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Tales from Greystone Bay
There are so many things Bob Deaken remembers about Greystone Bay. He could tell you about what he and a friend found in the wreck of an old Chevy down where the blind man lives amid the junked cars. He could tell you about the time the snakes started coming out of old lady Farrow's faucets and what she did with them. He could tell you about that Elvis Presley impersonator who came to town and went crazy when he couldn't get his makeup off.
Some things he wouldn't want to tell you after the sun goes down...
This time, Deacon tells you about the house across the street, painted a striking shade of red a color that reflects a dark secret about his family's new neighbors.
In addition to The Red House, master storyteller Robert R. McCammon provides two more tales about the strange world of Greystone Doom City, where most of the town's citizens have been reduced to ash and bones, and a supernatural force threatens the few survivors; and Beauty, where the SeaHarp Hotel welcomes the winner of the Miss Greystone Beauty Pageant... but neither the hotel or pageant winner are exactly as they seem.
Some things he wouldn't want to tell you after the sun goes down...
This time, Deacon tells you about the house across the street, painted a striking shade of red a color that reflects a dark secret about his family's new neighbors.
In addition to The Red House, master storyteller Robert R. McCammon provides two more tales about the strange world of Greystone Doom City, where most of the town's citizens have been reduced to ash and bones, and a supernatural force threatens the few survivors; and Beauty, where the SeaHarp Hotel welcomes the winner of the Miss Greystone Beauty Pageant... but neither the hotel or pageant winner are exactly as they seem.
102 pages, Hardcover
Published January 31, 2018
1 person is currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Robert McCammon
167 books5,748 followersPseudonyms: Robert R. McCammon; Robert Rick McCammon
Robert McCammon was a full-time horror writer for many years. Among his many popular novels were the classics Boy's Life and Swan Song. After taking a hiatus for his family, he returned to writing with an interest in historical fiction.
His newest book, Leviathan, is the tenth and final book in the Matthew Corbett series. It was published in trade hardcover (Lividian Publications), ebook (Open Road), and audiobook (Audible) formats on December 3, 2024.
McCammon resides in Birmingham, Alabama.
Robert McCammon was a full-time horror writer for many years. Among his many popular novels were the classics Boy's Life and Swan Song. After taking a hiatus for his family, he returned to writing with an interest in historical fiction.
His newest book, Leviathan, is the tenth and final book in the Matthew Corbett series. It was published in trade hardcover (Lividian Publications), ebook (Open Road), and audiobook (Audible) formats on December 3, 2024.
McCammon resides in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 31, 2018
I suspect this little collection of stories will fly under the radar (the fact that it has no reviews on Goodreads as of now is a good indicator), which is a shame, as these three short tales set in the small town of Greystone Bay show McCammon working at his usual standard of excellence.
The first story, “The Red House,” is the longest and serves as the inspiration for the cover art. It reminded me of this author’s seminal work, Boy’s Life, because it is about a man looking back on his childhood and strange incidents that occurred therein. The metaphors in this one might be a little too heavy-handed for some readers, but I didn’t mind. The second story, “Doom City,” is my favorite. An apocalypse . . . or the Rapture . . . has happened. McCammon is never clear on it because the survivors don’t know. I like that — the reader’s imagination is allowed to go wild. The final story, “Beauty,” is one best left unspoiled, but I will say it is perhaps the saddest piece I’ve read by this author.
I was pleasantly surprised by this collection. It was an impulse buy, for sure, and I wasn’t expecting to finish it feeling so rewarded. In addition to the three stories, this book features a few beautiful illustrations. If you’re feeling impatient waiting for The Listener, give this a go. Out now from Cemetery Dance!
The first story, “The Red House,” is the longest and serves as the inspiration for the cover art. It reminded me of this author’s seminal work, Boy’s Life, because it is about a man looking back on his childhood and strange incidents that occurred therein. The metaphors in this one might be a little too heavy-handed for some readers, but I didn’t mind. The second story, “Doom City,” is my favorite. An apocalypse . . . or the Rapture . . . has happened. McCammon is never clear on it because the survivors don’t know. I like that — the reader’s imagination is allowed to go wild. The final story, “Beauty,” is one best left unspoiled, but I will say it is perhaps the saddest piece I’ve read by this author.
I was pleasantly surprised by this collection. It was an impulse buy, for sure, and I wasn’t expecting to finish it feeling so rewarded. In addition to the three stories, this book features a few beautiful illustrations. If you’re feeling impatient waiting for The Listener, give this a go. Out now from Cemetery Dance!
February 12, 2018
I got this one from the library, because as much as I love this author's writing, the price of the hardback was just a bit too much for me, especially because 2 of the stories contained in this one, Doom City and Red House, can be found in his Blue World collection. The third story, Beauty, was a sad and poignant piece. That is all I will say about it for fear of giving anything away. My favorite of the 3 though, was Doom City. I like apocalyptic pieces and this one was creepy.
Recommended!
Recommended!
Want to read
February 12, 2018Contents:
09 - "he Red House"
63 - "Doom City"
83 - "Beauty"
Artwork - Erin S. Wells
09 - "he Red House"
63 - "Doom City"
83 - "Beauty"
Artwork - Erin S. Wells
April 17, 2018
4.5*
TALES FROM GREYSTONE BAY, by Robert McCammon, contains three of his shorter works. The first two I had previously read in his collection, BLUE WORLD, but the third one was new to me. Despite having read these before, none of the pleasure was lacking in this re-read. I'd be hard-pressed to find a tale of McCammon's that I "didn't" like!
The first story is "The Red House". A tale of obsession, and how single-mindedness keeps us all in a rut--doing the same things day in and day out. Of the stories presented here, I felt that this one held a deep lesson in it, amongst the fury and strangeness that the new neighbors brought to town. ". . . Some folks long to be red houses among the gray, but they let somebody else do the painting . . . "
The next story, "Doom City" is a post apocalyptic one. This one had some very memorable scenes, and I simply loved the way McCammon executed it's style. "Something tore . . . Ripped open. Something won the fight, and I don't think it was who the preachers said was gonna win . . . "
The final story, "Beauty", was a beautiful, poignant tale of a young girl's dream come true for a day. Only, in McCammon's hands, it becomes something much more complex and mentally stimulating than you would first think. ". . . that was a Cinderella dream come true."
Of the three tales, it is the last one that stayed with me the longest. It was more "haunting" emotionally, I felt; however, each of these is a story worth reading and re-reading.
Highly recommended!
TALES FROM GREYSTONE BAY, by Robert McCammon, contains three of his shorter works. The first two I had previously read in his collection, BLUE WORLD, but the third one was new to me. Despite having read these before, none of the pleasure was lacking in this re-read. I'd be hard-pressed to find a tale of McCammon's that I "didn't" like!
The first story is "The Red House". A tale of obsession, and how single-mindedness keeps us all in a rut--doing the same things day in and day out. Of the stories presented here, I felt that this one held a deep lesson in it, amongst the fury and strangeness that the new neighbors brought to town. ". . . Some folks long to be red houses among the gray, but they let somebody else do the painting . . . "
The next story, "Doom City" is a post apocalyptic one. This one had some very memorable scenes, and I simply loved the way McCammon executed it's style. "Something tore . . . Ripped open. Something won the fight, and I don't think it was who the preachers said was gonna win . . . "
The final story, "Beauty", was a beautiful, poignant tale of a young girl's dream come true for a day. Only, in McCammon's hands, it becomes something much more complex and mentally stimulating than you would first think. ". . . that was a Cinderella dream come true."
Of the three tales, it is the last one that stayed with me the longest. It was more "haunting" emotionally, I felt; however, each of these is a story worth reading and re-reading.
Highly recommended!
June 12, 2024
An eerie collection of anthologies by Robert McCammon--two of which appeared in his short story collection, Blue World. That would be "the Red House" and "Doom City".
"The Red House" was good, but not at all what I expected. Still well-written, but my least favorite in this collection. Also, the cover art is inspired by this tale.
"Doom City" is very Twilight Zone-esque and is probably my favorite of this collection. I can't get into it without spoiling, so I'll leave it at that.
Lastly, "Beauty" was originally published in the Charles Grant anthology, "the Seaharp Hotel", back in 1990. It is one of McCammon's sadder tales and if you don't feel like dishing out the money to spend on this when you've already read the previous two stories elsewhere, it's available for free on Robert McCammon's website.
Overall a great collection of short stories by Robert McCammon. I can never get enough of this guy's work. Highly recommended.
Also, go read the Wolf's Hour. It's really good. There was a severe lack of a recommendation for that book in the review, so per tradition, I'm adding it now.
"The Red House" was good, but not at all what I expected. Still well-written, but my least favorite in this collection. Also, the cover art is inspired by this tale.
"Doom City" is very Twilight Zone-esque and is probably my favorite of this collection. I can't get into it without spoiling, so I'll leave it at that.
Lastly, "Beauty" was originally published in the Charles Grant anthology, "the Seaharp Hotel", back in 1990. It is one of McCammon's sadder tales and if you don't feel like dishing out the money to spend on this when you've already read the previous two stories elsewhere, it's available for free on Robert McCammon's website.
Overall a great collection of short stories by Robert McCammon. I can never get enough of this guy's work. Highly recommended.
Also, go read the Wolf's Hour. It's really good. There was a severe lack of a recommendation for that book in the review, so per tradition, I'm adding it now.
April 16, 2018
After the short story 'He'll come knocking at your door' this was only my second McCammon book and I really liked them! Go read it yourself :)
This book contains three stories:
The red house
In Greystone Bay everything is the same... always was and always will be. Or not? What if there's a new family? And what if they dare paint their house red and not grey? How does this affect the working conditions, fears of the future and life of the neighbourhood?
This story was quite interesting and left the reader with a couple of questions about what actually happened there and why and who those people were, where they came from, what their plans were?
It also is quite a good allegory to modern life... how do we react if our next-door neighbours are 'different'? Well, if you watch the news, this not always turns out as well as it should :-(
4 Stars
Doom City
This was an absolutely great story. Period. Nothing more.
5 stars
Beauty
I can't really tell much about it without spoiling, but it was written very well and beautifully.
My only issue was that I didn't have the impression that the narrator is 16 years old. After the first few pages, I thought she has to be maybe 10-12... well... okay... this was not the case.
The story wasn't really innovative or with a twist I didn't expect, but I liked it nonetheless.
4 stars
This book contains three stories:
The red house
In Greystone Bay everything is the same... always was and always will be. Or not? What if there's a new family? And what if they dare paint their house red and not grey? How does this affect the working conditions, fears of the future and life of the neighbourhood?
This story was quite interesting and left the reader with a couple of questions about what actually happened there and why and who those people were, where they came from, what their plans were?
It also is quite a good allegory to modern life... how do we react if our next-door neighbours are 'different'? Well, if you watch the news, this not always turns out as well as it should :-(
4 Stars
Doom City
This was an absolutely great story. Period. Nothing more.
5 stars
Beauty
I can't really tell much about it without spoiling, but it was written very well and beautifully.
My only issue was that I didn't have the impression that the narrator is 16 years old. After the first few pages, I thought she has to be maybe 10-12... well... okay... this was not the case.
The story wasn't really innovative or with a twist I didn't expect, but I liked it nonetheless.
4 stars
November 18, 2018
The Red House - 4/5
Doom City 4/5
Beauty 5/5
Doom City 4/5
Beauty 5/5
July 18, 2022
So recently I discovered the location of Greystone Bay is actually the main setting of a series of short story books that Robert R. McCammon was one of the writers of for most of the installments except for the last one. I wanted to review Beauty on its own but this works as well and gets my thoughts out there on these stories overall:
The Red House:
An eerie little story that tackles with themes of those who refuse to change and creatures from hell who live as neighbors on the opposite end of the road of the main characters, sending the father insane. It's a strange little story but it ends on a fairly creepy note and sending the main character off to find his own place in life away from those who are too scared to change in this world 8.5/10
Doom City:
After waking up to find the decayed corpse of his wife's body, Brad explores the city to find his neighbors, the populace all having fallen to a terrifying event that's killed them all, but as the phones go off, he soon figures out he isn't alone...
I genuinely like the idea of this one but the execution wise it's so strange and a little too short for its own good. Brad didn't really have much of a character and we don't really get to explore his grief and frame of mind in this situation all that much which disappointed me a little and I found the ending taking me out a little because it was so just bizarre. It's a story with really good ideas at its core and there's definitely some solid atmosphere in this, with some very creepy undertones but honestly, I think it could have been better. 6/10
Beauty:
A very simple little story of a young girl called Beauty who's won a beauty pageant and is a star of the show at the SeaHarp Hotel, but it doesn't take long before events turn for the worst. This is a very bizarre and somewhat melancholic story that really messes with the reader a little and whilst it definitely gives clues as to what is happening, it doesn't confirm anything making this a very interesting and mysterious read, where it's up to the reader to decide what's going on here, which is something I really admire. 8.5/10
Overall: 23/30
The Red House:
An eerie little story that tackles with themes of those who refuse to change and creatures from hell who live as neighbors on the opposite end of the road of the main characters, sending the father insane. It's a strange little story but it ends on a fairly creepy note and sending the main character off to find his own place in life away from those who are too scared to change in this world 8.5/10
Doom City:
After waking up to find the decayed corpse of his wife's body, Brad explores the city to find his neighbors, the populace all having fallen to a terrifying event that's killed them all, but as the phones go off, he soon figures out he isn't alone...
I genuinely like the idea of this one but the execution wise it's so strange and a little too short for its own good. Brad didn't really have much of a character and we don't really get to explore his grief and frame of mind in this situation all that much which disappointed me a little and I found the ending taking me out a little because it was so just bizarre. It's a story with really good ideas at its core and there's definitely some solid atmosphere in this, with some very creepy undertones but honestly, I think it could have been better. 6/10
Beauty:
A very simple little story of a young girl called Beauty who's won a beauty pageant and is a star of the show at the SeaHarp Hotel, but it doesn't take long before events turn for the worst. This is a very bizarre and somewhat melancholic story that really messes with the reader a little and whilst it definitely gives clues as to what is happening, it doesn't confirm anything making this a very interesting and mysterious read, where it's up to the reader to decide what's going on here, which is something I really admire. 8.5/10
Overall: 23/30
August 6, 2019
This trio of stories is written with all the depth and heart that can be found in Robert McCammon's longer works.
In The Red House, McCammon explores the fear of change. It is about a boy growing up and learning to break away from the long-held beliefs and traditions of family. It is a strange tale, but also quite a good tale.
In Doom City, a man awakens to find that something awful has happened. It is not a long story, and it is quite eerie.
Beauty is also not very long. I suspected the twist in Beauty almost from the beginning, but it is still a tale told very well. It is also quite sad - I was left feeling a bit hollow after reading.
All in all, this is a collection of three vastly different, and yet excellently told stories that I highly recommend reading.
In The Red House, McCammon explores the fear of change. It is about a boy growing up and learning to break away from the long-held beliefs and traditions of family. It is a strange tale, but also quite a good tale.
In Doom City, a man awakens to find that something awful has happened. It is not a long story, and it is quite eerie.
Beauty is also not very long. I suspected the twist in Beauty almost from the beginning, but it is still a tale told very well. It is also quite sad - I was left feeling a bit hollow after reading.
All in all, this is a collection of three vastly different, and yet excellently told stories that I highly recommend reading.
May 8, 2022
Turns out this book has reached "collector" status - hard to find out without paying a hefty price. Finally found one for 20 bucks (plus 4 bucks shipping). It came as a small, thin, 8in x 5in hardcover. Three stories comprise this potent collection: Red House, Doom City, Beauty.
I enjoyed my 'time' at Greystone Bay - Red House was probably my favorite read and it seemed to be a social commentary I can almost tether to today's racial concerns.
I would recommend the book, buuuuut, you can find 'Red House' and 'Doom City' in another McCammon book - Blue World: The Complete Collection, free on Kindle. 'Beauty' can be found for free on his website.
If these weren't available this, then yes, I would recommend book.
I enjoyed my 'time' at Greystone Bay - Red House was probably my favorite read and it seemed to be a social commentary I can almost tether to today's racial concerns.
I would recommend the book, buuuuut, you can find 'Red House' and 'Doom City' in another McCammon book - Blue World: The Complete Collection, free on Kindle. 'Beauty' can be found for free on his website.
If these weren't available this, then yes, I would recommend book.
March 22, 2018
Tales from Greystone Bay is a collection of macabre stories from Robert McCammon. This is a really good sample of McCammon's work and serves as my introduction to the horror novelist. The stories collected are weird, ghostly, apocalyptic and downright frighting. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and felt that "Doom City," which tells the story of a man who wakes up to find his world in a perpetual state of literal decay was the strongest, scariest tale. I highly recommend reading Tales from Greystone Bay. It's a short collection and a great intro to an incredibly talented and underrated writer.
April 10, 2018
I believe I've read two of the three short stories in this collection. I'm not sure what other collection they were in....my memory escapes me. However, I enjoyed revisiting them and these stories can be read in about 10-15 minutes each. Definitely not a disappointment.
January 14, 2023
Two of the three stories in this book were previously published in Blue World. Beauty was an ok story, but not worth the price of the book (which I would only get if you're the most die-hard of McCammon fans).
February 22, 2018
Didn’t realize that two of the three stories in this book are available in Blue World, but I still read them.
The new one - Beauty - was worth the price of admission.
The new one - Beauty - was worth the price of admission.
March 30, 2018
A quick little horror short stories book as I prepare for the next book in the Matthew Corbett series. Terrifying quick reads but not my fav from the author. Love the illustrations!
May 21, 2018
I liked it. The three stories are an easy read, yet still unsettling. Sometimes the simplest things can be the creepiest.
June 30, 2018
Interesting trio of horror stories. The middle one, Doom City, is reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's style of horror. Very much recommended.
August 29, 2018
Tales from Greystone Bay by Robert McCammon is a good short story read.
March 12, 2019
As always, McCammon should be the biggest name in horror.
October 13, 2024
The book was just ok!! Stories could have been good if they just gave a little more of the story!! And the ending was just bland!!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews