Wednesday, January 25, 2023

A to Z of Horror by Kevin J. Kennedy, KJK Publishing

 


Kevin J. Kennedy gives us 26 short stories of cryptids, sex, drugs, and gore. All equally just as entertaining as the next. At the time of this review, the letters Q and Y are not in the book just yet, they will be a pleasant surprise when this is released soon.


*Another long review, as I break down the 24 stories I had the privilege to read and review. 


A is for After the Apocalypse. An awesome story of a man reflecting on his life during an apocalypse. A very well written story, I loved this one.


B is for By the Seaside. A family on vacation turns into a nightmare. This one has an awesome little twist.


C is for Crabs Vs. the A.Y.T. Freaking hilarious story of a group of kids trying a crab invasion. Lots of laughs in this one!


D is for Drabble. A drabble is a 100 word story, Kennedy shares 10 drabbles. Every single one of them is entertaining. 


E is for Elena. Elena is on a little trip with her boyfriend, lots of sex and drugs and having a fabulous time! I liked where this ended up going.


F is for Family. Family isn’t always by blood. We have our best friends that are our family, those that really relate to us and understand us. A dark and twisted story.


G is for Gills. Such an odd story, but I liked it a lot! It’s about gills, no more will be said on this one. 


H is for the Hooch and Honey. If I say anything about this story it will give away a lot of its magic. I will say this is an awesome but odd story. I really did like all the twists it takes. Definitely one of my favorites.


I is for It’s No Fairy Tale Out There. Oh gosh..is this Kennedy’s retelling of a fairy tale?? It seems so! Hilarious, dark, and evil. Perfection!


J is Jawbreaker. You are what you eat!! Hehehe. A fun and “sweet” story. 


K. is for Killer Big Ass, F***in’ Spiders. Yes, it is about big ass spiders. And yes, I did get the chills and freaked out.


L is for Last of the Selkies. There is so much more to this story than the last of the remaining selkies. It’s kinda sad in a way, but I did like this one quite a bit. One of my top stories in this anthology.

M is for My Cuddly Monster. Looks can be so deceiving and rewarding at the same time. Awesome story, totally unexpected where it went.


N is for Nightmare Farm. Another hilarious story, I literally laughed out loud due to the absurdness of this one! A guy living on a farm, and it’s a nightmare!


O is for Outback Raccoon. How do I explain this one….a man is tired of his wife and does something about her constantly doing things wrong. Weird short story, but I did like this one in the end. I wasn’t sure at first.


P is for Poems. Kennedy wrote some poetry for us! Lots of fun here.


R is for Rage. A nasty story of a man that finally finds a way to handle his internal rage. Loved it!


S is for Satan’s Apocalypse. Here is another apocalypse story but so much different than the first one. I love apocalypse stories, and this one delivers. 


T is for Time Left. A story of what would happen is we are all on borrowed time. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 Years? Check this story out to find out!


U is for Up-and-Comer. This one is about a kid growing up to be angry and mean. I kind of time lapse sort of story about his childhood moving into young adulthood. Lots of good gore and horror.


V is Vampire Fae Scotland. A short story on the drawbacks and perks of being a vampire. Groovy story, I liked it.


W is for Where Am I? A kid gets lost and tries to find his way back to his parents. Very cool story.


X is for Xana. This is a kind of supernatural cryptid type story. So fantastic, I loved this one! Definitely another favorite.


Z is for Zoning Out. This is such an odd story about a person who zones out and wakes up elsewhere not knowing what happened when he zoned out. An awesome plot twist. This is a good ending story.



As you can see, the stories in this collection vary so much. Every story is unique and well written. There are a few that could be turned into a novella that would be very enjoyable. I am looking forward to reading the two other stories that will be with the final version of the anthology. 


Keep your eyes out for this one! It’ll be worth it!!


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