Tales from the Fire Zone

Sam Hunter

by Jonathan Maberry, Tom Weiner (Narrator)

This collection of five diverse and highly entertaining short stories, straight from the ingenious imagination of New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, includes one story written exclusively for Blackstone Audio.

Like Part of the Family : This urban noir fantasy tale introduces werewolf PI Sam Hunter.

Doctor Nine : A psychological thriller about a little girl whose imaginary friends are guiding her through the process of becoming a serial killer, this story originally appeared in the anthology Killers and has been reprinted many times.

Property Condemned : Set in Pine Deep, the small town featured in Ghost Road Blues, Dead Man's Song, and Bad Moon Rising, this is a chilling psychological ghost story.

Adventure of the Greenbrier Ghost : Starring Sherlock Holmes, this tale is based on a real-life ghost story from West Virginia. The basis of the story comes from a court case in the nineteenth century in which the testimony of a ghost was entered into evidence, leading to the conviction of a murderer. Maberry has thrown Holmes and Watson into the mix for added punch.

Cooked : An Exclusive story written especially for Blackstone Audio.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller, Supernatural

4 pages, Audio CD

First published July 15, 2012

About the author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a NYTimes bestselling author, #1 Audible bestseller, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 4-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, comic book writer, and producer. He is the author of more than 50 novels, 190 short stories, 16 short story collections, 30 graphic novels, 14 nonfiction books, and has edited 26 anthologies. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. His 2009-10 run as writer on the Black Panther comic formed a large chunk of the recent blockbuster film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. His bestselling YA zombie series, Rot & Ruin is in development for film at Alcon Entertainment; and John Wick director, Chad Stahelski, is developing Jonathan’s Joe Ledger Thrillers for TV. Jonathan writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include The Pine Deep Trilogy, The Kagen the Damned Trilogy, NecroTek, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, The Sleepers War (with Weston Ochse), Mars One, and many others. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, Shadows & Verse, and others. His comics include Marvel Zombies Return, The Punisher: Naked Kills, Wolverine: Ghosts, Godzilla vs Cthulhu: Death May Die, Bad Blood and many others. Jonathan has written in many popular licensed worlds, including Hellboy, True Blood, The Wolfman, John Carter of Mars, Sherlock Holmes, C.H.U.D., Diablo IV, Deadlands, World of Warcraft, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Predator, Karl Kolchak, and many others. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com

Reviews

[Gareth Is Haunted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet again another great collection of short stories from Jonathan Maberry.
Everything I have read by him has been top notch. There was even a Sherlock Holmes story in this collection which I enjoyed, even though I despise Sherlock Holmes.
Now to find copies of the Pine Deep Trilogy.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnathan Maberry has to be my favorite author of all time. I know I should be saying it is Hemingway, or Twain, or Shakespeare...... but the heart wants what the heart wants.

[Krazykiwi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, I think, only available in audiobook, but it's fairly short, a bit over 3 hours, and contains 5 short stories. Two are available individually, one is set in the world of one of Maberry's series, but stands just fine alone, and one was written especially for this production. The other is a "true" local folktale from Maberry's neck of the woods, related via a Holmes pastiche - this is the only one that didn't really work for me.

For a short story collection, even a short one, an 80% hit rate is exceptional.

More detail @ Booklikes if you are so inclined

I've always enjoyed Maberry's work, although so far I've only read a couple of the Joe Ledger books, and one of the Benny Imuras. This has once again really encouraged me to a) finish the Joe Ledger series and b) Check out Pine Deep.

As an intro to Maberry's writing, this is a pretty good one. There's a bit of variety here, you don't need any knowledge of the series going in, even the one story set broadly in the same setting as one, and for the most part, the stories are satisfyingly creepy and dark without tipping over into slash and gore.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great October listen. I liked some of the short stories more than others, but overall was pleased with the book.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a small collection of short horror story. They were pretty good and had some twists to them. Creepy.

[Mike Prewitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kinda lost interest in the stories. I honestly don't know what happened in any if these. Overall meh

[Pam Winkler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection overall.
Like Part of the Family is one of the Sam Hunter stories. I like those stories a lot, which is why I got the collection in the first place. Good story.
Doctor Nine was good. I liked it. It was occasionally a little ambiguous, and felt like it was a prologue to an entire book.
Property Condemned was interesting. Parts of it I liked. Parts felt really repetitive.
The Adventures of the Greenbrier Ghost was interesting. I'd heard about the crime in question before, so putting Holmes and Watson into it was interesting. The portrayal of Holmes was pretty well on target, I felt. I was a bit concerned at the beginning, because of a line about him being uncomfortable with demonstrative women. It ended up being fine.
Cooked was interesting. I didn't expect it to go where it did. I was a bit worried about cultural appropriation, honestly. If this story was culturally appropriative I can't say for certain, because I don't have that cultural background. That's for someone other than me. I really liked the characters, I know that.

[Jason Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like Part of the Family: 1:5 Tiresome werewolf v. vampire story, told in first person narrative.
Doctor Nine: 2:5 Chilling tale of a 9 year old murdering her twin sister. Creepy with the real v. imaginary friends and monsters involved.
Property Condemned: 3:5 Decent ghost house story, enjoyable except for the ending.
Adventure of the Greenbrier Ghost: 2:5 Sherlock Holmes fan fiction
Cooked: 2:5 Exploration of gang violence, drug use, and dark magics.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an awesome, twisted, scary bunch of short stories! I am a fan of short stories and I liked these. I will be reading more by this author.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the best collection of horror short stories I can remember reading in a while. I listened to it as an audible-plus audiobook and finished it in an afternoon.

Five Short Stories:
"Adventure of the Greenbrier Ghost"
"Doctor Nine" - in my opinion the scariest (definitely darkest), possibly because I have two children
"Like Part of the Family"
"Property Condemned" - maybe my favorite, but I also really enjoyed the Pine Deep Trilogy
"Cooked"

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

The narrator for this is terrible, especially in the Sherlock Holmes story and the last story. I'm not a fan of Maberry's work. This is the second anthology of his that I have read and I don't find his writing to be special in anyway. While I don't care about strong language or swearing, Maberry over uses certain words and they lose all meaning. He tries to be "edgy" and he just comes off as a try-hard.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maberry is a master at storytelling. In this audiobook, there are 5 short stories written by him, and all are interesting and mind bending in some aspect. There are tales of hauntings, and tales that can build onto other books he has written. Spooky, creepy and fun, good listening material for when it is dark and stormy out.

[K.B. Hallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't care for the Dr. Nine story; it was good but off-putting. Not that Maberry's work is meant to be comfortable, but sororicide involving kids was a bit much for me. I liked the Greenbrier Ghost best. I've heard Cooked before.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are five short stories that will carry you to different places. The editor chose a mix that leaves you with fear, or relief, or justification, etc. Jonathan Maberry knows how to play on your emotions keep you reading. I'm off to read more Maberry.

[M.E.R. Randell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting presentation of the potential for what "monster" means. Some triggering topics, but overall what is expected of the genre.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of stories including a trip to Pine Deep.

[Angelika Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. I liked the first 3. There was a bit of a Stephen King feeling to two of them. The last two were pretty meh.

[Lisa HEFLIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a Johnathan Maberry book so you know I LOVED it!

[Steve Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was at times a bit dark for me.

I think I’ll stick with the Joe Ledger series.

[Craig Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.....

[Brad Audiobibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the first story, not saying more than that.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a solid listen, and even better with the right narrator. Tom Weiner was a solid choice for this anthology!

[Jeanenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic tales from several authors with a horror theme. Some good, some not as good. Nice to have a little palette cleaner between heavier reads.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll stipulate that I'm in the tank for Jonathan Maberry, ever since I grabbed Patient Zero on a whim. Joe Ledger is a personal hero of mine.

This collection of short stories was a very nice gem. The very very dark Doctor Nine was particularly chilling tale of a young killer. Property Condemned was a great pre-story to his Pine Deep epic where we meet the main protagonists in their youth where they become marked for the future. Like Part of the Family was a twist on the classic conflict of horror tropes, most definitely want to see more of PI Sam Hunter.

With a couple of others, this is a very very nice short diversion by one of my favorite genre writers going.

[George Peyton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun read. Want more stories featuring the Private Detective of the first story! This character would make for a great series. Hint, Hint! I also really loved the Sherlock Holmes story. Told from the perspective of Dr Watson. The story was set in America which added a great spin in the characters. I enjoyed all the stories but these two were standouts for me me. Highly recommended.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This compilation is the my first exposure to Jonathan Mayberry, and it has definitely made me want to read more. The first two stories were really excellent and the last three missed the mark in my opinion. Tom Weiner, did an incredible job with the voices of the wide range of characters in the stories. My specific comments and ratings for each story are in the status updates.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maberry shows his range in these different stories.

[Dan Thomas]

five great short stories. in my opinion he should do more short story collections. the only down fall to this collection would have to be the Sherlock homes piece. i didnt care for it at all. otherwise still worth checking out. the rest of them are gold.

[EJ MACK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although all the stories were great. I was expecting a more about Pine Deep Characters.

[AudioBookReviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please find my review here: http://audiobookreviewer.com/Audioboo...