Reviews

Tiny Nightmares: Very Short Stories of Horror by Nadxieli Nieto, Lincoln Michel

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caitmarie24's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

The only two stories I liked in this anthology were Leg by Brian Evenson and Parakeets by Kevin Brockmeier.

The rest of them were very underwhelming and usually had me saying “what?” When I finished them.

Can’t say I recommend it.

msmagoo502's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

starthelostgirl's review

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5.0

This book exceeded my expectations, which were tempered by the short word count of each story and that fact that I find most short story collections to be pretty hit or miss.

By far my favorite section was Limbs, which contained 9 stories I really loved (Fingers, Carbon Footprint, We Came Here for Fun, The Barrow Wight, Katy Bars the Door, Pincer and Tongue; The Mask, the Ride, the Bag; #MOTHERMAYHEM, Leg). Head and Viscera only had 1 story each which I loved (Jane Death Theory #13; Caravan), while Hearts had 5 (Harold, Candy Boii, The Unhaunting, The Marriage Variations, The Family Dinner).

A few stories were frustratingly vague with their endings (especially Human Milk for Human Babies) and others weren’t really what I’d call horror. Overall it was a very solid collection of a type of story I don’t often find (both the modern horror genre and the small word count). I loved the variety of the stories and the diverse settings they took place in.

reaperreads's review

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3.0

This collection, like most, contained some stories that stood out from the rest (for all the good reasons) and some that were, unfortunately, not memorable. Because the majority were not memorable for me, I'm giving this collection three stars to average out my rating, which factors in how lovely I think the illustrations were.

The stories that stood out to the most were these:
- "Guess" by Meg Ellison
- "Lifeline" by J. S. Breukelaar
- "Lone" by Jac Jemc
- "Pipeworks" by Chavisa Woods
- "Harold" by Selena Gambrell Anderson
- "Candy Boii" by Sam J. Miller
- "Fingers" by Rachel Heng
- "#MotherMayhem" by Jei D. Marcade
- "Joy, and Other Poisons" by Vajra Chandrasekera

After looking back through these, I think they all share something that made them stand-outs for me. I can't remember which author I heard say this, but whoever it was said, "Short stories don't have to have a plot, but they do have to have a point." I felt like I came away from each of these stories with a lightbulb moment. However, those lightbulb moments weren't always ~ * lIfE lEsSoNs * ~ but instead new ways of spotlighting certain vulnerabilities in horror writing. E.g., that specific kind of denial a child can enter when they're surrounded by violence ("Pipeworks"), or the violation one can feel when a stranger knows too much about them ("Candy Boii").

I think the most creative one for me was "#MotherMayhem". I'm not going to say what it's about because everything is a spoiler when it comes to flash fiction, BUT it incorporates a social media challenge with one of the most creative takes on coming of age I've read in a horror short. This book is available at the library, so NO EXCUSES.