Part of Geoff North’s Twisted Tales 1: Disturbing Tales of Terror and Suspense.
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I am very happy I found this author. First off, his body of work is prolific. Twisted Tales spans 18 books of short stories. I read two stories from Book 1 of Twisted Tales. Glad I did.
The first short story I read was “a Werewolf, a Vampire, and a Zombie.” This story is a wonderful example of the potential power of the rhetorical device of repetition, specifically a type of repetition called “antistasis” (or so I think). North does this by repeating the word “Brains”.
Beyond plain rhetorical analyses, there are just fun descriptions of classic horror characters and their interactions with one another. North’s choice of language is spot in achieving this too, both in terms of tone, dialogue and description. Some fun phrases he uses, often with skillful brevity include the following: “He winces at the stink”; “The brown fur is matted with dark goo”; “and a single purple intestine follows. plopping onto the hot floor with a sound like sizzling bacon.”
“One Small Step” places someone in a war between their OCD and their own survival. It is a clever take on the torment of this strain of mental illness, and how it can remain debilitating even in the midst of devastating external forces.
In classic demonstration of a skilled short story writer, both of these twisted tales only reach resolution in the last line or so. And they do so unpredictably and thoughtfully, with just the right dashes of dark comedy.
I look forward to seeing how this author has developed from Twisted Tales Book 1 all the way through Twisted Tales Book 18. I will be grabbing some more stories from the series to figure that out.
Official Book synopsis of Twisted Tales below. Buy on Amazon by clicking this link.
There’s nothing more terrifying than the things people are capable of doing to one another. Forget vampires, werewolves, and zombies (though there are a few here). The real scary stuff is happening all around us, every day, every night. Twisted Tales is a glimpse into some of our more depraved moments.
Story by Dave O’Boyle I recommend if you liked Geoff North: Fowl Foul from Transient Visitors: Month 1 of 12, A Collection of Very Tiny Tales.
Some more well-known books by other authors that reminded me of North’s work:
David O’Boyle
David O’Boyle is an
Author
Lawyer
Mooncalf
Finboy
Friend from Other Flower Pot
Transient Visitor
Earthling
Pro-Pluto
Maybe someday a Martian
Lover of Giants and Leprechauns and elves
ambassador to mummies and vampires.
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