A man looking for his cat has an unfortunate accident, a widow’s neighborhood is under siege by horrific monsters, but she couldn’t be bothered to lend a helping hand, a strange man is pining after the love of his life, but not everything is at it seems, a woman whose girlfriend was taken from this world will do whatever it takes to bring her back, and a man tries one more time to save his failing relationship, but things go horribly, horribly wrong.
In The Endless and Other Stories, Brandon Baker’s first published collection, we read 5 different horror stories of individuals that find themselves in various nightmare scenarios, with each story exploring a different horror sub-genre.
The Endless and other stories is a quick read collection of five truly torturous tales that should be read with the lights on. The author uses description and a good dollop of suspense to keep readers glued to the pages. He also throws in some humour to lighten the darkness and give the reader a moment to catch their breath.
Not wanting to give too much away, I will give you a teaser of what I thought about each story.
Unbothered is the first story and the author picked a good ‘grab you by the throat’ story to tempt the reader to carry on. This was creepy AF with the shadow creatures. A good use of description and bittersweet irony kept me intrigued. I loved the ‘tried to MacGyver it’ situation. Some may not get it, but it made me laugh out loud.
Out of the five stories, I think the second story, Cat Dad was my favourite. It too, had a creepy feel to it, a ton of chilling gore and gave the reader two perspectives, Dennis, or ‘The Man’ and Babou the cat, adding another dimension which I thought was very clever. Really good description in the opening, had me right there in the garden. Tension was also woven throughout and humour at times. I thought this one was the gem of the lot!
Beautiful was a story I thought would appeal to crime thriller fans. Pure obsession vibes, and some chilling twists that made me smile. Don’t worry, there were also some devious horror drops that will appeal to those who love the darkness.
The Endless was a really intense ‘don’t go into the woods’ kinda story. For me, it felt like something was missing and although there was more great use of angst and suspense, it was probably my least favourite of the five.
The Last Hike… talk about ending on a bang! This was probably the most horror/thriller combo of the stories. Mixing some gory goings on and the pure nail-biting intensity of a good thriller at times I was shaking my head, trying to warn the characters of what would happen if they made the wrong decision. ‘Don’t do it!’ Left my lips a few times!
Would I recommend this collection of short stories? Does a bear sh*t in the woods? You bet your ass I would! Tense, funny, a good mix of gruesome for horror fans and mystery for crime fans I raced through this novella enjoying each story. A macabre collection of truly terrifying tales will have you clenching your jaw as you realise the horrors the author puts his characters through. For a debut, I was impressed and will keep my eye out for more from this author.
