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Daguerreotype Dreams and other stories: 14 Dark Tales of the Civil War: Volume One
* A man sees the future demise of each person he photographs. Each portrait of death is etched upon his mind, driving him insane. He locks himself away in his room, hoping to never again lay eyes upon another human being . . . Will he see his own death coming?
* Two men simply desire to peacefully bed down at a farmhouse for the night, only to have a web of terror woven around them.
* A plan gone awry results in a casket getting buried. The man trapped within is still alive.
* Pondering his own death, an emaciated man awaits the monster that will devour him. He imagines he feels its claws, the tug on his pants leg. Is it his imagination?
These and other stories await in this collection of 14 Dark Tales of the Civil War, Volume One: Daguerreotype Dreams and other stories. . .
* Two men simply desire to peacefully bed down at a farmhouse for the night, only to have a web of terror woven around them.
* A plan gone awry results in a casket getting buried. The man trapped within is still alive.
* Pondering his own death, an emaciated man awaits the monster that will devour him. He imagines he feels its claws, the tug on his pants leg. Is it his imagination?
These and other stories await in this collection of 14 Dark Tales of the Civil War, Volume One: Daguerreotype Dreams and other stories. . .
- GenresHorror
167 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 14, 2019
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1079 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 1, 2020
Here we are with 12 stories on the Civil War. Narration and prose are great, no doubt about it, but somehow you expect more after titles like "Sabre in the Road", "House of Unspeakable Things" or "Of Mice and Men" (had to think about the Steinbeck novella of course). The stories here were well told but for my taste a bit long winded and not that eerie as I had expected. With regard to the cover I had thought about hair raising entanglements between Unionists and Confederates but here was only a whiff of Bierce or Hawthorne. The author is gifted but maybe he should focus a bit more on intriguing elements. For avid readers of Civil War stories definitely recommended!
November 16, 2020
Ok, sometimes, I am dumb and I thought this was nonfiction. That was my mistake. BUT I decided to read it in the morning to avoid being terrified before bed once I realized it was a scary story collection.
This brought to mind collection like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and that was actually fine. I thought it was interesting to have these set during the Civil War (I have had some weird experiences at Civil War battlegrounds, so I thought it seemed fitting to tell scary stories from that time).
These stories weren't terrifying. I was able to read them with little issue. (There was one about spiders that I just skimmed because that's just a phobia of mine and I COULD NOT). There were some recurring characters (I think I noticed a few and I was unsure about a couple but I decided that they were connected). The author mentions working on a novel featuring these characters and I think I would be interested in reading a horror-type novel featuring some of the people we met. Some of the stories left me with questions, and I think that is fine because maybe they will be answered later and if they aren't, then I have something to think about.
Overall, this was a short but enjoyable read.
This brought to mind collection like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and that was actually fine. I thought it was interesting to have these set during the Civil War (I have had some weird experiences at Civil War battlegrounds, so I thought it seemed fitting to tell scary stories from that time).
These stories weren't terrifying. I was able to read them with little issue. (There was one about spiders that I just skimmed because that's just a phobia of mine and I COULD NOT). There were some recurring characters (I think I noticed a few and I was unsure about a couple but I decided that they were connected). The author mentions working on a novel featuring these characters and I think I would be interested in reading a horror-type novel featuring some of the people we met. Some of the stories left me with questions, and I think that is fine because maybe they will be answered later and if they aren't, then I have something to think about.
Overall, this was a short but enjoyable read.
April 30, 2023
My thanks to Goodreads for an advance copy of this book of horror short stories set in the Civil War era of the United States.
Brother versus brother. Countryman versus countryman. A nation at war with itself, fighting for soul of America. The American Civil War, hopefully not the first, is a very creative event for many writers and their imaginations. For horror, it is a rich soil, a loam made of blood, pain, cruelty, failed dreams, and even worse broken promises. Where the dead don't sleep deep, and the after dead still roam in the shadows. Daguerreotype Dreams and other stories: 14 Dark Tales of the Civil War: Volume One by Mark Stattelman is a collection of dark tales set during and after the war, of ghosts, vengeance, anger, hate, sadness and pain.
The stories are more Ambrose Bierce as mentioned in the forward or even Algernon Blackwood, with their feeling of disquiet and wrongness that permeates the tales. Stories that ply on creepiness and what could be hidden in the darks of a locked stable, or an abandoned farmhouse. Spiders crawling and a saber placed at a crossroads. Around the fire tales. The writing is good, with strong sense of place and a good pace that leads up to the denouement. Some of these tales are part of a larger work, one still in the editing stage, and one that I would be interested in reading. A very nice collection, especially for those who enjoy stories of the Civil War and the dead that haunt the battlefields.
Brother versus brother. Countryman versus countryman. A nation at war with itself, fighting for soul of America. The American Civil War, hopefully not the first, is a very creative event for many writers and their imaginations. For horror, it is a rich soil, a loam made of blood, pain, cruelty, failed dreams, and even worse broken promises. Where the dead don't sleep deep, and the after dead still roam in the shadows. Daguerreotype Dreams and other stories: 14 Dark Tales of the Civil War: Volume One by Mark Stattelman is a collection of dark tales set during and after the war, of ghosts, vengeance, anger, hate, sadness and pain.
The stories are more Ambrose Bierce as mentioned in the forward or even Algernon Blackwood, with their feeling of disquiet and wrongness that permeates the tales. Stories that ply on creepiness and what could be hidden in the darks of a locked stable, or an abandoned farmhouse. Spiders crawling and a saber placed at a crossroads. Around the fire tales. The writing is good, with strong sense of place and a good pace that leads up to the denouement. Some of these tales are part of a larger work, one still in the editing stage, and one that I would be interested in reading. A very nice collection, especially for those who enjoy stories of the Civil War and the dead that haunt the battlefields.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews