Frequently bought together

He was about to give up and return to the first floor when there was a noise. Someone on the outside was turning a key in the lock. Edmund quickly climbed half way up the stairs, out of sight, but still able to see into the service area. The door opened and the man in the grey uniform who had delivered supplies in the simulation — or one very like him — came in carrying one of the metal boxes. Edmund prepared to rush back up the stairs to the first floor. But the man in grey went through the archway to the outdoor equipment store, no doubt to return the box he was carrying.

For a moment, Edmund realised, the way to the outside was clear. Should he take it? He hesitated for only a second. Trying to make as little noise as possible, he leapt to ground level and sprinted through the still open door. Edmund's first thought, as he emerged into bright sunlight, was that he needed somewhere to hide. The man, having deposited his box, would almost certainly come out again — that he would go up to the guest floor and out through the official guest entrance was surely out of the question.

The window in Edmund's suite had not given a good view of the ground immediately below, but he thought he had seen some bushes up against the wall about twenty metres to the right. He had not been wrong. A short dash, and he was able to throw himself to the ground behind reasonably thick cover. But only just in time. The man in grey uniform emerged from the building, locked the door behind him, and passed within only a half-metre of Edmund's hiding-place. He then rounded a corner and was out of sight.

So far, so good, thought Edmund. And then it occurred to him that the way back was now closed, at least the way he had come out. He could always, of course, go round to the main entrance. However, entering the Tvorez facility again officially when, officially, he had never left might prove awkward. In any case, he would be no further forward than before in investigating the signals from the forest edge. It was only at this moment, now that the short burst of action was over, that the full implications of those signals hit him.

An event which had occurred in the simulated Tvorez training programme now appeared to be happening in the real world. How could this be? He remembered what the Natasha and Grigor characters had told him: But this was still unthinkable. And an alternative explanation, which then occurred to him, was even more unthinkable: For a moment Edmund felt as if he was on the edge of a cliff suffering an attack of vertigo: Then he pulled himself together. Though there seemed to be no sure way to establish the truth, one course of action was open. He would cross over to the forest edge, and find the source of the flashed signals.

If it turned out to be Natasha - and he had to admit that he strongly hoped it would be - he could at least question her further; and he could perhaps learn something even from a simulation. The decision made, Edmund got to his feet and looked across the stretch of grass towards the electrified fence. If the simulation was consistent - or had been an accurate reflection of reality, or had been reality — there would be a tunnel under it more or less in a direct line between where the signal had come from and the door into the storage area.

Crouching, he ran to the approximate spot; and, yes, there it was: Still crouching — though anyone happening to look out of the Tvorez building would have had little difficulty in spotting him — he reached the edge of the forest and dived into the darkness. He had been spotted; but not from where he had come. Once again he was grabbed from behind — but this time far less violently — and a long-fingered hand was placed over his mouth.

He was able to turn. It was, of course, Natasha. For a moment she kept her hand over Edmund's mouth, at the same time hissing "shh! When he nodded, she let go, and signalled that they should go deeper into the trees. Edmund followed for about a hundred metres, after which she suddenly stopped, turned, and pointed at him. She was not smiling. Her attitude was still unfriendly. She took a step towards him, smiling.

Was she about to kiss him again? If so, he had to resist the tempting distraction. I need to know the truth," Edmund answered. Now…is this a simulation? Last time real also. But bad, not legalno. If what she was saying were true, thought Edmund, then Tvorez — Anna - had been lying from the start. It was possible he had discovered some dark military secret; and that meant he was now in serious danger.

They would hardly let him go back to London as if nothing had happened. But then, why on earth would they have got him involved in the first place? On the other hand, it was also possible that Natasha was wrong…that is, a simulated Natasha, with a real Natasha actually, like him, on a recliner in the Tvorez building. And, given Tvorez's techniques, her projected self could easily be convinced that the simulation they were in was reality. That explanation, though, also raised awkward questions. What, for example, was the point of trying to convince him, within the simulation, that Tvorez was acting illegally?

The more he turned the dilemma over in his mind, the more only one course of action suggested itself. He must somehow get back into the Tvorez building and look in the room where he — and presumably Natasha, too — were perhaps on their recliners. If the recliners were empty, one possible conclusion was that everything was real, and perhaps had been real from the start. In that case, he needed to get away fast — away as far as possible from Tvorez before he was missed, and somehow make it to Minsk airport.

If, on the other hand, everything had been and still was a simulation, what they found would of course prove nothing. The situation would be full of paradox. The whole programme might crash, and he would be definitively back in the real world. His first problem was to let Natasha know what he had in mind.

Her English was, by quite a distance, ahead of his Russian. Even so, when he began to outline his plan, pointing in the direction of the Tvorez buildings and signalling that they should go there, she backed away in horror. She had understood, evidently, that he was encouraging her to surrender. After several minutes of mixed mime and occasional words in English and Russian, he seemed to convince her that he was on her side.

He could, of course, have just said goodbye and tried returning to Tvorez on his own. But it had occurred to him from the start that this would be impossible without someone more familiar with the facility's layout than he was. Even if he could somehow get in the same way he had exited, the only way from the guest suite to the main buildings was via the main, well-guarded, entrance.

He needed her to show him how to get in without alerting any of the official military personnel. As a non-military scientist, she might just know a way. He also had to admit that being with Natasha's would be welcome in its own right.

Story #1: What Life is All About

He had found himself running their kiss in the open-sided shed over and over again in his head, even when Anna had explained that the whole episode was only part of a garbled military training programme. And now, he realised, it was possible that the kiss had been real. Terrible though the implications were in other ways, he was almost wishing that this was true.

As these thoughts began to suggest a completely different plan of action, his optimism about Natasha's ability to get him into Tvorez was quickly justified. When his objective became clear, Natasha smiled, nodded, and beckoned Edmund to follow. After first retreating into the forest, they took a wide right-hand loop, and emerged again beside a gravelled track that led to a wire-mesh gate in the Tvorez fence, closed with a heavy padlock and chain.

On the far side was a small hut — presumably a guard-post — and beyond that a number of oblong, single-storey buildings constructed of breeze-blocks, but with slatted wooden roofs. Natasha signed to Edmund to stay back, and to crouch or lie down. She herself moved cautiously, still under the cover of the trees, until she was in a position to look through the fence at the guard-hut.

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After a few moments, she returned, signalled to Edmund to get to his feet, and together they walked openly up to the gate. Natasha took a key from one her fatigue pockets, undid the padlock, disengaged the chain and opened the gate enough for both of them to slip through. She then quickly replaced the chain, padlocked the gate shut, and, pulling Edmund behind her, took cover in the narrow passageway between two of the breeze-block buildings.

She put a finger to her lips to make sure Edmund stayed quiet, but was grinning at the same time. Pointing the guard-hut, she mimed drinking from a bottle, then falling asleep. Evidently this was fairly routine behaviour for those sent to guard a hardly ever used back entrance. After a few moments of listening, Natasha began edging round to the far side of one of the buildings, indicating that Edmund should stay put; and vanished round the corner.

About a quarter of an hour went by, and he began to wonder what he should do if she failed to return. After half an hour he had become seriously worried; but a few minutes later Natasha suddenly reappeared. She was no longer in soiled combat fatigues, but wearing all-in one white overalls with a hood concealing her hair and much of her face — for a heart-stopping moment, indeed, Edmund had not recognised her.

She had brought with her a second, larger white all-in-one, which he was evidently supposed to put on. Once he had done so, Natasha beckoned him to follow. Together they walked openly up a dirt path, reinforced with wire mesh, towards the Tvorez main buildings. Edmund was astonished and full of admiration at the speed and efficiency with which Natasha had operated, once she had known what he wanted.

The side-door which they eventually came to was guarded by a young soldier in combat fatigues. For a moment it looked as though he was going to check their identities, and Edmund got ready to run. But Natasha flashed some kind of pass at him, together with a quick smile, and he stood aside to let them both in.

On the opposite side of a small vestibule were a pair of swing doors. They crossed and pushed through. They were in the casualty ward. On either side of the central passageway was a row of beds, each holding a patient bandaged on an arm, a leg, the head or in some cases the whole body. Those whose faces were visible all had the same central-Asian features as the subjects in the combat scenarios.

Looking more closely, Edmund had the uneasy feeling that he half-recognised one — a man who appeared to have a broken nose. Another, his neck in a brace and heavily bandaged, was attached some kind of respirator. Could he be, Edmund thought, the man in the unarmed combat simulation who had killed his opponent, and then the presiding officer, with a stone? He looked round to see Natasha urgently beckoning. She pointed to a side door, and he followed her through it into a passageway. On either side were several doors with barred grills at eye-level.

Natasha again beckoned for him to come closer, then whispered:. Edmund could not stop himself from shivering, as if the temperature had suddenly dropped below zero. Those combat scenarios they had programmed in London…Tvorez had never run them! Instead, they had carried them out in real life, tricking him into believing it was a simulation.

Men had fought and died in front of him! Had they also thought it was a simulation? But she put her fingers to her lips, and indicated that he should stay where he was. Edmund tried to follow; but she signalled him back, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek - he found himself feeling disappointed there had not been more - then went to the doors and through them. He was again on his own. For some minutes, Edmund stayed exactly where he was. Then he decided that he must find out more.

He walked quietly to one of the grilled doors off the corridor and looked in. It was a prison cell. A man in combat fatigues, with the same build and features as the others, was lying on a wooden shelf, either asleep or unconscious. Moving along the corridor, he looked through the other grilles.

The rooms were identical, all but one with a sleeping, unconscious — or possibly, Edmund realised — dead inmate. These were almost certainly the "volunteers" for participation in his project, promised by Anna. Thinking of Anna brought him back, with a jolt, to awareness of his situation. There was no question any more of bringing himself out of simulation by confronting another self on the recliner. And it was obvious, too, that Tvorez could not let him return to London with that information. He should have made for Minsk airport while the opportunity had existed, instead of persuading Natasha to bring him back inside.

What had he been thinking of? He answered his own question. He had been thinking it inconceivable that what he had witnessed was really taking place. It was still almost inconceivable. Which brought him back to the question: For a moment, he considered taking his life in his hands, revealing who he was and demanding to be brought to see Anna. Then a better idea came to him. With luck, he had not yet been missed from the guest suite. If he could somehow get back there, he could re-appear officially as if he had never left — but now knowing that the whole thing was a fraud.

If he was clever, he might get Anna, or one of the other members of the team assigned to him, to let something slip. The first problem was that he had no idea how to get from where he was - presumably the medical section of some kind of prison wing - to the area holding the guest suite. This could only be solved when Natasha returned. The second problem was more serious: Going back the way he had come, through the service area, was now impossible.

The only way was to go to the main lobby and pretend to have just come down from the guest suite. He returned to the spot where Natasha had left him. No-one else had yet come into the corridor; but surely it was only a matter of time before someone did, if only to check on the prisoners. He looked up and down to see whether there was a hiding place.

There was nothing obvious. But perhaps the one empty cell at the far end of the corridor was open. He walked quickly past the occupied calls and — yes! Hiding there would be as good a line of retreat as any. And then the door at the other end of the corridor — the one through which he and Natasha had come — swung open, and a white-coated figure came into the corridor. Hoping that he was in time before the figure looked up towards him, Edmund slipped into the empty cell and pushed the door to, flattening himself against the wall beside it.

He heard footsteps approaching — not steadily, but with pauses every now and again. As he had predicted, someone had been sent to check on the prisoners. The footsteps grew louder. They reached the adjoining cell. Then they stopped immediately outside Edmund's door. If the figure looked through the grill, he would not be seen. But if he or possibly she came in, he would have to act; though, even given surprise, he did not much rate his chances, a university lecturer against a soldier possibly trained in unarmed combat. What actually happened, though, was possibly worse. Instead of pushing the door open and entering the cell, the figure partly opened it; and then slammed it shut.

There was the sound of a key in a lock. And then the footsteps retreated smartly back the way they had come, ending when Edmund heard the door to the casualty ward swinging closed. For some minutes, Edmund remained frozen against the wall. Then, recovering from his mild shock, he tried the door. It was, of course, securely locked. Crossing the cell, he sat down on the bench which lined one of the side-walls. Concealing himself was obviously now futile — indeed his best hope was that Natasha would soon return, find him there, and somehow unlock the door.

Given that she had already managed to get a key to one of the back entrances to Tvorez, there was quite a good chance that she could lay her hands on keys to the cells. Indeed, the more he thought about it, the more Edmund began to marvel at Natasha's resourcefulness. In what he had, at the time, taken for a simulation, she had easily evaded capture by the squad sent to where she and Grigor were hiding out. She seemed to have had no problems in obtaining supplies from allies within the Tvorez military. When convinced by him to re-enter the compound, she knew the guards would be asleep, had a key to the gate, and, once inside, had quite quickly found effective disguises for them both.

For a girl just out of university it was impressive - indeed almost too impressive. The more he thought about it, the more there began to grow in Edmund a very slight feeling of unease. Immediately, however, he pulled himself together. This was no time to have doubts. It was important now to plan carefully what he would do once Natasha returned. Assuming she could get him safely out of the prison wing — if that's what it was — he could perhaps enter the entrance lobby in the white coveralls, slip them off where he could not be seen, and present himself as having just left the guest wing.

Then he would call an emergency meeting of the project team and announce that he had to attend an urgent meeting in London, leaving right away. He would be away for perhaps a week; and further simulations would have to be postponed until he returned. Presumably there would be no problem in taking him to Minsk airport. Once in London he would report exactly what he had discovered. Then it would be up to the Foreign Office or the Ministry of Defence or someone to take the necessary action. There would, of course, be problems with the School.

The payment to Tvorez had not been large; but, given the likelihood that Tvorez would refund it, it would probably have to be written off. He didn't look forward to explaining the situation to Arthur and Siobhan, either.

See a Problem?

Anna had offered him what looked like a golden opportunity to make his name, he had rushed to accept without checking properly, and had been made a fool of. Just as these dark thoughts began to provoke the first stirrings of fear, he heard the doors to the casualty ward swing open and shut; then footsteps approaching. This would be Natasha, at last!

Edmund jumped to his feet in relief. But as the steps grew closer, it sounded as though there were made by at least two people. Alarmed, Edmund took up his old position against the wall to one side of the door. The footsteps reached the outside of the cell, and stopped. There was a tapping on the glass panel in the door.

Edmund remained where he was. There was more tapping, and then the sound of a key being inserted into the lock. Hiding no longer had any purpose. We let you out. The key turned in the lock, there was grating noise, and as the door opened Edmund stepped out to welcome his rescuers. In front of him was a soldier in combat fatigues, holding a machine pistol. And behind the soldier, smiling, was Anna.

Edmund was surprised to find himself, not strapped to a metal chair in some interrogation unit, but once again in the private dining room where he had been entertained by Anna on his first evening in Tvorez. She was now sitting opposite him, in full uniform, and flanked on one side by the man in combat fatigues who had escorted them from the prison wing.

During the short march to the dining room - it had turned out that the cell corridor, together with the casualty ward, were in the main bloc less than half a minute away from the entrance lobby - he had tried to ask what they were going to do with him, where was Natasha, did they know he had somehow got lost…But Anna had remained silent.

Now her first question came as a slight surprise. After a short moment, he decided merely to reply. Edmund was, this time, really surprised. He had been expecting the questioning to come from the other side of the table. They looked like the ones in simulations. She seemed quite happy to admit the deception. Everything was real, wasn't it? He felt he could risk taking a more aggressive tone. How could you allow that? Then, when fight over, winner decides - as only in simulation - to attack officer.

This officer not very popular; soldier thinks to teach him lesson , I think you say. No wonder I wasn't able to see him afterwards! And the other man, the loser. Was that 'big mistake' too? But you told me it would all be simulated. If I'd thought for a moment…". You said you were running training programmes. Is fighting to the death part of it? Edmund, stunned, found himself at a loss for words. Then another urgent question occurred to him.

Why did Tvorez want to run my scenarios? Curiously, she did not seem at all upset. In fact, she was actually smiling.

Short Stories: Falls The Shadow by George Anthony

Does that mean I shall never leave here? Well, if so, there are still things I'd like to know. Anna's smile broadened on her slightly flat face, making it look like a ghastly comedy mask. Edmund suddenly felt as if iced water were being poured down his spine. To Edmund's horror, this seemed to make Anna's laughter uncontrollable.

This is it, thought Edmund. Would there be a chance to escape? With one of the escorting soldier in behind him, he obediently followed Anna out of the room. The lobby of the Tvorez building, when they reached it, was entirely deserted. He would, he realised, have had no difficulty getting back into the guest suite if he had not been trapped in the cell. Looking out of the main entrance, through which he now expected he would be taken, he noticed that the guards normally stationed on either side were now absent. Indeed, the building felt curiously empty: When, unexpectedly, Anna led the way into the corridor leading to the laboratories, he was surprised to find that it, too, was deserted.


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Normally - admittedly in his only short experience - there would have been at least one or two technicians or lab assistants coming or going to the entrance lobby or one of the storage or rest rooms off the corridor. As the three moved towards the lab entrance at the far end, he noticed that a set of swing doors half way down were those he had come through a short while earlier. This was the way to the casualty ward, and, beyond that, the cell row where Natasha had left him.

Could she have returned there after all, but too late to find him?

Alfred & Shadow - A Short Story about Self-Criticism

As they passed the doors, Edmund decided that this was possibly his only chance. Suddenly diving to one side, he hurled himself at the doors, falling heavily to the floor once he was through. He was in a small lobby, with another set of door in front of him. These, he remembered, led directly into the ward.

In some pain, he got to his feet and moved forward. Would he be able to get through before he was recaptured? Then he realised that non-one had come after him. Puzzled but thankful, he pushed the far doors open and went into the casualty ward. It, too, was deserted. The rows of beds were still there; but now they were empty, the bedclothes made up neatly.

In less than an hour the whole room had been cleared of the injured. Nor was there any staff. Even more puzzled, Edmund crossed to the far side and went through the doors to the corridor beyond, hoping desperately that Natasha would be there waiting with an explanation. But there was no one. Could injured and staff, he wondered, have been rounded up and locked in the cells for some reason? He looked into the first one, where before there had been a sleeping figure. So were all the others. Now completely bewildered, Edmund returned through the doors to the casualty ward.

Anna and the escort were waiting for him on the far side. Once again Edmund was led through the two sets of swing doors and then followed Anna towards the laboratories. With a start he realised that this had been his objective all along. At the time he had thought he could find out definitively whether or not he was in a simulation.

Now he knew the truth. Anna led him through the doors to the lab; then stood back while he advanced to the short row of recliners. He looked at the one which he had earlier occupied. There was a figure on it, wearing dark trousers and a white shirt - exactly the same clothes that he himself was wearing under the white coverall. Baffled, he went to the recliner, removed the figure's goggles and looked down. He is staring into his own face.

Edmund finds it impossible to draw breath. The room around him begins to lose focus. He falls sideways onto the recliner, and comes to rest lying across his own torso. But before losing consciousness he glances back at the doorway. Anna is no longer there. Instead, Natasha is looking at him through her long blonde hair with a curious, lop-sided smile….

Siobhan looks sideways at him, her expression a mixture of nervousness and bravado, with a definite dash of coquetterie. Edmund decides to test the communication programme installed by Tvorez, and types into the key-pad on his arm: Unlike Anna the man remained silent for about a minute, and then said: On the slope above are the onlookers, roughly the same number as on previous occasions.

No doubt, Edmund thinks, a template generates the same crowd for all scenarios, only the costumes being varied. But on this occasion there seems to have been no attempt at a particular historical context. All, men and women alike, are dressed in plain collarless shirts or vests, nondescript baggy trousers, grey or dun - in fact they could be off-duty soldiers transposed from the real Tvorez base, Edmund realises. He began to lift himself from the recliner…and discovered that he was apparently already out of it, lying on the floor. He put his hands out to push himself up; but, instead of smooth slabs of composite tiling, he found his hands sinking into a yielding, slightly damp surface.

At the same time, there was a strong scent of vegetable-decay, leaf-mould…with a shock, Edmund realises that he is lying on the forest floor, still - incredible and disconcerting though that is - within the simulation. He points at the two. Natasha is already on her feet, hastily stuffing items from the supply pile into her plastic bag. Outside it is scarcely dawn. Grigor helps him to his feet, thrusts the stove and two gas cylinders into his hands, and pulls him outside and into the meadow. The long grass is wet, and Edmund's trousers are almost instantly soaked.

He starts to object; but Grigor hisses and puts a finger to his mouth. Natasha is already half way across to the woodland on the far side of the field, crouching down as far as possible below the level of the grass and small trees. Grigor signals to Edmund to do the same, and drags him after Natasha. In the end he remained where he was and merely said: Is need to talk". Then, realising that the phrase was probably too idiomatic, added: Edmund walked unsteadily towards him and shouted: Instead, he said in as normal a voice as he could manage: Anna turned back with a smile to Edmund.

He had to find out the truth. It was worth a try. Natasha again beckoned for him to come closer, then whispered: All real men, some now dead. Anna burst out laughing. Next to him, Arthur is still stretched out in his pod, evidently not yet out of simulation. But beyond him Siobhan also has her headset off. Beyond her the other stations are empty. If you liked this story, please share it with others: Her life is so gritty and ugly, and it's an existence that I think is missing in the YA narratives.


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I haven't read Thicker Than Water yet but this made me really want to even more now! It's so dark and terrible, and the MC is someone who definitely doesn't understand the world because of how she was raised and how she and her kin live up there on the mountains. My mind is thoroughly shocked. I hate to say I even enjoyed it, but it sure was perfect for this. I didn't realize this one would be the short story that turned into This Darkness Mine. Because I've read that book, I already knew everything.

So sadly, I'm just glad it was suuuuper short and that she turned this into a full novel, because it really was a fascinating story. Reunion by Joelle Charbonneau: Sabrina finally comes home after a year away with a plan: But instead, someone else pays the debt, and life will be okay again. DAMN, that was not what I was expecting from this story! You think it's going one way, and then bam, it doesn't. Instead of fighting the fire and getting out, everyone keeps dancing among the flames and smoke.

And it was hard to read at first, because of the dogs who throw themselves off of this bridge in small-town Indiana. I hate animal deaths, but especially of dogs. But there's a reason for it, a sad, aching reason for it. Also, I loved the voice in this story! A lot of the science-fiction aspects went over my head at first.

But he chose to do the right thing, even though it would cost him not only his mother but the only home he's ever known. I wasn't sure even where it was gonna go, and I was surprised by all of it. Definitely one for this dark anthology! I'm just not a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, and I didn't really care about any of the characters.

And I loved how it focused on this romance that isn't no ordinary romance, about a girl who keeps waiting for the guy she loves to be strong enough to take on the magic and the role so she doesn't have to be alone anymore. I liked most of them, but I just didn't have any strong feelings toward any of them or the characters. It's not really a me anthology, I'm coming to realize.

But I'm still glad I read it! I wouldn't run around and recommend this book but I wouldn't advise you against reading it if you're interested either. A mixed bag of thirteen dark tales. Oct 15, Gisbelle rated it liked it Shelves: What I don't like the most about reading an analogy is the part where I have to rate the book.

Among these 13 short stories, I only like 5 of them. Oct 29, Amber rated it really liked it Shelves: Nov 06, Brian Montanaro rated it it was amazing. Among the Shadows is a very interesting book and I could easily picture reading the short stories around a campfire! That said, the book is not entirely composed of paranormal or ghost stories. Yes, there is a story about a monster under the bed, one with aliens, and another about a demon, but many of the stories look further into what makes a monster, and how humans and real life can be just as scary, if not more, than anything else.

The wide array of story lines drugs, depression, family, post Among the Shadows is a very interesting book and I could easily picture reading the short stories around a campfire! The wide array of story lines drugs, depression, family, post-apocalypse, entertainment, false realities. And in many cases the reader is left wanting more, which is one of the things that makes this book unique.

All 13 authors are very talented and have books of their own. Nov 03, Shelley rated it liked it Shelves: As mentioned, this is a compilation of 13 stories by 13 different authors. Each ranging in topic and darkness. Many of the authors were new to me and I felt this was a good way to sample their work. Naturally, I enjoyed some tales more than others. Fun Everything is a little creepy and a little gross. All YA protagonists, mostly female. Overall a quick and interesting group of short stories. Jun 04, Emmie rated it liked it Shelves: I liked the first half.

Very disturbing but good. I kinda wished there was a little more for me to get into it. It was c Average: It was creepy and I had to laugh because there was one part that she did that I used to do as a kid. So short yet so horrifying. I really liked this one. It was too short, too confusing, and not one I really cared for. Short but well worth it. I ended up skimming then completely skipped to the next story.

7 Short Stories that Will Change Your Attitude (and Spare Some Pain)

Lewis - 3 stars - I thought this was okay. I liked the idea of it but I needed more. I feel this would be excellent if it was a full sized novel. Man, that ending though. Yes, there is a story about a monster under the bed, one with aliens, and another about a demon, but many of the stories look further into what makes a monster, and how humans and real life can be just as scary, if not more, than anything else.

The wide array of story lines drugs, depression, family, post-apocalypse, entertainment, false realities. And in many cases the reader is left wanting more, which is one of the things that makes this book unique. All 13 authors are very talented and have books of their own. Obviously, you want this one.

Some of my all-time favorite authors here. This book is filled with awesome short stories by excellent authors! Nothing excessively exciting, but definitely a good read, especially if you like creepy things I don't. See all 5 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Thirteen Stories of Darkness and Light. Set up a giveaway. Customers who bought this item also bought. In the End They will still hunt us down. Pages with related products. See and discover other items: There's a problem loading this menu right now.

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