Before you devour these 15 eerie short stories, allow yourself to get cozy. Maybe sit in the chair by the window where you can watch the rain fall down. Occasionally, you look outside and begin to notice shapes moving in the shadows. Is it the book getting to you? Or do these things walk amongst us and you are only just now opening your eyes to the reality?

Gordon B. White’s collection is about the weird, dark things that exist in this world. The great thing about short story books is that there is something for everyone! They are also wonderful for people with short attention spans because you never get hung up on one story line. A writer is able to tell various types of stories. They can test out new material without the fear of completely stepping into a new sub-genre.

My favorite story from the collection is The Meatbag Variations. Alicia is a dancer working herself to death trying to master a routine for a big performance. One day, she sees a person standing in the shadows with her face. It is a version of herself. She calls it the “Meatbag.” The Meatbag goes to her apartment and takes abuse from Alicia’s boyfriend. To the coffee shop, Alicia works at. Basically, the Meatbag is taking over in other areas so that Alicia can focus on her performance. It is creepy and I’d love to see this one come to life on film.

As Summer’s Mask Slips is Gordon B. White’s debut novel. I think we can expect more greatness to come. If you want more, White has teamed up with Rebecca J. Allred on a free digital mini-collection called The Last Plague Doctor and Other Tales of Illness and Isolation. Get your .mobi or .epub copy here! He also is working on a dark folklore collection that will be coming out soon.

Check out the publisher site HERE and the As Summer’s Mask Slips collection HERE and check out the author site HERE.

If you enjoy short story collections full of creepy tales, I recommend checking out:

Her body and other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Haunted Nights by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton

Ghost Summer by Tananarive Due

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Written by Chelsea

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