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Mirrored: Plus Ten Tiny Tales of Terror
"I woke up screaming just like, deep down, I knew I would."
Come, lose yourself - and maybe your mind - inside the hall of mirrors in Dave Musson's debut short story: Mirrored.
Originally published in 2021's Welcome to the Funhouse, this creepy, coming-of-age carnival tale is full of thrills, spills, and chills. Also, as a bonus for this release you'll also get Ten Tiny Tales of Terror - a cluster of pieces of microfiction for something quick and nasty to finish with.
Come, lose yourself - and maybe your mind - inside the hall of mirrors in Dave Musson's debut short story: Mirrored.
Originally published in 2021's Welcome to the Funhouse, this creepy, coming-of-age carnival tale is full of thrills, spills, and chills. Also, as a bonus for this release you'll also get Ten Tiny Tales of Terror - a cluster of pieces of microfiction for something quick and nasty to finish with.
- GenresHorror
54 pages, Paperback
Published September 25, 2022
18 people want to read
About the author
Dave Musson
17 books135 followersThe Bookstagram Awards Author of the Year for 2024, Dave is a glasses-wearing, bearded human being from the middle of England who likes heavy music with loud guitars, watching movies, and reading and writing creepy stories. He has more hobbies than he should really have time for; playing in a band, hosting a bunch of podcasts, writing, and running a Stephen King-themed YouTube channel. Oh, and he also wrote and published The Ultimate Stephen King Quiz Book in 2022.
Dave lives at home with his wife, sons, and annoying dog. He made his debut as a published fiction writer in 2021's Welcome to the Funhouse, from Blood Rites. He was also a finalist in the Bellingham Review’s 2022 Tobias Wolff Prize for Fiction, and has been published in Psychotoxin Press, The Reach, and on The Horror Tree.
His first full collection of short stories, Once More Round the Sun, was published on his own Always Darkest imprint in August 2024, and won the Best Collection and Best Horror categories of the 2024 Bookstagram Awards.
Dave lives at home with his wife, sons, and annoying dog. He made his debut as a published fiction writer in 2021's Welcome to the Funhouse, from Blood Rites. He was also a finalist in the Bellingham Review’s 2022 Tobias Wolff Prize for Fiction, and has been published in Psychotoxin Press, The Reach, and on The Horror Tree.
His first full collection of short stories, Once More Round the Sun, was published on his own Always Darkest imprint in August 2024, and won the Best Collection and Best Horror categories of the 2024 Bookstagram Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 29, 2022
If you like dread like I like dread, then you will LOVE this collection of short stories. Dave Musson's characters find themselves in the most harrowing situations, and let's just say that the author pulls few, if any, punches.
December 30, 2022
Loved the tiny tales of terror. A perfect snack before bed, although, these snacks may give you nightmares.
September 24, 2022
I'm giving this book, five stars. Not because it's perfect, but because I absolutely loved it!
Mirrored, the title story (and by far the longest story, taking up more then half of the books pages) is by far the best. Dave is able to flesh out all the characters and get the reader caring about them in record time. It is a brutal, tragic tale.
Don't look Down is another one that I really enjoyed, and probably the technically impressive. It only involves two characters and one setting and is over in less then five pages. Yet, the story is able to really suck the ready through clever dialogue and a very realized threat. I will say that a lot of the other stories kind of blend together. None, of them are bad, but a lot of them seem to follow a similar formula. The only other stand out for me is one called Isn’t It? Barely half a page long, but still super effective with it's storytelling.
My only other criticism is one of the editorial variety. Just a couple of minor things, a handful of misplaced words here and there, nothing too jarring.
Otherwise, this book is fantastic and I cannot wait to read more from Dave in the future.
Mirrored, the title story (and by far the longest story, taking up more then half of the books pages) is by far the best. Dave is able to flesh out all the characters and get the reader caring about them in record time. It is a brutal, tragic tale.
Don't look Down is another one that I really enjoyed, and probably the technically impressive. It only involves two characters and one setting and is over in less then five pages. Yet, the story is able to really suck the ready through clever dialogue and a very realized threat. I will say that a lot of the other stories kind of blend together. None, of them are bad, but a lot of them seem to follow a similar formula. The only other stand out for me is one called Isn’t It? Barely half a page long, but still super effective with it's storytelling.
My only other criticism is one of the editorial variety. Just a couple of minor things, a handful of misplaced words here and there, nothing too jarring.
Otherwise, this book is fantastic and I cannot wait to read more from Dave in the future.
February 13, 2026
4 stars. (It's at least what I'm rounding it out to).
I really enjoy Dave Musson's YouTube channel. As a big fan of Stephen King, it is a lovely little corner of the great internet and always a good time stopping by.
I saw Dave market this collection so I decided to try it out and I was happily surprised.
Now, not all stories will be for everyone, I certainly had some that were more to my liking than others, but this is a nice little read, and only about 50 pages, so you'll fly through these. Plus, supporting an indie author always feels good.
My favorite story of the lot was Mirrored. Mainly because this one was Dave flexing his muscles as a writer a bit more, and creating a really fun little tale that is what we swedes call "lagom" which means "just right". Because it had just the right amount of as good as everything. Now, if I were to give some feedback. Some of the side characters could have been cut since they serve no purpose to the story. But that is a bit of a nitpick on a really enjoyable little story.
I liked the rest of the collection, but I'm not that used to tales this tiny, and I wanted more in almost all of them (in a good way!). My favorite was easily HBD. It is like an homage to Psycho and I can't say no to that. Don't Look Down was the story I was most scared by (as someone with acrophobia, aka the fear of heights) and Thing with Feathers was so much fun. I also had a great time with Mia and it felt as if Musson could probably write an entire novel aboutt that little doll. I would like to see that at least.
And you know, the best thing about this collection is that it is free. So you get an enjoyable reading experience for the cheapest price available.
Now that I've read this little collection, I really am looking forward to reading more of Dave Musson's work.
Something I felt as I read this book, was that some of these short stories would have been amazing audio books as well.
I do this with all of the books I read in 2026 (but usually not with short stories and short story collections) is that I give a song recommendation to go along with the book. And for this, I listened to this as I read it, and it was just perfect. A Short Term Effect by The Cure. Because this really was a short (not term tho hahah) and effect(ive) little book. And just like that song is a hidden gem in The Cure's big catalogue of songs. This is a hidden gem in the currently exploading horror genre.
I really enjoy Dave Musson's YouTube channel. As a big fan of Stephen King, it is a lovely little corner of the great internet and always a good time stopping by.
I saw Dave market this collection so I decided to try it out and I was happily surprised.
Now, not all stories will be for everyone, I certainly had some that were more to my liking than others, but this is a nice little read, and only about 50 pages, so you'll fly through these. Plus, supporting an indie author always feels good.
My favorite story of the lot was Mirrored. Mainly because this one was Dave flexing his muscles as a writer a bit more, and creating a really fun little tale that is what we swedes call "lagom" which means "just right". Because it had just the right amount of as good as everything. Now, if I were to give some feedback. Some of the side characters could have been cut since they serve no purpose to the story. But that is a bit of a nitpick on a really enjoyable little story.
I liked the rest of the collection, but I'm not that used to tales this tiny, and I wanted more in almost all of them (in a good way!). My favorite was easily HBD. It is like an homage to Psycho and I can't say no to that. Don't Look Down was the story I was most scared by (as someone with acrophobia, aka the fear of heights) and Thing with Feathers was so much fun. I also had a great time with Mia and it felt as if Musson could probably write an entire novel aboutt that little doll. I would like to see that at least.
And you know, the best thing about this collection is that it is free. So you get an enjoyable reading experience for the cheapest price available.
Now that I've read this little collection, I really am looking forward to reading more of Dave Musson's work.
Something I felt as I read this book, was that some of these short stories would have been amazing audio books as well.
I do this with all of the books I read in 2026 (but usually not with short stories and short story collections) is that I give a song recommendation to go along with the book. And for this, I listened to this as I read it, and it was just perfect. A Short Term Effect by The Cure. Because this really was a short (not term tho hahah) and effect(ive) little book. And just like that song is a hidden gem in The Cure's big catalogue of songs. This is a hidden gem in the currently exploading horror genre.
December 12, 2025
A teeny book with teeny bite sized pieces of horror. Much more than a teeny bit enjoyable
November 16, 2022
Really enjoyed this collection of 1 short and 10 tiny stories.
Read
October 19, 2022A must read for all fans of short fiction. The stories are really great I especially like the last one alot but all were pretty great including the beast!
November 6, 2022
Thanks for sending me a copy Dave I really had fun with this one! I loved the story about Rasheed seeing the same man in all the advertisements. It really creeped me out. Good stuff!
July 25, 2023
A collection of short, decent and dreadful stories that is definitely worth checking out if you are a horror fan.
My favorite is Mirrored. Mirrored really stood out for me in this collection. That story alone was a 4-5 star read. It's a haunting story in the best possible way. The writing style is one of my favorite ones. I just love when a story is written from a first person narrative. The narrator of this story is talking to the reader in a easygoing and humorous way. Ugh! Just loved that. The other stories in this collection were not written in the same writing style. Maybe I was expecting something similar after reading Mirrored. I don't know. Anyway, great short stories that you can read between reads to clean your palette.
My favorite is Mirrored. Mirrored really stood out for me in this collection. That story alone was a 4-5 star read. It's a haunting story in the best possible way. The writing style is one of my favorite ones. I just love when a story is written from a first person narrative. The narrator of this story is talking to the reader in a easygoing and humorous way. Ugh! Just loved that. The other stories in this collection were not written in the same writing style. Maybe I was expecting something similar after reading Mirrored. I don't know. Anyway, great short stories that you can read between reads to clean your palette.
January 30, 2024
Mirrored. What an absolute first rate tale. In the style of the great Sai King himself. I could really imagine King having written this one.
The other short tales in this collection are terrifying fun flash fiction, but worth the read.
A good book to read while travelling on public transport or in waiting rooms.
Very British style writing so American / worldwide readers you’ll just have to tap into your inner British!
The other short tales in this collection are terrifying fun flash fiction, but worth the read.
A good book to read while travelling on public transport or in waiting rooms.
Very British style writing so American / worldwide readers you’ll just have to tap into your inner British!
September 22, 2022
I wrote this and am very proud of it. I think it's pretty good too and, hey, if I can't hype myself then what's the point?
Download your copy for free (in return for joining my mailing list) here.
Download your copy for free (in return for joining my mailing list) here.
June 23, 2023
This was a really cool collection of short stories. I loved the title piece: Mirrored. It was a really great story. The others were pretty good as well. Definitely worth checking out if you are a horror fan!
December 19, 2023
Alas, the last in this wonderful series! I have enjoyed reading the entire 5 book collection and somehow I really need
More! The stories were scary, funny as well. I look forward to this authors other works, because I know that they will be as amazing as these were!
More! The stories were scary, funny as well. I look forward to this authors other works, because I know that they will be as amazing as these were!
June 8, 2024
Wow!! I love Dave's youtube channel so I decided to give his book a go and I wasn't dissapointed!
Highly recommended if you want something short but good
My favorites were Commercial break, Greetings, HBD, and of course mirrored
Highly recommended if you want something short but good
My favorites were Commercial break, Greetings, HBD, and of course mirrored
February 12, 2023
Dave Musson is a primo guy and author. Look forward to what he puts out next!
April 30, 2024
I usually like short horror stories. They are a quick read. I also like to have closure of what I read.
August 2, 2024
Got via author for email signup.
Fun quick less then an hour read of short horror stories. Enjoy
Fun quick less then an hour read of short horror stories. Enjoy
August 24, 2024
If you like short terror filled stories that will leave you wondering long after you have read them, then this author and his Tiny Tales of Terror are for you.
October 22, 2025
Мені дуже сподобались ці короткі моторошні історії!
Це чудово!
Із задоволенням прочитала б іншу книгу автора, сподіваюся колись буде переклад українською!)
Це чудово!
Із задоволенням прочитала б іншу книгу автора, сподіваюся колись буде переклад українською!)
May 27, 2024
In the vulnerable pre-teen era of our lives we see the uneasiness, the awkwardness, and the terrors of our developing selves.
An apex predator is always looking to take advantage at every corner. Yet, there's someone, something even bigger and more powerful staring at you through the mirrors.
With many threats mirroring you, you can’t even trust your own reflection …
An apex predator is always looking to take advantage at every corner. Yet, there's someone, something even bigger and more powerful staring at you through the mirrors.
With many threats mirroring you, you can’t even trust your own reflection …
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews