I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation by Mike Thorn Series: Short Sharp Shocks! #31
Published by Demain Publishing on September 27 2019
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 48
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: I loved the moody, dangerous quality of these stories, but both endings left me confused.
Demain Publishing’s Short Sharp Shocks! is a series of short horror fiction by various authors, and I was recently offered a review copy of their most recent release by Mike Thorn. Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation is a collection of two short horror stories, quickly read in about an hour. I enjoyed Thorn’s ability to create an unsettling atmosphere, and I did love how both stories deal with the theme of family secrets, but overall they didn’t quite work for me.
Here’s a quick rundown of each story and my overall thoughts:
Dreams of Lake Drukka
This was the best of the two stories. Sharla has been having nightmares ever since her mother drowned under mysterious circumstances, and she’s compelled to visit the small lake town of Drukka to try to confront her emotions. She invites her sister Jeannette along, although Jeannette harbors quite a lot of resentment toward her sister, and doesn’t understand why Sharla wants her to come along.
Once they reach Lake Drukka, the girls are surprised by the sudden appearance of their father. Why is he there? What was his involvement with his wife’s death? And what’s that shadowy monster hovering behind him? The girls are about to get a nasty surprise.
The best part of this story was the relationship between Sharla and Jeannette. Thorn captures the broiling, barely contained tension between sisters really well, as they come to terms about the truth of their mother’s death. He includes a flashback that shows the sisters bonding over an incident with a school bully, suggesting that this past shared event will save them from the horrors in the present. I loved their ugly, complicated relationship, and I thought Thorn did a great job of bringing it to life in only a handful of pages.
As for the rest of the story, well, it fell off the rails for me as soon as their father showed up at the lake. I honestly didn’t understand what was happening, although I think I know what the author was trying to do. The story has a sinister, creepy, “deal with the devil” vibe to it, but the events at the end were just too chaotic and confusing for me.
Exhumation
This story, unfortunately, falls into my WTF category, reserved for stories that I just can’t make heads or tales of. Exhumation starts out interestingly enough. A man named Abel is attending the funeral of his cousin Alan, who apparently died of a drug overdose. After the service, he’s accosted by a group of rough strangers who attack Abel and drag him into the viewing room, where they proceed to desecrate Alan’s remains in front of him.
And here’s where the Exhumation takes a left turn into bloody, hallucinogenic territory. Abel seems to be trapped in some weird events from his past, and these “strangers” appear to be part of that past. Thorn’s story has a dream-like quality to it, and Abel is unable to extricate himself from a terrible cycle of demonic worship and sacrifice. Parts of the story worked really well, but as a whole it just didn’t make sense.
Thorn’s writing felt awkward and clunky in places, which was a little disappointing. I think I would have enjoyed these stories more if the writing itself had been more polished. Still, he definitely has a talent for creating atmosphere, and despite the fact that I wasn’t bowled over by this collection, I’d be interested in checking out more of his work in the future.
Big thanks to Mike Thorn and Demain Publishing for supplying a review copy.
Great review, Tammy! Sounds like a decent collection with some flaws that don’t completely ruin it all. A bit odd that there’s only two stories collected?… Hmmm 😮
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I think the series is meant to be short because “Short Sharp Shocks!” Which these stories definitely are!
I don’t think I’d be bothering if both stories didn’t work. Short stories are far harder to nail than a novel, in my experience – but if it’s being published, then it should work. I’ve folders of short stories I’ve written that went off the rails – I’m not about to inflict them on anyone else, though:))
I think these were a matter of taste, but I have seen some really good ratings for this on Goodreads.
These both sound interesting- but also like the lack of polish makes them safe to skip? I listened to a handful of stories today from one of Amazon’s story collections (Disorder) that we’re all really disturbing. One in particular called The Beckoning One. Sheesh. Messed up and sort of terrifying. Have you read any of those yet?
No, but now I want to. Just haven’t had time. Who wrote The Beckoning One?
It’s actually The Beckoning Fair One by Dan Chaon. Really super disturbing. Lauren Beukes has One called Ungirls that was also really disturbing.
The whole collection is messed up really. If you’re in the right mood for it they are all great stories.
I have to give credit where it’s due- Nadine told me about them earlier today! Listened to half so far and they were just what I was in the mood for.
Cool, I guess need to find time to read them, I’ve been seeing lots of good reviews.
This isn’t one I’m familiar with, but it does sound interesting! I’m not sure about the second story though, if it was too “WTF” for you, I think for me it would go straight into the 1-star bin 😛
Yeah, I almost wish I could spoil it more because oh my god, very weird! He’s definitely creative when it comes to story ideas:-)
Awesome review and yep, I’ve read some short stories that definitely fall in the WTF category. I have seen this one but wasn’t sure what it was all about.
I think you can get away with WTF more with short stories than novels.
I just reviewed a book from this series too.. The Town That Feared Dust. It had a kind of open and abrupt ending but it worked for me. Might not for others though:)
Laura Thomas recently posted…31 Days Of Thrills And Chills #14 ~ One By One
Maybe your’s is the blog I saw this series on. I know I saw it somewhere!
Sorry this one didn’t quite work for you. At least both stories were quick reads! 🙂
Yes, very quick. I do actually want to try Thorn again sometime.
Somehow, the word “exhumation” in a title doesn’t predispose me to a book or story! These do sound interesting, but confusing endings can be pretty frustrating!