John F.D Taff has been making waves of late, particularly with his newly released novella collection The End in all Beginnings from Grey Matter Press, so I thought I'd check out one of his previous collections.Little deaths is solid buy, full of a range of different story styles, there is something for everyone in here—be it apocalyptic time travel stories, to evil babies, to crazy girlfriends with evil tattoos or fixer-upper houses that come with portals to another dimension.The thing I loved most about this collection is that John writes real, believable characters that have realistic emotions and reactions that you can really relate to. There are no two dimensional characters in this collection, rather fully fleshed out emotional human beings. They really are the glue of his stories, regardless of the subject matter. It's no wonder he's getting high praise from horror genre legends such as Jack Ketchum.Some of the stand outs for me were:Bolts - a story about a collector who purchases the neck bolts props from the original Frankenstein movie and uses them to reanimate his dead girlfriend.Snapback - a story about time travel leading to a global apocalypse, told through the prism of a series of email exchanges between scientists.Child of Dirt - a freaking creepy story about a guy who realises that his baby isn't really his. I was holding my infant daughter when I read this and had a geneuine urge to put the baby down. haha. creepy stuff.Orifice - a body modification horror about about tattoos and things going into or coming out of other realms. Hands down, this is a great book and I'd recommend it, and Taff generally, to any horror reader. Taff eases the reader into his stories in his own unique way and then takes them some place dark and uncomfortable. He's an immensely talented writer and I look forward to reading more of his work. Little Deaths is a collection of creepy stories which are well written and completely satisfying for before bed reading here in New England during the darkest part of the winter. I'd like to emphasize that these stories are creepy - not horrifying. I think that when an author deliberately writes death and destruction into everyday life, it gives goose bumps and images that haunt. That isn't what this book is. The stories are fantastic and creepy, not terrifying. Having differentiated, I really liked reading, the stories are really well written.I purchased this discounted on Amazon for Kindle - really worth it!
What do You think about Little Deaths (2012)?
Very well written and so many great stories. This was just a great collection that I really enjoyed.
—Blair
Changed my mind- more I thought about it, the better I liked it. Going from 3 to 4 stars.
—C1offee
Some stories were amazing and others not so much. Over all I enjoyed this collection.
—cecii
