Title: ABCs of Horror
Author: Anmol Rawat
No: of Pages: 150
Genre: Horror
ABCs of Horror by Anmol Rawat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Let me come straight to the point. I am not a fan of horror genre at all. Be it books or movies, this would be the last thing I would pick to pass my time. So when Anmol, the author of the book, also a popular blogger decided to take up horror as a theme to participate in a well-known challenge in the blogging world – i.e A to Z Challenge, I was stoked. Do you think I am building up too much? All you need is to read this blurb here. You’ll get the drift.
Review:
ABCs of Horror is a collection of 26 short stories all in horror genre. As I said before, I was aghast with terror when I read Anmol’s A to Z horror stories during the blogging challenge. I remember reading the very first story – ‘Atheist’ and being mighty impressed. The best part is that the spookiness or the mystery isn’t revealed until the very last. That didn’t fail to freak me out, in a good way! It was difficult to wait for 24 hours to read the next story. Coming from someone like me who would run for covers if the word horror is mentioned, this speaks a lot.
Each story has an unexpected twist or climax. I should understand that the author has done intense research on this genre of storytelling and it pays off. No two stories are alike and you wouldn’t be bored. It is a breeze to read, meaning you can complete the book in one sitting.
I hadn’t read few stories, especially the last couple of one during the blogging challenge. So, when I decided to pick up the book, I went in, to devour them first. I also re-read the ones in the beginning of the book and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was re-edited for the book. As the author had mentioned, I think the stories have come out scarier than the blog posts.
The husband was out on a rescue operation and deciding to pick up this book at night to idle away time is one of the deadliest mistakes I had done. Man, this book scared the pants off of me! It is a darn difficult job to choose my favorite among these stories. However, I would say, ‘Atheist‘, ‘Circle of Life‘ and ‘Enter with Caution‘ scared me out of my wits.
Other than few minor editing glitches, the author has done a pretty good job both in the narration and style of writing. Write more horror stories, Anmol! You’ve got yourself a fan!
Do I Recommend?
100%! The book would definitely take you on a thrilling spooky ride (especially if you do not prefer horror genre like me!)
And oh! I so loved the caption at the beginning of the stories/chapters- ‘this book is cursed‘. It sets the mood. (And sent a chill down my spine!)
Such a lovely review Shalini! I’m so thankful to your being a great support during the challenge; you’re one of those people who helped me complete it and reading so many good things about the book makes me go gaga!
Thank you again! I’m glad you enjoyed reading it! 🙂
This was in my reading list! A friend of mine who was following A to Z Challenge told me about Anmol’s work and that its published as a book. Gonna read it for sure!
Annmol is a talented writer. I love his writing. Can’t say I love his horror stories though. I can’t read horror.
Thank you for the review. I have a love & hate relationship with this genre. I stopped reading horror stories since I got scared a couple of years ago when I was home alone. But now your review has tempted me to read this one.