What do you think?
Rate this book
206 Word Stories
An anthology of 206-word horror stories/flash fiction showcasing some of the freshest horror writers out there today.
There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton. Our writers gave us 206-word stories, one word per bone. We, Bag of Bones Press, have selected and published 206 of these absolute beasts for your enjoyment.
For adults only.
There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton. Our writers gave us 206-word stories, one word per bone. We, Bag of Bones Press, have selected and published 206 of these absolute beasts for your enjoyment.
For adults only.
429 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2022
7 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 21, 2022
The debut offering from Bag of Bones Press is quite the feast of flash fiction - 206 stories, from 206 different authors, where each one is 206 words long. Why the obsession with 206? Bones, that’s why. This is Bag of Bones Press after all, and there are 206 bones in most human bodies, and so…206.
Credit has to be given for just how representative the lineup for this one; it features authors from quite literally all over the world, and a real range of experiences - from authors with multiple publishing credits to their name already all the way down to those making their debuts here. There is so much to get your teeth stuck into here, and it’s impressive to see just how much can be done with only 206 words. After all, that really isn’t very long at all - heck, some of the author bios in here were probably pushing 200 words themselves! But, using just 206 words there are stories here that are literary, funny, haunting, violent, creepy…even one for kids (sort of)! There were also a couple that made me so unsettled I would genuinely be scared to meet the authors in real life because their stories just made me go…NOPE.
Unsurprisingly from a collection with 206 stories in it, not everything here was a hit for me, but I’d say comfortably more than half I liked plenty. My true standouts were the tales by: Guan Un, Charlie Brigden, R D Doan, Alison Long, M Roanoke, Riley Odell, Andy Spearman, Kathryn Tennison, Jack Harding, Corey Farrenkopf, Cyndi Gradel, Kim King, Julia LaFond, and Rosie Cullen.
My only advice with this collection would be to snack on it lightly - a little nibble here and there so you can really savour a couple of stories at a time. I tackled more like a regular book and powered through it and a couple of days and, with hindsight, it’s an approach I regret taking. Every word has likely been agonised over in this works, and they deserved to be read with the same attention to detail. I’ll definitely pick it up again for a reread and will be taking my damned time when I do.
Overall, this is great - congratulations to Bag of Bones for such a strong first collection…here’s to many more!
Credit has to be given for just how representative the lineup for this one; it features authors from quite literally all over the world, and a real range of experiences - from authors with multiple publishing credits to their name already all the way down to those making their debuts here. There is so much to get your teeth stuck into here, and it’s impressive to see just how much can be done with only 206 words. After all, that really isn’t very long at all - heck, some of the author bios in here were probably pushing 200 words themselves! But, using just 206 words there are stories here that are literary, funny, haunting, violent, creepy…even one for kids (sort of)! There were also a couple that made me so unsettled I would genuinely be scared to meet the authors in real life because their stories just made me go…NOPE.
Unsurprisingly from a collection with 206 stories in it, not everything here was a hit for me, but I’d say comfortably more than half I liked plenty. My true standouts were the tales by: Guan Un, Charlie Brigden, R D Doan, Alison Long, M Roanoke, Riley Odell, Andy Spearman, Kathryn Tennison, Jack Harding, Corey Farrenkopf, Cyndi Gradel, Kim King, Julia LaFond, and Rosie Cullen.
My only advice with this collection would be to snack on it lightly - a little nibble here and there so you can really savour a couple of stories at a time. I tackled more like a regular book and powered through it and a couple of days and, with hindsight, it’s an approach I regret taking. Every word has likely been agonised over in this works, and they deserved to be read with the same attention to detail. I’ll definitely pick it up again for a reread and will be taking my damned time when I do.
Overall, this is great - congratulations to Bag of Bones for such a strong first collection…here’s to many more!
March 6, 2022
206 stories each precisely 206 words.
The variety and scope of these bite sized horrors does not disappoint.
The variety and scope of these bite sized horrors does not disappoint.
January 3, 2023
Bias rating as I am a contributor but can definitely say the other 205 short stories are all excellent reads.
November 24, 2022
*Full disclosure: I do have a story in this book.*
I was blown away by the amount of talent in this anthology! With such a limited word count, the writers still did a great job of delivering bite-sized horror. Perfect for people who don’t have a ton of time to sit and read. Some of my favorites were:
“Lithopedion”
“Jolly”
“Pus Trickles Out of My PS5…”
“The Horror of Oz”
“Florae”
“How I Turned My Little Brother Human”
“The Call”
“Serving the Clan”
“Jackie’s Homemade Height Chart”
I was blown away by the amount of talent in this anthology! With such a limited word count, the writers still did a great job of delivering bite-sized horror. Perfect for people who don’t have a ton of time to sit and read. Some of my favorites were:
“Lithopedion”
“Jolly”
“Pus Trickles Out of My PS5…”
“The Horror of Oz”
“Florae”
“How I Turned My Little Brother Human”
“The Call”
“Serving the Clan”
“Jackie’s Homemade Height Chart”
March 31, 2022
I'm sure I'd love it even if me and several friends didn't happen to be contributors
Read
September 28, 2023DNF. Way too creepy for me. Sorry.
April 8, 2022
This fantastically chunky tome contains an astounding breadth of bite size stories from writers across the globe. All the classic horror themes are here in re-imagined versions in addition to stacks of fresh new ideas to satisfy your need to be chilled/disgusted/terrified.
I particularly love that the anthology throws together brand new writers who have only recently taken to the craft and well seasoned folks with many accolades under their belts. This somehow gives the collection an honesty that fits the genre well.
It would be unfair to select any story above the others, you can't have a favourite bone in the body, for there would be no body without them all.
As a contributor it's probably wrong for me to award any stars, but the devil made me do it.
(knocked one off for the typos and poor typesetting).
I particularly love that the anthology throws together brand new writers who have only recently taken to the craft and well seasoned folks with many accolades under their belts. This somehow gives the collection an honesty that fits the genre well.
It would be unfair to select any story above the others, you can't have a favourite bone in the body, for there would be no body without them all.
As a contributor it's probably wrong for me to award any stars, but the devil made me do it.
(knocked one off for the typos and poor typesetting).
July 10, 2022
Full disclosure: I've written one of the stories included here! But, I'm rating it 5 stars because even if I wasn't in it, the other stories are all so good! And the book itself is lovely - well-proofed, well-edited, well-designed. So happy with my fat book of horror!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews