Down by the Sea:

And Other Tales of Dark Destiny

Author: Michelle Mellon
Category: Horror Short Story Anthology, Psychological Thriller
Suitable for: Adults
My Rating: 4 Stars
Format Read for Review: E-copy provided for judgement in the Indie Horror Book Awards.
Pages: 161

Description:

This is an anthology of 13 short stories with various plots from different genres. It has everything from revenge thrillers, to spooky paranormal tales, psychopaths and monsters. The ones who just die are the lucky ones.

In Short:

I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror and short stories. What you get from this anthology is variety and some really inventive stories. It can be graphic, not for the faint of heart.

“I turned the leaf over for a closer look, and screamed.”

Pros:

I really enjoyed the theme of ‘dark destiny.’ These stories are well written, creative, and have a variety of themes to keep you entertained. There were some really original ideas in this book which was such a nice treat. It wasn’t just your typical ghost or murderer story but some fresh new monsters and surprises. I really loved how the characters in each story were unique and had their own voices. There was diversity in the cast of genders, races, ages, which made it so much more relatable to the real world. Only making it creepier when ordinary people commit heinous, insane acts. Both the settings and characters were well developed within such few pages. Though not too terrifying there was a good creep factor and some bone chilling gore. Even a little dark humor, or maybe that was just me. Overall I am impressed with this book and would definitely recommend it, and I would read more by this author.

“The bubbles were on the surface, moving closer, growing larger. Now I could see the darkness underneath…”

Cons:

Although I loved most of the stories there were some that just felt a little drug out and less interesting, like I was missing some details. The overall average stars I gave for all of the individual stories was closest to 4 stars.

“The sun continued to shine, the wind continued to blow, and the birds continued to circle and drift above, as if nothing had happened. I was alone.”

Parent’s Guide:

Contains blood, gore, violence, murder, rape, child molestation, abuse, and graphic language.

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I was given a free copy of this book in return for my honest review as a judge in the Indie Horror Book Awards.