Haunted and Hungry

by A.J. Spencer

A mortician comes face to face with a nightmare. A man finally goes outside and discovers and has an unusual experience. An abandoned train station holds a dangerous secret. A crash diet goes horribly wrong. A man finally fulfills his dream of owning an amusement park and encounters something sinister from its past. Experience these five short tales of vengeful spirits, hungry creatures, and bizarre entities.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies

53 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 4, 2021

Reviews

[thewildreaderwithacat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haunted and Hungry, is a compilation of short horror stories with just the right amount of blood and gore. The stories reminded me of Goosebumps, which I loved as a kid.

I read the entire book in one sitting, in about an hour and it kept me hooked till the very end.

Perception and Carnivore Train are my favourite amongst all, they both had unique concepts and the execution was exceptional. I was constantly wondering and imagining how the story would go on, but the end in both of these stories was unimaginable and I was shocked.

I would like reading a longer version of both these stories as I found them really interesting.

I would recommend Haunted and Hungry to readers who are looking for a quick horror read. Reading this book has been a refreshing experience for me as I haven't read a horror story for a while.

I would like to thank the author A.J. Spencer, for the ARC, I enjoyed reading Haunted and Hungry, it was a good read!

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunted and Hungry is a fun little collection featuring some of my favorite stuff (clowns, the undead..). it's very short, it's there for a good time not a long time. The stories felt complete and not rushed.
Also, there's a demon train and if that doesn't sell you on this one I don't know what will!

[Todd Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

haunted

Great collection of stories. Great for a campfire. The opening story was my favourite! I recommend this book. Great job!

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of short stories that are all super different and original. You’ll fly through them and then you’ll want more!

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Horrors contained herein are quite inventive and imaginative; but the lack of proofreading [grammar, spelling, punctuation, switching character names] is annoying and distracting. With proper proofreading this short story collection could easily be a 4 star.

[P.A. Rudders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshingly original horror, pleasantly surprised ...

Though relatively short in overall length, a quick and ideal read for those enrolled in Amazon's KU program, this little collection of five short stories packs quite a punch. As quite a prolific reader, particularly in short-story horror, I often find the same themes and ideas repeat themselves, re-written time and time again like bad remakes of an old film, so it was quite refreshing to discover five highly original stories; yes they had their fair share of bloody gore, but never gratuitously so. The author did well in transporting me into the world he had conjured in each story, revealing the little snapshot or slice of horror in the protagonist's life (or 'end of it' in some cases lol). Writing-wise, they had just the right mix of narrative and dialogue and were well written in that respect.

If I had but one criticism it would be that, like maybe ninety-five per cent of debut novels and anthologies, 'Haunted and Hungry' would have benefitted from a few more rounds of editing and proofreading ... nonetheless, an impressive and entertaining debut from the author.

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll admit I was feeling pretty “meh” about this one through most of the stories. They had potential but needed a stronger editing hand, or they were interesting ideas that just didn’t stick the landing. The last (and longest) story, “Walter Whirligig,” however, was a lot of fun. Concerning a man who has just inadvertently purchased a haunted Wild West show theme park, I actually found myself really caught up in this one. It still could have used a better editor, but it definitely made me reappraise the collection. With a little more experience and some tighter editing, Spencer could be one to watch.

Also, check out that awesome cover!

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul (funeral director/mortician) was requested by the mother to leave the deceased son’s white paper Mache clown mask on.
Jeff (co-worker) was concerned about Paul’s demeanor.
There was quite a commotion in the lab.
It was the mask makers.

Paul watched helplessly as he was placed on the head of a mannequin. At least in his next life he would have respect for clowns.
PERCEPTION
I stood in the open doorway, watching as the sun went down.
It cast shadows over the near empty streets. I didn’t feel real brave going out there in the world.
It is nothing but chaos.
CARNIVORE TRAIN
The media stated the Carnivore Train tracks had left a trail of Mr. Joe Squatter’s body parts.

2 lovers thought they would take a romantic pictures holding hands on the tracks, when they were found they were still holding hands.
The pancreas is the tastiest part.
CRASH
Robert throughout all the food in his apartment.
The little yellow supplements, he found in an ad while reading Eaters Digest, sounded like a good idea for a diet.

The last of his free trial bottle was gone & the next bottle should have been delivered.
It never showed up.
WALTER WHIRLIGIG
The Showdown Summit amusement park designed for people who wanted travel back in time to the Wild West no longer existed.
Brett Williams was amazed at how many structures were still standing.
Brett called Chad (real estate broker).
He asked Chad about a character there Walter Whirligig.

I do not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing free books from publishers & authors. Therefore, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one.

An awesome book cover, great font & writing style. 5 very professionally written horror (short story) book. They were quite easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a huge description list of unique characters, settings, facts etc. to keep track of. They all could also make individual horror movies, or better yet a mini-TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is an extremely easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; Goodreads; MakingConnections; Making Connections discussion group talk; ARR; PDF book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Candace Nola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A.J. Spencer is a new to me author and I really enjoyed reading this short collection of stories. Every once in a while, it is refreshing to read something off the beaten path, a bit out of your norm, and a little bit on the far side. Each of these short stories hit that mark.

This collection would be appropriate for everyone from young teens just starting out in horror, as each tale delivers a small taste of terror, all the way up to older adults just wanting a quick read by a warm fire. Out of the five stories, Carnivore Train was one of my favorites as I found the subject matter just bizarre enough that I wanted to know more. Another favorite was Walter Whirligig, not only because of the name but the setting, an old Wild West replica town, intrigued me a great deal. I could easily envision the setting and would very much like to see a full story take place here.

There is room for improvement, such as is often the case with any new author. I did notice a few editing errors but not enough to fully detract from the story lines. There could be a bit more detail surrounding the settings or the characters but this can be tricky to do in short stories. Overall, this was a fun read for me. Short, to the point, nicely twisted endings. I look forward to seeing more from this author. 3.7 stars for these short, sick, and scary stories.

[PanOrpheus PanOrpheus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title of review on Amazon: A haunting story collection, ready to read when you are hungry for it!
Review:
The stories in Haunted and Hungry are unforgettable. From Dead Man’s Mask to Perception, Carnivore to Walter Whirligig the suspense doesn’t let up. In Dead Man’s Mask a funeral director freaks out when he sees that the face of a body that he was supposed to be embalming has a clown’s mask on it. A papier mache nightmare ensues, and a lifelong fear of clowns is revealed. The main character, Paul, realizes every funeral director’s nightmare by ending up on a slab himself. I won’t reveal any more. Each story is a gem, a star rising on its own merits. In Walter Whirligig the main character, Brett buys a dilapidated, run down, Western theme park that has been closed for many years and for good reasons as the reader will learn. Brett doesn’t know that Walter Whirligig will be waiting for him. Liz had kicked him out. He could go back to her, but…(the reader will find out). The book ends some teasing bonus material. Two thumbs up and five stars for a haunting story collection, ready to read when you are hungry for it!

[Katherine Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

How exciting to read such extremely creative horror, without even a single scene clichéd. In these stories, good people lead us into nightmares: a mother driven my love for her son, a recluse who might just be the only one who sees what’s real, a friend who’s a psychopath, a man who will stop at nothing to get his wife back. The main characters have real and compelling inner voices, and the supernatural too feels real and even intimate in its details, flashing like a spinning coin between the deceptively normal and the utterly terrifying. Reminiscent of early Stephen King.

[Feather Chelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and twisted tales

This is a nice collection of dark and twisted stories. Unlike books by most authors, you can never guess the outcome. I am looking forward to reading more from this author in time.

[Carolyn Evans]

Strange stories

Mixture of horror stories with the last being the best. They are all quick, spooky reads meant to entertain you .

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The diet pills one will live rent free in my mind forever

[Aura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, the stories were fun and all but the lack of editing made it hard to read.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stories were good although Walter Whirligig was by far my favorite! This is super short (50 ish pages) so a great read when you don’t have a ton of time and just want a little spookiness.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunted and Hungry is a highly entertaining collection of five short stories that were perfect bite size horror stories. It is hard to find a collection where each of the stories are fun and refreshingly original, not relying on the same tired formats. Even when I attempted to predict the direction the story was going, I was completely far off the mark.

This collection is perfect for the beginning horror reader in the late teens all the way up to the seasoned horror fan looking for some fun quick frights. I’ve seen other reviews that say that H&H reminded them of the Goosebumps stories and shows, and I agree, but I’d also recommend it to fans who were into the Tales from the Darkside series back in the day.

I thoroughly enjoyed AJ Spencer’s work in this collection, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.

4/4 Stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with a review copy of his book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.