Gingerbread: A Dark Fiction Short Story

by Joshua Ian

Miss Mona is the sweet old lady who lives on the fourth floor. Or, at least, that's what all her neighbors think. But the true soul underneath the cardigan is much, much darker than anyone would ever suspect. Mona is hiding some very disturbing secrets in her home. After all, everyone has their little obsessions, don’t they?

Includes the bonus short story “Spark."

Genres: Dark, Horror

30 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 22, 2019

About the author

Joshua Ian can easily be captured by a witty turn of phrase or a low-bottomed electronic bassline. If you manage to combine the two, then you have his heart forever. He lives in New York City and is a keen cinema lover and self-proclaimed Dark Chocolate Expert. When not staring at a blank screen and cursing the futility of life, he can be found watching cozy mystery shows, daydreaming of his future kaftan collection, or scouring used book vendors to accumulate more vintage romances and mysteries than his shelves are actually capable of handling. One day he plans to travel the world - to see what each country has to offer in the way of used books, movie theatres and dark chocolate, naturally.

Reviews

[Len Evans Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to this i had only read one piece by this author. The Harvest Moon was totally awesome but is milk chocolate dark compared to the two short stories found in this volume. While Harvest Moon was a dark romance, theses two are just plain spinetingling dark. Nevertheless, they were totally awesome. Gingerbread seems to start out so sweet and lovely... But the more you live inside Mona's head the creepier it gets. I totally loved how twisted and warped her mind is. Spark is the shorter of the two but no less impactful... in fact in some ways it hit harder with fewer words. Over all a duo of creepy Halloween fun!!

[Elisa Glendenning (mostly off-line)]

Too short to rate (2 stories in 22 pages) but I really like this author’s style. Just wish they were longer as I was left wanting more!

[Suzanne Hare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Mona is for all appearances a sweet older lady. But appearances don’t always show what someone’s true self is. And this is very true in Miss Mona’s case. Some evil is afoot. Sometimes your upstairs neighbour is really not so sweet.

This is a short creepy, well written horror story that sends chills down your back. It is well written and creative. I also enjoyed the additional short story added at the end. If you like creepy horror books then this one should definitely be on your list.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Billie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Mona is the sweet old lady who lives on the fourth floor. Or, at least, that's what all her neighbors think. But the true soul underneath the cardigan is much, much darker than anyone would ever suspect. Mona is hiding some very disturbing secrets in her home. After all, everyone has their little obsessions, don’t they?
Includes the bonus short story “Spark."

This has two wonderful creepy tales in this one. Both are shorts but they are truly creepy when reading in the dark alone!
Found both to have wonderful plot and story lines in them.
Well fleshed out characters that are going to make me look at my neighbours more closely and twice as much now!
I really want to read more from this author after reading these.
Recommend reading.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tgese 2 short stoies were interesting. The first is a version of the fairy tale the gingerbread house updated to modern times. I like what was written but the ending was left too much unfinished for my tastes. The second story was also good and seemed more complete. Would like to read more by this author.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightfully dark read this was. It’s very short so only takes about 30-60 minutes to read both short stories that are included in this book. Both are dark and a stark reminder not to make assumptions about people. I was left wanting to know more about both these stories, both the backstory and the future as the present was so entertaining.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Pat Eroh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very short story, written extremely well. I did not suspect what was going on even though I was warned. I love awesome short stories and this one is awesome. I wonder if I do not have a neighbor like Miss Mona. It seems it is very possible considering the news of these days where people are held for years while the neighbors never figure it out until one of them escapes.

[Annalisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about madness. I liked the characters and the storyline.it didnt take me long to finish this story. I would recommend this story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Heather Bane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great quick read. Well written with well written characters. Book also comes with a bonus short story Spark. Which was also well written. I recommend reading.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.