Stranded on deserted islands, the lone survivors in these stories face natural and supernatural obstacles. The horrors that they encounter will change them permanently or end their lives. Who will succumb to the terror of their island, and who will escape with their life?
Stranded is a handful of horror stories centered on the idea of being stranded alone on an island. None of the tales stands out. Each suffers from varying degrees of expository prose nestled into otherwise generally workable dark tales. It feels as though the reader can’t be trusted to understand and it’s very frustrating - especially in light of the fact that there’s little more than a grotesque vignette at the heart of each of these. The Immunity Idol is strange and interesting and grotesque. Then, it basically closes with a soliloquy explaining, like an orientation video, the whole why of the situation. Each entry has similar moments that just clunk into place and jar you out of the narrative.
Three stars because none of it’s terrible but none of it quite shines either. FYI: this is very short. 40 pages on my phone in iBooks.
A short book of very short stories, a thousand words or less. There were a couple good ones and a couple that were not for me. If you have thirty minutes or so to spare give it a try.