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Darkling Smiles: Tales of Brightness Darkled by #1 Bestseller Michaelbrent Collings

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#1 Horror Bestseller and multiple Bram Stoker finalist Michaelbrent Collings brings you tales of darkling brightness...


A family that wins tablet computers at a deal to good to be believed...
A man who is sent across the universe, only to discover the most dangerous world in existence...
A hitman who realizes that his greatest contract is going to be himself...
A man whose child has been targeted by a cult, and must decide what he is willing to do to save those he loves...


Michaelbrent Collings brings you eight tales of people whose lives -- and sometimes deaths -- have fallen into decay.


Tales of the ordinary and the extraordinary, the outrageous and the banal. Tales of lives bright, lives dim.


Stories of a universe fallen, where every happiness has its opposite, and every smile will be inevitably darkled...


Amazon readers rave:

"A fantastic collection" - Heather Escobedo

"A Must-Have Book for Michaelbrent Collings fans" - D. Hilton

"I was blown away by this collection of stories."

"I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves surprise endings and twisted tales." - Jeffrey C.

"Stories that will haunt your dreams." - Kimberly A

"I couldn't put it down." - Shirley

"If you enjoy horror, you'll love this book." - Jason

"You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll scream! What more can you want?" - E. Taylor

423 pages, Paperback

Published January 30, 2019

197 people are currently reading
76 people want to read

About the author

Michaelbrent Collings

92 books660 followers
One of the most versatile writers around, Michaelbrent Collings is an internationally bestselling novelist, produced screenwriter, and multiple Bram Stoker Award finalist. While he is best known for horror (and is one of the most successful indie horror authors in the United States), he has also written bestselling thriller, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, humor, young adult, and middle grade works, and Western Romance.

In addition to being a bestselling novelist, Michaelbrent has also received critical acclaim: he is the only person who has ever been a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award, a Dragon Award, a RONE Award, and a Whitney award: and he and his work have been reviewed and/or featured on everything from Publishers Weekly to Scream Magazine to NPR. He is also a frequent guest at comic cons and on writing podcasts like Six Figure Authors, The Creative Penn, and Writing Excuses.

Find more about him at his website, WrittenInsomnia.com, or sign up for his mailing list (and get a free book!) at http://writteninsomnia.com/michaelbre....

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Community Reviews

5 stars
55 (45%)
4 stars
37 (30%)
3 stars
22 (18%)
2 stars
5 (4%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Kim Napolitano.
307 reviews41 followers
July 29, 2019
This book was a gift from the author, my review is my own!

Welcome back readers with the newest book by Mr. Collings! I collection of short stories, novellas and a special story from before he was a famous author! This collection are stories from other anthologies so you may recognize some of the content and but this book has the pleasure of showing the authors’ amazing sense of dark humor in Kindled. Other stories are cautionary tales of evil electronic devices, bizarre magic and my personal favorites A Very Personal Hell.. a hitman forced to live his ghost life in repeat, alone forever until something happens! And the best! Perdition. I can’t say enough how deeply disturbing this story is.. on the edge of the biblical apocalypse, Ben needs to battle evil and avoid losing himself and his family as well. No spoilers! It’s hard to review collections as it is but this book is the straight 5 across the board and you’ll want to read this immediately!!
Profile Image for Vicky Peplow.
Author 68 books63 followers
January 4, 2020
A great mixture

A great book with a mixture of different short stories. Every story was good and didn't take me long to read.
Profile Image for Jeff.
302 reviews33 followers
July 7, 2020
This powerful, captivating collection is inconsistent, but still full of great characters and their stories. The first and shortest of the stories is worth reading on a Kindle e-reader if you have one available, and may alter your perception of ebooks forever. If you've read Collings' novel The Dark Lights, the short story it was based on is one worth skipping (not my favorite novel of his). The longest story in the collection, "PERDITION," is just barely short and unpolished enough to keep it from being worthy of a separate novella or even a novel. Overall, it's good collection of the weird that horror and sci-fi fans can rely on for nightmare fuel.
31 reviews
August 17, 2020
Really good book. Dark but not too dark.

I really liked this book. It's short stories. Dark but not too dark, not all of them. They don't all end with good triumphing over evil, which lets face it,doesn't always happen. It's not a perfect world. The last story, the beast who saved the people of the world is a moral story and warm and fuzzy. My favorite though was the one about the antichrist. It's one where good looses. So riske Mr author dude. I love it.
318 reviews6 followers
August 21, 2020
Thank you

I liked your books except one that I liked by it scared me. My father was a horrible man but most people thought a lot off him because he was a preacher. He reminded me of your preacher father. Tell you what you writing them and I'll keep reading them sincerely Christine Dunne Harlingen tx
19 reviews
December 18, 2020
Every single story is pure gold

Rarely do I find an anthology where every story captures and haunts me; there's always at least one weak entry. This collection does not suffer from that problem.
Profile Image for M.L. Roos.
Author 4 books15 followers
May 20, 2021
Perdition

Read this book. Wow, loved all the stories, and Perdition is a stand out. Wanted it to go on forever. It needs to be a longer novel with more fleshed out creepiness because I’m selfish. Great job!!!!
1,234 reviews60 followers
October 20, 2020
Unique

Loved this book. Each story is unique. They are scary. and make you think what if? Stories that are able to be made ito movie's.
Profile Image for Jay Ward.
104 reviews3 followers
February 26, 2020
Like an excellent & delicious box of chocolates

A great and very interesting, and at times powerful, collection of stories that will haunt your thoughts & dreams for many many years to come.
Profile Image for DeAnna.
60 reviews4 followers
July 29, 2019
I am all for some short horror! I really enjoyed this collection, and I'm always happy when authors I like collect works that have been published other places and make them convenient for my lazy butt to read. My favorite here was High Priestess, followed by Kindled (I'd love to see this idea expanded upon and turned into a novel).
And as always with Collings' work, don't fool yourself into thinking you know what's coming next. Chances are high that you're completely wrong.
13 reviews
September 6, 2019
An amazing collection of short stories by Michaelbrent Collings. A cast of amazing characters and interesting stories. The novella Perdition was by far the best story in the book. Reading MBC's short story Great Hope, which he wrote very early on in his career, is an exceptional story. Was nice to see one of his first stories.
90 reviews
July 30, 2019
A great book

I love short stories. So when I saw Michaelbrent Collings had a book filled with short stories, I couldn't resist. Each story was unique and suspenseful, enjoyable to read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspenseful, dark stories. This is definitely a 5 stars out of 5 book.
19 reviews1 follower
October 4, 2019
Read Perdition.

I thoroughly enjoyed these stories but Perdition was outstanding. The guy went through hell and just when I thought he was going to be alright ,Michael throws in this twist and I'm blown away.
Profile Image for Brian Enoch.
76 reviews2 followers
October 9, 2019
Great collection

What a great collection of stories! I really enjoyed Perdition, so many twists and turns, it definitely took me by surprise. I think there's something here for everyone to enjoy, great read!
Profile Image for Matt Shafer.
30 reviews2 followers
September 2, 2019
Book good!

Book good. Me like words in book. More words! Me like words so much me write words to say how much me like words.
7 reviews
September 4, 2019
Great read

Perfect for the supernatural readers who enjoy believable stories. Endings with twists. Well written and not easy to put down.
Profile Image for Anna.
8 reviews3 followers
December 14, 2019
Wonderful

I was looking for a good story to scare me and I found a bunch. I am now getting more stories by Michaelbrent Collings!!!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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