Ashes

by Scott Nicholson, Jonathan Maberry (Introduction)

A collection of 6 stories by award-winning author Scott Nicholson, including "Scarecrow Boy," "Dog Person" and "You'll Never Walk Alone." From the author of THE RED CHURCH, THEY HUNGER, and the story collections FLOWERS and THE FIRST.

Exclusive introduction by Jonathan Maberry, author of THE DRAGON FACTORY and GHOST ROAD BLUES. The afterword explains where the ideas for the stories came from.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Ghosts, Ebooks, Thriller, Paranormal

143 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2010

About the author

With more than 800,000 books sold worldwide, Scott Nicholson is an international bestselling thriller writer. He won the Writers of the Future Award in 1999 and was a Stoker Award finalist in 2003. His Fear series was published by Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint and 47North released the supernatural thriller McFALL.

He's also published a number of supernatural, paranormal, and fantasy books and stories, including the AFTER, NEXT, and ARIZE post-apocalyptic series, as well as children's books, comics, and screenplays. His 2006 novel The Home is in development as a feature film.

Reviews

[Kasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't expect a meaningless blood drenched gore fest from this collection, this time Scott mixes it up using stories written throughout different times in his life, some being quite difficult and painful, hence the slightly melancholy tone but exquisitely written never the less. I adored the intro written by Jonathan Maberry, it really makes you think about horror and what it really means, the different ways it can go when it overlaps genres and the origins of proper horror before all the Halloween style slasher movies hijacked it and placed it in a light that not everyone embraces, I found this collection to be intelligent and so well written that it almost made me forget that it was fiction (until the chilling parts entered), each story was different but it had a link to the next one and for me everything worked beautifully inthis collection. I like how Scott's horror stories overlap different genres of horror, sometimes you're not sure if something supernatural is going on, people are evil enough to sustain a horror story with their own muscles, no ghost necessary, but you just don't know, it's the unknown in the story that keeps the creep factor high and it sort of spilled over to me, I kept wondering what each new story was and what was really going on. This book was such a bargain that I hope more people get to read it because Scott Nicholson can write, his language is smooth and almost poetic, and it creates an instant picture in your head, when you read a disjointed book nothing can save it, no fear of that happening here, for short stories he did an amazing job of making them flow.

This wonderful melange of twelve chilling tales kept me busy for a few days, it was such a treat to pick this up and read one or two or three, I don't usually read short stories because I like to put some time into getting to know the characters, but it was not a problem here, the realistic feel only made them darker and their demise so much scarier. I don't want to write out specifics about each tale because the unknown is the best part, to spoil the main bits would be like reading a good mystery from the last page, so go find out on your own what Nicholson is all about, I'm sure most people will be back for more.

- Kasia S.

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read Scott Nicholson's The Red Church. While I admired the author's style of writing, the story was not to my liking. But I also read Scott's very interesting afterword. (He writes the best afterwords!) and I was struck by his statement that if I didn't like the novel to please try another of his books. Interesting ploy!

So I picked up his short story collection Ashes. This time I was riveted by his short fiction. Ashes is a collection of horror stories; primarily ghosts tales. Yet he has an old fashioned way of writing that is loyal to the legacy of Bloch, Matheson, and Bradbury. He also focuses most of his stories to the backwoods environment of North Carolina. In this way, there is also some lingering influences from Manly Wade Wellman. Nicholson is not one who pours on the blood. There is little gore. He does something better. He suggests. There is an eeriness in all his tales and a lot of interesting twists. For instance, while the author likes his ghost stories, it isn't always clear who is haunting who. The best story in my opinion is "The Rocking Chair" but I also loved the humorous "Must See to Appreciate" and "Last Writes", a sad tale about Edgar Allan Poe and lighthouses. Every fan of horror fiction should check this book out. There is also an enlightening foreword by Jonathon Maberry.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent. Some a bit disturbing. More gothic than horror. Several short stories; written in various perspectives. Mostly male pov but one female. Although there is a scene where she goes into labor and it is strange to read. All ghost stories. Stories from the living and from the dead. After the strong intro it gave, I wanted CHILLS. I wanted to be unsettled, not want to go to bed. But no. Not much reaction so I felt let down after that.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little collection of ghost stories. My favorite was "Must See To Appreciate". The story had a great twist to it that I did not expect. That was a great idea for a ghost story!! I recommend to my spooky friends to read this collection. You will love it!

[Melanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't horror in the vein of Hollywood - It's horror on the order of The Twilight Zone or tales told around a campfire when you're young.

All of the stories are ghost stories of one sort or another, and there's a great creepiness to them. However, if you're looking for blood, gore or outright terror, you'll probably want to find a different book.

My favorite was Haunted which turns the haunting around. My other favorites were the twin stories of the civil war soldiers, and the nod to Edgar Allen Poe.

I'm not sure why I picked up and read this Kindle freebie before I read Nicholson's Drummer Boy which I bought a month or so ago, but I am definitely going to try to get that book read sooner now since I've enjoyed this collection.

[Lorraine Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Missing Monsters or Twilight Zone?

I liked how each of these stories was like an episode of these old television programs. I expected Rod Serling to pop up here and there. These were pleasant journeys to other dimensions. Each is a ghost story from a different perspective.

[Maria Ceron]

I want to read this book

[Charlene (Char)🍁☕️📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hauntings

I loved this book every story had a unique twist but I loved the theme of the spirits. This is a good read.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like most of Scott Nicholson. This book is okay as far as short stories go, but generally I stay away from short stories. It seems as though right as you start to get into the story, it ends.

[Tess Stoops · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author though

He is amazing and somehow no one I know has heard of him. His talent for horror is amazing and I want to devour everything he has ever created.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous stories

I loved all the stories. Each just long enough for the attention span of a sick adult. Thoroughly entertaining. Thank you.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

not sure how i feel about this book.

[Lyle Boylen · Rating 5 out of 5]

six great ghost stories here by Nicholson.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was ok

It gets 4 stars because some of the stories where great others leave you questioning what you just read! Decent time killer though

[Vickie Woodard · Rating 2 out of 5]

MEH

Maybe I've read too much horror, too many ghost stories to be impressed anymore.
None of these stories impressed me.

[Alazzar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably closer to a 3.5, but only because it had a slow start.

I picked up the book on my Kindle, because A) it was free, and B) it had an endorsement from Joe Konrath. (Also, the fact that it was in the top 20 free Horror books and had a cover that wasn’t made with MS Paint seemed awfully appealing.) When I started reading, I was a little disappointed, and it was all because of my expectations—this is what I thought I’d be getting from Scott Nicholson’s Ashes:

1. Scary stories
2. Variety

After the first few stories, I saw neither of these things. By that, I mean that the stories weren’t at all frightening—they didn’t make me afraid to turn off the light. Also, the lack of variety stemmed from the fact that these were all ghost stories—something that’s not advertised particularly well, I feel. If I’d known I would only be reading ghost stories, that’d be fine . . . but after two in a row, I wondered why the heck he’d arranged the stories that way and not mixed things up a bit more.

Once I figured out it was a collection strictly comprised of ghost stories, lack of variety was no longer a strike against the book. And once I decided to accept the stories simply as well-written tales rather than attempts to scare my socks off, my other complaint was eliminated as well.

This left me with no complaints. Awesome!

Since I wasn’t pleased with the ability of Nicholson’s ghosts to scare me (normally ghosts scare the crap out of me), I ended up preferring the stories that would have been great even if ghosts weren’t involved. There are a lot of good period pieces here, including a few Civil War-era tales and one centering around a Nazi commander in charge of slaughtering a town’s Jewish population.

Although I was disappointed with the content early on, I was never disappointed with the writing. Unlike many authors who give out their work for free on the Kindle, Nicholson can actually write. In fact, this book did exactly what it was intended to do: inspired me to pay for some of his work. He’s got a lot of titles up for $0.99 on the Kindle store, and after I get around to reading the free sample from his collection of fantasy/sci-fi stories, I imagine I’ll probably be purchasing the full version.

Good material for such a low price on the Kindle store is hard to find. I’m glad I stumbled across Nicholson, because if Ashes is any indication, his books will be well worth purchasing—the writing is there, I just need to find subject matter that’s more appealing to me (hence my interest in his SF/Fantasy collection).

Oh, and one last thing: a lot of times when I’m researching an anthology, I can’t find a list of the stories inside. So I’ll go ahead and provide that here, with my favorite stories bolded (as per my tradition).


Homecoming
Haunted
The Christening
She Climbs a Winding Stair
Must See to Appreciate
Silver Run
The Three-Dollar Corpse
The Night is an Ally
The Rocking Chair
Invisible Bullets
The Endless Bivouac
Last Writes

[Monster]

Ashes is the e-book edition of Scott Nicholson’s short story collection Scattered Ashes. In nearly every story, the spectre of death is there in all of its creepy, and sometimes paranormal, forms. From a Civil War soldier at Andersonville prison, to a German soldier during WWII, zombies, and the pets we love and that love us unconditionally, you will get chills reading these stories.

One of my favorite stories, probably because of my love of muscle cars, is "Timing Chains of the Heart", in which J.D. hits and kills a girl in his 1969 Camaro, late one night on an empty stretch of road; he places the girl’s body in the trunk of his car, and the girl’s body seems to become possessed by the soul of the Camaro. Another favorite of mine is "The Meek", about sheep-zombies in frontier Australia that feed on people, and what the people who have survived are doing to continue their survival. "The Weight of Silence" is a disturbing story about a couple who lost their daughter to what seemed to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome—the baby’s father looks suspicious to the grieving mother, but appearances are deceiving. "The Hounds of Love" tells the story of Dexter, a boy who is abused by his mother. He tortures small animals and is determined never to love anyone or anything; through an odd occurrence one Halloween night, Dexter learns the meaning of unconditional love. One more favorite of mine is "The Night is an Ally", that tells of a small unit of German reserve police that are ordered to round up and exterminate Jews in a Polish ghetto. While there is a small paranormal element, what happens to the Jews is horror enough.

Other notable stories include "Watermelon", about a man whose life seems to eerily mimic that of a man who murders his wife; "Murdermouth". about a zombie who perceives his hunger for flesh as love; "Last Writes", about a writer who takes a job as a lighthouse keeper for a year and meets someone who becomes the subject of his writings; "Dog Person", which tells the story of a man who loves his dying dog so much he can’t live without her; and "Penance", an apocalyptic story about a disease with no cure, and the President, who is trying to keep what’s left of society together. There is a great introduction written by Jonathan Maberry, and the author’s own explanation for these stories and why he did the collection, titled "From the Ashes".

Scott Nicholson has a way of telling a story so thoroughly that you’d think he experienced it all himself! He is a wonderful storyteller and this is an excellent collection, which I highly recommend to horror fans of all ages.

Note: Also available in print as Scattered Ashes, published by Dark Regions Press.

Contains: mild violence.

Review by Colleen Wanglund

[Adam Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashes is one of the best short story collections I've ever read. Scott Nicholson's writing style in this is still high quality. It was what caught my attention when I read the Red Church. If you want to get a perfect description of his writing, and of what good horror actually is, read the introduction by Jonathan Mabery. Just from reading his intro I'm going to have to read some of his work too.
Each story included here belongs. None of them are space fillers. None of them are less than the others and I loved all of them. Dog Person is my favorite from this collection followed closely by Work of Art. Just to give anyone reading this review an idea of how Nicholson writes I'm going to quote a couple stories.
"The tobacco was Turkish, dark and sinister like the people who had cultivated it." The Endless Bivouac.
"The cutting was the most demanding. During his career as an artist, John Manning had sliced glass, trimmed paper, chipped granite, chiseled wood, shaved ice, and torched steel. Those materials were nothing compared to flesh. Flesh didn't always behave beneith the tool. And bone might as well have been marble, for all its delicacy and stubornness. Bone refused shaping. Bone wanted to splinter and curl, no matter how light John's touch on the hammer." Work In Progress. Probably the most interesting start to a short story I've ever read. How the hell do you stop reading after that.
"If silence were any metal, it would be lead: gray, heavy, toxic after prolonged exposure." The Wait of Silence.
"Eyes that were seeds, begging to be planted and given a chance to take root, to grow and bloom and go to seed, to spread on the winds and in the bellies of birds, to propagate among the loess and loam and alluvial soils of the world." Scarecrow Boy.
I think that should get my point accross. This collection has no flaws that I could find and if it did, they worked.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Ashes’ is a collection of 6 tales of horror packed with thrills and chills accompanied by a fantastic essay exploring horror as it is perceived within the film and publishing industries. Written by Jonathan Maberry, this introduction spoke of the slow distillation of the genre by which slasher and thriller films/stories taint/dilute the brand and served as the perfect entree to the pure horror stories penned by Scott Nicholson. ‘Ashes’ kicks off with ‘Homecoming’ a spooky and heartfelt ghost story where a farmer’s son (along with other sprits) returns from the dead for one conversation. The next, ‘Haunted’ - surreal and suspenseful, full of dread and awkward wonder in which the inhabitants of a once burnt out home are haunted by the people who fell victim to the flames. ‘The Christening’ tells the short tale of abandoned mother to be in isolation both in geographically and emotionally who is haunted by an unusual spirit on a farm – so well defined and atmospheric that I could smell the drew on the cool grass amongst the farm backdrop. ‘She Climbs a Winding Stair’ is a ghost story (see the reoccurring theme here?) of a beauty lost at seas who comes ashore seeking souls to accompany her in the murky ocean depths. Set amongst a ghost story isolated on an inhibited island, this was by far the best story in the collection. Rounding out the collection ‘Must See to Appreciate’ is real-estate horror which throws in a moment of horror before an abrupt end, and ‘Three Dollar Corpse’ which, much like ‘…Winding Stair’ is a favourite of the collection set in a civil war prison camp where inmates make a living by burying the dead and scavenging their possessions. All in all a very solid collection sure to entertain and scare the reader just enough to keep things interesting – 3.5 stars.

[Matt Schiariti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting....

but that's not really a bad thing. I admit that I don't/haven't read much horror. I also admit that I downloaded this to my kindle because it was free ;)

Frankly I was expecting some blood curdling horror. Even the preface, which goes into painstaking detail about what 'true horror' is/isn't and how good Nicholson is good at writing true horror, was a bit misleading. You see, in my own limited way I feel there are ghost stories then there are horror stories. This collection fits into the latter. Thankfully there's some pretty good ghost stories to be had here.

The stories are written and paced pretty well so it makes for a good one or two sitting read. Will you loose sleep over it? I don't think so. Will you be afraid to go in the basement? Not unless you're already scared of going in your basement =) However, some are creepier than others and for the most part they're all entertaining in their way.

I found the standouts to be:

Haunted
Must See To Appreciate
The Rocking Chair
Last Writes

Almost all the others are good as well, but I found these to be either the creepiest or just the most interesting.

I'm glad I happened upon this free little gem because it turned me on to an author I normally wouldn't have otherwise read most likely. Judging by the list of works at the end of the ebook Nicholson's been a busy and prolific man over the years with seemingly something for everyone so I'll be checking out some of his other works in the future.

Worth checking out! And hey, you can't beat the price ;)

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm...I'm not sure where to start. The forward by Author Scott Nicholson was very entertaining, and struck me as very wise.
He states. "In the late 90's and early 21st Century, we saw the rise of yet another genre that polluted the word horror: torture porn. Films like Hostel, Saw and their many imitators are shock cinema."
I'd have to agree. Saw doesn't interest me in the least. I am very difficult to scare when it comes to movies and books. Perhaps I am jaded. The last movie that I truly jumped during was Signs, and before that, The Sixth Sense. (Of course, those are also the only two M. Knight. Shyamalan movies worth watching.)
And a good scary story? That's a thing of the past. I can remember getting a little freaked out while reading a couple Stephen King books, those true horror ones, not the books he writes as of late that are more commentary on the political world than the scary aspects on the human condition...but I digress.
Back to the book at hand, Ashes.
I wouldn't say that my pants were scared off. Nope. Still, securely in place. But I did enjoy most of these short stories. They were entertaining, some with a little twist. I think the second one, Haunted was my favorite. Perhaps because I didn't see the ending coming.
So, I'll give them 3 stars for the writing, which was done well. And for the entertainment value of the stories. But they lose 2 for the lack of horror I was promised.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose that for a free eBook, “Ashes” was far from the worst on the market, but I would be slightly disappointed had I paid any money for this one.

That Scott Nicholson is a very talented writer can be plainly seen in his elegant and yes, I would say beautiful, prose. In some regards that’s a very rare thing to be seen in the literary genre that is horror. In the stories the “The Christening” and “She Climbs a Winding Stair” Nicholson’s descriptions are so perfect and crystal clear in capturing nature that it’s almost as if you are the one in a field on a cold winter morning, or traversing the streets of a long abandoned wast coast ghost town.

While I will be the first to admit that none of the actual stories in here were ever “bad”, they just failed to grab my attention and run away with it. Ghosts are supposed to be an object of fear, or terror, but other than the breather in “Must be Seen to be Appreciated” the ghosts here are more of a distraction than something the plot revolves around. Plus all 6 of these stories were almost shockingly short...I read this whole collection in a mere hour or so.

So the question remains, will I ever try Scott Nicholson again? Of course, here is an author that can actually write! But next time, I’ll be trying a full length instead.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished Ashes By ..you guessed it Scott Nicholson I was sick and needed something short and scary to keep me awake ...This did the trick! Ashes is a book of short stories about the living interaction with the spirits and the other way around...

Homecoming - A Farmer has a last chance to say goodbye to his only son in this very touching story...

Haunted - A Dad and Mom try to keep a scary haunting from their young daughter.. very nice twist at the end.. kinda made me sad though...

The Christening - A Single Mother to be with a family legacy.. this one is creepy and as a Mom pretty scary..

She Climbs a Winding Stair - AN "I believe I can handle anything" journalist goes to a deserted Island and finds some pretty ghostly stuff that well maybe he doesn't handle so well ;)

Must See to Appreciate - Not your typical "Lets try and Dump this haunted house on an unsuspecting client story.. very clever


The Three-Dollar Corpse - Since I am a huge Civil War buff I loved this one.. true ghost story set withing a war camp...
I give this book 5 scary wilies.... it kept me entertained while I was sick ...

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Ashes” is an anthology of short stories written by Scott Nicholson, defined in the introduction as “true horror” as opposed to the slasher, serial killer and “torture porn” that is mistakenly described as horror today. Personally, I didn’t really consider the stories to be horror, more a sort of macabre, but I have to admit they were all well-written.

Most of the stories dealt with ghosts, of course, but there were a couple that were a little different – one about a Nazi troop “cleaning” a village of Jews, for instance, and a couple about prisoners in a prisoner camp during the Civil War that were very interesting because they were “mirror” stories – the same story, more or less, told from different points of view.

I think fans of the macabre, thrillers, and psychological suspense will enjoy this, as will fans of Scott Nicholson’s and horror fans, as long as they aren’t expecting really hard-core horror. The stories are beautifully written with very evocative descriptions and unique voices and I think you will be happy that you picked it up.

[Nenette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly couldn't remember picking up this book, and I figure it's been buried (no pun intended) for long in my To Read shelf. How creepy is it that even with my new acquisitions, I'd ventured into one of the older books in the shelf, happened on this one, and decided to read it without having any idea what I'd find? Well, it's very apt for the occasion of the hallows and the ones who've passed on.

The book has quite a lengthy introduction from Jonathan Maberry, debating about the horror genre. Without that introduction, I would not say this book belongs there; so I'm one of the misled. But it's true...horror covers a broad spectrum of sub-genres, but the true horror is more than just thriller, slasher, torture, shocker or what have you. This book is proof...there's blood but no gore; there's shock, but not from anything but the creepy build up towards a heart stopping revelation.

I'm not a fan of horror, if truth be told, but I like this collection a lot. It is creepy, it is scary; a perfect read for this season.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm generally not a fan of books like this, meaning collections of short stories. I tend to prefer stories that build a cast of characters and a plot over time, but I found Ashes to be a refreshing break from the shocking and grotesque and have largely taken over the horror genre. That ended up being enough for me to enjoy it much more than I expected.

The one thing common among the series of stories in Ashes is the connection between this world and the next. The stories are simply spooky. PG-rated horror has become increasing uncommon, so it's really nice to come across a book like this sometimes.

For a quick read that's also an enjoyable return to horror before horror meant gory and pornographic, I recommend reading this one.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love short story collections. They are quick reads and I can pick them up and put them down without losing the thread. This was a great collection. Ghost stories are always fun and these were really good. There were some very different ones in this collection. Stories about a haunted house but with a twist, a beach ghost town haunted by a lonely heartbroken girl, a haunted lighthouse, and two stories about the same thing told from two different points of view. These are just a few of the stories in this collection. Good short stories with some different twists and some unexpected endings.

[Angela~twistedmind~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author makes claims in his foreward that this will be one of the most horrifying books you have read in years.......you'll sleep with the lights on. Umm......no. My favorite story in the book was 'Haunted', only because of the little twist towards the end. None of these stories were remotely horrifying. Rather, barely scary or a bit weird. Other than the blantant lie of how I would be terrorized, the book was okay. The stories were sometimes interesting and were decently written. Unfortunately, I wouldn't really recommend this book unless, like me, you have a small bit of time you need to fill up.

[Freda Mans-Labianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun set of short stories. The first, Homecoming, is a sad story with a happy ending. (3/5) Next, Haunted, was an awesome ghost story! I loved the twist, but I got to say, too much Elvis will not make anybody deaf! (4.5/5) Then, The Christening, I thought this would turn out a lot different than it did, and I'm pleasantly surprised. (5/5) Next, She Climbs A Winding Stair, had me until the very end, then I was left going, "huh?" (3/5) Then, Must See to Appreciate, was weird. That's how I'm left feeling. Lastly, The Three-Dollar Corpse, when I finished my thought was, "hmmm." It just wasn't my cup of tea. (1/5)

[stormhawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are some darn creepy stories. Just what you want in a ghost story, without that capitalized final sentence that seemed to be the hallmark of ghost story books you read when you were young. You know, "AND HE NOTICED THAT SHE HAD NO NECK, JUST A SPACE BETWEEN THE TWO BLOODY STUMPS," or "HIS COAT WAS FOLDED NEATLY ON THE GRAVE," kind of endings.

What's here is a collection of sophisticatedly scary stories that manage to find different approaches to traditional tales. I did figure out where the lighthouse keeper story was going, but that made the getting there all the more exciting.