Review: Vampiro and Other Strange Tales of the Macabre: A Collection of Short Horror Stories

Author: Kevin J. Kennedy

Started reading: August 29th 2020

Finished the book: September 2nd 2020

Pages: 93

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

Published: November 17th 2019

Source: Digital copy from the author

Goodreads score: 4.41

My score:

Synopsis

After the success of Kennedy’s first collection, Dark Thoughts, he brings you Vampiro and Other Strange Tales of the Macabre. This one contains stories inspired by TV shows from his youth, such as ‘Tales from the Crypt,’ ‘Eerie India,’ ‘The Twilight Zone’ & ‘The Outer Limits.’ Inside, you will find tales of a carnival vampire, a town overtaken by a special kind of Easter bunnies, tales of the insane, a journey through Hell at Christmas time, and many other shorts to make your hair stand on end. Some are funny, some are gross and some touch upon the evil of your fellow man.

Come and join us, but be warned… you may never want to leave.

I'm always excited when I see a book by Kevin J. Kennedy on my list. I just know I'll read more original, scary, funny and gory horror stories. This book was unique in a way that all the stories are by Kevin J. Kennedy himself. I usually read the books where he collaborates with other authors.

What I saw, by reading only stories by Kennedy himself, is that he has such a big imagination! All the stories were totally different and I did not feel like they were written by one and the same author. Great job.

The Games

Rating: 4

This story was gross and I'm a sucker for a nice gross story. I would've loved for this story to have more details in the end. I wanted it to be longer and more graphic, but I was totally rooting for this vampire that turned everything around. I felt that something haunting and very bad was going to happen during the story, and I live for that feeling.

Thirteen Voices

Rating: 5

This story is amazing. It made me smile on a dark day and the distraction was welcome. I've never read anything like this story and I was shocked about the end! I also smiled a little bit at the end of the book, and I loved that combination; being both shocked and amused.

Don't Grass

Rating: 3

I loved the build up in this book, but I craved for action and didn't really get it. I was rooting for the main character and even found the troubling personality interesting. Right at the moment where I was like "Yeah, here we go!", the story ended. I felt like it was cut short and I just needed more, I was so ready for it.

Would you sell your soul?

Rating: 4

In this story I was rooting for the main character so hard. I was hoping he would be able to live his dream. This story showed that some people (or trolls) will do anything to get what they desire. I was very curious what this sweet troll had done all the years we skip in time. I got a little peek and that made me so curious for more.

Vampiro

Rating: 3

This story felt a bit like a biography/memoirs of a vampire. The vampire feels nostalgic about the past and sees the world around him changing. I liked the creepy clown in this story a lot. It reminded me of the creepy clown in American Horror Story.

A Town Called Easter

Rating: 5

Who would've known that the apocalypse starts with huge, murderous rabbits?! I love how we get different POVs in this story and the feeling of helplessness and not being able to do anything was the best part.

Christmas in Hell

Rating: 5

This story was so much fun. I'm always amazed by stories about hell. Authors have really different imaginations about it and I've read so many different stories about hell over the past few years. Authors always come up with the most unique things in these stories and have a way to make it a real hell for the main characters. I've never read stories that were the same, and this one was so original. It would be a real hell if I'd have to live there!

So here ya go, these are all the stories in this Short Stories collection. I'd definitely recommend reading this book, or any other Short Story collection by Kevin J. Kennedy if you're a horror-fan!

Thanks for reading!

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