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Right Behind You
Right Behind You is a collection of 13 horror stories of different genres.
The thing that connects these stories is the emotion of our inner fears that resides in all
of us. We might mask these fears, we might even deny them, but they emerge when
least expected and then they begin to encroach upon every aspect of our lives.
In this collection of assorted horror stories, you will find noir horror, urban myths,
fantasies, campfire tales, stories of phobias, gore, and even a story that takes place
entirely on chat. An e-horror story, if you could call it that.
Just like a rollercoaster is a source of unexpected adventure and you won’t find its
shocks and thrills unless you actually ride on it, you won’t get the real experience of
Right Behind You unless you read it.
So, sit back, fasten your seatbelts, and plunge into the drive.
The thing that connects these stories is the emotion of our inner fears that resides in all
of us. We might mask these fears, we might even deny them, but they emerge when
least expected and then they begin to encroach upon every aspect of our lives.
In this collection of assorted horror stories, you will find noir horror, urban myths,
fantasies, campfire tales, stories of phobias, gore, and even a story that takes place
entirely on chat. An e-horror story, if you could call it that.
Just like a rollercoaster is a source of unexpected adventure and you won’t find its
shocks and thrills unless you actually ride on it, you won’t get the real experience of
Right Behind You unless you read it.
So, sit back, fasten your seatbelts, and plunge into the drive.
- GenresHorror
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 13, 2017
32 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Neil D'Silva
32 books174 followersWith 12 books to his credit, Neil D’Silva is a known name in the Indian literary world. His unique stories have struck a chord with a wide range of readers, eliciting praise from various quarters. He is published with leading publishers such as Penguin Random House, Rupa Publications, and Hachette among others, and has won screen adaptation deals on four of his books.
He has been named as one of the Top 7 Indian horror writers to be read by UK’s DESIblitz magazine. Considered as one of the forerunners of contemporary Indian horror literature, he has been covered by several leading publications and is invited to speak at prominent litfests around the country.
He was a winner at the Delhi Literature Festival Short Story Competition of 2015. His book Maya’s New Husband won the title of Entertainer of the Year at the Literary Awards 2015 that was co-hosted by Authors’ Ink Publications and Inside Stories.
He has been named as one of the Top 7 Indian horror writers to be read by UK’s DESIblitz magazine. Considered as one of the forerunners of contemporary Indian horror literature, he has been covered by several leading publications and is invited to speak at prominent litfests around the country.
He was a winner at the Delhi Literature Festival Short Story Competition of 2015. His book Maya’s New Husband won the title of Entertainer of the Year at the Literary Awards 2015 that was co-hosted by Authors’ Ink Publications and Inside Stories.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 21, 2018
1. This is NOT a collection of ghost stories.
2. Thirteen stories making up this collection are about fear. And let me state unabashedly, this collection was one of the most gratifying among hundreds of such books that I have read, both in Bengali as well as in English.
3. The stories are for mature readers, and are NOT meant for young, which is a massive PLUS in favour of this book, as it deals with subjects that are otherwise covered up by so-called supernatural stuff in stories meant for inducing fear.
Let me go story-by-story.
1) Night of the Teen Mundi: One of the finest spine-chillers that I have read. This story, read alone in the house, can give you some really nasty moments.
2) The Man in the Ceiling: Slow-burning, and good.
3) The Beggar's Hand: Rather long-winded and flat.
4) Tap Tap Tap: Very good story, with a truly macabre build up, and ending flourish.
5) Old-fashioned: Outstanding! I was waiting for it to come, hoping for a shock actually. The actual ending was MUCH better.
6) Mani's Masterpiece: Linear, well-told.
7) The Death Drum: One of the most suffocating pieces that I have read recently. Hats off!
8) Soap: Weak one. But didn't hurt, since it was the smallest piece as well.
9) The Scar: Another stunner. I have to admit, the author really knows how to create suspense.
10) Those Chappals from Hell: The message was loud and clear. The story, however, was very flat.
11) The Icebox: Homage to Roald Dahl. Nothing more.
11) Spawn: Excessively influenced by Hammer Horror. Found it rather drab, despite all the gory imagery.
13) The Midnight Chat: WOW! Just wow!
Overall, an extremely impressive collection of stories dealing with fear which stands right behind us.
Recommended.
2. Thirteen stories making up this collection are about fear. And let me state unabashedly, this collection was one of the most gratifying among hundreds of such books that I have read, both in Bengali as well as in English.
3. The stories are for mature readers, and are NOT meant for young, which is a massive PLUS in favour of this book, as it deals with subjects that are otherwise covered up by so-called supernatural stuff in stories meant for inducing fear.
Let me go story-by-story.
1) Night of the Teen Mundi: One of the finest spine-chillers that I have read. This story, read alone in the house, can give you some really nasty moments.
2) The Man in the Ceiling: Slow-burning, and good.
3) The Beggar's Hand: Rather long-winded and flat.
4) Tap Tap Tap: Very good story, with a truly macabre build up, and ending flourish.
5) Old-fashioned: Outstanding! I was waiting for it to come, hoping for a shock actually. The actual ending was MUCH better.
6) Mani's Masterpiece: Linear, well-told.
7) The Death Drum: One of the most suffocating pieces that I have read recently. Hats off!
8) Soap: Weak one. But didn't hurt, since it was the smallest piece as well.
9) The Scar: Another stunner. I have to admit, the author really knows how to create suspense.
10) Those Chappals from Hell: The message was loud and clear. The story, however, was very flat.
11) The Icebox: Homage to Roald Dahl. Nothing more.
11) Spawn: Excessively influenced by Hammer Horror. Found it rather drab, despite all the gory imagery.
13) The Midnight Chat: WOW! Just wow!
Overall, an extremely impressive collection of stories dealing with fear which stands right behind us.
Recommended.
January 29, 2018
Those four stars are for the writing style only. Nothing wrong with the stories though. It's just that I don't like horror stories. It was my first attempt in the genre and I realized I cannot take liking to it. How I wish good writers wrote something else along with horror stories.
September 2, 2021
I love ghost stories. The scarier the better. This is the first book I picked up by the author and I loved every single page of it. The stories are more psychological rather than Paranormal. Each story is unique and like nothing ever written before. And I loved the style of writing which is excellent. Looking forward to read the rest of the books.
February 18, 2020
Right behind you is a collection of 13 horror stories from various facets of life, stories are nicely written with well-developed characters. It is a good read for horror lovers - My favourite one is "The Ceiling Man" while reading you could related to many stories.
A good read for horror lovers.
A good read for horror lovers.
December 14, 2025
Book of wisdom
February 9, 2021
This book brought back a lot of nostalgia.
My first Indian Horror Book in English. I have read a Tamil Horror Novel in my childhood. But this is my first time reading an Indian Horror Book in English, that too, a short story collection.
18:31 08-02-2021
110 Pages and 7 Short Stories completed.
Night of the Teen Mundi - It reminded me of the cursed ground story in my childhood. We used to play in a cricket ground called Papaathi ground. Once a boy got lost there because the Papaathi ate him alive. So, people started wrapping up their matches before 7 PM. This story brought back a lot of Nostalgia.
the Ceiling - It's similar to the monster below the bed story.
The Beggar’s Hand - I didn't like this story. It reminded me of old Tamil horror movies. Disgusting horror flicks would have a bad aftertaste. I experienced the same with this story.
Tap Tap Tap - I personally liked the climax of this story. It's a bad story but the setting was very creepy and the climax sent chills down my spine.
Old-fashioned - I neither felt any horror nor liked this one.
Mani's Masterpiece - This is my favorite story by far. Sometimes humans are scarier than ghosts. After reading the climax, the last scene of this story was still in my mind and I even had a dream about it.
The Death Drum - It's not a ghost story rather than how fear in a person makes him crazy.
18:07 09-02-2021
Soap - There's nothing horrific about this story. In fact, the climax made me laugh.
The Scar - The twist is a brilliant one though it didn't scare me.
Those Chappals from Hell! - This story was awesome. It spooked me good! The phone call, in the end, was so creepy that I got goosebumps.
The Icebox - A 2 Page short story. It a nice one but it didn't scare me.
Spawn - I hate this story. I didn't like this one and probably rank the lowest of all 13 stories.
The Midnight Chat - A new kind of story and the climax twist was unexpected and creepy.
Overall I liked the writing style of this author. It did set the mood for each story. All the stories talk about fear and the most important thing to establish the fear is through the characters. Characters in the Soap and the Spawn felt half-baked.
Night of the Teen Mundi and Mani's Masterpiece had a great setting and those two really worked well for me.
Now I can gladly try his other works.
My first Indian Horror Book in English. I have read a Tamil Horror Novel in my childhood. But this is my first time reading an Indian Horror Book in English, that too, a short story collection.
18:31 08-02-2021
110 Pages and 7 Short Stories completed.
Night of the Teen Mundi - It reminded me of the cursed ground story in my childhood. We used to play in a cricket ground called Papaathi ground. Once a boy got lost there because the Papaathi ate him alive. So, people started wrapping up their matches before 7 PM. This story brought back a lot of Nostalgia.
the Ceiling - It's similar to the monster below the bed story.
The Beggar’s Hand - I didn't like this story. It reminded me of old Tamil horror movies. Disgusting horror flicks would have a bad aftertaste. I experienced the same with this story.
Tap Tap Tap - I personally liked the climax of this story. It's a bad story but the setting was very creepy and the climax sent chills down my spine.
Old-fashioned - I neither felt any horror nor liked this one.
Mani's Masterpiece - This is my favorite story by far. Sometimes humans are scarier than ghosts. After reading the climax, the last scene of this story was still in my mind and I even had a dream about it.
The Death Drum - It's not a ghost story rather than how fear in a person makes him crazy.
18:07 09-02-2021
Soap - There's nothing horrific about this story. In fact, the climax made me laugh.
The Scar - The twist is a brilliant one though it didn't scare me.
Those Chappals from Hell! - This story was awesome. It spooked me good! The phone call, in the end, was so creepy that I got goosebumps.
The Icebox - A 2 Page short story. It a nice one but it didn't scare me.
Spawn - I hate this story. I didn't like this one and probably rank the lowest of all 13 stories.
The Midnight Chat - A new kind of story and the climax twist was unexpected and creepy.
Overall I liked the writing style of this author. It did set the mood for each story. All the stories talk about fear and the most important thing to establish the fear is through the characters. Characters in the Soap and the Spawn felt half-baked.
Night of the Teen Mundi and Mani's Masterpiece had a great setting and those two really worked well for me.
Now I can gladly try his other works.
April 14, 2019
Huge disappointment
Having read the online reviews of this book on Amazon, I had decided to purchase it. The lesson I learnt is don't always lean on online reviews as they can be misleading. The book is an anthology of 13 stories, so mediocre and shallow that I thought of stopping mid way. I still continued till the end as I wanted to see how bad it could be. Trust me, all of the 13 stories are utter nonsensical crap and not worth the time at all. I am not going to read any further works of the author. One star is all I am going to give.
Having read the online reviews of this book on Amazon, I had decided to purchase it. The lesson I learnt is don't always lean on online reviews as they can be misleading. The book is an anthology of 13 stories, so mediocre and shallow that I thought of stopping mid way. I still continued till the end as I wanted to see how bad it could be. Trust me, all of the 13 stories are utter nonsensical crap and not worth the time at all. I am not going to read any further works of the author. One star is all I am going to give.
April 19, 2024
The Indian king of the horror genre never disappoints.
Review:
Neil D’Silva has truly mastered the horror genre in India. His tales range from the macabre to the spooky, oscillating between the supernatural and the psychological.
The Night of the Teen Mundi and The Man in the Ceiling dealt with mind play, but the stories have been superbly crafted with the right amount of intrigue that forces the readers to continue reading.
The Beggar’s Hand & Tap Tap Tap dealt with the supernatural. The former evoked disgust owing to the leprosy-inflicted nature of the ghost, but the latter was as scary as they come.
While reading The Old-Fashioned, I could guess the true identity of the twins’ biological parents, and hence, this fell a bit flat for me.
While my guessing game was successful in Mani’s Masterpiece as well, the poignant tale brought a lump to my throat. The horror continued in The Death Drum. The Soap was average, but The Scar shook and shocked me with the ultimate repulsive revelation.
The best of the lot was Those Chappals from Hell. Now that’s a true revenge saga. Giving it tough competition was The Icebox, the shortest story in the compilation. The Spawn had religious macabre undertones, but the anthology ended on a high (or spectral) note with The Midnight Chat. How to scare the readers using only a chat format is something aspiring writers need to learn from Neil.
I highly recommend this book to all horror aficionados, lovers of anthology, and to anyone willing to try out a different genre.
Review:
Neil D’Silva has truly mastered the horror genre in India. His tales range from the macabre to the spooky, oscillating between the supernatural and the psychological.
The Night of the Teen Mundi and The Man in the Ceiling dealt with mind play, but the stories have been superbly crafted with the right amount of intrigue that forces the readers to continue reading.
The Beggar’s Hand & Tap Tap Tap dealt with the supernatural. The former evoked disgust owing to the leprosy-inflicted nature of the ghost, but the latter was as scary as they come.
While reading The Old-Fashioned, I could guess the true identity of the twins’ biological parents, and hence, this fell a bit flat for me.
While my guessing game was successful in Mani’s Masterpiece as well, the poignant tale brought a lump to my throat. The horror continued in The Death Drum. The Soap was average, but The Scar shook and shocked me with the ultimate repulsive revelation.
The best of the lot was Those Chappals from Hell. Now that’s a true revenge saga. Giving it tough competition was The Icebox, the shortest story in the compilation. The Spawn had religious macabre undertones, but the anthology ended on a high (or spectral) note with The Midnight Chat. How to scare the readers using only a chat format is something aspiring writers need to learn from Neil.
I highly recommend this book to all horror aficionados, lovers of anthology, and to anyone willing to try out a different genre.
December 30, 2022
Right Behind You is the first book by Neil D’Silva that I’ve read, and this collection of thirteen horror stories was promising enough for me to check out his longer works in the future. Written in an easy prose, these stories are crisply plotted and are fast paced. With settings and characters that are ordinary for the most part, the author delivers the chills through scary circumstances. While several of the stories, like Night of the Teen Mundi, The Ceiling Man, Mani’s Masterpiece, and The Midnight Chat, are gripping, there are a few misses too, like Spawn, Soap, and the ones about the beggar and the icebox. I finished Right Behind You in a couple of sittings and would recommend it to anyone looking for a short, winter-night read. 3.5 out of 5 Stars!
April 17, 2022
The book is a collection of short stories in the horror genre. These tales are not particularly novel or inventive (more Ram Gopal Varma than Vilas Sarang), characters are stock and the prose is workmanlike. On the other hand, they feature a variety of settings and take inspiration of supernatural elements from different cultures. Also, they read briskly - I finished the book over 2-3 sittings on the kindle. I liked the one about the leprous hand coming up from the kitchen drain for offerings, and another one about a water drum that makes life hell for the woman of the house. The weakest for me were the tales about the sinister chappals and the old-fashioned parents. YMMV.
October 21, 2023
I was introduced to this book and the author in the Literary Fest Litventure. The author happens to be an alumnus of my school. This was the first book written by him that I had picked up. It was very inspiring to hear how he became an author. This book is a compilation of short stories of various haunted encounters that truly make a chill run down your spine. It is no less than watching a horror movie. The writing style is smooth and simple yet makes the reader hooked to reading the next story. I loved the book. Neil is an excellent author who writes entwining tales of the horror genre. A Good Read!
August 8, 2018
Being a fan of horror/ paranormal, I absolutely loved this book. I loved the uniqueness of the stories. My favourites were The Man in the ceiling and The Death drum. I loved the blurb. I thought it was well done. It's rare to read a blurb in poetry form. I found this book very entertaining.
If you love paranormal/ horror then this is one book that you should read. I'd go into more details but then there would have to be spoilers.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading more books by Neil D'Silva. I love the vivid imagery and the way things come to life in my mind. Brilliant job!
If you love paranormal/ horror then this is one book that you should read. I'd go into more details but then there would have to be spoilers.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading more books by Neil D'Silva. I love the vivid imagery and the way things come to life in my mind. Brilliant job!
September 14, 2022
Short stories of horror that have chiling settings and quite a few familiar horror tropes. Well written horror is hard to find and most have the cringy scenes with no real scare factor but that is not the case with this set of stories. If you are a horror lover then this is definitely worth your while.
December 28, 2020
An assortment of tiny horror tales with something for everyone. Some of the stories are really good. I'm reluctant to give any spoilers away, horror enthusiasts should read it and discover their own favorite, like I did.
August 20, 2019
Not scary enough, many stories had cliche endings, let's just say I have read better horror stories.
April 23, 2021
Fabulous writing and the story telling really gives chills throw out the book. I will not spoil. At start I was acquaintance of Neil but after this i am a fan of his work!
November 7, 2023
I read the audiobook. 1 star for the narrator. The stories were cliche and not that scary. The writing in the first chapter was really good.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews