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Adrift: A Short Horror Story
From Meg Hafdahl, author of the Twisted Reveries series;
After online flirting, Cassidy and Ben are finally going on their first date. Aboard the yacht Serendipity, they sip on champagne as they sail toward darkened waters. A sudden, piercing scream disrupts their romance, setting in motion a horrific chain reaction that will brutally effect all those on board.
Paranoia swiftly ripples through the posh dining room in the tradition of Agatha Christie. This panic is mixed with the twinge of humor and grisly devastation that is a trademark of suspense author Meg Hafdahl.
Come aboard the Serendipity and become, Adrift.
Praise for Meg
“For fans of Stephen King, Meg Hafdahl will satisfy.” Gay Yellen, Author
“Everything is not as it seems in the short, ‘Twilight Zone’ like tales Meg Hafdahl writes.” Matt Stolle, The Post Bulletin
“It was so refreshing to see such complex, female characters in (her) stories!” An Amazon 5 star review
After online flirting, Cassidy and Ben are finally going on their first date. Aboard the yacht Serendipity, they sip on champagne as they sail toward darkened waters. A sudden, piercing scream disrupts their romance, setting in motion a horrific chain reaction that will brutally effect all those on board.
Paranoia swiftly ripples through the posh dining room in the tradition of Agatha Christie. This panic is mixed with the twinge of humor and grisly devastation that is a trademark of suspense author Meg Hafdahl.
Come aboard the Serendipity and become, Adrift.
Praise for Meg
“For fans of Stephen King, Meg Hafdahl will satisfy.” Gay Yellen, Author
“Everything is not as it seems in the short, ‘Twilight Zone’ like tales Meg Hafdahl writes.” Matt Stolle, The Post Bulletin
“It was so refreshing to see such complex, female characters in (her) stories!” An Amazon 5 star review
- GenresHorror
44 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 26, 2017
2 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 14, 2017
I read this short horror story back in October , it was a great read filled with an intense , bloody boat ride .
November 6, 2017
** This is a 3.5 star 30 minute short, short story read **
The dinner date from hell ..... and her sister joked he might be a serial killer!
The synopsis above explains pretty much everything, so it's hard to comment more without spoiling it for readers to come.
I will say it was a very different dining experience with a morsel of suspense for entree, a hearty serving of gore for mains and a delectable dish of humour for sweets.
An entertaining, well written read - perfect for a break with coffee. (Just not food! Lol.)
The dinner date from hell ..... and her sister joked he might be a serial killer!
The synopsis above explains pretty much everything, so it's hard to comment more without spoiling it for readers to come.
I will say it was a very different dining experience with a morsel of suspense for entree, a hearty serving of gore for mains and a delectable dish of humour for sweets.
An entertaining, well written read - perfect for a break with coffee. (Just not food! Lol.)
November 23, 2017
Good short story.
February 17, 2017
I find writing reviews for horror difficult because I think everyone looks for something different in the genre. Some like suspense, some like gore, some like thrills, some like terror. I tend to prefer the non-gory/more-terrifying type, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy other aspects of the genre.
Adrift definitely leans toward the gory style of horror. The author does a good job of hinting at what is to come and then delivering on it in detail. But I believe the best part of the story is what the reader contemplates afterward... the motivation behind the event, and perhaps even the cause itself. I don't want to spoil anything, but I can think of a few possibilities for the outbreak, and each one only leaves me with more questions.
Short of the author weighing in, we'll never know the answers. But speculating on them is the fun part. I'll quickly forget the graphic imagery, but the reasons behind the event will keep me thinking about this story for a long time to come.
Adrift definitely leans toward the gory style of horror. The author does a good job of hinting at what is to come and then delivering on it in detail. But I believe the best part of the story is what the reader contemplates afterward... the motivation behind the event, and perhaps even the cause itself. I don't want to spoil anything, but I can think of a few possibilities for the outbreak, and each one only leaves me with more questions.
Short of the author weighing in, we'll never know the answers. But speculating on them is the fun part. I'll quickly forget the graphic imagery, but the reasons behind the event will keep me thinking about this story for a long time to come.
August 28, 2017
What the heck did I just read?!. A crap story with a lot of blood and gore with no explanation whatsoever. It leaves you with a lot of questions at the end. True that it is a short story but I have read shorter stories that were better explained and also made sense. If you are a fan of graphic gore, this is for you.
When I saw that it's a horror story I expected horror of the supernatural kind but not the kind of horror caused by human suffering through an infection. That itself set my mind to dislike the story. Maybe that's a bias. But still, the story sucks. No head or tail. Disappointing.
When I saw that it's a horror story I expected horror of the supernatural kind but not the kind of horror caused by human suffering through an infection. That itself set my mind to dislike the story. Maybe that's a bias. But still, the story sucks. No head or tail. Disappointing.
July 5, 2018
As soon as I saw Adrift's brief synopsis, teasing at a marriage between romance and horror, I was thrilled to begin reading. Unfortunately, while Hafdahl has a way with words that leaves visceral and creative images lingering in the reader's mind, her narrative left much to be desired.
Cassidy's first date with Ben seems romantic enough--a dinner cruise aboard a yacht drifting across Lake Superior. However, dinner has barely begun when the boat, quite literally, begins to rock.
While I was able to mostly overlook Adrift's grammatical errors and typos, the portrayal of race in this short story was, in my opinion (as a white individual), more than a mite awkward. Given that Hafdahl is not a person of color herself, several lines within Adrift could be interpreted poorly. As a woman of color on a date with a white man, Cassidy seems to struggle with some internalized racism--later in the story, it is implied that the color of her skin may be a metaphor for much more.
Moving past my discomfort with the way that race and skin color were handled, Hafdahl's ending is one suitable for the horror genre, leaving the reader with questions and room to consider evidence for their own theories. It was this ending and the clever diction that popped up throughout the storytelling which allowed me to develop the type of visualizations I love within the horror genre.
Cassidy's first date with Ben seems romantic enough--a dinner cruise aboard a yacht drifting across Lake Superior. However, dinner has barely begun when the boat, quite literally, begins to rock.
While I was able to mostly overlook Adrift's grammatical errors and typos, the portrayal of race in this short story was, in my opinion (as a white individual), more than a mite awkward. Given that Hafdahl is not a person of color herself, several lines within Adrift could be interpreted poorly. As a woman of color on a date with a white man, Cassidy seems to struggle with some internalized racism--later in the story, it is implied that the color of her skin may be a metaphor for much more.
Moving past my discomfort with the way that race and skin color were handled, Hafdahl's ending is one suitable for the horror genre, leaving the reader with questions and room to consider evidence for their own theories. It was this ending and the clever diction that popped up throughout the storytelling which allowed me to develop the type of visualizations I love within the horror genre.
September 21, 2018
Awesome. Shades of Captain Tripp’s! All my favorite horror stories wrapped into one tight short skin-crawling package! This starts as a simple romance novel would. Just a couple who met on a dating site going out for a night of dinner and dancing. Things go horribly wrong hideously quickly and ... well...you’ll just have to spare the time and read it yourself. It’s a short story, so anything I say would just ruin it.
As an independent reviewer for Romance Authors that Rock, this grabbed all five hearts and squeezed the blood right out of them! If you’re a horror story fan, a b-movie fan, a short story fan, this has what you need. Awesome storytelling, fast action packed scenes and the perfect mix of romance and the macabre.
As an independent reviewer for Romance Authors that Rock, this grabbed all five hearts and squeezed the blood right out of them! If you’re a horror story fan, a b-movie fan, a short story fan, this has what you need. Awesome storytelling, fast action packed scenes and the perfect mix of romance and the macabre.
August 19, 2017
The Author Meg Hafdahl was a first time read for me. My first book I read for pleasure was a horror novel and this short story was right up there with the fright factor. The was slow starting for the length but once going was fast paced and did I mention that it was scary. It ends leaving you wondering when you read the the last couple lines of the story is this it? If you like a good scare then I would recommend this short story
September 21, 2017
A good short story. I appreciated the prominent inclusion of people of colour, lgbt people, and old people too. Yay diversity!!
It was also creepy and the suspense built up well. The ending was alright too.
All in all, a good short.
It was also creepy and the suspense built up well. The ending was alright too.
All in all, a good short.
April 8, 2019
Well, that's an hour of my life I wont ever get back.
nothing else to say.
nothing else to say.
February 3, 2017
Meh
Its pretty lame. But its short, so you'll probably finish it. Not too spellbinding. Definitely not scary. Infection and love on the Great Lake.
Its pretty lame. But its short, so you'll probably finish it. Not too spellbinding. Definitely not scary. Infection and love on the Great Lake.
April 12, 2017
It's difficult to get a reader to care about the main victim of a horror tale when it's a short story: there's not much time to get to know the character. But Hafdahl does a good job of making you root for Cass and her first-time date as they board a supper cruise on Lake Superior.
And then the gore happens. Lots of gore. Strips of bloody skin, rage, and humanity at its worst. A fun tale for a cold, Northcoast evening :)
And then the gore happens. Lots of gore. Strips of bloody skin, rage, and humanity at its worst. A fun tale for a cold, Northcoast evening :)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews