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The Better Off Dead Series #1-3
If I Die Before I Wake: Three Volume Collection - Volumes 1-3
Thirty-nine terrifying stories that will keep you up all night and make you want to call in sick to work!
This amazing collection contains all stories from Volumes 1-3 of If I Die Before I Wake: The Better Off Dead Series. Enjoy stories of karma, fear, supernatural horror, deadly women, and retribution. The Better Off Dead Series delves into the farthest corners of your mind, where your deepest, darkest fears lurk. These masters of horror will haunt your dreams and stalk your nightmares, taking you to the edge of sanity before pushing you to the brink of madness!
This amazing collection contains all stories from Volumes 1-3 of If I Die Before I Wake: The Better Off Dead Series. Enjoy stories of karma, fear, supernatural horror, deadly women, and retribution. The Better Off Dead Series delves into the farthest corners of your mind, where your deepest, darkest fears lurk. These masters of horror will haunt your dreams and stalk your nightmares, taking you to the edge of sanity before pushing you to the brink of madness!
698 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2020
13 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
R.E. Sargent
42 books60 followersR.E. Sargent, the author of Relative Terror, One-Star Review and the Fury series, lives in Oregon with his wife, Sandi and their two fur children, Mason, a Bernese Mountain Dog, and Riley, a Chocolate Lab.
Born in California, R.E. spent most of his life living and working in Arizona, where he met his wife. Between them, they raised four sons. Talk about a lot of testosterone in the house!
An avid reader, R.E. fell in love with books when he was a child and the bug never went away. It was his love for the written word--and his admiration for authors such as Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Gregory Mcdonald, Paul Gallico, Donald Westlake and Roald Dahl--that persuaded him to write novels himself. Currently, he is working on the latest novel in the Fury - Scorned series.
When not working or writing, R.E. and his wife enjoy making trips to the coast and taking in the ocean air. Life doesn't get much better than watching the waves crash on the shore as the sun sets below the horizon. Well, maybe one of those drinks with the little umbrellas would make it better. You know what I mean, right?
Born in California, R.E. spent most of his life living and working in Arizona, where he met his wife. Between them, they raised four sons. Talk about a lot of testosterone in the house!
An avid reader, R.E. fell in love with books when he was a child and the bug never went away. It was his love for the written word--and his admiration for authors such as Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Gregory Mcdonald, Paul Gallico, Donald Westlake and Roald Dahl--that persuaded him to write novels himself. Currently, he is working on the latest novel in the Fury - Scorned series.
When not working or writing, R.E. and his wife enjoy making trips to the coast and taking in the ocean air. Life doesn't get much better than watching the waves crash on the shore as the sun sets below the horizon. Well, maybe one of those drinks with the little umbrellas would make it better. You know what I mean, right?
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 2, 2020
All three of the best-selling anthologies from Sinister Smile Press in one gorgeous, 700+ page collection!
Thirty-nine deliciously creepy stories all within this beautifully bound book. I must confess, I read my story first. 😆 If you've read and enjoyed any of the If I Die Before I Wake volumes, I highly recommend adding this collection to your library.
It includes these themes:
Tales of Karma and Fear
Tales of Supernatural Horror
Tales of Deadly Women and Retribution
It's the perfect read for the upcoming long, winter days.
Available now (on Kindle Unlimited too!)
Thirty-nine deliciously creepy stories all within this beautifully bound book. I must confess, I read my story first. 😆 If you've read and enjoyed any of the If I Die Before I Wake volumes, I highly recommend adding this collection to your library.
It includes these themes:
Tales of Karma and Fear
Tales of Supernatural Horror
Tales of Deadly Women and Retribution
It's the perfect read for the upcoming long, winter days.
Available now (on Kindle Unlimited too!)
November 16, 2021
Although this compendium book has the first three volumes of Sinister Smile Press’
If I Die Before I Wake
, I’m going to limit this review to the first two volumes since I had previously read, loved, and reviewed If I Die Before I Wake: Tales of Deadly Women and Retribution. In you are interested in my humble thoughts on Volume 3, please see that review. Spoiler alert, I gave Volume 3 five stars. It was where they were really coming into their own. It had some of my favorites of all time, like the stories by Bridgett Nelson and Mark Young.
Although I liked Volumes 1 and 2, they didn’t quite grab me by the throat and leave me shaking like Volume 3 did. I absolutely recommend them either in this collection or individually, if you are looking for some solid stories and probably some new writers. I liked the Volume 3 stories as a whole more. Lucky thing, because if you are thinking of getting this collection, volume 3 is in there.
Anyway… I’m going to do my best to reference some positive and objective thoughts on each story. I may have forgotten some details as it’s a beefy book and it took some time to get through it.
Volume 1: Tales of Karma and Fear
First off, Flicker by Red Lagoe. I like Red’s stories. She’s been a mainstay in the SSP collections. In this offering, we read about Kira, a decidedly badass telekinetic/power manipulating kid who helped serve some justice to some vigilantes who had their spectacularly brutal fate coming to them. Nice!
Next, one of the SSP principals, Steven Pajak’s story, Second Chance featured karma in its purest, unadulterated form. The main character, Thomas is a convict. and a guy who got what others thought he deserved. But did he? Did he really? Hmm... Maybe, maybe not. Good story, but parts of it felt a tad predictable, which isn’t always a bad thing. Just an observation.
In Strigoi , Jane Alvey Harris lays out a pretty interesting and complex take on vampires. This is the scary type. Creepy. The kind of vamp that would gross you out to get bitten by. Not that it would matter because you’d probably be dead shortly thereafter, but you get my point.
Kayla Krantz had one of my favorites for Volume 1 in A Concert to Die For . Great plot and great images. A very creepy, be-careful-what-you-wish-for kind of tale. As a music lover, the ideas came alive and really spoke to me. Like when she has “Isaac’s heart leaked from his fingertips with every note. NICE!!
RJ Roles’ Dream Vacation was decent. The depictions and imagery felt a bit conclusory on occasion. But a solid sort of descent into madness type of story when a character starts taking his own “medicine.”
In What Comes Around , Eleanor Merry gave me a satisfying tale that wrapped up revenge, karma, haunted houses and ghosts in a pretty neat package. It juggled all those types of vibes pretty well. You got an unexpected player/character in this that made the story interesting. And although it had some “telling” in it, I liked the banter in the dialogue.
A Touch of Grace by Peter Rocha served up some major marital discord. I found both spouses kind of unappealing, but the husband, who did not love or respect his wife was the one you wanted to see get it. Good use of the theme in this one though, so that was cool.
With Charlotte Munro's The Melancholy of Finn Whitlock , you learn the darker side of "local produce" and a scary iteration of "farm to table."
The Deadlands by Chris Wilkerson, was kind of predictable and I was unclear in a spot or two, but this was still an enjoyable post-apocalyptic story.
Volume 1 ends with a story by Sargent, one of the SSP principals, titled Shadow of Torment . Damn this one was dark. This was one that was kind of scary-realistic as a kid befriends another on-line. I mean, what could possibly go wrong for all concerned in that sort of a scenario, right. Spoiler alert --
Volume 2: Tales of Supernatural Horror
Oh, yeah, monsters and ghosts and Cthulhu, OH MY! I have to say, overall I liked the stories in Volume 2 a bit better than Volume 1.
In the second volume, Pajak starts us out with At the Core Lies Darkness . Much to my surprise, this wasn’t about a rainbow. Or a unicorn. And no cute bunnies in sight. No way, dude. Pajak goes straight for the dome with making cancer a creature and a supernatural being that taunts some poor guy with a choice of how to rid himself of cancer. It gave a relatable account of the petty BS and power trips and the life of an unfortunate office drone. If I had one criticism with this one (and maybe it’s just my dark, dark, dark-ass heart, but )
And then, good grief, talk about a jerk who has some stuff coming to him? What the what? Take a look at Gerald Dean Rice's Dead Pics . Rice does a good job of portraying a seriously creepy dude with a lots and LOTS and LOTS of pics of stuff NOBODY should have. A dude who, anyone with even an ounce of conscience would conclude the protagonist needed serious professional help (preferably in a confined cell). INSTEAD dude exercises his mean streak. Pretty creative, I thought. This is another dark one that’s gonna show you how inherently bad a human soul can be. At first I hated the ending. But now I think I see it. Nicely done, Mr. Rice!
Jane Alvey Harris probably had one of my favorites in Volume 1 and 2 in Finders Keepers . It’s an “unreliable narrator” type of story, which I know some people don’t like. But this one worked for me. Except for the ending. I’m still thinking on whether I liked that. But a very satisfying story for sure.
Mike Duke’s antagonists lure some poor kids into an interesting but terrifying fate in Carnival of Lust. I encountered a few situations where I wondered how a character would possibly know something the narrator conveys, but that’s a very soft criticism.
Kayla Krantz’s I.O.U. drives home the point for those too morally bankrupt to know this in advance, but for said morally bankrupt humans, let me clue you in – the “Dark Web” – not a great place. This was an engaging and captivating (pun intended) type of tale. We have a character who willing agrees to become a serial killer’s victim after the killer, who’s starting to get up there in years places an ad on the dark web. I liked that this one had a nice twist to it.
I found Dead and Buried by Matthew Clarke a great offering in Volume 2 as well. It’s a weird and wonderful and terrifying tale of a guy dealing with loss, only kinda sorta not really. People go into the ground and then coming out as, well, let's just say something slightly more sinister.
RJ Roles appears again. In this volume we get his take on a Lovecraftian monster tale in Until that Day Arrives . Sometimes I’m not crazy about referencing specific mythos monsters, but overall this worked. It conjured every worst nightmare you didn’t even realize you might have if you were shipped off to an orphanage. My only other issue with this one was the ending had me scratching my head a little bit.
L.K. Pinaire then hits you up with something COMPLETELY different in Harvest of Truth . It features a guy in the late Middle Ages searching for his parents, finding more than he ever woulda imagined. I liked this one a lot because the main character
Alan Derosby’s story Kunk delivered a dark tale involving an imaginary friend to a poor young girl. Never in a million years would I have predicted the events in the ending and that made this one very enjoyable. I read this and cursed out loud, thinking, oh DAMN, that is BUH-ROO-TAHL!
Cassandra Angler offers a different, darker interpretation of childhood, what parents will do for their kids, and mealtime in general in her story, Withered . Spoiler alert --
In It Happened on State Street , Peter Rocha gives a sort of exorcist vibe with a kid and what I interpreted as a sort of demonic presence. This was a decent story, but maybe it didn’t hit me as much.
I found it fitting that Red Lagoe ended Volume 2 kind of like starting Volume 1, which is to say drop-kicking the reader’s butt into some serious horror. In Never Have I Ever we get a book group meeting gone awry when a couple of the members are gonna be REAL glad they missed the three friends having to distract themselves with an app instead of talking about their book of the month. If ever I need a reminder that taunting a goth teen who I know is into witchcraft is like poking a hungry bear protecting its cub, if ever I need a reminder that that a really bad idea, I’ll re-read this story. If I ever lose my ever-loving mind and think hey, you know what would be really cool as a middle aged person? Or dude, I so wanna relive some glory days, hmmmm… what should I do? Wait, it’ll come to me? Oh … I know, why don’t I take my middle-aged self and try a drinking game? What’s the worst that can happen. Never have I ever thought that a drinking game using a phone app past the age of like 22 was a good idea. But if hypothetically that happens to me, I’m gonna re-read this story again and then send Red Lagoe a thank you note for saving me a lot of grief and pain. This was a great story.
The collection has short bios on I think just about all the writers for all three volumes, which was pretty cool. And damn, guys, those moth graphics are creeeeeeeppy-ass good.
Although I liked Volumes 1 and 2, they didn’t quite grab me by the throat and leave me shaking like Volume 3 did. I absolutely recommend them either in this collection or individually, if you are looking for some solid stories and probably some new writers. I liked the Volume 3 stories as a whole more. Lucky thing, because if you are thinking of getting this collection, volume 3 is in there.
Anyway… I’m going to do my best to reference some positive and objective thoughts on each story. I may have forgotten some details as it’s a beefy book and it took some time to get through it.
Volume 1: Tales of Karma and Fear
First off, Flicker by Red Lagoe. I like Red’s stories. She’s been a mainstay in the SSP collections. In this offering, we read about Kira, a decidedly badass telekinetic/power manipulating kid who helped serve some justice to some vigilantes who had their spectacularly brutal fate coming to them. Nice!
Next, one of the SSP principals, Steven Pajak’s story, Second Chance featured karma in its purest, unadulterated form. The main character, Thomas is a convict. and a guy who got what others thought he deserved. But did he? Did he really? Hmm... Maybe, maybe not. Good story, but parts of it felt a tad predictable, which isn’t always a bad thing. Just an observation.
In Strigoi , Jane Alvey Harris lays out a pretty interesting and complex take on vampires. This is the scary type. Creepy. The kind of vamp that would gross you out to get bitten by. Not that it would matter because you’d probably be dead shortly thereafter, but you get my point.
Kayla Krantz had one of my favorites for Volume 1 in A Concert to Die For . Great plot and great images. A very creepy, be-careful-what-you-wish-for kind of tale. As a music lover, the ideas came alive and really spoke to me. Like when she has “Isaac’s heart leaked from his fingertips with every note. NICE!!
RJ Roles’ Dream Vacation was decent. The depictions and imagery felt a bit conclusory on occasion. But a solid sort of descent into madness type of story when a character starts taking his own “medicine.”
In What Comes Around , Eleanor Merry gave me a satisfying tale that wrapped up revenge, karma, haunted houses and ghosts in a pretty neat package. It juggled all those types of vibes pretty well. You got an unexpected player/character in this that made the story interesting. And although it had some “telling” in it, I liked the banter in the dialogue.
A Touch of Grace by Peter Rocha served up some major marital discord. I found both spouses kind of unappealing, but the husband, who did not love or respect his wife was the one you wanted to see get it. Good use of the theme in this one though, so that was cool.
With Charlotte Munro's The Melancholy of Finn Whitlock , you learn the darker side of "local produce" and a scary iteration of "farm to table."
The Deadlands by Chris Wilkerson, was kind of predictable and I was unclear in a spot or two, but this was still an enjoyable post-apocalyptic story.
Volume 1 ends with a story by Sargent, one of the SSP principals, titled Shadow of Torment . Damn this one was dark. This was one that was kind of scary-realistic as a kid befriends another on-line. I mean, what could possibly go wrong for all concerned in that sort of a scenario, right. Spoiler alert --
Volume 2: Tales of Supernatural Horror
Oh, yeah, monsters and ghosts and Cthulhu, OH MY! I have to say, overall I liked the stories in Volume 2 a bit better than Volume 1.
In the second volume, Pajak starts us out with At the Core Lies Darkness . Much to my surprise, this wasn’t about a rainbow. Or a unicorn. And no cute bunnies in sight. No way, dude. Pajak goes straight for the dome with making cancer a creature and a supernatural being that taunts some poor guy with a choice of how to rid himself of cancer. It gave a relatable account of the petty BS and power trips and the life of an unfortunate office drone. If I had one criticism with this one (and maybe it’s just my dark, dark, dark-ass heart, but )
And then, good grief, talk about a jerk who has some stuff coming to him? What the what? Take a look at Gerald Dean Rice's Dead Pics . Rice does a good job of portraying a seriously creepy dude with a lots and LOTS and LOTS of pics of stuff NOBODY should have. A dude who, anyone with even an ounce of conscience would conclude the protagonist needed serious professional help (preferably in a confined cell). INSTEAD dude exercises his mean streak. Pretty creative, I thought. This is another dark one that’s gonna show you how inherently bad a human soul can be. At first I hated the ending. But now I think I see it. Nicely done, Mr. Rice!
Jane Alvey Harris probably had one of my favorites in Volume 1 and 2 in Finders Keepers . It’s an “unreliable narrator” type of story, which I know some people don’t like. But this one worked for me. Except for the ending. I’m still thinking on whether I liked that. But a very satisfying story for sure.
Mike Duke’s antagonists lure some poor kids into an interesting but terrifying fate in Carnival of Lust. I encountered a few situations where I wondered how a character would possibly know something the narrator conveys, but that’s a very soft criticism.
Kayla Krantz’s I.O.U. drives home the point for those too morally bankrupt to know this in advance, but for said morally bankrupt humans, let me clue you in – the “Dark Web” – not a great place. This was an engaging and captivating (pun intended) type of tale. We have a character who willing agrees to become a serial killer’s victim after the killer, who’s starting to get up there in years places an ad on the dark web. I liked that this one had a nice twist to it.
I found Dead and Buried by Matthew Clarke a great offering in Volume 2 as well. It’s a weird and wonderful and terrifying tale of a guy dealing with loss, only kinda sorta not really. People go into the ground and then coming out as, well, let's just say something slightly more sinister.
RJ Roles appears again. In this volume we get his take on a Lovecraftian monster tale in Until that Day Arrives . Sometimes I’m not crazy about referencing specific mythos monsters, but overall this worked. It conjured every worst nightmare you didn’t even realize you might have if you were shipped off to an orphanage. My only other issue with this one was the ending had me scratching my head a little bit.
L.K. Pinaire then hits you up with something COMPLETELY different in Harvest of Truth . It features a guy in the late Middle Ages searching for his parents, finding more than he ever woulda imagined. I liked this one a lot because the main character
Alan Derosby’s story Kunk delivered a dark tale involving an imaginary friend to a poor young girl. Never in a million years would I have predicted the events in the ending and that made this one very enjoyable. I read this and cursed out loud, thinking, oh DAMN, that is BUH-ROO-TAHL!
Cassandra Angler offers a different, darker interpretation of childhood, what parents will do for their kids, and mealtime in general in her story, Withered . Spoiler alert --
In It Happened on State Street , Peter Rocha gives a sort of exorcist vibe with a kid and what I interpreted as a sort of demonic presence. This was a decent story, but maybe it didn’t hit me as much.
I found it fitting that Red Lagoe ended Volume 2 kind of like starting Volume 1, which is to say drop-kicking the reader’s butt into some serious horror. In Never Have I Ever we get a book group meeting gone awry when a couple of the members are gonna be REAL glad they missed the three friends having to distract themselves with an app instead of talking about their book of the month. If ever I need a reminder that taunting a goth teen who I know is into witchcraft is like poking a hungry bear protecting its cub, if ever I need a reminder that that a really bad idea, I’ll re-read this story. If I ever lose my ever-loving mind and think hey, you know what would be really cool as a middle aged person? Or dude, I so wanna relive some glory days, hmmmm… what should I do? Wait, it’ll come to me? Oh … I know, why don’t I take my middle-aged self and try a drinking game? What’s the worst that can happen. Never have I ever thought that a drinking game using a phone app past the age of like 22 was a good idea. But if hypothetically that happens to me, I’m gonna re-read this story again and then send Red Lagoe a thank you note for saving me a lot of grief and pain. This was a great story.
The collection has short bios on I think just about all the writers for all three volumes, which was pretty cool. And damn, guys, those moth graphics are creeeeeeeppy-ass good.
January 9, 2021
I had read Volume 3 previously, but the first two volumes are great too! This is an excellent collection of short horror stories. It took me awhile to read, but I definitely recommend this to everyone.
January 13, 2025
I'd describe the entire 3 volumes as “Just one more” For example, Political Suicide had me so excited when I saw where it was leading. I had to keep reading despite having things to do. I thought it best I highlight the stories I loved instead of reviewing 100 stories. Some I wished were full novels. I love when that happens.
Flicker by Red Lagoe - A father and daughter share a telepathic bond no matter the distance.
What Comes Around by Elanor Merry - Upon receiving an inheritance, Sharon moves into her dream home to start anew, and the house is just as determined to help her.
Never Have I Ever by Red Lagoe - A group of friends gets together for book club and are forced into a game of “Never Have I Ever”
The Long December by Steven Pajak - A woman, a wife, a mother finds out she's about to be let go after a successful career and dies of suicide. Her devastated husband and daughter try to process.
Take Heart My Child by Cara Fox - A brutal yet touching post-apocalyptic tale. After a global outbreak, most of humanity is dead. Those left have turned savage in order to survive. A lone woman hunts for her daughters.
Sign Followers by Chris Contreras Bahnsen - Set within a backwater town, a recently widowed father grieving his wife is left to raise his two daughters and uses his religion as a snake handler to enforce his will.
Predator by J.H. Moncrieff - A cop and mother faces her worst nightmare when she sees a picture of her son's face on the dark web.
Political Suicide by Bridgett Nelson - A mother whose critically ill son dies after a politician cuts spending on treatments, faces her nightmare, 12 years later.
To Hell and Back by Mark Young - A female ex-assassin, with special gifts, goes to hell when her daughter is taken hostage.
I really did enjoy these bite sized, varied stories. I can't claim I was ever scared, but that's a challenge in itself. I will be reading the other volumes.
Flicker by Red Lagoe - A father and daughter share a telepathic bond no matter the distance.
What Comes Around by Elanor Merry - Upon receiving an inheritance, Sharon moves into her dream home to start anew, and the house is just as determined to help her.
Never Have I Ever by Red Lagoe - A group of friends gets together for book club and are forced into a game of “Never Have I Ever”
The Long December by Steven Pajak - A woman, a wife, a mother finds out she's about to be let go after a successful career and dies of suicide. Her devastated husband and daughter try to process.
Take Heart My Child by Cara Fox - A brutal yet touching post-apocalyptic tale. After a global outbreak, most of humanity is dead. Those left have turned savage in order to survive. A lone woman hunts for her daughters.
Sign Followers by Chris Contreras Bahnsen - Set within a backwater town, a recently widowed father grieving his wife is left to raise his two daughters and uses his religion as a snake handler to enforce his will.
Predator by J.H. Moncrieff - A cop and mother faces her worst nightmare when she sees a picture of her son's face on the dark web.
Political Suicide by Bridgett Nelson - A mother whose critically ill son dies after a politician cuts spending on treatments, faces her nightmare, 12 years later.
To Hell and Back by Mark Young - A female ex-assassin, with special gifts, goes to hell when her daughter is taken hostage.
I really did enjoy these bite sized, varied stories. I can't claim I was ever scared, but that's a challenge in itself. I will be reading the other volumes.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews