Monday, April 29, 2013

13 British Horror Stories (review)


13 British Horror Stories 



Title: 13 British Horror Stories
Author: Rayne Hall
  Scimitar Press
Buy it or View on Goodreads
 

 
Summary:  "Thirteen creepy, atmospheric stories by Rayne Hall, all set in Britain.

This collection includes:

Take me to St Roch's
Seagulls
Never Leave Me
Double Rainbows
Scruples
Through the Tunnel
The Devil You Know
I Dived the Pandora
Four Bony Hands
Beltane
Druid Stones.
Burning
Only a Fool

The stories have been previously published in magazines, ezines, anthologies and collections. Some are also included in the Six Scary Tales books.

The words, spellings, grammar and punctuation are British English."
 
 
Review:  Overall, I enjoyed these stories.  Some more than others but each one worth taking a look at.  Each story is about 5-20 pages long so they are quick to read.  
 
These stories vary from creepy ghost stories, vengeful people and more.  My favorites included 'Take me to St Roch's,'  and 'Druid Stones.'  But there were many others I liked as well.  Seagulls reminded me a bit of the old horror story, 'The Birds' by Daphne du Maurier.  

One thing the author did that I found nice, was that at the beginning, she tells the reader how she got the idea for each story.  While I found this interesting, especially the time and dedication she puts into each one (and it shows in the stories),  I wish she had kept it s bit shorter.  A paragraph or so for each story would have been plenty but we get a bit more than that.

As I said, the author put in good time to understand the setting for each story, and it shows.  The description makes you feel as if you can be there yourself.  How she spend time in a cemetary at night to get that feeling is nicely portrayed.  

To me, a misleading fact is the title.  While the author does state that these are more creepy and not gore-fill (very true), I would not claim them as horror either.  Some are slightly unsettling and others have a creepy atmosphere but I don't like the use of the word horror to describe them.  
 
These stories can be read by any ages Middle school-adult and enjoyed by all.  You can read the whole book in one sitting or even just a story a day.   


 

 
 
 
 

27 comments:

  1. i like shrt story on the book they are great book for any one to read

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    1. They can be. This one is safe for both teens and adults. What I like is I can read a whole story in one sitting, easily.

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  2. I love anthologies so I will have to check this out!

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  3. This sends interesting. I would like to enter this giveaway to get the book.

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    1. I am guessing you mean to win one of my other October giveaways(?). I do not have a giveaway for Hunger Games.

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  4. I think I have to check this book out.

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  5. This sounds so interesting!

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  6. This book sounds like something I would like to read. I love creepy stories, but not if i'm indoors on my own!!!

    kirstyjfox {at] yahoo {dot} com

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    1. These are mildly creepy and not over the top which is nice.

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  7. These are the sort of stories that I loved to read as a teen. She sounds like a fun author!

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  8. I like the idea of the author telling how they got the idea for each story. That is always interesting to me

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  9. sounds scary...i love reading horror books :)

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    1. Most of these aren't persay scary but a few would make fun campfire reads.

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  10. I've been reading a lot of short stories lately and I'm about ready for a nice, long story- one I can sink my teeth into!!!

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    1. I usually prefer full novels but shorts are fun once in awhile.

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  11. im glad u like this book, great review

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  12. Thank you for the review on this one. I really like reading British Horror stories and this one sounds interesting.

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  13. I am into horror, so this British list is such a God send. Thank you for giving me this nice information.

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