Book Description
Jon Richter returns to horror with a new collection of short, chilling tales, splicing together his best previously published works with a batch of nerve-shredding new fiction. Encompassing science fiction and fantasy as well as gothic horror and outright weirdness, the anthology is brought twitching and wriggling to life by the brilliant illustrations of David T Wilby.
Dark Fiction will slake the thirst of anyone who craves original, fiendishly crafted stories with twist endings that cling to you long after you've finished reading...
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Dark Fiction' by Jon Richter.
Read and reviewed for Jon Richter and Zooloos Book Tours .
Publication date 9th June 2023.
This is the first book I have read by this author.
This novel consists of a prologue, 22 short stories and an epilogue. The stories are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective with a mix of protagonists. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.
This book is very well written with vivid descriptions that absolutely grip the readers attention and puts them right in the middle of it all making your heart pound and you constantly second guessing.
An addictive and horrific collection of 22 short stories filled with blood, gore, science fiction, karma, twists, horror and absolutely everything you could ask for in a gripping page turner. As I always do with books of short stories or poems I will rate them individually and then give an overall rating at the end. These are the stories that are included in order, a short description of what they are about and my rating:
🏠 Prologue: I absolutely loved this prologue!!! In fact it has to be one of the best ones I've ever read!!! Do you remember the choose your own destiny books?? Well they are exactly what it reminded me off. It is written in second person perspective and leads us to the authors very own house as his publisher where we are told to open doors to discover the stories behind them. Absolutely fantastic and extremely engaging!! I feel that even though it is a prologue it deserves a rating along with the rest of these stories and it has to be a 5/5 from me!!!
🤖 The Truth: Josh has been keeping a secret from his wife who believed he is leaving the house for work every day. However,it isn't the type of secret one would normally think of. Josh is really going to see not a man or a woman but a mechanical creature with a life like head that can give him answers he desires such as what really happened to his father. However, Josh obviously never heard of the saying curiosity killed the cat and before long he wishes he never asked. Josh is only allowed one question a day which frustrated him and he decides to teach the creature names as Brazenhead a lesson. A fascinating story especially in regards with dealing with the mechanics of the human mind, relationships and mentality. It ends with an absolutely fantastic drawing of Brazenhead illustrated by the very talented David T Wilby. This gets a 5/5 from me. Creepy, horrific and intriguing.
👿 Brute: Jasper The Off White Wizard is fed up of his life and decides to summon Yarll The Eradicator to aid in his quest to become powerful. However, he ends up conjuring Yarll's henchman Bogrot Skullbasher instead. Bogrot has decided he is also fed up with being the henchman and wants to become the big boss but things don't go to plan for either Jasper or Bogrot. I loved this story which was funny, gory and teaches you to be careful what you wish for. Great illustrations again from David. 5/5 from me.
🧱 Vengeance: Masahiro is returning to Japan after 10 years in prison for a crime his son committed which left a man dead and his wife extremely badly burnt. It all started with a brick thrown through a window but one thing leads to another and it all escalated and ended in literally torture. 3/5
🐰 Skin: Absolutely loved this extremely short creepypasta which I can't say anything at all about as it will give too much away. It is perfect to read around a campfire, at Halloween or Easter. However, this one is just two pages with the perfect amount of gore and horror. 5/5
🎽 Endurance: Steve Strickland is determined to become the 16th person to conquer the Wheezing 100, a notorious race also known as the abattoir. However, the race becomes more deadly than anyone could have imagined and with numbers dropping will there be anyone left for Steve to beat? Will he make it to the end himself? Loved some of the gory details and intricate traps throughout this fast paced story. This one gets 4/5 from me.
🦑 Leviathan: Mr Whitman has been given an assignment to join professor Montgomery Carver on an expedition into the depths of the ocean to study octopuses but the professor also has his hopes of spotting the kraken. Things start going wrong and they find themselves in deep trouble. Filled with suspense and in diary format this is a great story to sink your teeth into. 4/5
🚀 The Thinker: Ludo, Hobb and Mbemba are on a salvage mission on the spaceship 'The Thinker'. What they don't realise is that they are not alone. A creepy science fiction story that gets 3/5 from me.
🏝️ Exhibition: Nigel has been chosen as part of the elite seven to attend the latest exhibition by SewerRat showcasing it's latest project at Pulau Ikan Kecil. Each of the selected are there for a reason which they are shown in a gruesome and appropriate lesson but one which they won't be around to see. I absolutely LOVED this one!!! I am a huge animal lover and without giving anything away will just say Karma. Definitely a 5/5 and my favourite so far!!!!
🍷 The Thanatologist: Marieke is working her way through the Goûter's list of the top ten undiscovered restaurants in London when she spots the same guy at three of the restaurants. They finally get too talking and meet every week to continue to conquer the top ten. However, Marieke believes Ash is keeping a secret, or more from her. Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of this one so it only gets a 2/5 from me.
☠️ Ephemera: Unfortunately I couldn't get into this story at all. It just wasn't for me. 1/5
🍕 Slice: James is fed up of working at his job at 'Slice' but does enjoy seeing his colleague and friend Marcie who also works there and who he has a crush on. However, she doesn't turn up for a shift and Jason is concerned as the last time he spoke to her she was worried about the pizza restaurant's resident ghost Nina who has followed her home. James goes to speak to Nina when he is served up a Carnivora special. A delightfully delicious and gruesome horror with a fantastic illustration to end. Definitely a 5/5 for me!!
Perpetual:
The Pit:
Dead Horizon:
Urbex:
Something Waits:
Infestation:
The Fishery:
Polaris:
The Ufologist:
Interface:
Peace:
Epilogue:
An absolutely fantastic collection of disgusting, disturbing, suspenseful and tension packed horrific short stories!!! I haven't quite finished them all as unfortunately I have had a ram packed two weeks with a personal loss and so many appointments I've lost count but I wanted to get this up and will come back and add to the rest of the stories as I finish them.
This may be the first book I have read by this author but it most certainly won't be the last and I cannot wait to get stuck into more of his previous and future books!!!
A great collection of short stories with an excellent range of situations, characters, locations and narratives. My favourite ones had to be 'Slice', 'Exhibition', 'Skin' and 'The Truth'. These stories include suspense, horror, tension, crime, revenge, the supernatural and much more! There is a great mix of stories so there is definitely something in there for everyone. The cover is absolutely amazing and it was one of the things that drew me to the book. This book is ideal to be able to pick up and read a story during a break or while making a cuppa!! I would probably avoid reading them as a bedtime story though!!! I am a huge fan of horror stories and the gorier the better for me!!! I cannot wait to read the rest of Jon's books and short stories and he has dedicated hit one of my favourite author lists!!! The excellent descriptions throughout ensures you feel the hair raising on your arms and the chill on your skin!!!The fact that these are short stories also allows you to pick it up and read/listen to a story at a time or read/listen to it in one sitting which is perfect for those who like to read multiple books at one time. Jon has excellent writing skills and and I look forward to reading more of his work! The average rating for all the story ratings is 3.91 so I give the overall book a 4/5 rating . This may change when I finish the rest of the stories.
Grab your copy of 'Dark Fiction' and discover which stories you love!!!
Congratulations Jon on an absolutely fantastic book of horror stories!!! Welcome to my favourite authors club and here's to your next success 🥂!!!
Overall an absolutely heart racing, gothic, chilling , suspense and tension filled addictive and explosive book of short stories that will keep you up at night!!!
Genres covered in this novel include Contemporary Horror, British Horror Fiction, Ghost Suspense, Occult Horror, Suspense, Horror Anthologies, Mystery, Horror, Occult, Occult Supernatural, Ghost Thriller, Historical Thriller, Occult Fiction and Thriller, Horror Thriller, Horror Short Stories, Single Authors Short Stories amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as Stephen King and other great authors as well as to anyone looking for an unputdownable gothic horror that is guaranteed to have you glued to the pages!!
489 pages.
This book is just £2.99 to purchase on kindle and £9.99 in paperback via Amazon at time of review which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
Jon Richter writes dark fiction, and is the author of four crime thrillers (Chains, Rabbit Hole, Never Rest and Deadly Burial) as well as three collections of short horror fiction (Jon Richter's Disturbing Works: Volumes One and Two, and his latest release DARK FICTION), cyberpunk thriller Auxiliary, and psychological techno-thriller The Warden.
Jon lives in London and loves immersing himself in all things dark and sinister, whether they're books, films, video games or even board games – any way to tell a great story!
If you want to chat to him about this, or about anything at all, you can find him on Twitter @RichterWrites or Instagram @jonrichterwrites; he’d also love it if you would check out his website at www.jon-richter.com.
Jon also co-hosts two podcasts: the dark fiction podcast, Dark Natter, and the cyberpunk podcast, Hosts In The Shell, which you can find wherever you get your podcast fix.
Social Media Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richterwrites2
Twitter: https://twitter.com/richterwrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonrichterwrites/
Website: www.jon-richter.com
Purchase Link
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