Official Review: Midnight Hour Collection
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GertrudeH
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Official Review: Midnight Hour Collection
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Midnight Hour Collection" by Russell Simpson.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Midnight Hour Collection Vol I by Russell Simpson is a collection of four short horror stories, each story from a different horror sub genre. The collection is a fairly good representation of horror, and only has a few minor issues in total.
The books four stories are each inspired from a different sub genre of horror. The first, Fields of Wheat, is a slasher in a rural setting, similar to the movies The Hills Have Eyes, or Wrong Turn. Our protagonists, a couple named Scott and Alysa, are driving through Arkansas where they come across your typical hillbilly killer. The second story, Phenomena, centers on Pete Berg, a desk clerk at a hotel. This story deals with a haunting in a room in the hotel. The third story, From Above, tells of a young man named Brandon Lestner and his new apartment, where every night he is plagued by visions of demons tearing into him and torturing him. The last story is called Afterlife, and it deals with a man named Sam’s brush with death, which apparently sends him to what might be Hell.
One of the biggest pros of the collection is the fact that each story is a little example of four sub genre’s of horror, a slasher, a haunting, a demonic haunting (different from the second’s more ghostly haunting), and a near death experience which leads to a very Clive Barker-ish version of Hell (Clive Barker is the writer of the Hellbound Heart, another short story that would eventually inspire the Hellraiser films, a staple of the horror genre). In fact, for someone who is unfamiliar or new to horror, this little collection would be an excellent introduction to it. None of the stories are extreme enough to put off newcomers, and each of them gives a decent representation of the kind of the stories they tell. In fact the entire book reminds me a bit of the old Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. You can easily take this book on your next camping trip to tell around the fire.
There are only a few minor cons in the book. One of the most obvious is the way the dialogue is formatted. The dialogue is lumped into the paragraphs without any breaks, making it hard to read. It’s hard to tell who is talking at the time, and it forces the reader to slow down and go ‘wait, who said that?’ In most other books the dialogue is written this way:
“I like pie,” Said Joe.
“Really?” Said Bob. “I prefer cake.”
In this manner the dialogue is split and it is easy to tell when Joe talks and when Bob replies. However, in the collection these dialogue breaks are not there, making it a hard read. Another minor issue is that, especially during the end of the stories, they begin to fall in the telling instead of showing trap. I understand from the introduction that the author wishes to keep the background of each story a mystery. That is fine, however a bit more detail would be nice in each story. I am not saying tell us the origin of the crazed killer in the first story. I’m asking for a bit more detail in the discovery that Scott and Alysa make, expand the elements of the haunting of the second story, more of the hellish dreams in the third, and description in the last. Make me feel the horror of each story; just don’t tell me how scared your characters are.
I give Midnight Horror Collection Vol I a 3 out of 4. Despite a few formatting hiccups the book is very good. Each story is easy to read, easy to get into, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It gives the audience what it wants out of a collection of short horror stories. All it needs is a bit of editing here and there to polish it out, and it will be ready to be published. I would recommend it to both newcomers to the genre, and fans.
******
Midnight Hour Collection
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
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Midnight Hour Collection Vol I by Russell Simpson is a collection of four short horror stories, each story from a different horror sub genre. The collection is a fairly good representation of horror, and only has a few minor issues in total.
The books four stories are each inspired from a different sub genre of horror. The first, Fields of Wheat, is a slasher in a rural setting, similar to the movies The Hills Have Eyes, or Wrong Turn. Our protagonists, a couple named Scott and Alysa, are driving through Arkansas where they come across your typical hillbilly killer. The second story, Phenomena, centers on Pete Berg, a desk clerk at a hotel. This story deals with a haunting in a room in the hotel. The third story, From Above, tells of a young man named Brandon Lestner and his new apartment, where every night he is plagued by visions of demons tearing into him and torturing him. The last story is called Afterlife, and it deals with a man named Sam’s brush with death, which apparently sends him to what might be Hell.
One of the biggest pros of the collection is the fact that each story is a little example of four sub genre’s of horror, a slasher, a haunting, a demonic haunting (different from the second’s more ghostly haunting), and a near death experience which leads to a very Clive Barker-ish version of Hell (Clive Barker is the writer of the Hellbound Heart, another short story that would eventually inspire the Hellraiser films, a staple of the horror genre). In fact, for someone who is unfamiliar or new to horror, this little collection would be an excellent introduction to it. None of the stories are extreme enough to put off newcomers, and each of them gives a decent representation of the kind of the stories they tell. In fact the entire book reminds me a bit of the old Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. You can easily take this book on your next camping trip to tell around the fire.
There are only a few minor cons in the book. One of the most obvious is the way the dialogue is formatted. The dialogue is lumped into the paragraphs without any breaks, making it hard to read. It’s hard to tell who is talking at the time, and it forces the reader to slow down and go ‘wait, who said that?’ In most other books the dialogue is written this way:
“I like pie,” Said Joe.
“Really?” Said Bob. “I prefer cake.”
In this manner the dialogue is split and it is easy to tell when Joe talks and when Bob replies. However, in the collection these dialogue breaks are not there, making it a hard read. Another minor issue is that, especially during the end of the stories, they begin to fall in the telling instead of showing trap. I understand from the introduction that the author wishes to keep the background of each story a mystery. That is fine, however a bit more detail would be nice in each story. I am not saying tell us the origin of the crazed killer in the first story. I’m asking for a bit more detail in the discovery that Scott and Alysa make, expand the elements of the haunting of the second story, more of the hellish dreams in the third, and description in the last. Make me feel the horror of each story; just don’t tell me how scared your characters are.
I give Midnight Horror Collection Vol I a 3 out of 4. Despite a few formatting hiccups the book is very good. Each story is easy to read, easy to get into, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It gives the audience what it wants out of a collection of short horror stories. All it needs is a bit of editing here and there to polish it out, and it will be ready to be published. I would recommend it to both newcomers to the genre, and fans.
******
Midnight Hour Collection
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like GertrudeH's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "Dreamvision" by S. L. Bynum
