Spore

by Ian Woodhead

Alistair Carstairs thinks his mother is an inhuman, brutal monster. She has brought him up using the Good book to do bad things. Now Mother is infected and he revells in her pain and suffering, pennance for the years of abuse at her hands. But Mother is changing in so many ways, her body, her soul. But the monster still remains ....

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Thriller

ebook

First published September 15, 2010

About the author

Ian Woodhead is just past the age of forty. He lives in the north of England and is married to a wonderful woman. He has forgotten how many children he has. He had been writing for nearly twenty years but has only just gained the confidence to start showing his work. Ian finds it a little creepy writing about himself in the third person.

Reviews

[Ian Woodhead]

I'm not allowed to rate it as I wrote Spore. Please fell free to tell me what you think though.

[Alex Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up by chance, as I caught sight of the covers on the kindle free list. I wasn't expecting much from this book at all, but really glad I grabbed myself a copy. The book is short, which isn't a negative. I think the size fits the story perfectly. The author paints a really interesting picture of a really dark and horrible world. The story is set around a mother and son's rather uncomfortable relationship. Not many books make me actually go "Get out of the room!" but this book did. It was honestly a nice surprise to be sucked into a story that was so well written. Shockingly good and I highly recommend the book.

[Stuart Neild · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazingly effective and creepy tale. Top notch stuff. It's my favourite out of all of Ian's work I've read so far.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the first story that I read by Ian Woodhead, he has now become one of my go to authors.

This story is about a virus that completely changes human beings. Not into your typical zombies or vampires but into something indescribable. A horror that I certainly would never want to live through. It is also about how the unaffected have adapted to live in this terror filled world and the lies that they are being fed about what happened. But most importantly their will to survive.

The story was gory and action packed towards the end. I really enjoyed it and can't wait for another installment

[Shirley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short story I received free for my Kindle. The premise is good and exactly what a horror story should be. However, I don't get the abrupt ending. The story is really short, maybe 5 pages on my kindle, and I feel that the author could have developed it more, even for a short story. Also, editing my friend is important. You don't want to discourage readers from trying your other works.

[Lee Emerick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed spore. It was fast paced and exciting, characters were defined and an interesting plot. Quite a few typos / repeated words which spell check should have spotted but largely did not spoil the story. What did let it down though was how rushed the ending felt. The book was good until the last few pages where it gets very confusing and abruptly and unexpectedly ends. Still I enjoyed the read.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another story I had to abandon because the main character was completely unlikeable. Which is unfortunate because I really did like the premise and the writing. The descriptions of how this disease presented itself was quite fascinating, but without a protagonist that I can even remotely relate to it was not much fun for me.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an extremely short story, a glimpse into a sickness effecting the world, as seen through the eyes of a young boy with an odd controlling mother. Free on Kindle, complete with some grammar errors. But, it was a fun and interesting little peek into this situation, nice imagery and atmosphere.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great work of short horror. If you like horror anthologies and have a strong stomach this is a great read for you.

[Nichola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good quick read.

[Christopher Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, creepy and tightly written read. Ian doesn't disappoint.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was wanting to read more at the end!

[John Dow · Rating 2 out of 5]

A clever little short story. Like many indies, Spore could definitely have used the benefit of some editing, but that shouldn't put you off. Gross and funny.

[Bookish Enchantment (Katherine Quirke) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad fast read. A little confusing in places

[MsBDiamondDiva1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was so freaking refreshing!!!:-) I love stuff that just manifest into an all out drama....this author should totally continue this story!!!:-)

[Rafa Lombardino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there was more story... Just when it was getting interesting, it was over!

[elsie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should have been much longer. It felt more like a synopsis of a story more than a short story.

[Hope York · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really waanted it to be longer!

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this short story free from Amazon on my Kindle. Pretty decent story. Might make a good full length novel. Left me wondering where did the epidemic start and what will happen next.

[Reva Nowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was short, sweet and to the point.

[A.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for this one at all. It didn't hold my attention.

[JasonH · Rating 4 out of 5]

love this guy's work!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was definitely creepy, but in a good way. A nice quick read.