The Devil’s Grave: A Collection of Short Crime & Horror Stories by @renaaliston and the first book in her The Devil’s Reign Series. This collection was my baptism into the flash fiction genre and it didn’t disappoint.
Aliston is superb at story-telling when it comes to creating vivid, macabre imagery in short form, even the shortest story, pulls you in and leaves you a little shaken at the end. For me the longer pieces is where Aliston truly shines, setting the scene, building the suspense and shocking you (wow, did some of those stories take a turn, my crime show addiction was no match to those plot twists)
This collection touches on the supernatural, fantasy and a little too much reality for some. It was dark and macabre and not really a genre I saw myself reading but the more I read, the more I wanted. It comes with plenty of trigger warnings but it certainly doesn’t warn you, you about to be shaken and stirred. Definitely one for the horror lovers, macabre lovers and flash fiction lovers of the world. – Karen L. Richards, Author
Enchanting, thrilling and yet oddly comfortable.
The perfect collection!! If you’re someone that has a thirst for short stories and mini-stories with horror – this is the set of stories for you! The stories are perfectly made for people who are deeply invested in the genre and at the same time Rena has done a brilliant job of making stories that would not be too discomforting for someone newly stepping into horror and thrillers. A good variety of stories with many different sites and backgrounds and leaves you wanting just a little more! – Anu Nair, Author
This book was interesting. I haven’t read many short stories outside of social media posts, so I was interested in seeing how engaging it would be. Turns out, it is indeed engaging in a more non-committal way. I really appreciated this fact because it allowed me to really sit and enjoy the stories instead of rushing through to find a conclusion.
Most of the stories are less than a page long, but the way they are written still evoked that inner sense of anxiety and dread. Some of the stories left that feeling lingering for far longer than I expected due to the nature of the tales and the foreboding endings. The lack of a natural conclusion or reveal of what dark thing was lingering really left me on edge at times.
Overall, this book was different than a lot of the books I read, but I was still captivated. I can’t wait for the next one to come out. – Brieanna Henning