Official Review: 10 Short Horror Stories vol:1

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "10 Short Horror Stories vol:1" by Steven Havelock.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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10 Short Horror Stories: Vol 1, by Steven Havelock, is a collection of ten short horror stories. The book is only 109 pages long. Most of the stories have a religious theme, with the characters being most afraid of going to hell.

The last (but certainly not least) story happens to be the most engaging. Louise is a devout Christian, who carries with her a deep, dark secret. At first, it seems that Louise simply has a neurotic personality. She burdens herself with guilt and takes the blame for things not caused by her. She blames her mother’s death on her “sin”. As unexplainable events unfold, we learn just how dark and deplorable that sin really is. Will she be able to escape the consequences of her actions? Can she redeem herself?

Most of the stories explore the damaging effects that societal problems have on individuals. Difficulties can make or break a person. Books in general focus on telling the success story of the protagonist who rose from the ashes. What happens though, when a person is instead broken by adversity? Having that rare take on things makes this collection refreshing. These stories have a lot of imagination behind them.

Sadly, they are not very convincing. Many of the shorter stories are rushed and underdeveloped. As a result, the book failed miserably at sending chills down my spine. I wish the author had cut out those poorly developed stories and focused on the longer stories, which had my attention. The last story takes up a third of the entire book and I feel was given the most attention. Had the author given the same amount of attention to the other stories, this would be a great read. The concepts were well thought out but poorly executed. The more true to life stories in this collection, are more relatable and thus scarier.

One aspect which sure was scary about this collection is the editing! Missing letters, inconsistent page numbering, shocking grammar mistakes and atrocious spelling mistakes. The differences in formatting amongst the stories is distracting, perhaps the different stories are formatted differently to give them an individual feel, but again, it is poorly executed. All these earned this book a seat in the horror books’ section.

I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. It isn’t scary at all. The lack of editing put the last nail in the coffin for this book. There are just too many errors. I do not recommend this book. Horror fans would be disappointed.

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10 Short Horror Stories vol:1
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Like Kelebogile Mbangi's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kandscreeley]

Well, it seemed like it had promise until I read your review. Thanks for warning me away from this book. Nice review.

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

I'm glad my review was helpful to you. Thank you for reading it and commenting. I look forward to your next review.

[ARRivera]

As an author, I know this review has to sting.

[Juliet Esther]

When I read the title I thought it was so very interesting buy after reading the whole review in discouraged by this book, if the stories are short and rushed that means they are not very interesting. Thanks for the nice and honest review

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

Thank you for reading my review Juliet, you're right, most of the stories were not interesting.

-- 02 Aug 2017, 12:13 --

As an author, I know this review has to sting.

I feel guilty now, but its my job to be honest.

[Amagine]

I'm not really into the horror genre but will admit that it is disappointing to read a horror book and it's not scary at all. Hopefully the author will try a little harder when writing horror stories.

Great Review! ?

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

I agree, I hope volume 2 is better.

[LadyClaire]

I can just imagine the look of dismay on your face while you read... Sorry about this one and thanks for being there first(smiles).
Thanks for the review.

[Biblos]

Whoa! The book has a good title and cover design which caught my attention. Was really looking forward to reading it coz I like short stories, until I read your review. I'll still go ahead and check it out though. Thanks for the warning, it has helped manage my expectations.

[nizakat sindhi]

this has a good title.i love this book because iam fond of hoorror books

[juliusotinyo]

I'll probably just read it for how short it is. You wrote a nice review.

[The Researcher]

Very interesting review! Well its ironic when a horror novel fails to be scary.

[Jeremie Mondejar]

Thanks for your review. I don't like horror stories, it only cause my nightmares. Forgiveness really saves someone from the fiercest fire of hell.

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

I can just imagine the look of dismay on your face while you read... Sorry about this one and thanks for being there first(smiles).
Thanks for the review.

Lol, I took one for the team Claire.

-- 03 Aug 2017, 02:55 --

Whoa! The book has a good title and cover design which caught my attention. Was really looking forward to reading it coz I like short stories, until I read your review. I'll still go ahead and check it out though. Thanks for the warning, it has helped manage my expectations.

I hope you enjoy it more then I do.

-- 03 Aug 2017, 02:56 --

this has a good title.i love this book because iam fond of hoorror books

I agree it does have a good title. Thank you so much for reading my review.

-- 03 Aug 2017, 02:57 --

I'll probably just read it for how short it is. You wrote a nice review.

Thank you Julius, yep it is very short, around a 100 pages if I remember correctly.

-- 03 Aug 2017, 02:58 --

Very interesting review! Well its ironic when a horror novel fails to be scary.

I know right? Thanks for reading my review.

-- 03 Aug 2017, 02:59 --

Thanks for your review. I don't like horror stories, it only cause my nightmares. Forgiveness really saves someone from the fiercest fire of hell.

Lucky for me, this one wasn't scary so I slept a deep slumber afterwards, without any nightmares.