Author: Wendy Dalrymple

Release date: January 1st, 2022

I’ve read a few things from Wendy in the past and have had a lot of fun with her works. She’s typically a lean writer, one who keeps things tight and crisp and deftly carries the reader from point A to B to C, which I personally, really like.

Recently, she had posted that this collection was currently free for Kindle, so I went to grab a copy, but then saw that I’d purchased it about a year ago! I don’t know how many times that happens to each Kindle reader, but it happens to me a lot!

Lately, I’ve decided that I’m wanting to always be reading a short story collection from a woman writer while I read my typical two-four long reads. I like have short stories to sneak in between the books when I switch, so with that in mind, I dove into this one from Wendy, excited to see what bite-sized beasts she’d created this time.

What I liked: The collection itself is a mix of flash-fiction up to novelette length stories. Throughout, we get a lot of great theme changes and it kept things fresh, especially when going from a flash fiction piece to another flash fiction piece. It never felt ‘more of the same,’ which sometimes can bog down collections when story after story seems to be the same thing with just different characters.

Highlights for me were;

‘From Whence We Came’ – this quick story follows Madeline and her rich, douchebag boyfriend, Beau. They’re at a swanky get together near a cemetery. After Beau tells her that some of his relatives are buried there, they sneak in to find them and things go crazy. I enjoyed how this one played out and we didn’t get the expected ending, which was refreshing.

‘Run For Your Life’ – two friends, Danica and Melody, sign up for a fun, 5k run. It’s monster themed, with zombies and chainsaw wielding maniacs jokingly chasing the participants. At first Danica is worried this might be too much after recently being assaulted outside of a bar, but soon she hits that runners high. From that point, Wendy does a great job of taking this somewhere you least expect it, which was such a blast.

‘Sunset Village’ – this one could’ve had the tag line ‘An M. Night Shyamalan’ film. Creepy, unsettling and packing an entire novels worth of dread in maybe 2k words, we follow Sylvia who has taken a new job as the live-in caretaker for Sunset Village, a 55-plus retirement community. But, as you can surmise, the residents don’t really want a new caretaker, and they let her know that.

‘Little Friends’ – perhaps the most body-horror story within, while also being the most squirm-inducing, the story follows a new kindergarten teacher who is excited to teach the kids. Quickly though, a lice outbreak happens and things go from uncomfortable to forcing the reader to take a shower soon after. Phenomenally executed.

Throughout, Wendy sprinkles little fun terror moments throughout, which kept me flipping the pages.

What I didn’t like: There were a few short stories that did seem a bit jarring based off of the tight word counts. Case in point is the first story, ‘Dress to Impress.’ It begins as a fun, Halloween, bar story, but when the action arrives, there’s a moment where I had to reread the preceding parts a few times to see if I missed something, the switch in pacing and plot seemingly arriving out of nowhere.

As always, with collections, reader experiences will vary from story to story!

Why you should buy this: A really fun, galloping batch of stories, Wendy gives something for every reader within. We get some really great highs, some really well executed lows and each story stuffs oodles of anxiety causing moments.

A perfect collection to casually read and react to, Wendy never disappoints.

4/5