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100pagesaday's review
4.0
With seven short horror stories, Gristle and Bone offers a little something for everyone; creatures, shifters, disappearances, ghosts, the Apocalypse, cannibals and frugaltarians round out this collections. For every story in here, I really enjoyed Duncan’s build of suspense, pacing and characters. I was very impressed with all of the different types of horror included from subtle to downright terrifying and gory. I also loved some of the twists that I never saw coming.
My absolute favorite story of the bunch was the last one, Scavengers, which is novella-length. So, you’re probably thinking ‘what’s so scary about frugaltarians?’ Well, they are not what they seem at all. This story had me from the beginning, when a neighbor is recounting restaurant owner’s Jim and Leann’s dealings with scavengers from their dumpster and why it turned into murder. There was a lot of suspense building, characters that I got a good feel for and more weirdness that I could imagine with the frugaltarians; and not to mention a twist at the very end.
Another favorite for me was Beware of Dog. Veteran, Dean returns to his home town and under the care of a psychologist, he is told to come to terms and apologize for an event with a classmate from his past. This story didn’t have the typical horror feel, but there was plenty of suspense and violence. Most of the story deals with the typical and mundane overcoming of the past and confronting a bully. However, Dean’s issue with dogs doesn’t become clear until he finally takes the advice of his doctor and confronts his past tormentor. This one was unsuspected and atypical, but I loved it.
Overall, a great short story collection for someone who wants to check out a new author.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
My absolute favorite story of the bunch was the last one, Scavengers, which is novella-length. So, you’re probably thinking ‘what’s so scary about frugaltarians?’ Well, they are not what they seem at all. This story had me from the beginning, when a neighbor is recounting restaurant owner’s Jim and Leann’s dealings with scavengers from their dumpster and why it turned into murder. There was a lot of suspense building, characters that I got a good feel for and more weirdness that I could imagine with the frugaltarians; and not to mention a twist at the very end.
Another favorite for me was Beware of Dog. Veteran, Dean returns to his home town and under the care of a psychologist, he is told to come to terms and apologize for an event with a classmate from his past. This story didn’t have the typical horror feel, but there was plenty of suspense and violence. Most of the story deals with the typical and mundane overcoming of the past and confronting a bully. However, Dean’s issue with dogs doesn’t become clear until he finally takes the advice of his doctor and confronts his past tormentor. This one was unsuspected and atypical, but I loved it.
Overall, a great short story collection for someone who wants to check out a new author.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
vondav's review
5.0
For this anthology, the author has taken a regular human need or action and turned them into seven dark stories, each one completely different from the one before.
Baby Teeth: Candace and Joel really want a baby, but after Candance was told she couldn’t have children, they slowly drifted apart. However, when Candance started hearing noises in the house, she did not expect the outcome. Reading this story, you definitely know that this is horror as the way the author described what happened to Candace was one of the darkest scenes I have read which was not what I expected.
Beware of the Dog: When Dean needed counselling for his PTSD, he knew that he had to go home and seek professional help. Going back home drags up old memories and the fears he had as a young boy resurfaces, but the saying “A dog is a man’s best friend” is definitely true. This is a moving story about a man who has to face his childhood fears and the guilt he still had over a childhood fight. Meeting up with his teenage crush was a pleasant surprise.
Viral: When a girl’s disappearance goes viral, Tara Maxwell manages to persuade her editor to let her investigate. This quite a sad story as there are a lot of people that are invisible and are able to hide their pain from the outside world. A very thoughtful story.
Artifact: A group of friends are highly successful in the porn industry, what their customer don’t know is that they trick the girls into performing for the camera. Everything was going well until an unexpected visitor gets revenge. This is a story about revenge, although a ghost story, it shows the seedy side of the porn industry.
End User: Mason is getting emails and videos from an unknown source. This story is full of suspense, and you are kept guessing who is responsible and the reason behind it until the very end.
Fat of the Land: David and June are on vacation, and they come across a restaurant where they try the most amazing food, but where did the meat come from. David and June had grown comfortable together and June started to notice small things that irritated her. Although I had my suspicions about the food, I enjoyed reading this story. The description of the meal made you feel as if you were in the restaurant eating the meal. The dramatic scenes after the meal, made this story a real page turner.
Scavengers: We have all heard of people who dumpster dive, to find food that has just been thrown out, but when Jim comes across a dumpster diver that can threaten life, he knows that he has to take action. This was one of my favourites and the longest story in the book. Written from the neighbour’s retelling of the events, this story had everything horror, suspense and action. I loved the idea of a new creature terrorising the streets and the description on how they moved reminding me of the girl from The Ring.
This book was a great introduction for me to the author’s work and I loved each story. The majority of this book I could see being made into a TV show like Tales of the Unexpected, as the descriptive way the author tells a story, makes you feel that you are there watching it scene by scene. A good read a must for any dark horror lover
Baby Teeth: Candace and Joel really want a baby, but after Candance was told she couldn’t have children, they slowly drifted apart. However, when Candance started hearing noises in the house, she did not expect the outcome. Reading this story, you definitely know that this is horror as the way the author described what happened to Candace was one of the darkest scenes I have read which was not what I expected.
Beware of the Dog: When Dean needed counselling for his PTSD, he knew that he had to go home and seek professional help. Going back home drags up old memories and the fears he had as a young boy resurfaces, but the saying “A dog is a man’s best friend” is definitely true. This is a moving story about a man who has to face his childhood fears and the guilt he still had over a childhood fight. Meeting up with his teenage crush was a pleasant surprise.
Viral: When a girl’s disappearance goes viral, Tara Maxwell manages to persuade her editor to let her investigate. This quite a sad story as there are a lot of people that are invisible and are able to hide their pain from the outside world. A very thoughtful story.
Artifact: A group of friends are highly successful in the porn industry, what their customer don’t know is that they trick the girls into performing for the camera. Everything was going well until an unexpected visitor gets revenge. This is a story about revenge, although a ghost story, it shows the seedy side of the porn industry.
End User: Mason is getting emails and videos from an unknown source. This story is full of suspense, and you are kept guessing who is responsible and the reason behind it until the very end.
Fat of the Land: David and June are on vacation, and they come across a restaurant where they try the most amazing food, but where did the meat come from. David and June had grown comfortable together and June started to notice small things that irritated her. Although I had my suspicions about the food, I enjoyed reading this story. The description of the meal made you feel as if you were in the restaurant eating the meal. The dramatic scenes after the meal, made this story a real page turner.
Scavengers: We have all heard of people who dumpster dive, to find food that has just been thrown out, but when Jim comes across a dumpster diver that can threaten life, he knows that he has to take action. This was one of my favourites and the longest story in the book. Written from the neighbour’s retelling of the events, this story had everything horror, suspense and action. I loved the idea of a new creature terrorising the streets and the description on how they moved reminding me of the girl from The Ring.
This book was a great introduction for me to the author’s work and I loved each story. The majority of this book I could see being made into a TV show like Tales of the Unexpected, as the descriptive way the author tells a story, makes you feel that you are there watching it scene by scene. A good read a must for any dark horror lover
5hadow_girl's review
5.0
I cannot praise this book highly enough.
Each short story pulled me into Duncan Ralston's world a little bit further, and his world is a scary place to be. Not in the gross out and gory way that I'm usually going on about, but on a psychological level that is terrifying.
Check out my full review on BBB
Each short story pulled me into Duncan Ralston's world a little bit further, and his world is a scary place to be. Not in the gross out and gory way that I'm usually going on about, but on a psychological level that is terrifying.
Check out my full review on BBB
sralgee's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent..."body" of work.
Normally I get ebooks because they're promoted on Facebook or Twitter (especially if they're free). "Gristle & Bone" popped up in my Amazon recommendations and I thought, "That looks good."
I was NOT disappointed.
This was my first encounter with Duncan Ralston's work, but I very much doubt it will be my last. I won't spoil the stories for you, but the topics run the gamut from cannibalism to lycanthropy to neighbors who aren't what they seem. The characters are solid and believable, and the stories just suck you in. (I haven't been so annoyed to have my reading interrupted in quite a while.)
Read. This. Collection. It's disturbing and gory and horrible in all the RIGHT ways.
Normally I get ebooks because they're promoted on Facebook or Twitter (especially if they're free). "Gristle & Bone" popped up in my Amazon recommendations and I thought, "That looks good."
I was NOT disappointed.
This was my first encounter with Duncan Ralston's work, but I very much doubt it will be my last. I won't spoil the stories for you, but the topics run the gamut from cannibalism to lycanthropy to neighbors who aren't what they seem. The characters are solid and believable, and the stories just suck you in. (I haven't been so annoyed to have my reading interrupted in quite a while.)
Read. This. Collection. It's disturbing and gory and horrible in all the RIGHT ways.
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