The Horror Collection: Silver Edition

The Horror Collection #5

by Kevin J. Kennedy, Steve Stred, Lex H. Jones

Book 5 in the Horror Collection series

Contains stories by Steve Stred, Kevin J. Kennedy, Lex H. Jones. Edward Lee & Calvin Demmer

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

99 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 27, 2020

About the author

Kevin J. Kennedy is a Scottish horror author known for his fast-paced storytelling, dark humor, and unforgettable characters. He is also the curator of the bestselling The Horror Collection and Classic Monsters anthology series.

When he’s not writing tales of blood-soaked chaos, Kevin champions indie horror, supports fellow authors, and dreams up new ways to keep readers sleeping with the lights on.

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not Enough Stories.

This book contains five stories that are all a delight.

If I’m unsatisfied with anything, it’s that I don’t feel five is enough stories.

The writers are wonderful. Some I have never heard of, but I’m glad to be introduced.

Pick up a copy. You’ll be definitely delighted.

Four fabulous stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Kim Napolitano · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic collection of short horror stories! Each story are by individual authors so it’s impossible to rate them individually but rounds out to a solid 4 stars. There is something for everyone, evil ghosts and creature features, one story in particular was a bit sad and left you thinking about the meaning of life, others had ancient realms and magic , very little that makes your feel fear is left untouched. I read this collection in one day because I simply could not put it down. Grab a copy and enjoy the weekend with some interesting scary reads. Enjoy!

[Kimberly Godwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was really fun. It collects 5 short stories with what I define as having a loose theme of "hidden truths". The Silver Collection runs the gambit of witches, ghosts, and unspeakable ancient horrors.

"Won't you open the door?" By Steve Stred - A strange curse plagues Ezekiel's family and he seeks closure before it claims him too.

"Hooch and Honey" by Kevin J. Kennedy - A broke teenager strikes out on his own and seeks employment from a group of moonshiners hiding a deeper secret.

"The blood-soaked branches of the Bullingdon family" tree by Lex H. Jones - A tree surgeon is hired to tend to an ancient tree with roots entwined in local legend.

"Death, She Said" by Edward Lee - A man with nothing left to lose meets a mysterious older woman with one last lesson.

"Forbidden Fruit" by Calvin Demmer - A group of poachers get lost on the Savannah and hear a strange drumming in the distance beneath a purple sky.

The Horror Collection: Silver Edition has a little bit of something for everyone looking for a diverse short collection to fill a couple hours of their day.

Many thanks to Kevin Kennedy for providing me a copy for a review.

[Jody · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Horror Collection

I think the best story in this collection, the one I liked the most was The Blood - Soaked Branches of the Bullingdon Family Tree

[William Bitner Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Kevin J. Kennedy has gathered some of the finest independent authors out there to compile yet another great collection of fantastic horror short stories. Within the pages you will find five very different but equally well put-together stories with varying approaches to the horror genre. A little something for everyone and a little extra just in case you needed it to get your creep on. Starting the collection is a tale of a family curse and a young boys search for revenge and a way to stop the curse before it stops him - followed by a bit of a coming of age tale and what a young boy has to go through in order to make it in his life alone and the secrets he uncovers - next we have a tale involving a family bloodline, an old tree and a local legend - followed with a tale of things that aren’t always what they seem, a search for truth and quite possibly eternal youth - ending with a safari in Africa that goes all kinds of wrong and them ending up with far more than they had anticipated. What you get in the end are some really creepy stories and some great entertainment.

Included in this collection are the following: “Won’t You Open the Door” by Steve Stred, “Hooch and Honey” by Kevin J. Kennedy, “The Blood-Soaked Branches of the Bullingdon Family Tree” by Lex H. Jones, “Death, She Said” by Edward Lee, and ”Forbidden Fruit” by Calvin Demmer.

Other Project by Kevin J. Kennedy: The Horror Collection: Gold Edition (THC Book 1); The Horror Collection: Black Edition (THC Book 2); The Horror Collection: Purple Edition (THC Book 3); The Horror Collection: White Edition; Dark Thoughts: A Collection of Horror Stories; Dark Places, Evil Places Volume II; Carnival of Horrors: A Carnival Themed Horror Anthology; Collected Christmas Horror Short (Collected Horror Shorts, Book 1); Collected Christmas Horror Shorts 2 (Collected Horror Shorts, Book 4); Collected Halloween Horror Shorts: Trick r’ Treat (Collected Horror Shorts, Book 3); Collected Easter Horror Short (Collected Horror Shorts, Book 2); 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles (100 Word Horror Collection, Book 1); 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles (100 Word Horror Collection, Book 2); 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles (100 Word Horror Collection, Book 3); 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles (100 Word Horror Collection, Book 4); Spooky Halloween Drabbles 2016; Hydrophobia: Charity Anthology for Victims of Hurricane Harvey; Spooky Halloween Drabbles 2015; You Only Get One Shot: A Horror Novella; The Queuing Dead: A Very British Zombie Anthology; Screechers: A Post-Apocalyptic Novella; VS: U.S. vs U.K. Horror; Made in Britain; Fifty Shades of Slay; Tales from the Braided Pony; Unleashed: Monsters vs Zombies Volume II; The Gatekeeper: A Kindle Short; No Place Like Home: Twisted Tales from the Yellow Brick Road; The Reverend Burdizzo’s Hymn Book; The Speculative Book; et. al.

[Lee-ann Oleski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Kevin J Kennedy for sending me a copy of The Horror Collection: Silver Edition, and you Steve Stred for making him 😜.

This was a great little collection of 5 stories that I thought flowed very nicely together. Here’s a breakdown of each one:


𝙒𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙧? by Steve Stred
𝙰𝚗 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚐, 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐.

When Alexander is killed and bad things continue to happen, his brother Ezekiel goes searching for revenge in an attempt to stop a curse before it stops him.

I quite enjoyed this one! I loved the story and the ending. Just not the snakes 😂.
————

𝙃𝙤𝙤𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 by Kevin J. Kennedy:
𝙰 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢.

A boy named Daniel decides to leave home at the age of 16, and when his money soon runs out, he has to find himself a job to survive on his own. When he’s offered a job in a bar, he learns of the secrets held deep down in the bars basement and what it is that makes their hooch the best of the best. Now he has to decide if the job is worth it...

This was a great story and I loved what was in the basement, but Kevin... I wanted more!
😄🧐😁
————

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙎𝙤𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙚 by Lex. H. Jones:
𝙰 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎.

A tree surgeon named Jenna is hired to groom a large old tree and while up on the ladder takes a closer look into a knot hole she comes across- “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘺𝘦”

I found the descriptions in this one delicious and delightful! What an interesting little legend with a killer, and unexpected, ending! I know I need more from Lex to read now... 😁
————

𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙖𝙞𝙙 by Edward Lee:
𝙰 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑.

“Go away. Can’t you see I’m trying to kill myself? “
When a man is getting ready to commit suicide, he meets a prostitute who teaches him some things aren’t always what they seem and learns her secret to staying young...

This one was interesting. And eye opening. And depressing. Lol. In a good way? 😄. It had a vampiric feel to it I liked. Overall an enjoyable story and storyline.
———-

𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙁𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙩 by Calvin Demmer :
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘩𝘩𝘩 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵

Some poachers hunting in Africa end up finding more than they bargained for and are doomed to an eternity of wandering empty lands under purple skies.

Wow. This one made me feel a sense of dread and hopelessness. 😳.
———

Overall I give this collection ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Rose Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read

A small collection of short stories that are fun to read. I enjoy reading Kevin J. Kennedys collection of stories.

[Lesley Oddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The length of the stories are just right. I have really enjoyed the series so far.

[Erica Robyn Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Horror Collection: Silver Edition is yet another amazing collection of short stories organized by Kevin J. Kennedy!

This collection was so much fun to read! It had tales that ranged from wicked creepy to totally bizarre; I loved every second of it!

Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

Per usual, here are my very quick notes on each story:

Won’t You Open the Door? by Steve Stred – 5/5
What a creepy tale to begin the collection! This is one of those stories that will make you nervous to hear a knock at the door during the night… I loved the eerie atmosphere and the really dark premise. And an old crone that hovers above the ground?! So spooky.

Hooch and Honey by Kevin J. Kennedy – 5/5
I loved this one!! I immediately felt for the main character and worried about what he was getting himself into with these older men. The alcohol aspect was interesting, both as the boy learns how to drink it and sees where it comes from. This is a wonderful love story with a bit of the bizarre!

The Blood-Soaked Branches of the Bullingdon Family Tree by Lex H. Jones – 4/5
Yikes! What a horrific tale! Poor Jenna… Right from the start, this one had a creep factor and it just got more and more intense as the tale went on.

Death, She Said by Edward Lee – 3/5
Yikes! How terrifying. I’m not a huge fan of tales that center around suicide, but I did enjoy the Christmas Carol aspect with the past, present, and future.

Forbidden Fruit by Calvin Demmer – 4/5
Oh, this one was so fun! I was so curious to see where this one was going after finding out that the characters are poachers. The ending was wonderfully satisfying.

My Final Thoughts:
This one was a quicker read for me compared to some of the other collections, but it still packed a punch! I absolutely loved it. These are definitely more tales that are going to sick with me!

I would highly recommend this one to fans of lighter horror, or for people that don’t read horror but want to try it out!

[Danelle Our-Wolves-Den · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come soon...

[Jim Glover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories

Kevin J Kennedy has done it again! Great collection of five stories that are just fantastic! Not a bad one in the book. Even had a story from Kevin himself and Edward Lee loved this it was great!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost completed this book in one day, leaving myself only one story to complete the next day I did so in a bubble bath. I’ve learned there’s less chance of hypothermia if you take a short read in there with you!

I really enjoyed this book, the first story is longer than expected from this kind of book, but with good reason, I wouldn’t have wanted that one to be any shorter as it would have been rushed.

It’s really hard to pick favourites in this book because I really enjoyed them all, if I had to put them into order of enjoyment I’d probably say;

The Blood Soaked Brances of the Bullingdon Family Tree by Lex H Jones – Jones never disappoints me with his writing style and imagination. I adore his work and have read everything he has available. This story in particular is one of my favourites of his short stories, the imagery and characters just slot together to build a beautifully creepy tale which will stick in your mind.

Won’t You Open the Door by Steve Stred – this is a cautionary tale which has definitely stayed with me, I was actually writing another review and realised I’d been writing a out this one! Very enjoyable and whilst it is longer than I expected it was definitely for a good reason. I don’t think the story would have brought its message home quite as effortlessly had it been shorter.

Forbidden Fruit by Calvin Demmer – utterly fantastic imagery that built as the story continued, this is almost like a modern twist on the old Adam and Eve tale. This definitely has a moral behind it and I’d love to read more by this author.

Death, She said by Edward Lee – a tough contender for the number three spot I liked the way this tale was weaved. Be aware of some heavy subject matter when starting this one but its nothing too strong, definitely worth the read.

Hooch and Honey by Kevin J Kennedy – a very interesting idea but one I think would be spoiler heavy if I tried to explain it too much. This is a well written piece that allows you to feel like a fly on the wall.

Again, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy any one of the stories, they’re all brilliant and it was difficult to even choose an order of enjoyment for them.

The imagery is brilliant throughout each story, they’re all wonderfully unique but the tone and writing styles compliment each other so much that you don’t want to put the book down, even though the stories are completely separate and you could do so.


I’m glad that Mr Kennedy has decided to continue The Horror Collection books because I do enjoy them so much, I’ve read collections I’ve struggled with before due to fluctuating writing styles and subject matter but I really think Kennedy has an eye for putting these things together. I look forward to more Horror Collections and will be picking them up so I can share my thoughts with you all! You should definitely be checking out all of these authors, and I am aware that a certain Mr Jones has his own collection coming up this year so I would suggest picking that one up at your earliest convenience.

[LORRIE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic

I'm loving these stories. They've been creepy and entertaining. I look forward to reading more of these. I'm also discovering new authors

[Kameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

(digital copy supplied by Kevin Kennedy for an honest review)


Won’t You Open the Door? by Steve Stred: As young children, it is hardwired in our brains to fear certain supernatural beings. As we venture into adulthood, those same unnatural beings still frighten us, whether in word form or on the movie/television scene.

There isn’t one supernatural being I’d mock with. I’d definitely not trifle with a witch. Dead or alive, they are powerful. Ezkiel, his brother and family, and even his best friend Oliver learned this the hard way.

Steve chose the right character to haunt the characters. I felt their fear. I understood why Oliver pissed himself. And I grasped why the witch struck out against Ezkiel and the others.

Again, I say, never f**k around with a witch, living or dead!



Hooch and Honey by Kevin J. Kennedy: Okay, aspects of this short story were creepy… like I would’ve gagged if I witnessed firsthand how the hooch was made. However, I think the story ended before it really began. Not bad though.



The Blood-Soaked Branches of the Bullingdon Family Tree by Lex H. Jones: Twisted, sick, disturbing… wow, Lex has quite the weird imagination. The plot and characters were 100% f’d the hell up!



Death, She Said by Edward Lee: As a person who’s contemplated suicide on several occasions, I didn’t particularly care for how this story began or ended. Everything in between was bizarre. Not my cup of tea. Sorry.



Forbidden Fruit by Calvin Demmer: This story wasn’t gory. It wasn’t your typical supernatural short story either. It was different, and that’s what I enjoyed about it. Man was really his own worst enemy in this story.


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[Ambrose Malles · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 Stars) It's good to be back to these collections, I love how Kennedy is still putting them out to this day, I have a long time before I'm through them all. This one was pretty small but had excellent stories.

Least favorite: Won’t You Open the Door? by Steve Stred
The title story was the worst. The strength of these collections is how indie they are. I get exposed to a lot of authors I wouldn't have otherwise. Sometimes, you get authors who probably shouldn't be professional authors and are just messing around or just starting out. And that's fine! This story was a prime example of that and just not that well written, in my opinion. It's not like I could do any better, to be clear. (Edit: Stred seems to have a lot of work actually, I guess either this one wasn't for me or I'm just not a fan of his work. Most of my sentiment holds true, this story still felt rushed and unedited.)

Honorable mention: Hooch and Honey by Kevin J. Kennedy
I was just talking to a friend about how cool it is that S.E. Hinton writes snapshots of life instead of stories in the stereotypical sense. Hooch and Honey felt like that, as it tells the beginning of a story. I think I'll always enjoy stories with objectively morally red characters.

Best Story: Death, She Said by Edward Lee
This was great, I'll be checking out Lee's work outside of this because I enjoyed this so much. I love stories that flip on their heads and this one pulled it off expertly in my opinion. This story isn't for optimists, be warned...

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read before bedtime. The first tale is a true horror, others more or so towards fantasy. And I am telling you, the guy who writes something about the "Tree" and that dysfunctional family, he definitely(80% possible) reads too much hentai manga.