Review: Gather ‘Round The Campfire for a Howling Good Time … of Horror, Fear & Fantasy

Flash O’Lantern: 13+ Stories by Todd Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you loved sitting around a campfire, as a kid, and spinning quick yarns to scare the ‘bejeezus’ out of your friends, then you’ll really enjoy Flash O’Lantern: 13+ Stories, a collection of flash fiction tales by horror writer/novelist Todd Russell.

Flash O’Lantern presents 13 Flash horror stories interspersed with Russell’s own thematically-related commentaries about memorable October events and trivia. The stories deliver quick, light, entertaining reads, and the commentaries provide plenty of great water-cooler conversational grist. Together they make Flash O’Lantern particularly good reading for people on the go. Here are my four favorite flash fiction offerings from the book:

Brush is the creepy story of a homeless guy who, let’s say, bites off more than he can chew, when he hijacks a kid’s Halloween goody bag. ( I think the National Dental Associationshould purchase reprint rights to this one and distribute them in dental offices nationwide.)

Graveyard Crazies offers a fun, yet spooky, take on working the mid-night (graveyard) shift in a supermarket. (Great atmospherics, and some well-done tension-relieving humor.)
Remdee Gate won me over immediately with the imaginative concept of the gate itself – an altogether new idea that I’ve never come across before in sci-fi/horror fantasy writing.
And finally, I found Rachel’s Number to be a quick, but haunting, story.

Todd is currently offering Flash O’Lanterns: 13+ Stories for FREE at Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98723 . I’d quickly grab a copy before his mercenary tendencies take over!

Other Important Todd Russell Links:

Books:

Mental Shrillness – An earlier collection of Todd’s short stories

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/49957

Fresh Flesh – Todd’s debut psychological thriller, horror novel

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/92524

Blog:

Connect with Todd Russell Online

Official Website

http://toddrwrite.com/

Email

todd@toddrwrite.com

Facebook

http://facebook.com/booksbytoddrussell

Twitter

http://twitter.com/Todd_Russell

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