Tales From the Shadow Side

by Jonathan Janz

The incredible eleven-book Shadow Side Series comes to a close in grand style, featuring a collection of rare and never-before-published material. Included in this volume are the novellas OLD ORDER, THE CLEARING OF TRAVIS COBLE, A SOUTHERN EVENING, WITCHING HOUR THEATRE, and other short works. And as an added bonus, the volume will contain never-before-seen chapters from Jonathan’s early, unpublished suspense novel GARDEN OF SNAKES.

TALES FROM THE SHADOW SIDE showcases the rarest Jonathan Janz stories yet and a fitting end to the Thunderstorm Books Shadow Side Series.

Genres: Horror

263 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Jonathan Janz is an author and public schoolteacher. His sci-fi horror novel VEIL is now available, and you can find his story "Lenora" in THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES OF STEPHEN KING'S THE STAND. He’s represented for Film & TV by Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment, and his literary agent is Lane Heymont. His ghost story The Siren and the Specter was selected as a Goodreads Choice nominee for Best Horror. Additionally, his novels Children of the Dark and The Dark Game were chosen by Booklist and Library Journal as Top Ten Horror Books of the Year. Jonathan’s main interests are his wonderful wife and his three amazing children. You can sign up for his newsletter (http://jonathanjanz.us12.list-manage....), and you can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, and Goodreads.

Reviews

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars! Rounding up for Goodreads
This is an unbiased review even though I am the owner of Night Worms, I'm an honest and objective reviewer first and foremost. But you can take this review with a grain of salt if you like.
"A meek man enters a spooky theater for all-night horror movie triple bill. An unscrupulous contractor messes with the wrong family. A single mother discovers a bizarre link between her son and an unspeakable Lovecraftian horror. A con artist posing as an outcast from an Amish church gets more than he bargained for in the Indiana forest. And a college professor eager to make money by solving a decades-old cannibal atrocity learns the true meaning of terror in the Great Smoky Mountains.

In this collection of rarely-collected nightmares, you’ll find tales of suspense, dread, and madness.

It’s time to take a journey to Jonathan Janz’s Shadow Side."
Stories:
Old Order
The Clearing of Travis Coble
A Southern Evening
Throwing Monsters
Witching Hour Theater

What an amazing opportunity it was for Night Worms to partner with Thunderstorm Books to publish limited, exclusive, numbered and signed editions of Tales From the Shadow Side by Jonathan Janz and A Little Sorrowed Talk by Brian Keene.
I had never read any of these novellas/short stories so I was very eager to get my hands on this collection along with all of our Night Worms customers and subscribers.

Old Order- This one surprised me. This guy shows up at this farm to work as a farmhand but he telegraphs to readers that he's there to scam the family out of possessions or money but he doesn't know the family and a few pages in, readers begin to suspect that Horace Yoder is going to get more than he bargained for. This is an erotic-horror novella with a great ending. I enjoyed it. 4/5

The Clearing of Travis Coble- Travis Coble was released back into society after being acquitted for the murder of his family. He's basically forced into hiding because the strong, public opinion of the small town he resides in believes he's far from innocent. This professor goes out to interview him. I loved the way Janz built into this story a very tangible and raw sense of tension. I felt like I was right there in the story. I loved this one! 5/5

A Southern Evening- This is Jonathan Janz' take on Southern Gothic storytelling and I enjoyed it. Very atmospheric and rich with suspense. Pairs nicely with the story before it--they felt connected almost and I recommend reading this collection in order because of these two stories being in step with one another.
4/5

Witching Hour Theater- This is Janz's first novella I believe and I liked it!
Janz's love of horror movies and the cinematic experience was employed perfectly in this tale. Readers will love the protagonist, Larry and spending time in his head. Lots of B-rate horror & gore that feels like an homage to vintage horror movies. Creative and original. The ending did fall apart for me a little bit but for the most part, this was fun and entertaining.
3.5/5

[Karl]

This hardcover is numbered 14 of 60 books published and is signed by Jonathan Janz.

Contents:

011 - "Old Order"
055 - " The Clearing of Travis Coble"
091 - "A Southern Evening"
131 - "Throwing Monsters"
157 - "Witching Hour Theatre"
223 - "Garden of Snakes"

Cover stamp by Zach McCain

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

TALES FROM THE SHADOW SIDE, by Jonathan Janz, is a collection of five tales and an excerpt from an earlier, unpublished novel. This is from Thunderstorm Books Shadow Side Series, Book #11. Limited to 60 signed copies, it's a true collector's item!

Included here are:

--OLD ORDER
--THE CLEARING OF TRAVIS COBLE (One of my personal favorites!)
--A SOUTHERN EVENING
--THROWING MONSTERS
--WITCHING HOUR THEATRE
--GARDEN OF SNAKES

The Shadow Side Series consists exclusively of Jonathan Janz novels, and this collection.

Highest recommendation!

[Sjgomzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man! This book was savage! I loved it!

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A couple of these I had read before, Old Order and Witching Theatre and these were just as horrifying the second time around! I really enjoyed A Southern Evening! The way the Benbow’s trick Bales is exquisite. Got a kick out of Janz’s naming a character Mike Pence and the mention of Von’s Books in the Witching Hour Theater which if you’re a Hoosier you’ll smile alittle at these! Really like his writing and want more! I am a Janz Fanz!

[bundledwithbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of creepy tales that would translate to a great movie anthology. Each tale feels familiar and touches on some fear we all have hidden away. My favorites were Old Order and Witching Hour Theater. I was lucky enough to get an exclusive cover and signed edition through my favorite gals at Night Worms!

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love discovering new to me authors, but there's also something about returning to favorites that's an immediate comfort. There's a promise to their work, that what you read isn't going to disappoint - that their authorial voice is going to bleed on the page, no matter what. Janz is one of those authors for me, and when I was looking for something to take my mind off a wretched week, Tales from the Shadow Side came to the rescue. This is a set of five stories, each one long enough to really dig in and embed the reader. Each had a different tone, but all were dark, brutal, and unexpected. I think my favorite was Witching Hour Theater, which was a fitting close to the collection, and had excellent characters and atmosphere. Though now I'm missing movie theaters more ever.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janz has proven once again that he is an author on the rise. With "Tales From the Shadow Side" he gives us five short stories that shows his ability to chill you to the bone and leave you wanting more. I highly recommend that if anyone is new to Jonathan Janz they take a moment to get their hands on this and read some of his short stories to get a perfect feel of his writing style and frankly I dont think they'd be disappointed. I will say notably since Ive read it before "Witching Hour Theatre" stands to be my favorite of Jonathan Janz's shorts. Happy reading and thank you Night Worms for the exclusive signed copy!

[Jacque Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Short stories. Excellent read.

[Daniel C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Janz never disappoints.