Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Dark Tales

Rate this book
A collection of 10+ dark, horror, paranormal stories based on ghost stories from India, you won't want to read these in the darkTwo men with dangerous secrets find that they have an uninvited guest staying with them . . .A cursed bride forced into an unlucky marriage . . .A mysterious child with an angelic face seems to have misfortune follow him around . . .In this collection of eleven very dark and twisted tales, Venita Coelho lays bare the underbelly of contemporary India. Get ready to gasp and cringe in horror as you have the rug pulled out from under you! This is a book you won't want to read after dark.· Venita Coelho is an award-winning author, writer and director. Her book Boy No. 32 published by Scholastic won the Hindu Young World-Goodbooks in 2016.· A paranormal offering that's perfect for teens and adults are fans of Anne Rice and Stephen King.· Perfect for teen and crossover audiences who are interested in the supernatural; for horror fiction fans and short story readers.· A horror spin on headliner news and stories.

184 pages, Paperback

Published May 17, 2021

6 people are currently reading
40 people want to read

About the author

Venita Coelho

12 books18 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
9 (21%)
4 stars
16 (38%)
3 stars
12 (28%)
2 stars
5 (11%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Avani ✨.
1,915 reviews448 followers
June 5, 2021
Dark Tales by Venita Coelho is a collection of eleven ghost stories from across India. All the stories are very dark and twisted. The stories need with topics from various walks of Life.

One deals with the lost children, who are suddenly dead by getting killed need only some of motherly love. Whereas one journalist finds himself talking to dead. I enjoyed both of these stories very much amongts others.

The book definitely starts off as very light and semi-gothic in nature, but as stories progresses it becomes very dark and strange at the same time. Some of the stories will make you question about a lot of things which we live by.

Please pick this up only if you are someone who reads horror and are okay with strange and weird stories and take it as a fictional piece of literature. I enjoyed the author's simple writing style and definitely would want to see some more horror books in future which are more in-depth. This one was just average.
Profile Image for Tiyas.
473 reviews127 followers
August 14, 2023
Colour me surprised!

Not everyday a collection catches you off-guard like this one did. Titled, 'Dark Tales - Ghost Stories From India', I went into the book with some preliminary reservations. I expected harmless stories. Cliched yearns at best. But the book surprised me with its range. Mounted on both urban as well as rural canvases. The stories were weird and creepy, some horrific, some distinctly comical. Essentially, a lot on the menu, for one to unpack.

Not every story is brilliant, per se. But for a commercial horror based in India, that too written in English, it doesn't feel like a collosal waste of time and space. How refreshing! Add in Venita Coelho's controlled prose and gentle writing and you have a surprisingly solid book at hand. The lack of Juvenilia is also appreciable, for it markets itself like a children's book but isn't one at all. You'd be startled with the use of curse words and mature themes.

I'd probably revisit 'The Lost Children' and 'The God of All Drunks' in the near future. Brilliant short stories in themselves. One, heartwrenching in its pathos. The other, much more horrifying yet being weirdly comical. Good stuff. It's a pity, the rest of the tales never reaches the heights of these two. The first story walks a tried trope and draws inspiration from 2001's Nicole Kidman starrer 'The Others', which is a mild shame.

Nevertheless, for all it's shortcomings, it is a pretty good collection. Will actually recommend, if one's interested in something short, pacy and well-written.

[3/5]
Profile Image for Reading_ Tamishly.
5,301 reviews3,472 followers
November 15, 2025
Omg! This is the best short story collection I have ever read… forget horror or not! Each story is so satisfying to read. Of course there’s horror, body horror and gore with lots of disturbing back stories. But you know you will love the disturbing ghost/paranormal characters than the really horrendous human beings in these stories!
Profile Image for Vidhya Thakkar.
1,086 reviews140 followers
June 17, 2021
a collection of eleven dark and twisted tales with the Backdrop of India.

The stories are super interesting filled with twists that will amaze you. The stories will make you think, will make you question, will make you curious at the same time.

Stories like it's just a thriller, The lost children, An interview with Death, are my favourite stories. Each story is uniquely expressed by the author.

The engaging narration and the crisp writing style of the author keeps the readers hooked throughout. Pick up one story at a time, each of them has its own journey.

It an amazing book that you are going to love.
Profile Image for Ishan Agrawal.
946 reviews48 followers
June 10, 2021
I have always been quite fond of horrors and thrillers .May be because very few writers actually try this genre or maybe because it isn't that easy to pen down novels on this subject. So when I come across this book that too by such a well acclaimed writer who has penned down so many popular daily soaps in Bollywood ,I couldn't stop myself. Also the🐧 publishers trademark symbol at the top of the cover gave me enough reasons to pick it up readily.

'Dark Tales is a collection of eleven ghost stories that begins in a normal fashion but takes a strange unfamiliar turn after a point. There are stories about hidden terrorists who find out that someone else is also staying with them . And then there are tales about a student of journalism who sets out to interview an ordinary person only to find himself talking to death. The book is surely going to give you a hard time in swallowing those dark secrets.

The best part about the book is most of the stories are set in the backdrop of contemporary India. It talks about the very infamous Nithari kaand to the equally ghastly Nirbhaya incident in NCR with fictionalized tales narrated around them. The writing is undoubtedly skillful and creates right amount of spooky vibes when one skims through them. A few stories I felt lacks depth but all in all ,this is surely a book to watch out for.
Profile Image for Riju Ganguly.
Author 37 books1,867 followers
October 1, 2024
These are not just tales. In my humble opinion, most of these eleven stories are truly exquisite pieces of darkness carved in words.
The unforgettable tales, that would remain with me, are~
1. The Lost Children;
2. An Interview with Death;
3. The God of All Drunks;
4. Selfie;
5. Ram Lakhan.
There are five more dark tales, each one of thrm tightening around the chest and suffocating the reader with apprehension. But it's the brilliant and darkly comic "The Good Wife" that creates the contrast and shows the full power of the author.
Loved the collection. It's one of the best that I have read recently.
Highly recommended, goes without saying.
Profile Image for Swapna Peri ( Book Reviews Cafe ).
2,212 reviews82 followers
June 23, 2021
Book Title: Dark Tales
Author: Venita Coelho
Format: Paperback

My Thoughts:
Though I am not a big fan of horror genre books, after three books I read in recent times, this book by Venita Coelho stands first. What initially attracted me is the second name of the author, Coelho!
I have had a great time reading the book, and I recommend this to every reader who read horror books.
What to expect from the story?
Expect a book that is meant for horror fiction lovers.
Expect a book that has simple language but heaps of horror elements in that simple words.
Who can read?
This is a treat to all those readers who love horror fiction. However, if you don't endure the excitement, I do not recommend the book.

How good are the characters?
Every story has such interesting characters that while reading, you transport yourself to the place and travel with them until the end of the book. But, you tend to run away in fear once you get the spike of the horror. This made me love the author's writing style.

How good is the narration?
Each story in the book is the best at its narration. When it comes to spookiness in each story, the book indeed manages to scare the reader. The characters in the story also join with each other to create horror. And here, the narration of small things around the characters is a must appreciated point.

How good are the language and grammar?
A simple, easy and conversational language is used in the stories. Though the writing is effortless, as said simple is the most complex, the stories carry many horror elements written in simple terms.

The below lines from one of the stories, Selfie, are the fav that gave me goosebumps.

The last photo made the hair on Moongi's arms stand up. He switched the phone off, heart thumping. He didn't dare take another photo. ' Kareena,' he said to himself in the dark, deeply shaken. 'What happened? What was it?'

How good is the author's writing style?
This is my first book from Venita, and I have completely fallen for her writing. She is a screenwriter, novelist and artist who writes across age groups and genres. She has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Bal Puraskar for her book Dead as a Dodo. Her profile makes me realize her writing skills are just fantastic.

In this book, author Venita used simple language to create spookiness. This is quite a remarkable work.

How entertaining is the book?
The book has eleven short stories unique in its writing and the horror element in every story. Although the stories are all set in the present India - cities, villages and small towns; the stories took up a different level of excitement. This has been my fifth book this year that comes under the horror genre, and this book is the best. The reasons are it is a collection of short stories, and the eerieness they gave was interesting.

Final Verdict
Spooky, eerie and impactful short horror stories

Rating:
4/5










Profile Image for Suyogaya Awasthy .
341 reviews5 followers
July 6, 2021
People fear anyone who differs from what is considered normal, and in a small town the idea of normal can be as narrow as the streets”. The line as stated clearly reflects the possibilities of having a perception replete with fallacies for most of the times they trigger grotesqueries which form the major basis of the book at hand
Delving further, the book at hand is of 130 pages and consists of 4 chapters. The first chapter is titled “Devdas” and as stated above one must avoid presupposed notions of considering this chapter detailing about a drunkard for he is something from beyond the grave and the author has started the book with an extremely engaging chapter for the story keeps the readers engaged and to a fair extent leaves lasting impressions on the mind as can be evinced from the part when both the characters stare into the mirror for all that happens next brings death and a sense of shock and awe in the minds of the readers. As we proceed further, the second chapter titled “Last Local Home” which features the story of Jai and Maya who were madly in love with each other and had flunked certain deadlines and what awaits them later on is just trouble in its grimmest possible manner. As the readers progress further, the pace still gets maintained and keeps the readers gripped till the end and simultaneously giving them their desired scares which many contemporaries have failed to provide
It is to be taken note of that, the author has presented forth a brief read that not only places before the readers a sensible read, but also gives them the chills for no doubt the book has its share of macabre elements but one cannot consider it to be in excess as too much of the same gives an impression of a forced read which does not remain to be the case here. The writing style has been kept lucid and the readers can grasp the attention to details. In addition to it, the author also points out towards the dark and concealed aspects of the society which detail its shoddiness and also many stories which feature contemporaneous instances The overall effect of all these elements make this book a must read for anyone who is into horror based fiction or for anyone willing to go for a good read and of the knowledge of what is to come for him
Likeable Aspect- A gripping 130 pages read that keeps the readers at the edge throughout
Recommendations:- This book is a must for anyone willing to take a taste of books pertaining Horror fiction
Profile Image for aarya.
51 reviews2 followers
March 18, 2022
📖 Book: Dark Tales
✍️ Author: Venita Coelho
📜 Pages: 171
💀 Genre: Suspense Horror
.
Started: 14th Mar 2022
Ended: 18th Mar 2022 ⚡
.
Rating: ⭐⭐/5

Dark Tales is an anthology with 11 stories filled with twisted ends and horror. 💀

Dear readers, ever felt that you simply wasted your money on a book? Ever felt that you simply gave your time for a book, just hoping it to get better, and then regretted it because it never got better? That's what I felt with this book. A waste of time and money just for one story I liked in the book. 😬

Venita Coelho is, no doubt, a great author. Because I decided to get this book because I loved her underrated book, Boy No. 32. But she really cannot write horror stories. Go ahead and read Boy No. 32 but never pick this one. 🙏🏻

I've noticed that the author likes to write about motherhood and women a lot and one of the stories, The Lost Children, based on the same, was my favourite one. As I said, the story isn't horror, but I like it cause I got very emotional till the end of the story, and that is the reason why I am giving the book 2 stars. Also the story Jaan is quite nice, based on the same topic, again. ✨

I would only say that this book does not follow the genre the author states it is of. 🙃

Overall, definitely not a book for people who've read authors like Stephen King and Agatha Christie. 🤓
Profile Image for Srishti.
352 reviews3 followers
June 14, 2021
Some time back I had read a story from The Washer of the Dead by Venita Coelho, it is a collection of feminist ghost stories and an impressive collection at that.

Writing scary horror stories is different than writing short stories that uncover the dark human psyche. In all of the stories there are fictitious supernatural elements alongside the the underlying horror and darkness of everyday life. Last Local Home has two teenagers, Maya and Jai, who sneaked out of their houses to attend a rock concert and find themselves waiting for the last local to Dombivli at an almost empty station. After they got on the train Jai went out for a minute or so to get a bottle of water but the train left the station before he returned. What follows is an abominable story with a great ending.

If you are a fan of The Family Man then you'll most probably like Devdas; two terrorists in hiding feel that they have a strangely curious guest who comes exactly at 7pm.

These stories set in contemporary India are wrapped in a tenebrous aura and surprising endings. I had an amazing time reading Dark Tales, and would recommend you all to get a copy too!
Profile Image for Salmaa Gafoor.
99 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2021
Horror Fiction is always a favourite genre of mine .Although its dark and scary ,There’s always something in store. This review is about one such book .

Dark Tales by Venita Coelho is a collection of short stories with horror as the central theme,The best part of this book is that it is based on contemporary India which adds more relatable elements to it .

Each of the stories addresses contemporary events taking place around us.Each of the story starts on a subtle note and as the plot progresses the horror factor comes into frame which will indeed shock the readers and send chills down your spine.

The language is so simple and basic that even a beginner will fall in love with the book .The narration style of the author is fascinating ,She has made sure to make it different from the other horror stories.

If you are a fan of horror stories this book is indeed a treat.Do give this book a read !Im sure you wont regret!

Profile Image for Somya Sharma.
69 reviews1 follower
June 24, 2021
This book is based on short horror stories.
They are fictionally supernatural stories.
It states that there are two teenagers Maya and Jai who came out attends a rock concert and find themselves in trouble later.
They are written so well, and in great language that you will fall in love with them do try them once it will keep you stuck in them
I read this book in night, and trust me i wasn't able to sleep without my parents.
The writing is in the way that its keeps you horrified till the last, and the suspense of what is gonna happen next.

Kids are gonna love this book too, and if you are a horror fan and aren't scared to manipulate things around then you must try it too. 😂
22 reviews1 follower
September 16, 2021
My Review:-
I'll tell what value this book holds within. This book is just a collection of almost a dozen unique horror stories. This book is just great. Writing style of this book is just amazing, storyline of most of these stories are just unpredictability and best and the cover of this book is also just, perfect. Now, let me tell you a little cons of this book, there are some stories which seemed silly and one story didn't even got into my mind. But most of the stories in this book is just great and some feels really horrific and exciting to read. I will surely reccomend this one to readers who don't want to engage them self in a long narrated story.

My Ratings:- 4/5
24 reviews
December 26, 2024
Ahhh the plethora of emotions I felt! The idea of fear really depends on one's thoughts and perspectives. And I think the author is trying to tap into that region. I'm absolutely a sucker for the eerie and odd genre of stories. Some of the stories ended with me sobbing, for example- The lost children or Janu. Some had me laughing like a lunatic at 2am, for example The good wife. I'm glad I got to end my year reading this lovely collection!
Profile Image for Tanushree Podder.
Author 63 books58 followers
May 27, 2021
I love the thrill that horror stories bring. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find well-written horror stories. Venita Coelho's Dark Tales, however, are sure to give you goosebumps. Skillfully written, she provides the right amount of eeriness to the stories in this collection.
16 reviews
October 19, 2022
Dark Tales is a nice collection of stories. Though many stories aren't dark or particularly terrifying. The twists and turns and the surprise endings make for a very interesting read. I enjoyed The Lost Children and Suhaag Raat a lot.
Profile Image for Nandini Agrawal.
101 reviews10 followers
September 5, 2021
Chilling and thrilling experience with the tint of Indian touch. Horror lovers should read this book.
The stories in this book can make a good short films😨. I enjoyed reading it😂.
Profile Image for Abhishek Mishra.
63 reviews1 follower
June 16, 2021
Only one story, The Lost Children is worth reading. The rest are okayish. Not anything new
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.