Sunday, January 19, 2014

13 Quick Shivers Anthology

I saw this book on Goodreads as one of their giveaways, I thought the concept of horror stories only 100 words long to be intriguing so I entered to win. I had not heard of the website that put together this anthology, and all the authors were new to me. I didn't know that they support Midwest (local for me) authors and I'm still not quite sure what "snob horror" is as a genre.

I am a voracious reader and frequently devour my books like one pigging out at a buffet. I did that the first time I read this collection, it doesn't work. I had to slow down my reading to gain a feel for the stories (which seems odd since they are so short). One of the methods they used to help establish mood in these stories was to use unusual fonts. I'm still trying to figure out if the fonts were more of a help or a hindrance for me as a reader. In a couple of the stories, they change in fonts made it difficult to know which line to read next. I admit the length of the stories caused me to fear that they would end up being poetry, they didn't. They were; however, some of the tiniest pieces of micro-fiction I've ever seen.

The collection was a very interesting experience. Some of the stories really managed to create a mood in those few sort words. I enjoyed the book, but I think I will always prefer longer stories.

Happy reading!