Twisted: Dark Tales from Modern India

by Chandrima Das, Nisa Shetty (Narrator)

Do you believe that fear only haunts the distant bhoot bangla, crumbling fort or empty village streets? Surely, it can’t touch you now. You’ve distanced yourself from the darkness by living in the glare of city lights, hiding inside secure houses, comforted by a regular job. But what if fear has accompanied you into the modern world? What if it lives inside you, eating away at your heart and mind? After all, fear is just a ticking time bomb that explodes when you least expect it, leaving your reality...twisted.

Genres: Audiobook, Horror, Fiction, Thriller

3 pages, Audible Audio

Published July 14, 2022

About the author

Chandrima Das tells stories that explore the no-man's-land between truth and fear. She inherited her love for horror and the supernatural from her father, who told his children ghost stories before bedtime. Rest assured, they didn't sleep easy.
Her digital debut The Talking Dead (Kindle, Audible) was a bestseller in the horror category. Her next book Young Blood (HarperCollins) will be out October 2021. She is presently working on her debut novel, a supernatural thriller set in North-East India, with the SouthAsia Speaks mentorship program.
After a decade-long career in management consulting that spanned from Wall Street to rural Bihar, Chandrima began writing full-time in 2020. Her web-comics and articles have featured in Quartz, Alliance magazine, Scroll, India Development Review, and Open Democracy. Chandrima has performed at live storytelling events with Tall Tales and Kommune, and was published in THE BEST OF TALL TALES (Rupa, 2018).
Chandrima has a B. Tech in Computer Science from NIT Durgapur and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, where she was awarded the Aditya Birla and OPJEMS scholarships. She was born in Shillong, brought up in Guwahati, and currently lives in Mumbai.

Reviews

[sliceofmini · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite enjoyable listen ( and a free audible too ) , definitely camp fire ghost story vibes with something Indian for a change.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved each and every short horror story in this collection. I’m not normally a fan a audio “productions” but this one didn’t overdo it with the sound effects and used them tastefully. Each story lingered in my mind after reading in for one reason or another.

[Jyotsna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good Halloween read with spooky stories, the narration was brilliant

[Shruthi Proddutur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: "Twisted Dark Tales of Modern India" by Chandrima Das

Chandrima Das’s “Twisted Dark Tales of Modern India” is a gripping compilation of short stories that delve into the seamy side of modern Indian society. Every story is a well-told tale about morality, justice, and human nature.

On the other hand, she tells captivating stories with vibrant descriptive characters and settings. Every venue depicted from busy Mumbai streets to quiet Kerala villages becomes a backdrop for moral dilemmas and psychological conflicts her characters are involved in.

This anthology stands out for its frank depiction of the seamierside of Indian society. Das boldly addresses issues like corruption, caste based discrimination, gender bias and religious conflicts. Her stories force readers to face uncomfortable truths that make them reflect on the actualities often obfuscated by progressivist façades.

Another great thing about this book is how smoothly Das blends suspenseful storytelling with occultism as social critique. In select instances, supernatural elements help describe deeper societal problems symbolically thereby creating an eerie yet thought provoking

The second thing is that characters in Twisted Dark Tales of Modern India have depth to them and are portrayed as real people whose struggles and choices can be identified with by the reader. Every character whether a corrupt politician struggling with guilt or a young girl maneuvering through patriarchy has been presented in such a way that it makes you empathize with, understand and relate to them.In addition, the power of the anthology lies in its multiple themes and different styles of storytelling.

The author switches between genres, writing techniques; thereby, making one anticipate what happens next.During my reading of this novel I can conclude that it is an interesting book to read. This assembling of short stories has got to be one of my go-to reads on modern Indian society; especially if I am looking for something dark and deep on the side.

Scores: 4.5/5

This rating is based on the ability of the book to engage through its narration, challenge through its content and portray a writer who has a knack for creating tales that stay with you long after you leave.

[Venus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and narrated handful of horror stories. They perfectly highlight modern anxieties and format them much in the folk tale-ish mythology like "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark". Fears of being hurt or taken advantage of in a country other than your own, the anxiety of losing one's parents to old age or predatory scams, the fear of predatory men in women and what it does to women, and losing oneself to addiction or possibly "selling out" are all shown in the four stories of this collection.

"Hunger" is the first story in this anthology, and perhaps one of the weakest (though still enjoyable). Two co-workers on vacation together end up at the mercy of an illegally ran meat market on an unmarked island.

"Idiot" centers around a young business woman's elderly parents who have begun to change because of a supernatural television set that controls everything they do.

"Panic", my second favorite of the four, follows a young woman who was injured on a date with someone and her terror and attempts to calm herself as she has to interact with and keep safe from terrifying men throughout the night. She isn't unchanged from the experience.

"Voice" the final tale in this selection is probably the strongest. It veers away from the pattern of the other stories endings in that it is the only one to end somewhat hopefully for our protagonist. The protagonist is an aspiring writer who loses himself to the whims of the ghost of a writer who commit suicide in his apartment. It has links to addiction and losing oneself to desire for money.

Overall, a great selection of stories. I enjoyed every one of them.

[Ankita Goswami · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

I am aware that this might come off as elitist, but I have never quite enjoyed audiobook narration by Indian narrators. Not sure if it is the tone of narration or the (over)dramatic flair, but I could never finish an audiobook produced by an Indian production. I, therefore, didn't have very high hopes going into this book. However, I am very happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised by this.

I enjoyed all the four stories in the book and the narration was excellent as well. Once I started, I couldn't stop. All the stories were creepy and very well-written. I liked the themes and the little nuances in storytelling (like the fear of old age in 'Idiot' and the "horror" of just existing as a woman in 'Panic'). After a very long time, I genuinely enjoyed a horror book AND a collection of short stories. I was sad it was over so soon!

[Sagar · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the stories (Panic) is quite good. But the rest are mediocre, even quite predictable and clichéd in many ways. Surprisingly, the opening story is also the weakest of the lot. Plus, the dialogs are spoken at a lower volume compared to the rest of the narration, so if you are already listening at a lower volume, you'll have to strain to hear the dialogs clearly. This is expecially true in the final story where the echoing voice for the ghost's dialogs makes them even harder to follow. The writing itself is good and easy to follow, but then having the same female narrator for stories written from a male first person POV gets disorienting (not in a good way).

[Cristiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

These short stories are all built around the final twist which, in my opinion, is a very unsatisfying way of structuring a story. Unfortunately, this is extremely common because most readers approach a short story expecting that. Twisted is a collection of rather well-written but ultimately rather mediocre stories. The first one is possibly the most interesting one with its vivid descriptions, but it drags on and on until it reaches the final twist which, by the way, is a few sentences too long (I’m avoiding spoilers). The audiobook narrator is very good.

[Erin Grigson Baylis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for spooky tales with a thriller vibe, this book is for you.
It was a handful of stories that had varying characters and plots, but all of them had me sitting on the edge of my seat. A few had endings I definitely didn't see coming.
9/10 but 5 stars because it was something different and because this will definitely appeal to people who enjoy short stories and people who like thrillers/horror.

[Neerja · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a collection of short horror stories which was quite interesting. There were four stories in this book about different kinds of horror.

I had a good time listening to the audiobook but my only complaint is every character was narrated by the same person which is not unusual but in some cases it was a bit weird to listen to the male character being narrated in a female voice.

The performance as a whole was good and I would highly recommend it.

[Sneh Pragya · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the book so much. Chandrima Das is my new favorite. Simple writing and the elaboration of the situations were too good.

"Twisted" title suited the book so much as each story is far from normal but the characters and their emotions were so real.

first story hunger got me into it and then I literally finished the book within a day.

[Manish Choudhary · Rating 3 out of 5]

some thoughts:
1. don't travel with immature Karens, it literally kills.
2. tugs at your heart strings by invoking on primal fears of becoming irrelevant (i.e. parents moving on) with a little twist '~'
3. just why? the ending was unexpected but the story was quiet bland, no horror.
4. don't play with "things" you can barely comprehend, but do remember your first poetry.

[Friday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely refreshing new tales with themes you hardly find in this genre. Would recommend to all who want to take a break from reading serious stuff are sick of the same old - Family moving in a new home, Forest ranger, highway and motel horror stories. Although this might count as a light read, it is in no way forgettable. It has a taste of Indian writing and it's delicious.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved each one of these stories, and I hope that the author turns some of them into longer novels. I listen to the audiobook and I wish there were different narrators for the different stories but it was still a good listen.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I was going to give the book about 3 stars but then the way the first story ended was like oh nice twist. But as the stories were read out it made me want more so when I got to the last story I was sad because I wanted more.

[Sukaina Majeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a beautiful audiobook with theatrical feels. I felt like I was listening to a oldie radio play. not to forget the themes of the stories and loved the stories written. I would love to read the book as well.

[Debabrata Ghosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing extraordinary yet the charm of ordinary makes the stories named 'Idiot' and 'Voice' quite enthralling but the other two stories fell flat. Overall, an enjoyable listen.

[Tiklu Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely twisted and interesting set of stories. Loved them

[Izzie Driftwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Twilight Zone. The radio play aspect was a bit distracting, but the stories were creepy delights!

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Edgar Allen Poe-esque

[Jasleen Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and creepy but not all.

[Rahmanuddin Shaik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't give much spine chills that I expected.
Gore shouldn't be used to create chills.

[Mona Tiwari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got goosebumps listening to the stories...

[Amrul Khokhar · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars didn't really enjoyed it well .
First story was entertaining wouldn't recommend to anyone!

[Sancharee Chattopadhyay]

Easy language ...good stories.

[Riya Bhatia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun listen. Ghost stories on a dark and stormy night kinda vibes.

[Litter Bug · Rating 2 out of 5]

This first story really annoyed me and then it did not get better. Like most anthologies, this didn't have enough time to develop any of its ideas, most of which weren't super strong.

[cypher · Rating 4 out of 5]

modern horror stories from india, good listed, i liked the collection.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of short stories. Loved each of them.