Bedtime Tales of Horror: Book I

Bedtime Tales of Horror Book I (Please see below for links about author and purchase)

Lately, I have been reading a set of short stories that I graciously received from the author himself, Mr. Bradley Poage.  I have three of these books (Book I, II and III) and I am almost done with Book I.  I was so pleased with what I received that I decided a review would be necessary, as I truly thought these were great stories.

These tales of horror are definitely creepy.  Although I read a lot of comic books and graphic novels, I do so enjoy reading books and novels for the simple fact that I, as the reader, get to incorporate my own imagination and thoughts into the story as well as what the author has presented me with.  This allows me to get more involved in the story.  It’s like when a director and a bunch of actors get together and make a movie.  You have all of these different people involved and each one brings their own interpretation and skill set to the table, forming a team of imagination to deliver us THEIR film version of a scripted idea.  The only problem with this is that it’s THEIR interpretation.  When you READ a story, you get to form the images of characters, setting and happenings yourself.

Now, these stories are very good.  Very good.  Mr. Poage has a slight “Stephen King” kind of style to his writing, which is very intriguing.  Each of these stories has a unique plot, are just the right length and truly keep you interested all the way to the end.

For instance, we have a tale of a mysterious ant bite.  Something a number of us have experienced (me definitely, I climbed a cherry tree in our backyard as a child to pick cherries for Mom to bake and I was truly attacked by an army of red fire ants.  Having severe allergies to insects at the time, this was ultimately terrifying to a small child, I thought I might die.  We didn’t have epi-pens at the time).  So, this particular tragedy sort of colored my brain for the first story, making it incredibly impactful to me on a personal level.

There’s also a story of two brothers and a little healthy sibling rivalry (sibling rivalry, something I think a lot of us also know a little something about).  There’s a tragic story of devouring hunger and pain.  We walk with an insecure woman and her journey for perfection.  There’s carnivorous lust and lonely hitchhikers. 

Poage brilliantly plays on real life events, some innocuous and some not, all of which can be related to (in some way) as a regular human being.  There are a number of stories from this first book in the series that, I feel, are definitely good enough to be more fully developed.  This particular collection is short, simple and to the point.  The length of the tales are just right, allowing me to read one at a time OR a few in one sitting (like today, where I read the last four stories all in one shot).

I would certainly recommend this to anyone who likes short stories of the horror and suspense genre.

About the author:

Bradley Poage All Author Page 
Bradley Poage Goodreads Author Page

You can find the books to buy on Amazon for Kindle at the links below:

Book I

Book II

Book III

Page for all published stories and books:  HERE
 
RATINGS
4.5/5

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