In this short story collection, award-winning writer Michael Jess Alexander serves up a morbid menagerie of aliens, cultists, murderers, and more.
Dark bleatings, my dark tribe! I’m here today reviewing a short story collection from Michael Jess Alexander. Let’s take it story by story!
Quiet Mimicry
Hunter, as far as he knows, is the last normal human left after everyone else has been… changed. He’s managed to avoid the infection but has to live among them, always afraid of being discovered. One day, he receives a note from someone who also appears to be human…. but maybe the infection is preferable?
This story was great – it contained several nightmares all folded into one neat, horrible package.
Trapdoors
I have a soft spot for this one because it’s written in diary entry format. The idea is truly bizarre – people keep disappearing through trapdoors that open beneath them and then just vanish without a trace. I loved this one for its building sense of paranoia and dread – what an absolute nightmare of a concept!
Away Game
This was my least favourite in the collection, probably because it leans quite heavily into science fiction and that’s just not my forte. A boy realises that whatever he imagines, he can make reality – and there’s nothing he can do to shut out what is actually a horrible power, because of the alien voice in his head…
The Experiment
Oh, the nostalgia that this one gave me! It really reminded me of the old Resident Evil games. A boy lives with his dad, who is some sort of scientist with a secret laboratory in their basement. The boy has a curious friend who insists on taking a look around the lab, and of course because this is horror, things go awry.
Do you remember in those older games, you’d find notes and diary entries, and they’d go something like this…
28th Jan
The others are getting suspicious because of all the noise from the secret lab. If that thing ever gets out, it’ll be the end of all of us…
29th Jan
It escaped!
I used to love that, and this story was the closest thing to that idea I’ve come across in years, and it made me feel so similar to how I felt playing those games!
Small Revolution
Del is watching TV one night when things are interrupted by a weird broadcast from a mysterious robed figure. This one also wasn’t my favourite – it was super weird, which I usually enjoy, but I think I was a bit confused!
The Screaming Void
Teresa lives next door to a nice old lady, who is also a witch that is happy to take the girl under her wing. I can’t say much about this one without spoiling the devastating events as they unfold, but I really wish I could share the details with you – especially the last line. It’s one of the best final lines I’ve ever read in horror fiction.
Overall, I’d rate this collection pretty highly! Six stories, none of which are remotely similar to the last, all delving into different subgenres and formats. It’s creative and genuinely scary in places. I’d recommend it to general horror fans.
If you’d like to get a copy or check out the author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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