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badseedgirl's review
4.0
Read as part of my May 2022 Long Month, Short Book Challenge
I purchased this book back in June 2021, but this along with the other books in the "Short Sharp Shocks!" series are available on Kindle Unlimited as of the writing of this review.
I must admit that I have never heard of the HWA Mary Shelley Scholarship but the author Theresa Derwin won it in 2019. I did a (very) little research and this is what I found. Sounds like a good idea to me. Encouraging more women to write horror fictions does not sound like a bad idea. If this short story collection is an example of what they are producing, I'm 100% in agreement with the scholarship.
There were two short stories in this collection, "Doris" and "Fruit of the Womb."
"Doris" is the story of a woman who befriends a dog in a post apocalyptic world. I was surprised how quickly I came to care for Doris the dog and the un-named woman. This made the ending even more tragic.
"Fruit of the Womb" was pretty straight forward horror tale, but again was very well written and was a Christmas tale (of a sorts.)
I encourage you to read these short but powerful tales yourself.
I purchased this book back in June 2021, but this along with the other books in the "Short Sharp Shocks!" series are available on Kindle Unlimited as of the writing of this review.
I must admit that I have never heard of the HWA Mary Shelley Scholarship but the author Theresa Derwin won it in 2019. I did a (very) little research and this is what I found. Sounds like a good idea to me. Encouraging more women to write horror fictions does not sound like a bad idea. If this short story collection is an example of what they are producing, I'm 100% in agreement with the scholarship.
There were two short stories in this collection, "Doris" and "Fruit of the Womb."
"Doris" is the story of a woman who befriends a dog in a post apocalyptic world. I was surprised how quickly I came to care for Doris the dog and the un-named woman. This made the ending even more tragic.
"Fruit of the Womb" was pretty straight forward horror tale, but again was very well written and was a Christmas tale (of a sorts.)
I encourage you to read these short but powerful tales yourself.
el_stevie's review
4.0
Horror for Midlanders
Reading these two short stories was a lot more personal than many tales I've read, featuring as they do, areas of the Midlands with which I'm familiar. Born in the Midlands, I still regard myself as such even though I'm now 'down South'. The settings, the behaviours, it was like coming home. The first tale, an apocalyptic scenario, included so much that could easily become true if we are not careful and should be taken as a warning. The second, a nice piece of folk horror ritual, appealed to me with my 'Cider House' childhood - although I can promise no pub customers were harmed back then - possibly. Enjoyable stories for when you need a 'short, sharp, shock'.
Reading these two short stories was a lot more personal than many tales I've read, featuring as they do, areas of the Midlands with which I'm familiar. Born in the Midlands, I still regard myself as such even though I'm now 'down South'. The settings, the behaviours, it was like coming home. The first tale, an apocalyptic scenario, included so much that could easily become true if we are not careful and should be taken as a warning. The second, a nice piece of folk horror ritual, appealed to me with my 'Cider House' childhood - although I can promise no pub customers were harmed back then - possibly. Enjoyable stories for when you need a 'short, sharp, shock'.
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