Guest Book Review: Paranormal Days Gone Awry (Edited by Melissa Ringsted)

Paranormal Days Gone Awry is an anthology of thirteen paranormal short stories. As the title suggests, these stories explore the sometimes tragic, sometimes comedic side of paranormal powers and beings.

Most of the stories are written in the first-person POV, which I don’t like but didn’t really bother me, since they are short stories. The writing styles are varied, although there are a few stories with unique voices. My biggest complaint is that many of the stories are lead-ins of longer series, or little side stories of preexisting characters. Some of them assume you have already read the series and don’t handle introducing the characters to a new reader well. I think short stories work best as single events, focusing on one thing and wrapping it up at the end. Many of the stories felt they ended abruptly, or were information dumps to get you interested in the series they are a part of.

That aside, most of the stories are well-written, with a few gems, like A Lazy Saturday, Full Moon Flip Flop, and Keni’s Turn, standing out. I’m not a paranormal book reader, but there wasn’t any terminology or little-known mythology to throw me off. Most of the characters were distinct and personable, and you could see where the strength of each author lies.

The stories run the gamut from funny to action-packed to sad, but it is a nice anthology to get introduce a reader to independent paranormal books.

Rating:

 

Advertisements