Christopher Joyce, a debut author brings us his trilogy of twisted tales.
The trilogy brings us its first tale called “In The Underneath”. Briefly without giving anything away. Alan threw a sick day at work, another word for a hangover, then threw on his joggers and took the dog for a walk. Alan ended up going off his normal route with his dog, Kratos. Alan felt there was something off with where he actually ended up. But what he smelt next was what you would describe on a crime investigation programme, a sweet yet sickly thick overwhelming smell, one that he could almost taste. What was it? And what happened next?
The second tale is called “The Chair”. We are introduced to a guy called Jacob, who owns a clapped out downtrodden ice cream van, and has a captive that’s blindfolded. The captives name is Michael. When Michael’s blindfold is removed by Jacob, his eyes widen, and Michael knows he is in serious danger. We find out just how far Jacob is willing to go, and what Jacob has in store for Michael. Is Michael in danger? Or is he working for Jacob?
The third tale in the trilogy is called “Lydia”. Connor was a child that was single-handedly brought up by his mum Lizzie. Lizzie went through Connor’s routine, and what to do in an emergency, should one arise. Connor had been playing ball outside one day, and was startled by a voice from a year younger, a foot shorter, blonde hair in pigtails and blue pinafore dress little girl. Her name was Lydia, and she claimed she lived around the corner from him.
Although all is not what it seems with Lydia, she and Connor bond, up until an event happens, that truly freaks out Connor. Lydia has a past that is most haunting to Connor. And when Connor and his mum Lizzie find out the truth, they are totally dumbfounded.
What I particularly liked about these short stories, was that they immediately got into the story, and kept you gripped throughout the trilogy.
I can honestly say that I didn’t have a particular favourite character in all the trilogy. This was because they all brought something unique to their story, and I really did enjoy each part of the trilogy.
Each story felt so real like they were based on some sort of true event. I think this was because of the descriptions, and albeit brief story to each part of the trilogy, you just wanted to know that bit more, or you could actually fill in the bits with your own imagination.
One character that did stand out for me was Lydia, from the third tale “Lydia”. She was one particular character that did keep you guessing as to who she was, and why she came across to Connor, as “weird”.
Every tale was written extremely well, and you could picture each tale throughout, and their characters, and what they could potentially look like.
This trilogy kept me gripped throughout all three tales. It was a definite page-turner and did leave me wanting more. More stories from this absolute genius writer.
In the trilogy, when you went on to the next tale, a previous part from a previous tale would be mentioned, which was amazingly clever of the author, so they all kind of connected in one way or another.
There were no particular cliffhangers in the trilogy, and the only frustrating part was that when you read the end of the last tale, it did leave you wanting much more. More tales, more gore, but as it was a trilogy, I was not truly disappointed.
The whole of the trilogy was quite gory and quite graphic in parts, and is a trilogy that is aimed at the adult reader. The clue is in the title really that it is a Horror short story collection.
As I have said previously, this trilogy is a must-read, but I would warn that it can be quite graphic in parts, and has gore content.
I would rate this collection as a 5 out of 5, and I wish the author well with this trilogy and look forward to reading more from Christopher Joyce.
Quite graphic in parts, and has gore content.
Book Title: The Twisted Trilogy: A Horror Short Story Collection
Book Description: The Twisted Trilogy From debut author Christopher Joyce comes a trilogy of twisted tales. A down-and-out loner makes a gruesome discovery in the woods. A sadistic killer seeks to pass on his skills to his loyal followers. Connor quickly realises there's something not quite right about his new friend, Lydia...
Book Author: Christopher Joyce
Book Format: Paperback
Publisher - Orgnization: Enchanted Forest Publishing Ltd
Publisher Logo:
Date published: May 16, 2021
ISBN: 1838332243
Number Of Pages: 121
Chrissie loves movies and spends a lot of her time with her kids at the local multi-plex watching a great selection of kids movies.
