Traumatized

by Alexander S. Brown

In fifteen dark tales, Traumatized exposes the depths of human depravity and the dank realms of macabre. In a collection where the comforts of church are forbidden, learn of a depraved congregation. Journey the downward spiral that forces a morally corrupt celebrity to revile her ugliness. Experience the lengths to which a madman will go to keep his true love. Explore the world of maniacs, the supernatural, creatures, eternal damnation, and the occult. Beware . . . the shadows may camoufl age a culprit. Realize . . . that bump in the night isn't just a tree branch tapping at your window. Now . . . learn what it really means to be . . . Traumatized.

Genres: Horror

314 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling, to say the least!
"Within this book resides 15 dark tales, stories that do more than thrill and chill, that aspire to leave readers not only changed, but scarred. Prepare to be Traumatized. Author Alexander S. Brown explores the darkest recesses of the heart and soul to bring readers to the edge of the abyss, ready to see themselves in the hole below. (This book) exposes the depths of human depravity and the dank realms of the macabre. Learn of a depraved congregation beyond the comforts of church. Journey that downward spiral that forces a morally corrupt celebrity to revile her ugliness. Experience the lengths to which a madman will go to keep his true love."
I couldn't have said it better myself. This description of this book is absolutely perfect. Brown has a way with words and a skill with the English language that makes his reading not only intriguing but downright scary! These stories, although not written in the same manner per se, do indeed hold a reminiscence to the works of Lovecraft and even Poe in some instances. I think they both would be very flattered by your work Alexander.
This is the second book I've read from this author and I have to say I am beginning to really love his writing. His style is very simple and easy to follow. You can tell he puts a lot of work and thought into what is written. I am very impressed. In a world as jaded as we are it is very difficult to write good horror stories these days. But none the less this author seems to pull it off with flying colors. Well done! I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes horror or just a good ghost story 👻.

[Ravenskya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traumatized is a short story book containing 15 tales of horror, and nothing else. The reader is saved from reading an introduction, any sales pitch for additional books, or even author information. The tales contained within the book range from thrillingly creepy and horrific to mediocre. There are stories of serial killers, demons, vengeful spirits, psychotic cults, voodoo curses, and even a bigfoot creature. Where Brown really shines is in his haunted house stories. The opening tale – “Bloodlines” is one of the two strongest in the book. A tale of four people called for a “treasure hunt” in a mysterious house learn that there is far more to the treasure than what they bargained for. Tied for my favorite is the story “It’s all True” another haunted house tale that ends is a terrifying and gruesome way. Brown is in his element when writing about haunted houses. I found his murderer tales to be the weakest in the book, specifically “April” which seems to have been written long before the author really hit his writing stride. It comes across as forced and stilted with problematic dialogue and unbelievable characters. The final tale in the book “Zoe’s Swan Song” is both gruesome and familiar, one knows how the tale of someone offering to show a vindictive person their “inner beauty” will turn out. Other than the haunted house tales, “The God Complex” was very interesting.

On the whole this was a collection of horror stories that is well worth the purchase. The percentage of excellent versus weak stories is in the reader’s favor with there being far more good than not. Any collection will have stories that are stronger than others. This is an excellent short story collection that I recommend to horror fans.

Rating is defiantly an “R” with profanity, gore, sex, rape and murder.

[Jeremy Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexander S. Brown is a name that you should learn now. When the world learns what lurks in his mind and leaks out onto the page, he will surely be thought of in the same circles of Stephen King, Wes Craven, and Bentley Little. In Traumatized, his anthology published through Xlibris, he provides an escalation of horror and terror with this series of unforgettable tales. From zombies created by bad sushi to a model who performs her own grisly beautification project, Alexander Brown will keep you squirming in your seat as you continue turning pages to reveal his poor characters' unfortunate fates. Hopefully, the future will hold a more refined version of this anthology with tighter editing and a stronger publisher to push it to where it belongs...on the bestseller list.

[Hydra Star · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this collection Alexander S. Brown offers up fifteen horror stories featuring traumatized character that just might traumatized the reader as well;

“Bloodlines”, the tale of a group of people who win an overnight visit to a Civil War era mansion is a classic ghost story with a few minor twists. The story makes several references to karma and the past dirty deeds of the characters. This more or less sets the tone for the rest of the collection, as many of the following stories follow this same theme of wrong doers getting what they having coming.

April the title character from the next story in the collection, “April”, is a teen girl in her last year of high school who may or may not be losing her mind. She is experiencing nightly black outs and losing time. The only person to which she feels she can turn is her older sister who quickly tries to convince her that she has a personality disorder, but this answer just doesn’t feel right to April.

“The God Complex”, a gut wrenching story about a charismatic small town preacher who not only takes advantage of his congregation but also feeds them drugs. One woman it seems is the only person in the town that sees through his act, but will she have the courage to stand up to him? Or will she keep up the act of devoted follower in order to keep getting her fix?

“From Midnight to One”, is said to be the witching hour and one lonely housewife is about to get a visit from the witches in the woods behind her country home. This story plays on the old tales of witches out to steal the life of children and blood from other women in order to make themselves young. It is also one of the few in the collection where the evil is not overcome. For this reason I liked it, though it is not a horribly original story line.

“The Acquired Taste”, the horrific recounting of a family dinner out that ends in madness and murder. There are some aspects of this story that don’t seem exactly logical, but it’s still a fun read for those who like gore.

In “It’s All True” a paranormal writer spend Halloween night in a Civil War era haunted house, all alone with his confidence that ghosts cannot hurt him. Like the first story in the collection this one is pretty much a straightforward old fashioned ghost story. I’m not going to nitpick it, but there are some holes in the plot of this one as well, but they give the story a sort of urban legend feel.

“Live Through This”, is the story of how a stalker and his prey fell in love, sort of. Not to spoil the story for anyone, it IS revealed fairly early on anyway, but both of the characters in this story are men and only the stalker is gay. This adds a whole other level to the distress the prey finds himself in, but might come off as homophobic to the more politically correct and overly sensitive reader. I personally thought this ‘twist’ worked well for this story and it is one of my favorites in this collection.

In “Two Miles” a man takes a walk through his life as replayed on a desert landscape. It is revealed fairly early on that the desert he is in is Hell, though this truth is not believed by the main character, who writes off all the strange events and sights around him as him having been drugged. Normally, I’d find this kind of story, a deserved soul being delivered into Hell, to be rather predictable and boring, but the way in which Mr. Brown handles the recounting of the life of this soul is powerful.

In “The End of Summer”, the main character, Summer, returns with the man she plans to marry to clear out her great-aunt’s decaying house. The couple find a few magical surprised among the older ladies things and Summer’s future husband quickly becomes obsessed with the old lady’s collection of occult books he insists upon keeping. Throw in some pretty powerful displays of magic and an ex-boyfriend playing the ‘we can still be friends routine’ and the situation quickly begins to spiral out of control.

“Feast of the Pigs”, a story wherein the cops eat well and criminal are on the menu. This story to me has some pretty big holes in the plot, which were hard to over look. For example, how would five cops working in a large city be able to gain so much privacy within their station, which was describe as being far too small for it’s location. However, the gore level in this one is high and that makes up for some of this holes and saves it from being a waste.

“A Dead Ringer” is about a woman and her lover who together murder her husband, the town’s undertaker. It’s all a rather neat set-up. The lover and wife will plant the husband in the ground and take his money and leave town. No one will ever suspect that they killed him, unless of course he’s not really dead.

In the “House by the River” lives a man who with an interest in murder and voices in his head. It’s only a matter of time before bodies are planted in the watermelon patch beside his house. The only issue I had while reading this is why in the name of all things bloody and gore covered did the women in this man’s life continue to speak to him and go over and have dinner with him AFTER he showed up one night at her house carrying an ax and looking deranged? She was smart enough to hide outside of his view when she looked out and saw him that night, but she goes over for dinner a few days later like nothing happened. That just didn’t make much sense to me. Love and attractions only go so far.

A modern day Jack the Ripper is killing prostitutes in “Althea’s Last Dance”, but will he be smart enough to heed the warnings of the witches of New Orleans before the tides turn and he finds himself in danger? Or will he keep on his current path?

There is a monster on “Bliss Hill” that’s been terrorizing the farmer and his family who live there, for generations. The shortest story in the collection this to me was the most fun story to read. I found the backwater thinking and speech of Bliss Hill to be quite charming and a departure from the style and voice Mr. Brown uses throughout the rest of the collection.

In the final story, “Zoe’s Swan Song”, a darling of the music and modeling industry, Zoe, contemplates her fame and her beauty and is offered a deal by a mysterious stranger which she believes will improve both. She quickly discovers, however, that she’s going to get more then she bargained for and the cost will be much higher then she dreamed. This is also by far the most gory story of the collection. Truly the only one that made me squirm.

All together I found Mr. Brown’s writing to be imaginative and interesting. Though he does tend to repeat himself a bit, harping on certain ideas or emotions more then was needed, he uses phrases and descriptions one is not likely to find in any other writer’s work. This talent for word play is missing in a lot of what passes for creative writing these days and Mr. Brown deserves great praise for this.

[Horror DNA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Up-and-coming authors on a small press label are not unlike up-and-coming low-budget filmmakers on an indie label. Both have a story to tell, both are honing their craft and both make the most of what they have—filmmakers in the form of actors/equipment, authors in the form of editors. Sometimes the final product is great, sometimes not, sometimes a mixture of both. Traumatized, Alexander S. Brown's collection of tales of, well, trauma, is a mixture of both.

You can read Steve's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually finished this book quite some time ago. I just forgot to put it on here. Well I found myself enjoying the stories in this book! It was different but none the less I enjoyed reading the messed up and traumatising stories.

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever someone contacts me and asks if I would read their book and provide a fair and honest review, I always worry just a bit. What if I don't like it, I'll have to give an opinion in writing anyway, it's what they signed on for. It's for that reason, I prefer to pick my own reading material, that way, if I have to give it a negative review, I don't feel so bad.

Well, Alexander S. Brown, was confident enough in his work to provide me with a review copy of his horror collection, Tramatized, and I am happy to report that, not only did it not disappoint, it was by far, the best collection I've read this year.

Usually, in a collection of this size, you'll find one or two stories that just don't measure up to the rest, but not the case here. Every one of the 15 tales inside the covers lives up to the title. I would so not want to be the protagonist in one of these stories, as every last one of them is traumatized to the full extent of that word. As a matter of fact, the first online definition I came accross for the word Traumatized was to "Subject to lasting shock as a result of an emotionally disturbing experience or physical injury". Yep, that pretty much sums up the stories in this brilliant collection.

Ghost stories, a teenager pushed to the brink of insanity, witches, a cultish church, a paranormal investigator going it alone, and for me, the best of the bunch, "Zoe's Swan Song", the story of Zoe Michelle Byrnes, a model/singer turned actress hungry for more. I dare you not to cringe several times as you read this one.

Tramatized is more than 300 pages of first-rate writing and provided hours of enjoyment for this horror enthusiast. The work is published by Xlibris Corporation and is available in hardcover, paperback and e-book formats. Traumatized is intended for mature adults only and certainly not for the easily offended. BTW, according to the author's website, it was once banned in 2009. That right there should sell a few copies. I cannot recommend this one enough. Enjoy.

[Ellen Maze · Rating 5 out of 5]

TRAUMATIZED by Alexander S. Brown

Don’t Turn Out the Lights!

5-Stars

Alexander S. Brown delivers. In the manner of Stephen King and Robert McCammon, Brown takes the reader down terrifying paths of horror and the macabre. And like the best horror writers, he doesn’t shy away from the gore and violence that accompanies the genre.

As a novelist, the first thing I noticed about this book was the expertise with which Brown weaves and formulates his short stories; each one seems more a novella, with well-developed characters and a precise plot. There’s no feeling of being rushed through the tale, even though page-wise, there’s not much time to work with. No, for me, TRAUMATIZED was a lot like reading a collection of tiny novels, each one more frightening than the last.

If I had to choose two of my favorites, I’d choose Bloodlines and The House by the River, but each tale holds its own value by its unique storyline and plot development. Brown made me worry for the protagonists, and worse—he tricked me many times when I thought it would end one way and instead it went another. He killed my favs sometimes (dirty scoundrel!), which only increased the frightening element of his storytelling.

If you like horror, you should enjoy these stories immensely!

Note: Rated R for violence, language and sexual content

Ellen C. Maze
Author of Curiously Spiritual Vampire Tales
Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider

[Nikolas Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I was surprised by what I found in this book. The stories are refreshingly original while seemingly paying homage to authors like Ambrose Bierce and other late 19th and early 20th century authors, but with an updated feel to them. Anyone who enjoys the horror of that era from Lovecraft to Machen would love this collection, as would fans of Clive Barker and the more modern horror writers.
The collection starts out extremely strong with Bloodlines, which was one of my favorites though I would have to say that the two strongest pieces (for my tastes) are Live Through This and House By the River. There was something about those two inclusions, in particular, that really impressed me.

[Spookylady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexander S. Brown knows just how to peel back the layers until there’s nothing left but a thin membrane separating the reader from absolute terror. The voodoo-filled streets of New Orleans. The phantoms from a Civil War hospital. A love gone catastrophically wrong. A woman who will give anything to be beautiful.

My favorite story is “The End of Summer,” in which a woman inherits her great-aunt’s home and belongings. She describes her aunt as “probably one of the most feared voodoo queens since Marie Laveau.” Her fiance becomes fascinated with the aunt’s collection of occult books, resulting in devastating consequences for the both of them.

Brown has a knack for getting under a reader’s skin, leaving the blood chilled and heart racing.

[Daniel Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not easy to find single-author anthologies these days that tackle such a wide range of horror subgenres, each wonderfully written with fully realized characters and devilishly good twists and turns, but author Alexander S. Brown accomplishes that with ease in Traumatized. The tales here range from classic gothic ghost stories to repulsive modern day body horror. There are plenty of stories with Tales from the Crypt-esque twists, deliciously gory outings, incredibly satisfying revenge tales, and chilling stories of the supernatural. With a total of 15 tales – none of them skimpy on detail or plot – this is a collection that really delivers a substantial reading experience.

[April Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just as twisted as my soul. I loved it.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can read my review at HorrorTalk.com.

[Melissa Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keep your flashlights by your bed. Better yet, sleep with the light on. Alexander S. Brown does a phenomenal job in this collection.

[Melissa Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome horror. Best one I've read in a long time.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scary collection of tales that kept me looking over my shoulder and jumping at little noises. I kept talking to the characters as in, "No, don't do it!!" LOL Bravo to the author