Screaming Creatures by Sean M. Thompson - Review
It is hard to find a short story collection in which every story is intriguing, but Sean M.Thompson manages it in this collection Screaming Creatures. Whilst each of these 14 stories are entirely different in tone and setting, they each have an underlining sense of dread which magnifies the horror Sean M.Thompson explores in the collection.
Throughout this collection, Sean M.Thompson investigates the very nature of what scares people. In fact, I guarantee you will not come away from this book without at least one of these stories touching a nerve you didn’t know you had! For me, it was the first story Sunny Village which gave me goosebumps, not leaving my mind for weeks after reading it (nor my dreams on occasion). I cannot even pinpoint what it was that unnerved me, and that seems to be what Sean M.Thompson does so well. The atmosphere he can create from even the smallest spark of a plot is at a level that all horror writers should aspire to reach.
“The scared you feel where you feel like everything is happening too fast, even though nothing at all is happening.”
Impressively, despite being short stories, there are no characters that I can pick out as underdeveloped. Each was surprisingly well rounded, with enough of their backstory that you felt you knew them, but delivered in a way that felt organic - no infodumps here!
If you are intrigued by Screaming Creatures, check out the short description of each book below, and go pick it up today.
SUNNY VILLAGE
We accompany an unnamed protagonist who, following a messy breakup, arrives at an apartment she is house-sitting. However, when scanning the apartment block opposite, our protagonist quickly notices one of the residents naked on the balcony. Whilst odd, the naked lady doesn’t seem to want to hide, she wants to be seen...
THE CLIFFSIDE TAVERN
Tony and Greg find themselves lost during a storm whilst on vacation. Spotting The Cliffside Tavern Tony and Greg are thankful for shelter and food. However, all is not what it seems in this antiqued tavern lit with only candles and a fireplace.
CENTRALIA
This is another story that stuck with me after reading, Centralia is such a spooky town it served as the inspiration for the virtual horror game Quiet Mountain. As massive fans of the game, John and Erin have taken a long drive out to see the town, and play Quiet Mountain in the place of its origin. Although, between solving virtual puzzles, and fighting virtual attackers, John and Erin may encounter something they cannot easily defeat.
3 A.M. ORPHAN
This story is such a fun read, drawing you into the spoken folktale of an abandoned orphan. Left on the doorstep of a local fire station as a baby, the orphan is given a loving home. All is well until that very same orphan starts waking up at 3am, every morning.
CAT’S CLAW LLC
Danielle is in desperate need of a job, so much so that she doesn’t question driving to the middle of nowhere at 9pm on a Thursday night. After all, the money is too good to pass up! Nothing bad can come from a ‘forward thinking’ company that is ‘ahead of its time’, right?
MAKE IT A DOUBLE
A guy sits in a bar following a funeral, it’s then that he meets Tammy, with the two striking up a relationship. One that’s built on drinking in the bar, Tammy starts to wonder who her new boyfriend really is, and who’s funeral he attended that day.
DEAD VISIONS REVIEW
Dead Visions is an art film that is rumored to get under your skin. After watching it you cannot quite remember the plot, but certain scenes keep replaying in your mind, making you question whats is real, and more importantly, what isn’t.
KISS OF THE SUCCUBUS
Disgraced detective Lucky Byrne turned P.I, now follows cheating spouses hoping to capture them on camera to return to her clients. It’s a soulless job, one which Lucky Burne drinks to get through, but she will soon discover that her most recent job is anything but ordinary.
METRONOME
George is on a deadline, he needs to get his possessed story written and sent off soon, but he is soon interrupted by a delivery. Upon opening the package George finds a book with no title, in fact, this mysterious tome contains no copyright information or author's details. However, when opening the book George discovers he recognizes the story...
THE SILENT MAN: A DOCUMENTARY
Written as a transcript to a documentary re-enacting the deaths of a group of teenagers by the hands of the silent man. This story tries something new and, impressively, manages to maintain the uneasy feeling of those preceding it.
ROT GUT
Stepping back to 1898 this horror story plays on the fears of a stranger’s arrival to a small town. Ginny must seek help from girlfriend Holly and town oddball Gus in order to get to the bottom of this horror mystery.
THE BLIND OPERA
The second story to look at the cost of tracking down an elusive visual art piece. The blind opera is a six-part show that gets passed around by word of mouth, it is one that you can’t find on any streaming platform. So, what lengths would you go to track down a copy?
CYCLE
This horror story hits in a way that none of the others in this collection does. Based entirely on the very real fear of abuse and how it can continue, Cycle is not an easy read but is delivered in a way that cannot be put down.
SCREAMING CREATURES
There’s a virus going around, one which the government can’t create a vaccine for. Nobody knows how you contract it or how it spreads. Societies are being destroyed in the madness, and life is slowly becoming every man for himself!
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