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Mandy
Mandy Fisher is not like other girls…
Awoken one night by a stranger at her door, Mandy reluctantly lets him in. The stranger begs for help for his friend Robbie, recently killed in a drunk driving accident. To make the pushy, distraught stranger go away, Mandy taps into her secret gift to bring Robbie back from the dead.
Her gift is more like a curse when Robbie turns out to be anything but the golden boy Mandy expected. Corrupt and violent, Robbie has an insatiable hunger for death and destruction — and he will stop at nothing to exploit Mandy’s secret for his own gain.
But Robbie soon discovers that when you mess with the weird girl, you get more than you bargained for.
Awoken one night by a stranger at her door, Mandy reluctantly lets him in. The stranger begs for help for his friend Robbie, recently killed in a drunk driving accident. To make the pushy, distraught stranger go away, Mandy taps into her secret gift to bring Robbie back from the dead.
Her gift is more like a curse when Robbie turns out to be anything but the golden boy Mandy expected. Corrupt and violent, Robbie has an insatiable hunger for death and destruction — and he will stop at nothing to exploit Mandy’s secret for his own gain.
But Robbie soon discovers that when you mess with the weird girl, you get more than you bargained for.
120 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2022
69 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Sparks
14 books29 followersRetro horror author Stephanie Sparks writes stories reminiscent of classic '70s and '80s slasher and monster movies. She loves scream queens, final girls, and the masked maniacs who stalk them. Her books feature action, thrills, dark humor, and sarcasm. She prefers cats to people and when she's not lost in a paperback from hell or listening to 1980s movie soundtracks, she's daydreaming ideas for her next book or writing furiously. She's currently working on her next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 18, 2022
Mandy is alone in the home attached to the mortuary where she works with her dad, it’s the middle of the night, and a stranger comes bang, banging on her door. He’s hollering and insisting she let him in. Carrying on like he’s the damn big bad wolf. Wary but wanting to do some good in the world after, ahem - a dreadful event a few years prior, she answers the desperate knock to find a guy with a very dead friend in tow who begs her to fix the problem he caused.
What gives this man the right? Le sigh. I know it’s fiction but UGH. Men. Sometimes you ask too much of a woman who was just minding her business!
Anyhow, she lets him and the angelic-faced corpse of his friend inside and uses her secret power to fix him up. Do you want to know what it is? You’ll have to read the content warning because I don’t want to spoil the rather gruesome surprise the sweet dark lord bestowed upon her young head! Alas, some men are greedy and NEVER satisfied and this guy (the not dead one) decides he wants to use her very special power for his own gain. Because he’s a rich, entitled dick.
From there, things escalate because this dude will not take no for answer and Mandy is rather meek and passive after experiencing something quite terrible a few years prior.
I’ll be honest here, Mandy’s passivity and naivety, even though it made sense, began to frustrate me about midway through but I'm not known for my patience. Fortunately, the book moves along quickly and is told in two timelines, so I never lost interest despite my little moments of “ugh, stop listening to that dumb prick!”
The book, despite its dark and heavy themes, has a breezy-not-too-serious feel and the ending was great and a long time coming! Yay, for that ending! Yay for exclamation points too! I recommend Mandy to people who like the weird but not too terribly graphic stuff.
I know you all hate the 3's but I think I’m landing on a 3.5 with this one and rounding up to a 4 for Goodreads.
Content Warning
What gives this man the right? Le sigh. I know it’s fiction but UGH. Men. Sometimes you ask too much of a woman who was just minding her business!
Anyhow, she lets him and the angelic-faced corpse of his friend inside and uses her secret power to fix him up. Do you want to know what it is? You’ll have to read the content warning because I don’t want to spoil the rather gruesome surprise the sweet dark lord bestowed upon her young head! Alas, some men are greedy and NEVER satisfied and this guy (the not dead one) decides he wants to use her very special power for his own gain. Because he’s a rich, entitled dick.
From there, things escalate because this dude will not take no for answer and Mandy is rather meek and passive after experiencing something quite terrible a few years prior.
I’ll be honest here, Mandy’s passivity and naivety, even though it made sense, began to frustrate me about midway through but I'm not known for my patience. Fortunately, the book moves along quickly and is told in two timelines, so I never lost interest despite my little moments of “ugh, stop listening to that dumb prick!”
The book, despite its dark and heavy themes, has a breezy-not-too-serious feel and the ending was great and a long time coming! Yay, for that ending! Yay for exclamation points too! I recommend Mandy to people who like the weird but not too terribly graphic stuff.
I know you all hate the 3's but I think I’m landing on a 3.5 with this one and rounding up to a 4 for Goodreads.
Content Warning
October 10, 2022
4,5*
Mandy lives with her dad in the home attached to the mortuary where they both work. That is already a very spooky scenario.
She is at home one night, all alone. In the middle of the night, a stranger comes bang, banging on her door.
She reluctantly opens the door and she finds a very stressed out guy pleading to her for help.
He has been in an accident with his best friend and he needs medical assistance. The only problem is that his friend is already dead.
Mandy feels conflicted since she has a special power, she can bring people back from the dead. But she also knows that it comes with a price and people do not come back the same way.
This book was absolutely brutal and disturbing. It has been the most disturbing one by the author yet.
I really liked Mandy as a character but sometimes I wish she would have made other decisions or fought a bit more for herself.
The book is a great fast paced macabre story. This tale about good and evil, a tale about surviving, will make you uncomfortable.
Perfect for: Those who are not put off by a lot of triggers like necromancy. It does get quite intense.
Mandy lives with her dad in the home attached to the mortuary where they both work. That is already a very spooky scenario.
She is at home one night, all alone. In the middle of the night, a stranger comes bang, banging on her door.
She reluctantly opens the door and she finds a very stressed out guy pleading to her for help.
He has been in an accident with his best friend and he needs medical assistance. The only problem is that his friend is already dead.
Mandy feels conflicted since she has a special power, she can bring people back from the dead. But she also knows that it comes with a price and people do not come back the same way.
This book was absolutely brutal and disturbing. It has been the most disturbing one by the author yet.
I really liked Mandy as a character but sometimes I wish she would have made other decisions or fought a bit more for herself.
The book is a great fast paced macabre story. This tale about good and evil, a tale about surviving, will make you uncomfortable.
Perfect for: Those who are not put off by a lot of triggers like necromancy. It does get quite intense.
December 12, 2022
This was literally one of my favourite horror books of all time. Short and sweet, full of twists and turns and a fast paced and gory premise.
I love how Sparks treated the subject matter related to Necrophilia. It went there but not too deeply and no shock value. The other tough subject matters were also dealt with grace and tact while being an integral part of the story.
Sparks is quickly becoming one of my favourite horror authors and I think she is vastly under appreciated in her talents.
I love how Sparks treated the subject matter related to Necrophilia. It went there but not too deeply and no shock value. The other tough subject matters were also dealt with grace and tact while being an integral part of the story.
Sparks is quickly becoming one of my favourite horror authors and I think she is vastly under appreciated in her talents.
August 2, 2022
Mandy is a misfit girl living in a family funeral home on the edge of town who discovers she has a dark gift. Darker than most of us would imagine. After the tragic death of her boyfriend, Trevor, Mandy inadvertently brings his corpse back to life by embracing his body intimately. Things take a quick turn for the worse, and after the funeral and a long time in psychiatric care, Mandy tests her dark power once more when Chaz knocks on the funeral home door one night, carrying the body of his friend Robbie.
I received an advanced copy from the author and was so pleased after enjoying the Stepchildren so much, and appreciating Stephanie Sparks’ style entirely. Retro horror, meaning a return to 80s-style horror slasher novels, is her specialty. Mandy fits into this in pace, subject, character and design while still keeping a modern tone. The way the characters speak, with insider quips that horror fans will delight in, is more in line with today’s readers.
The settings work in either era; the cemetery and funeral parlour swap out for a dusty barn and modern mansion later in the story. These settings are where so many of my favourite kinds of stories take place and it is impressive to have so much motion in a short novella and to keep the change of scenery fitting naturally into the storyline. No time is wasted giving the reader background on most characters with a show-don’t-tell style which leaves plenty of room for murder, mayhem, cadavers and a car chase.
Mandy’s dark gift; being able to bring a corpse to life with intimate contact leading to orgasm; could have taken this book into much darker territory. Necromancy sounds so much more polite, but at its once-again beating heart, Mandy has to perform a necrophilic act while not being a necrophile per se. On the surface, it’s a conundrum most could easily avoid, but with the threads of the plot pulling meek and mild Mandy along to these explosive moments of resurrection, I was pleased to find it was handled with such grace and the gory details off-page. The pictures she paints here needn’t be described as they are on one had taboo and devious, yet written intimately with those moments being deeply personal and romantic.
Between a casual modern writing style and a story of the weird girl faced with the horrors of her macabre talent, there is genuine tenderness here and attention paid to the language of death and resurrection. Still a retro horror with slashy action that I love, but with heart in all the places it counts.
I received an advanced copy from the author and was so pleased after enjoying the Stepchildren so much, and appreciating Stephanie Sparks’ style entirely. Retro horror, meaning a return to 80s-style horror slasher novels, is her specialty. Mandy fits into this in pace, subject, character and design while still keeping a modern tone. The way the characters speak, with insider quips that horror fans will delight in, is more in line with today’s readers.
The settings work in either era; the cemetery and funeral parlour swap out for a dusty barn and modern mansion later in the story. These settings are where so many of my favourite kinds of stories take place and it is impressive to have so much motion in a short novella and to keep the change of scenery fitting naturally into the storyline. No time is wasted giving the reader background on most characters with a show-don’t-tell style which leaves plenty of room for murder, mayhem, cadavers and a car chase.
Mandy’s dark gift; being able to bring a corpse to life with intimate contact leading to orgasm; could have taken this book into much darker territory. Necromancy sounds so much more polite, but at its once-again beating heart, Mandy has to perform a necrophilic act while not being a necrophile per se. On the surface, it’s a conundrum most could easily avoid, but with the threads of the plot pulling meek and mild Mandy along to these explosive moments of resurrection, I was pleased to find it was handled with such grace and the gory details off-page. The pictures she paints here needn’t be described as they are on one had taboo and devious, yet written intimately with those moments being deeply personal and romantic.
Between a casual modern writing style and a story of the weird girl faced with the horrors of her macabre talent, there is genuine tenderness here and attention paid to the language of death and resurrection. Still a retro horror with slashy action that I love, but with heart in all the places it counts.
February 2, 2024
After finishing a very disappointing story, I decided to get stuck into this one and I'm glad I did!
When strangers knock on Mandy Fisher's door in the middle of the night she doesn't want to answer, but they're persistent. And as soon as she lets these two guys into her life, everything gets turned upside down…
Wow. This story! I enjoyed the hell out of this ultra violent and totally wild novella. I mean, this story needs all the trigger warnings because so much of what happens is SO wrong. Not to mention how uncomfortable I was during most of it because a lot of the story deals with a raging sexist asshole who treats every woman with violence. But don't get me wrong, he's not limited to one gender because Robbie is such a despicable character. Ugh.
But you know what? As bizarre as the concept is, because Mandy's gift is quite disturbing, this was so well written I couldn't put it down. I was on the edge of my seat all the way through, and really liked Mandy. As wrong as a lot of what she's done turns out to be, I really liked her. I felt sorry for her because she had the worst luck and life wasn't kind to her.
This is such a great novella and I need to read more books written by this author.
When strangers knock on Mandy Fisher's door in the middle of the night she doesn't want to answer, but they're persistent. And as soon as she lets these two guys into her life, everything gets turned upside down…
Wow. This story! I enjoyed the hell out of this ultra violent and totally wild novella. I mean, this story needs all the trigger warnings because so much of what happens is SO wrong. Not to mention how uncomfortable I was during most of it because a lot of the story deals with a raging sexist asshole who treats every woman with violence. But don't get me wrong, he's not limited to one gender because Robbie is such a despicable character. Ugh.
But you know what? As bizarre as the concept is, because Mandy's gift is quite disturbing, this was so well written I couldn't put it down. I was on the edge of my seat all the way through, and really liked Mandy. As wrong as a lot of what she's done turns out to be, I really liked her. I felt sorry for her because she had the worst luck and life wasn't kind to her.
This is such a great novella and I need to read more books written by this author.
July 3, 2022
4⭐
This is an uncomfortable, fast paced read.
Mandy has a gift that she didn't ask for, but she will have to use it when 2 strangers show up in the middle of the night. There is so much happening in this short novella.
I really had this story ranked at about a 3.5 ⭐ for most of the read. Then I got to the end, and it ended at a 4 ⭐ This is a quick, jarring read about survival, and the true evil in the world. I have been eating up novellas here lately. Can't wait to get more from this author.
This is an uncomfortable, fast paced read.
Mandy has a gift that she didn't ask for, but she will have to use it when 2 strangers show up in the middle of the night. There is so much happening in this short novella.
I really had this story ranked at about a 3.5 ⭐ for most of the read. Then I got to the end, and it ended at a 4 ⭐ This is a quick, jarring read about survival, and the true evil in the world. I have been eating up novellas here lately. Can't wait to get more from this author.
October 11, 2022
I have admit that I picked this book up because I don’t find a lot of protagonists with my name, but OMG ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this story so much!! The writing was fantastic and it’s currently 2am I just finished because I couldn’t put it down!! Now going to buy everything Stephanie Sparks has ever written!
December 11, 2022
I'm not sure if this is YA but it has a teen cast. Upon the death of her highschool sweetheart, Mandy discovers she can bring the dead to life but so far all the deaths she re-animates come back mean and angry. After bringing back a rapist a rampage of deaths ensue. Not the greatest writing and has lots of dangling threads but a quick readable horror.
August 28, 2022
Saw this book on my favorite YouTube channel typical books! Wow this book was incredible! I love the 80s style horror!!! 100/10! Definitely will be ordering more books from this author! Scream queen looks to be my next one!
September 19, 2022
Absolutely amazing read. Cathartic for the weird girls. I wish there was more. I’m hoping for a continuation of the story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews