Book Review: Things Unknown: A Collection of Horror Stories
Hello Ghouls, Girls, and Gents,
Are you ready for some more frights? I hope so, because the book I just read is full of them!
I just finished reading Things Unknown, a horror story anthology by Travis Liebert.
After reading The Anomaly Archives (you can find my review here) and interviewing Travis (you can find that here), I couldn’t wait to read more of his work. On to the review!
Blurb:
A collection of terrifying horror stories that will haunt you for the rest of your days. Side effects include insomnia, night terrors, and the creeping sensation that there’s something right behind you…
A small town is plagued by constant nightmares as a dark figure demands to be released from his prison in the world of slumber.
At her dying grandmother’s insistence, a young girl pledges herself to an entity that promises a different kind of afterlife. It’s supposed to be a place of eternal peace, but the things lurking in the shadows tell a different story.
A man is haunted by two jesters who think revenge is a dish best served with a twisted, cosmic sense of humor.
A young couple adopts a child who claims to remember nothing about his past. But he knows more than he tells, and they begin to notice something ancient lurking behind the young boy’s eyes.
These things and more in a scary, paranormal, and wretched collection of horror stories best enjoyed with a sense of deep foreboding and the knowledge that things are never as they seem.
GoodReads
Amazon
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The Review:
Travis Liebert has done it again!
I loved this anthology of horror stories just as much as I did The Anomaly Archives. Liebert has a great style that’s so easy to read and follow, and I like that he’s not scared to switch between first and third person in separate stories. The horror was deliciously evil and ever present.
Anthologies are a bit tricky to rate, so I’ve summed up each story below for simplicity. Can’t wait to read more from this author!
Prologue– I don’t typically make notes on a prologue, but this was haunting and ominous. It completely amped me up for the horrors to come. That poem at the end of it gave me chills!
The Last Supper – Noah and his son Aiden wander the streets hungry and homeless. Desperate for relief, Noah prays to a bizarre message graffitied in a back alley and gets exactly what he asks for. Be careful what you wish for. 4/5
The Jesters– On the way to work one morning, Mark accosts a pair of jester street performers, triggering a night of demented and psychological torture.4/5
The Great Shadow– Leah has been terrified of the dark ever since the incident at the hospital right before her grandma died. Years later on a trip with friends, she discovers what has been lying in wait for her. 5/5
Pushing Daisies– A group of friends play a prank that goes horribly wrong. They soon realize that their troubles are far from over. 5/5
Guardian Angel– A fun, disturbing letter from a concerned father about his son and his ‘guardian angel. 4/5
The Orphan– A married couple adopts a young orphan. They soon discover there is something very dark and troubling about him. 5/5
A Mother’s Love– A very disturbing poem about a woman who just had a stillbirth. 4/5
The Apostle’s Cure– Desperate to save his terminal wife, a man entrusts her life to a strange doctor and an experimental treatment. 5/5
Lament– An old man journeys to the gravesite of his dear friend sixty years later and makes a startling discovery. 5/5
The Poet– A poet struggles to find inspiration after suffering a brain injury in a car accident. Desperate to feel depth of emotion, she finds the solution in a dark place. 5/5
Portrait of the Artist as a Dead Man– A dark poem centered around a misunderstood man named Willy and his internal struggle. 4/5
Return of the Vivisector– A man investigates a local mass suicide, arriving at dark realizations and revelations. 5/5
Mother– A thirteen year old girl and her father roam the country looking for her mother, but when she dares to look further into her past, she makes a startling realization that shakes her world to the core. 5/5
The First Bishop– A struggling priest is given new authority when a spirit visits him. With his new voice, he leads his new congregation in a terrifying new direction. 5/5
The Dream Plague– A small town’s residents are deeply disturbed by communal dreams that order them to follow dark demands. 5/5
That’s a Wrap!
Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!
Have you read this book before? What did you think? Do you have a book recommendation similar to this one? Feel free to share in the comments!
If you’d like to see other reviews of mine, feel free to check out the book review section of my blog or my GoodReads. You can also follow my GoodReads reviews here. There are some great binge-worthy books on there!
Have a great day!
Great review. This sounds right up my alley . . . . (click here, click there) . . . I just downloaded the collection.:-)
Thanks!
Yeah, I’m totally hooked and just bought the paperback for my shelves and another paperback in the series.
He is so talented with his storytelling! All the horror feels! Hope you love it!
Great review. Sounds like a good collection.
Thanks! Yeah, I’ve read two of his so far, and I’m super impressed (and slightly jealous). Definitely a rising star in the horror genre!
😂 I know the feeling! I must check him out. Thanks, friend.
Lol! Of course! He also came out with a novel in March and I had no idea so I have a lot more reading to do!