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Gleefully Macabre Tales

by Jeff Strand (Goodreads Author)

4.31 of 5 stars 4.31 · rating details · 68 ratings · 13 reviews

This collection includes tales from his three chapbooks (Two Twisted Nuts, Socially Awkward Moments With An Aspiring Lunatic, and Funny Stories of Scary Sex) and numerous other stories both popular and obscure, including "Really, Really Ferocious" (the one with the wiener dog), "High Stakes" (the one with the slot machine), "Roasting Weenies by Hellfire" (the one with Sata...more

Signed/Limited, 346 pages

Published 2008 by Bloodletting Press

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Oct 20, 2010 David Agranoff rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have very mixed feelings about this review. Let me state at the beginning, I think this is a worthwhile short story collection that SHOULD be on the shelves of any library that is serious about having a horror inventory. Do you sense a a big BUT coming? I was not a huge fan of the book myself. That being said I understand clearly that Strand has put together a collection of stories will have appeal to a wide audience weather I like it or not.

Gleefully Macabre Tales features over 30 pieces of J...more I have very mixed feelings about this review. Let me state at the beginning, I think this is a worthwhile short story collection that SHOULD be on the shelves of any library that is serious about having a horror inventory. Do you sense a a big BUT coming? I was not a huge fan of the book myself. That being said I understand clearly that Strand has put together a collection of stories will have appeal to a wide audience weather I like it or not.

Gleefully Macabre Tales features over 30 pieces of Jeff Strand's unique combination of Horror and comedy. This is not unheard of in the horror genre, most authors lighten up their collections with one or two entirely comedic tales. How about a book that is 95% comedic horror?

I should say that I have enjoyed Strand's work before. I liked his Bram Stoker award nominated novel Pressure and I really enjoyed The Haunted Forest Tour (a novel he co-wrote). I thought the idea of me liking this collection was kind of a stretch to begin with, in way that is why I choose it from list of books for review from monster librarian. I generally like very, very dark books. I wanted to see if Strand's style of Horror comedy could crack my black soul.

I can't say this book worked for me, I had two favorite stories that I thought were effective at being great horror fiction and making me laugh. Those stories were “Everything has a Purpose” and the brutal cringe inducing story of testicular horror “Mister Sensitive.” It was while reading the later than I had the biggest belly laugh and also cringed at the pain of the main character.

I enjoyed how short many of the stories were, Strand did a great job of doing many things in a short word count that takes serious skill. If you held me down and forced me to explain what I didn't like I would say two things bothered me. First, Strand often chooses mean spirited narrators for his stories, and after reading a dozen or so of these you begin to feel like your on a greyhound bus trip. After awhile it becomes unpleasant. No matter how dark a book is it is nice to get at least some light from characters you can root for.

Second, I don't find Strand's subject matter to be very creative. I enjoy reading stories when I am impressed by idea behind it being left field and interesting. Many of the ideas seem pedestrian, I don't sit back in my chair and marvel “How did he think of that?” I like to read a book and be astonished that his/her mind created this story and this universe. I really didn't get that from this book.

I think this book should be around for others to decide. Sure it was funny but I almost felt like I could see Strand typing and winking at us “I'm here all week folks.” I think it has a place in any library collection that is interested in having a compete horror collection, Strand is a effective writer and despite my personal criticism for the book I can still see it's appeal.(less)

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Jan 08, 2013 Todd Russell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories, horror, humor

Titles of short story collections sometimes don't describe them well, but this one fits perfectly. If you haven't enjoyed the comedic, macabre brilliance of Jeff Strand, then take the plunge with this 34 story collection and you'll get a good idea of what some manic scenes in his novels can be like. Some of my favorite stories in the collection include (in no particular order):

"Mr. Sensitive" - this is a very adult, cringe-worthy voodoo story that makes the YA A Bad Day For Voodoo seem like a nu...more

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Jun 10, 2010 Monster added it · review of another edition

Shelves: anthologies-collections

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Let me state at the beginning, I think this is a worthwhile short story collection that should be on the shelves of any library that is serious about having a horror collection. Do you sense a a big BUT coming? I was not a huge fan of the book myself. That being said, I see clearly that Strand has put together a collection of stories will have appeal to a wide audience.
Gleefully Macabre Tales features over 30 pieces of Jeff Strand's unique combinatio...more I have very mixed feelings about this book. Let me state at the beginning, I think this is a worthwhile short story collection that should be on the shelves of any library that is serious about having a horror collection. Do you sense a a big BUT coming? I was not a huge fan of the book myself. That being said, I see clearly that Strand has put together a collection of stories will have appeal to a wide audience.
Gleefully Macabre Tales features over 30 pieces of Jeff Strand's unique combination of horror and comedy. Comic horror is not unheard of in the horror genre: most authors lighten up their collections with one or two entirely comedic tales. This book, however, is 95% comedic horror
I should say that I have enjoyed Strand's work before. I liked his Bram Stoker award nominated novel Pressure and I really enjoyed The Haunted Forest Tour (a novel he co-wrote). However, I generally like very, very dark books, so I chose to review this one to see if Strand's style of horror and comedy could crack my black soul. Unfortunately, I can't say this book worked for me.
I had two favorite stories that I thought were effective horror fiction and made me laugh. Those stories were “Everything has a Purpose”, and the brutal, cringe-inducing story of testicular horror, “Mister Sensitive.” It was while reading the latter than I had the biggest belly laugh and also cringed at the pain of the main character.
I liked that many of the stories were short, and Strand did a great job of doing many things in a short word count, which takes serious skill. Yet, there were still things that bothered me. First, Strand often chooses mean-spirited narrators for his stories, and after reading a dozen or so of these you begin to feel like you're on a Greyhound bus trip. After awhile it becomes unpleasant. Second, I don't find Strand's subject matter to be very creative. I enjoy reading stories when I am impressed by the idea behind it being out of left field and interesting. Many of the ideas in these stories seemed pedestrian- I didn't sit back in my chair and marvel “How did he think of that?” I like to read a book and be astonished that that the author's mind created this story and this universe. I really didn't get that from this book.
I think that Gleefully Macabre Tales has a place in any library collection that is interested in having a complete horror collection. Strand is a effective writer, and despite my personal dislike for the book I can still see its appeal to other readers.
Contains: Sex, violence, sadism, drug use.
Review by David Agranoff(less)

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Aug 03, 2010 Shelley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Started this the other day and finally was able to finish it today. It was a great collection of short stories that covered a lot of topics. Some of them were really nasty and gross and some of them made me laugh. I love short stories because I can sit down with a book and read in spurts and not miss anything. They were perfect to read at work because I could stop when I needed to to actually work. :) Great stories.

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May 29, 2011 M.L. Roos rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jeff Strand is a sick puppy. And I mean that in the most sincere way. This book is dark, intelligent, hysterical, and gut wrenching all at the same time. Abbey's Shriek, Really, Really Ferocious,Mr. Sensitive alone are worth the price of admission.

Brilliant. Finally someone who is not afraid to go past the line........wayyyyy past the line.

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May 03, 2011 The Black Pearl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, horror, kindle, short-story

I loved this collection of short stories by Jeff Strand and at a later time will give a full review on it. But for now I'll state that his writing style is addictive and I can't wait to read other titles by Mr. Strand.

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Apr 18, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nice collection of short stories with an even balance of Horror and Comedy. Jeff Strand is a fun author to read and full of enjoyable surprises!

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May 11, 2011 Stephanie Rabig rated it 4 of 5 stars

Twisted, gross, and absolutely great. Love this collection (my favorite is One of Them).

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Apr 08, 2010 Clayton Bye rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comedy, horror, humour

http://www.thedeepening.com/horror/20...

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Aug 10, 2012 Vince Fahey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some really good stories in this... Strand has a great ability to balance horror and humor.

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Jan 09, 2011 Bradley Convissar rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good for a quick read while waiting in line at the market or while walking the dog. The stories run the gamut in theme as well as quality. Overall, an interesting read, we'll see about picking up another book, maybe a full novel.

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May 04, 2011 Skyla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

I think my favourites were Abbey's Shriek, Everything Has a Purpose (I LOLd at the end), Glimpses, and Disposal.

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Feb 09, 2008 Michele Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of horror and funny horror

Recommended to Michele by: Jeff Strand

Shelves: horror-suspense, anthology-collection

My review is here

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Apr 24, 2013 Kevin Clayton marked it as to-read

Apr 30, 2013 Charlene marked it as to-read

Shelves: to-be-read-wish-list

Apr 24, 2013 Mylene marked it as to-read

Apr 06, 2013 Jim Morey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 01, 2013 Karl rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 11, 2013 Kate marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: 1-kindle-loanable-titles

Mar 07, 2013 Lewis added it · review of another edition

Mar 07, 2013 Thanksthankful rated it 5 of 5 stars

Feb 25, 2013 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Feb 23, 2013 Sophie marked it as to-read

Feb 12, 2013 Donna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: delirium, signed-limited

Jan 29, 2013 David Church rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jan 28, 2013 Bettina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 17, 2013 Rusty marked it as to-read

Jan 06, 2013 Jamie Cross marked it as to-read

Jan 03, 2013 Theresa Denson marked it as to-read

Dec 23, 2012 Tommy marked it as to-read

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About Jeff Strand

Author of a bunch of demented books, including PRESSURE, DWELLER, A BAD DAY FOR VOODOO, WOLF HUNT, SINGLE WHITE PSYCHOPATH SEEKS SAME, BENJAMIN'S PARASITE, FANGBOY, THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE, and lots of others. Three-time Bram Stoker Award finalist. Three-time Bram Stoker Award loser. Four-time Bram Stoker Award Master of Ceremonies.

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