Nightmare Asylum and Other Deadly Delights

​This book is a collection of short stories sent to me by the most awesome people ever at Blackthorn Book Tours.  There are eighteen stories in this collection.  They are ALL horror, thriller and suspense type stories.  They are put together kind of like an anthology, which I always like.
 
Here is the blurb for the book:
 
Nightmare Asylum – Despised by day, tortured by night. A midwifery student’s life disintegrates into a terrifying nightmare, after a disturbing encounter with the notorious child killer, Evelyn Green. Dark secrets from Lydia’s past unleash a truth that conjures her fears into unspeakable horror.
 
Other Deadly Delights – Tales from the psychotically unsound and deadly deluded. A stalker turns serial killer; a cleaning lady is imprisoned in the basement, there’s a prophetic warning for a woman in peril, and an android with love addiction, plus many more… a deliciously dangerous collection of short stories, ranging from psychological horror to paranormal, sci-fi and noir.
 
Dare you enter the nightmare Asylum?
 
I like the fact that it is a COLLECTION of short stories, rather than a full novel.  It makes it easier to read, like when a book is broken up into chapters.  So, keeping in mind that it was in such format, I decided to rate each story individually and then take the average of those ratings for the overall book rating.  I figured that would be a completely fair way of evaluating the book.
 
But, before we get to the ratings, I want to point out a couple of things.  First of all, in a larger collection of stories like this, you get such a variety of content.  I want to say that’s one of the best things about this particular collection.  Some of the stories read like journal entries, some were hair raising and chilling, some were mildly creepy but still fun to read.  There was only one story out of the whole collection that got a 1-star rating.  I’d say that’s pretty good.
 
One of my favorite stories that I would like to highlight is the first one, Nightmare Asylum.  This was a truly haunting and chilling tale.  It’s full to the brim with madness, anger and confusion.  So much so that those very emotions and feelings are very real to the reader and beyond just palpable.  This piece actually reminded me of the Masters of Horror TV episodes that have been on cable here and there.  It is amazingly written and quite a page turner.  Exceptional vocabulary was used in this creation and it really adds to the heft and depth of the story.  The vivid descriptions and emotional context put the reader right in the thick of what is happening.
 
Another excellent creepy concoction was Cry Baby.  This rated VERY high on the creep-o-meter scale.  The psychopathology expressed in this little bite of terror is incredibly detailed leaving you to able to conclude nothing but the fact that this main character is nothing other than a truly disturbed and troubled individual…and that’s putting it VERY nicely.
 
So, here’s how the ratings broke down:
 
There were five stories that got 5/5.
Two stories got 4/5.
Three got 3/5.
Six stories got a 2/5 (keep in mind that THIS count includes a two-part story set.
Only one story got 1/5.
 
This gave me a total of 53/90 which is an average of 3/5 stars.
 
I would totally recommend this to short horror story lovers.  Again, the beauty of this collection is that you can read in short bursts and not have to remember what carries over in the plot because you can easily finish one or two stories in a sitting.
 
I really respect and like how the author wasn’t afraid to try new things in the story lines.  It feels like the writer really searched themselves for some good ol’ fashioned horror and managed to not only keep it classic but also add a splash of modernism, which nicely rounded things out.  I hope you all enjoy this horror collection as much as I did, or better yet, more than I did!

About the author:
 
Sonia Kilvington
 
Bio: Sonia Kilvington is a journalist and fiction writer from the beautiful Mediterranean island of Cyprus. She has published many articles, travel features, short stories and interviews in glossy magazines. She loves to write dark and disturbing short stories in genres such as noir, crime, ghost and Sci-fi. Her online writing credits include Out of the Gutter Online, Spelk fiction, Pulp Metal Magazine & Near to the Knuckle. Her new short story collection, Nightmare Asylum & Other Deadly Delights - published by Close To The Bone, is available on Amazon.
 
Links:
 
Website: https://soniakilvingtonwriter.com/
 
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonia-Kilvington/e/B005FDXFQS/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
 
FB writer’s page: https://www.facebook.com/soniafiction/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Soniacyprus   (@Soniacyprus)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonia-kilvington-26b2b721/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soniakilvington/?hl=en
 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898959.Sonia_Kilvington
 Contact email: [email protected]
 
Amazon book links for Nightmare Asylum & Other Deadly Delights:
 
Amazon.co.uk.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nightmare-Asylum-other-Deadly-Delights-ebook/dp/B083R5YMX2/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=Nightmare+Asylum&qid=1578909796&s=books&sr=1-5

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Asylum-other-Deadly-Delights-ebook/dp/B083R5YMX2/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=nightmare+asylum&qid=1578910007&s=books&sr=1-5
 
 
 
RATINGS
3/5 Stars

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Check out the other reviews of this book at the websites below:
(just Google search the names)