a real talent for writing stories and while the shorts contained in WORD are not “horror”, a genre that Edward is very familiar with and my preferred genre, some of them do contain horrific elements. A very well done and eclectic collection of tales ranging from monster burritos to washing machine loving classy bitches to tough real life lessons. Lorn hits on all cylinders here. I have said it before and I will say it again about Edward Lorn – dude knows how to write and this is how short stories are supposed to be done. 4.5+ Stars and Highly Recommended!
March 14, 2022
I had this on my Kindle "shelf" without reading it longer than I can understand and I can't tell you why. I can tell you that when I got around to it, I devoured it. But first, a word on my Goodreads history.
Back in the dark ages (AD 2007-2010), I traveled to and worked a lot with a company in Philadelphia, and the colleagues there were all on something called LinkedIn (aka 'Facebook for adults'). I wasn't even on fb for kids, so I didn't pay much attention. Anyway, the co-operation came to an end, the US company was bought up and people started spreading for the wind. Some asked for endorsements, which I was happy to give. And so, I was on LinkedIn. Don't know if you are, but if not, it is a really good place to look for a job, meet colleagues and discuss work related stuff. Depending on your mood, it can be dull as ditch water. One 'plug-in' they did have on the site was "Reading list by Amazon"; a simple booklist with ratings/reviews. I started adding books there and just before I reached the extraordinary number of 100, the feature was removed, with no way of retrieving the data. Annoying, but what are you gonna do? Until a couple of months later, when users of the reading list was given the opportunity to export their data to what was called "Shelfari". I did and found a site that really made a difference to a reader; discussions, comments on reviews, tips on books and authors, old and new. My reading interest (that was always there) blossomed and I was happy as a monkey with a peanut machine. A couple of timid remarks actually got me involved with a few people that later (but not much later) actually became my friends. I was invited to a group and discussions there continued (not only on books).
Shelfari was not built on sturdy foundations though, and the site was frequently down or malfunctioning. Any communication from someone involved in maintaining the site was months old. A life-raft was put out though! The group founders branched out to Goodreads, which I hesitatingly joined.
And just what has all this to do with a book by Edward Lorn? A lot, actually.
My group did monthly 'group reads' and I had missed out on a few of those. After careful consideration, I invested in a Kobo eReader (Kindle still makes less sense outside of the US). A collector at heart, this was not an easy choice, but I had no problems realizing the benefits. Benefit 1: The October 2014 group read was a book called Bay's End - and it was free. Jumping at the chance to read a totally unknown author that my friends spoke highly off, that one became my first ebook (apart from H.P. Lovecraft's collected works on a Palm Pilot back in the early 2000's if you want to be technical about it). I went in with hopes of it being readable - and I was totally mindblown. It's the book that Edward and I have disagreed the most on. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I reviewed the book and shortly after got and read Life After Dane. One day I noticed a 'Like' on my Bay's End review from someone I did not know (my first!). I actually had in the vicinity of 10 friends on my list and they often kindly read, liked and responded to my reviews. But this was kind of cool. I told my wife; honey - I got a like here. A guy called Edward.... hang on... it's the actual guy that wrote the book! Wow. I still think it's kind of wow, even if I later realized that Goodreads actually is a place where the creators of the books we enjoy pop up among us.
Anyway, a couple of months later (meaning it's been less than 2 years, something that feels totally unreal to me), Edward and I got talking and in time got to be friends.
And that is the story behind me reading and reviewing Edwards books at the same time I know him quite well.
Oh and about 'Word' you say? It's splendid - read it!
No, just kidding, of course I'll tell you about the book.
Two of the six stories, Come and Margins was previously individually available and really represented two totally different experiences for me. The first one is my least favorite of Edwards, but the writing and storytelling has nothing to do with that at all, so YMM certainly V. Rather, it is the subject matter (ewww!) that makes this a tad less enjoyable. My original review is here
'Margins' was a whole other thing. This literary love story made me associate with a number of other books and writers, which I did not ever expect to - at the same time its quirks and twists made it quite unique and hard to compare with anything. I'm very fond of this story, original review here.
That means we are treated to 4 never before published stories and a had a feeling that I already had read the high and low of the collection (perhaps why it remained unread for so long). I'm glad to tell you I was wrong.
Burrito actually gives Come a match as a challenging read, the tendencies of some humans to take in interest in seeing others hurt, pained or desperate fills me with dread. Thankfully this ends on a lighter note, by turning into a whole different story from what you'd think. 4*
Skinny is a great study of the effects of social exclusion and bullying. A sad and very strong story. 4*
Lounge Easily a new favorite, reads very much like a play and I saw this down the the finest detail before me. Short and straightforward when it comes to story, convoluted and complicated far beyond what's on the surface. I realize I haven't said a word about characters or story, but there's no point. Just go in expecting nothing is my advice. 5*
Glamis And just when I thought that two stories out of 6 being as good as the above must be utterly unique, there's 'Glamis'. This is a true story, which makes me long for Edwards autobiography. This is definitely my favorite Edward Lorn among his 'non-horror' offerings (and possibly including them). There is a Stephen Fry-reference in there and Edward, if you are reading this, Fry has this far written three parts to his (the first one covering only his 0-20 years), so you see, you don't need to wait until you're old! 5*
Back in the dark ages (AD 2007-2010), I traveled to and worked a lot with a company in Philadelphia, and the colleagues there were all on something called LinkedIn (aka 'Facebook for adults'). I wasn't even on fb for kids, so I didn't pay much attention. Anyway, the co-operation came to an end, the US company was bought up and people started spreading for the wind. Some asked for endorsements, which I was happy to give. And so, I was on LinkedIn. Don't know if you are, but if not, it is a really good place to look for a job, meet colleagues and discuss work related stuff. Depending on your mood, it can be dull as ditch water. One 'plug-in' they did have on the site was "Reading list by Amazon"; a simple booklist with ratings/reviews. I started adding books there and just before I reached the extraordinary number of 100, the feature was removed, with no way of retrieving the data. Annoying, but what are you gonna do? Until a couple of months later, when users of the reading list was given the opportunity to export their data to what was called "Shelfari". I did and found a site that really made a difference to a reader; discussions, comments on reviews, tips on books and authors, old and new. My reading interest (that was always there) blossomed and I was happy as a monkey with a peanut machine. A couple of timid remarks actually got me involved with a few people that later (but not much later) actually became my friends. I was invited to a group and discussions there continued (not only on books).
Shelfari was not built on sturdy foundations though, and the site was frequently down or malfunctioning. Any communication from someone involved in maintaining the site was months old. A life-raft was put out though! The group founders branched out to Goodreads, which I hesitatingly joined.
And just what has all this to do with a book by Edward Lorn? A lot, actually.
My group did monthly 'group reads' and I had missed out on a few of those. After careful consideration, I invested in a Kobo eReader (Kindle still makes less sense outside of the US). A collector at heart, this was not an easy choice, but I had no problems realizing the benefits. Benefit 1: The October 2014 group read was a book called Bay's End - and it was free. Jumping at the chance to read a totally unknown author that my friends spoke highly off, that one became my first ebook (apart from H.P. Lovecraft's collected works on a Palm Pilot back in the early 2000's if you want to be technical about it). I went in with hopes of it being readable - and I was totally mindblown. It's the book that Edward and I have disagreed the most on. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I reviewed the book and shortly after got and read Life After Dane. One day I noticed a 'Like' on my Bay's End review from someone I did not know (my first!). I actually had in the vicinity of 10 friends on my list and they often kindly read, liked and responded to my reviews. But this was kind of cool. I told my wife; honey - I got a like here. A guy called Edward.... hang on... it's the actual guy that wrote the book! Wow. I still think it's kind of wow, even if I later realized that Goodreads actually is a place where the creators of the books we enjoy pop up among us.
Anyway, a couple of months later (meaning it's been less than 2 years, something that feels totally unreal to me), Edward and I got talking and in time got to be friends.
And that is the story behind me reading and reviewing Edwards books at the same time I know him quite well.
Oh and about 'Word' you say? It's splendid - read it!
No, just kidding, of course I'll tell you about the book.
Two of the six stories, Come and Margins was previously individually available and really represented two totally different experiences for me. The first one is my least favorite of Edwards, but the writing and storytelling has nothing to do with that at all, so YMM certainly V. Rather, it is the subject matter (ewww!) that makes this a tad less enjoyable. My original review is here
'Margins' was a whole other thing. This literary love story made me associate with a number of other books and writers, which I did not ever expect to - at the same time its quirks and twists made it quite unique and hard to compare with anything. I'm very fond of this story, original review here.
That means we are treated to 4 never before published stories and a had a feeling that I already had read the high and low of the collection (perhaps why it remained unread for so long). I'm glad to tell you I was wrong.
Burrito actually gives Come a match as a challenging read, the tendencies of some humans to take in interest in seeing others hurt, pained or desperate fills me with dread. Thankfully this ends on a lighter note, by turning into a whole different story from what you'd think. 4*
Skinny is a great study of the effects of social exclusion and bullying. A sad and very strong story. 4*
Lounge Easily a new favorite, reads very much like a play and I saw this down the the finest detail before me. Short and straightforward when it comes to story, convoluted and complicated far beyond what's on the surface. I realize I haven't said a word about characters or story, but there's no point. Just go in expecting nothing is my advice. 5*
Glamis And just when I thought that two stories out of 6 being as good as the above must be utterly unique, there's 'Glamis'. This is a true story, which makes me long for Edwards autobiography. This is definitely my favorite Edward Lorn among his 'non-horror' offerings (and possibly including them). There is a Stephen Fry-reference in there and Edward, if you are reading this, Fry has this far written three parts to his (the first one covering only his 0-20 years), so you see, you don't need to wait until you're old! 5*
November 7, 2017
A decent collection of stories here, all different. Lorn is usually a horror writer but here he tackles something different. From eating challenges, suicide, semen obsession, a talking book, a bar during the blitz and finally a true story of one of the authors own past recollections. Each of them are worth your time. Margins was probably my favourite of the bunch. A love story to all things fiction. A rather beautiful tale.
August 2, 2016
A collection of short stories from Edward Lorn, the guy who in the past has made me want to vom on more than one occasion. Mild spoilers ahead.
Embarking on this little journey, I started where you should usually start a book, at the beginning. Burrito . Right out of the gate, E. was true to form and much gagging occurred. I might have a queasy stomach or something, but this guy really just evokes very visceral responses from me. I'll never forget the 'flappers' from years before. Never.
Next came Skinny , which was an interesting experience because I've never wanted someone to bleed out so badly. I think I'm going to straight to hell for that comment, but honesty being what it is and all, Kim was as shallow as the rest of the effers in her story, and the only decent character is the one she endeavors to hurt the most. I find it funny that she spends as much time judging others on their physicality as she does lamenting her own. So, this story made me want to puke too - we're on a roll!
I should pause here and say that I want to hurl in the most loving way possible. If a story makes you feel anything, it's done its job.
The next little story called, Come starts on page 69.
I see what was done right there.
This story is about ejaculate. Oddly, it did not make me want to puke and that in itself is highly disturbing. There is some clever word play...and that's all I'm going to say about this...fiction.
Moving on to Margins , which is a close second for favorite of the collection, especially in terms of subject matter. It's a book lover's delight. That said, I had to walk away from it for a little while to return later. Being a follower of E.'s for a couple of years now, I've come to recognize his voice and his voice was very prevalent to me here -- and as the person's head I was supposed to be in was a single female and all I could 'hear' was E., this was an issue. It not only took me out of the story, it also became quite comical.
After a break of a week or two, I was able to expunge the imagery from my brain and return to finish. Margins is a solid story and a good emotional segue to Lounge , which did win the title for favorite of the collection.
There is something about throwing strangers together and discovering their narrative that really appeals to me. It's unpredictable. When you then put those characters into a scene with a huge sense of finality, their actions reveal their most essential selves. Lounge was edge of your seat people watching for the set that enjoys the why's of how we tick. I'm part of that set. I found the story a little bit heart breaking, a little bit hopeful, in just the right amount of words.
Something I noted after Margins and certainly after Lounge was the lack of language and...puke-y rambunctiousness that I associate with E. I knew, of course, that this collection was more of the literary bent, but it became evident that there was a method to his madness by winding down our experience to get a little sentimental. I don't have much to say about Glamis , our final story, other I felt it and knew it to be what it was - a fitting ending to a book of stories, a story about the storyteller.
A good collection and experience!
Embarking on this little journey, I started where you should usually start a book, at the beginning. Burrito . Right out of the gate, E. was true to form and much gagging occurred. I might have a queasy stomach or something, but this guy really just evokes very visceral responses from me. I'll never forget the 'flappers' from years before. Never.
Next came Skinny , which was an interesting experience because I've never wanted someone to bleed out so badly. I think I'm going to straight to hell for that comment, but honesty being what it is and all, Kim was as shallow as the rest of the effers in her story, and the only decent character is the one she endeavors to hurt the most. I find it funny that she spends as much time judging others on their physicality as she does lamenting her own. So, this story made me want to puke too - we're on a roll!
I should pause here and say that I want to hurl in the most loving way possible. If a story makes you feel anything, it's done its job.
The next little story called, Come starts on page 69.
I see what was done right there.
This story is about ejaculate. Oddly, it did not make me want to puke and that in itself is highly disturbing. There is some clever word play...and that's all I'm going to say about this...fiction.
Moving on to Margins , which is a close second for favorite of the collection, especially in terms of subject matter. It's a book lover's delight. That said, I had to walk away from it for a little while to return later. Being a follower of E.'s for a couple of years now, I've come to recognize his voice and his voice was very prevalent to me here -- and as the person's head I was supposed to be in was a single female and all I could 'hear' was E., this was an issue. It not only took me out of the story, it also became quite comical.
After a break of a week or two, I was able to expunge the imagery from my brain and return to finish. Margins is a solid story and a good emotional segue to Lounge , which did win the title for favorite of the collection.
There is something about throwing strangers together and discovering their narrative that really appeals to me. It's unpredictable. When you then put those characters into a scene with a huge sense of finality, their actions reveal their most essential selves. Lounge was edge of your seat people watching for the set that enjoys the why's of how we tick. I'm part of that set. I found the story a little bit heart breaking, a little bit hopeful, in just the right amount of words.
Something I noted after Margins and certainly after Lounge was the lack of language and...puke-y rambunctiousness that I associate with E. I knew, of course, that this collection was more of the literary bent, but it became evident that there was a method to his madness by winding down our experience to get a little sentimental. I don't have much to say about Glamis , our final story, other I felt it and knew it to be what it was - a fitting ending to a book of stories, a story about the storyteller.
A good collection and experience!
September 5, 2016
Took a break from horror with one of my favorite horror writers and I had a great time. Enjoyed this book thoroughly. Come was probably my favourite story however it's not for the faint of heart. In fact it's pretty fucked up but I laughed and I like a good laugh. So happy days.
July 19, 2018
Gorsh! What an adventure. Like a big tin of Quality Street, all glossy, bright and colourful, no one person is going to like every piece, but every person will like at least once piece.
The standouts for me were these:
burrito: On the one hand, I felt pretty bad for the taqueria owner, getting monkeyfucked by a rando to whom he'd done nothing. On the other hand, it's not every rando who'd choose to monkeyfuck a taqueria owner in his time of financial extremity. That's mental, and I applaud him for it.
come: Mr. Lorn guesses correctly that he's not going to win a lot of people over with the strange, tragic story of Jizzy Gillespie. It was gross buckets, for me: a minor germphobe who spent several years working in the kind of no-tells where we owned a UV light, but even the jaded manager was reluctant to use it.
But it was funny to me too, because it came off like you were supposed to be taken to the edge of sanity by Splooge McDuck there, but I've read erotica that focused on semen to an almost comical extent, and granted, it was set in medieval times, but those dudes wrecked illuminated manuscripts, man. GTFO with your ruined VCR, it probably has that evil tape from The Ring in it anyways.
margins: This one was lovely and sweet and sad, and (as far as I know) a brand-new take on the "Lonelyheart finds mysterious book" trope. It made me want to re-watch I, Madman, shamefully forgotten about by me till today, and even The Number 23, which people keep trying to make me hate. TRY AGAIN, FUCKOS.
(A nitpick: although there isn't a shocking amount of typos in the book overall, there are enough of them to be noticeable to me, expectable, so when the heroine in this story got all preachy about typos, I was like, Really, queen?)
glamis: I don't want to say it's bold or brave or etc. to include a work of memoir in what's mainly a collection of fiction--story is story is story--but it is unexpected, and certainly the most authentic and therefore the least showy of the pieces in the book. Most of the time with fiction you just want to see the sculpture, but every now and again it's worth looking back to see where the author found the clay.
I liked it, and I identified with it. I'm glad he shared it.
The standouts for me were these:
burrito: On the one hand, I felt pretty bad for the taqueria owner, getting monkeyfucked by a rando to whom he'd done nothing. On the other hand, it's not every rando who'd choose to monkeyfuck a taqueria owner in his time of financial extremity. That's mental, and I applaud him for it.
come: Mr. Lorn guesses correctly that he's not going to win a lot of people over with the strange, tragic story of Jizzy Gillespie. It was gross buckets, for me: a minor germphobe who spent several years working in the kind of no-tells where we owned a UV light, but even the jaded manager was reluctant to use it.
But it was funny to me too, because it came off like you were supposed to be taken to the edge of sanity by Splooge McDuck there, but I've read erotica that focused on semen to an almost comical extent, and granted, it was set in medieval times, but those dudes wrecked illuminated manuscripts, man. GTFO with your ruined VCR, it probably has that evil tape from The Ring in it anyways.
margins: This one was lovely and sweet and sad, and (as far as I know) a brand-new take on the "Lonelyheart finds mysterious book" trope. It made me want to re-watch I, Madman, shamefully forgotten about by me till today, and even The Number 23, which people keep trying to make me hate. TRY AGAIN, FUCKOS.
(A nitpick: although there isn't a shocking amount of typos in the book overall, there are enough of them to be noticeable to me, expectable, so when the heroine in this story got all preachy about typos, I was like, Really, queen?)
glamis: I don't want to say it's bold or brave or etc. to include a work of memoir in what's mainly a collection of fiction--story is story is story--but it is unexpected, and certainly the most authentic and therefore the least showy of the pieces in the book. Most of the time with fiction you just want to see the sculpture, but every now and again it's worth looking back to see where the author found the clay.
I liked it, and I identified with it. I'm glad he shared it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2016
A quick but entertaining read of six short stories.
Burrito - super fun to read this well-told story; the ending made it a sure-fire Five Star rating.
Skinny - interesting perspective and one I never gave much thought to in the past.
Come (previously published) - I will always have hand sanitizer with me at all times thanks to this story. I needed a shower after reading it, but I was afraid to use my shampoo...
Margins (previously published) - Excellent story - a trippy love story, if you will. This one pulled me right in. The tid bits here and there about other authors was super fun! Favorite sentence: "The trip took fifteen minutes, roughly the time it took Tartt to describe an oak tree." I had to stop reading I was laughing so hard, because that is such an accurate description of Donna Tartt's writing style, and the reason why I cannot read her books.
Lounge - I expected more from this one and I was confused on the timeline (which I suppose I shouldn't have worried about), but nonetheless this was the least interesting of the lot for me.
Glamis - This one right here proves that E. Lorn is one hell of a storyteller!
Burrito - super fun to read this well-told story; the ending made it a sure-fire Five Star rating.
Skinny - interesting perspective and one I never gave much thought to in the past.
Come (previously published) - I will always have hand sanitizer with me at all times thanks to this story. I needed a shower after reading it, but I was afraid to use my shampoo...
Margins (previously published) - Excellent story - a trippy love story, if you will. This one pulled me right in. The tid bits here and there about other authors was super fun! Favorite sentence: "The trip took fifteen minutes, roughly the time it took Tartt to describe an oak tree." I had to stop reading I was laughing so hard, because that is such an accurate description of Donna Tartt's writing style, and the reason why I cannot read her books.
Lounge - I expected more from this one and I was confused on the timeline (which I suppose I shouldn't have worried about), but nonetheless this was the least interesting of the lot for me.
Glamis - This one right here proves that E. Lorn is one hell of a storyteller!
February 14, 2021
I love everything E writes, and this was no different. I love his Horror books, but this collection was just as good. I really hope E writes more books.
July 13, 2023
The stories range from touching to gross...all well written and enjoyable. Loved it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews