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Dark Steps
by
Martin Pond (Goodreads Author)
A collection of short stories, a series of twist endings, and one author's dark steps back into writing...
A teenage boy waits to take a sinister test he may or may not pass; a new father hears a strange voice on his daughter's baby monitor; a poisoner's best-laid plans go terribly astray; an enigmatic man gets as close to death as he can; a young boy wonders why Christmas...more
A teenage boy waits to take a sinister test he may or may not pass; a new father hears a strange voice on his daughter's baby monitor; a poisoner's best-laid plans go terribly astray; an enigmatic man gets as close to death as he can; a young boy wonders why Christmas...more
Kindle Edition
Published
August 11th 2011
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Don't read this short story collection late at night. I nearly wanted to call up my mum, so she'd tell me there are no monsters. Dream Feed, focusing on new parents and their baby girl Emma, have made that transition from baby in bed to baby in nursery. And then there's a voice over the monitor, a strange, Latin voice. It shit me up, basically. And though that maybe feels like a familiar conceit, it's handled via a really domestic, close telling that makes the narrative feel authentic and, well,...more
WILMA'S REVIEW
I’d like to thank Martin Pond for making this book available to me free of charge for review.
Let me start off this review by saying that I’m not really a fan of either short stories, flash fiction or horror. It’s always been hard for me to care about the characters when there isn’t a lot of exposition. However, this collection might just have changed my mind.
These tales are sharply written and wickedly enjoyable. These are not stories with happy endings, and the horror in them is...more
I’d like to thank Martin Pond for making this book available to me free of charge for review.
Let me start off this review by saying that I’m not really a fan of either short stories, flash fiction or horror. It’s always been hard for me to care about the characters when there isn’t a lot of exposition. However, this collection might just have changed my mind.
These tales are sharply written and wickedly enjoyable. These are not stories with happy endings, and the horror in them is...more
When Martin Pond asked me if I would review 'Dark Steps' for him I was thrilled. I like reading horror, Stephen King being one of my favourite authors, so I was interested in seeing what his stories were like.
This is Martin Pond’s debut book. It contains eight short stories, the last one of which is an extract from a forthcoming novel. There is also a very nice introduction at the beginning of the book.
These are chilling stories with twisted endings. They reminded me of 'Tales of the Unexpected'...more
This is Martin Pond’s debut book. It contains eight short stories, the last one of which is an extract from a forthcoming novel. There is also a very nice introduction at the beginning of the book.
These are chilling stories with twisted endings. They reminded me of 'Tales of the Unexpected'...more
Martin Pond's collection of short stories begins with Waiting Room. A young boy told he must face a coming-of-age test that all face yet no one talks about. No one in his school knows what this test is or why everyone has to take it but everyone knows how important it is. Martin Pond puts the reader in the waiting room with him. We sit next to him as he is ushered into a small room, all white, and waits for his test to begin. The musings of this boy combined with the dystopian atmosphere Pond cr...more
By Pappa on March 6, 2013
Dark Steps Martin Pond
I tend to look at short stories as a crucible where good writers can really shine, and in his collection; Dark Steps, Martin Pond does so more than a few times. This collection of 8 shows a lot of growth from some of his earliest efforts in at least roughly chronological order to an excerpt of his continued writing project at drawntothedeepend.blogspot.com.
The only lack that I might describe overall is that he carries beginnings and middles well, bu...more
All seven of these short stories are rather disturbing as implied by the title and description, but they’re all well written. I particularly liked the story “Near-Death Experience”. It’s about a man who chooses to get as close to death as he can. I also liked the story “The Inheritance”, which was about a death-bed confession.
The stories were all very compelling and they drew me in so that I nearly read the book in one sitting. I would have read the book in one, but life got in the way. It’s not...more
The stories were all very compelling and they drew me in so that I nearly read the book in one sitting. I would have read the book in one, but life got in the way. It’s not...more
Sep 22, 2012
Karen Shields
marked it as to-read
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Born in East Kent in 1970, Martin Pond was educated at the University of East Anglia. A career in IT followed, and continues to pay the bills. In 2007 Martin made a hesitant return to fiction, not having written seriously since his student days. He returned to UEA too, and took a diploma in Creative Writing.
Martin's stories have appeared in Unthology No 1, Streetcake magazine and Alliterati magazi...more
More about Martin Pond...
Martin's stories have appeared in Unthology No 1, Streetcake magazine and Alliterati magazi...more
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