Whilst I am not a huge fan of Short Stories, I really enjoyed reading this collection of Horror Stories by Author P. J. Blakey Novis, and exploring his themes and ideas about the darker side of human nature, the blurred line between dreams and reality, and his desire to take readers on a journey of terror and suspense. The stories are all well written and quite subtle in their delivery, more airing on the side of eerie and atmospheric as opposed to wanting to achieve the sudden shock factor, which for me as a fan of this genre, often lets many horror books and films down, as I find they are ridiculously far fetched and cheesy.
My favourites amongst his collection are, Opened Up, Trick or Treat, and Meredith, although in all honesty I liked them all. Each plot moves forward at a fast pace, keeping the reader engaged and turning the pages. The endings of each story I felt were satisfactory and I was quite content to proceed to the next story. The cast of characters are sufficiently developed and believable (no obvious cheese!) and the dialogue relevant. There are no significant editorial issues that would detract from the stories. A great collection and well worth a read.
I award a solid 4 stars.
