Robbed of Sleep, Vol. 1: Stories to Stay Up For

by Troy Blackford (Editor), Mercedes M. Yardley, Val Tenterhosen

If you're the type of person who takes the phone off the hook when sanity calls, then you simply can't do without these eighteen short stories from some of the strangest dark fiction authors out there. From the deepest jungle to an endless loop, from a cracked boss to a dying man, the places and people you will meet between these pages strain credulity, inflame the imagination, and stealthily swipe those precious moments that make up your nightly rest.

Take a dip into the furthest reaches of reason with some of today's best authors with these strange and unruly STORIES TO STAY UP FOR, and we'll make sure you're ROBBED OF SLEEP.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2014

About the author

Troy Blackford lives in the Twin Cities. He has nineteen published short stories, and eight longer works available for Kindle and in paperback.

He's right behind you!

Reviews

[David Eccles · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I'm one of the authors, this is not really a book review; my rating is based on how much I enjoyed reading the stories penned by the book's co-authors.

[Zakk Madness · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Where were you on the night you were at home, cutting that head out of your toilet with the shards of mirror?"

"Robbed of Sleep" is eighteen doses of caffeine and narcotics. A miscellany of kaleidoscope dreamscapes, vivid theta waves set to print leaving you, the reader, with an enjoyable collection of lingering nightmares, whimsical fancies, future premonitions, and mind!#@% acid trips (or at least it's how I would imagine acid trips playing out). Pound for pound, a fantastic anthology of "Stories to Stay Up For"

I was familiar with a few of the authors represented here, who have continued to not disappoint, but I was also introduced to a few more authors that I am eager to read more from.

The tales I stayed awake thinking about are:

"The Otherland Express" by Todd Keisling

"Zonkey" & "Christmas With the In-Laws" by Tom Bordonaro

"Rot With Me" by Anthony Rapino

"Death of a Phobia..." By David Eccles

"The Overly-Attached Succubus" by M.C. O'Neil

& "Mr. Snake Eyes" by Troy Blackford.

"They were all bedecked in the finest of leathers and straps"

The Mouths of Madness Podcast
my link text

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nine chefs* invite you to an 18-course meal of the special kind.

On the menu card are (among other things): rotted head of cabbage and addled meat of the heart, Birdshirt, Zonkey, Succubus and Dryad, lemon cake surprise and snake eyes as dessert.

A delicacy for gourmets and lovers of fine literary haute-fiction you don't want to miss. Those guys surely know how to carve and cook their pufferfish.

The party will be come as you are and bring an appetite for the strange and dark, twisted and stark.

* Anthony Rapino, Dave Eccles, John Boden, M.C. O'Neill, Mercedes Yardley, Todd Keisling, Tom Bordonaro, Troy Blackford (also maître d'), Val Tenterhosen


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[Robert Bose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun reading. I enjoyed some stories more than others but well worth the time. I loved M.C. O'Neill's inclusions especially 'One Evening with the Midnight Company' (great to find a new author that mirrors the sort of writing I prefer) and of course Troy's 'make you think' insanity.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed almost every story in this crazy anthology! Look forward to a Volume 2!

[Kerry]

Impressive collection. Mercedes Yardley's story was my favorite.

[Shadira · Rating 5 out of 5]

First let me explain why it took me so long to finish read this book, I was busy multi-tasking .
just completed the book and let me tell you I loved it the combination of bad ass authors that collided together and the stories I loves , yes scary I was already planning the scenarios in my head .
I also learned a not new words.. like "the succubus is like some sort of sex demon"there as a bit humor and that is what I loved.

I can not really explain but all the stories collided with each other .. so i never once with each story got side track from the other, the writings skills on point .
from now these authors fall on my list of the A-team.

I really enjoyed the short stories!!
and No i was not paid for this review!!

[André Caniato · Rating 2 out of 5]

I spent half of this collection believing it was nice, but then I realized I didn't care for most of its stories. I mean, it's okay. There are one or two really good stories here; most are... meh, and at least one was really, really bad. My favorite definitely was The Other Land Express, by Todd Keisling, which reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman — loved it! even considered upping my rating a bit because of it, but that would be unfair.

[Hermit Hank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slept fine

Some interesting stories but nothing detrimental to sleep. Three stars is all I could do to assign a rating that will not hurt the book. It may be that I just wanted/expected more.

[Catherine Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very imaginative horror anthology. Some stories were so intricate, I had a hard time following them, and some had very adult language where it was not really needed, but I guess that is a peculiar type of writing style.

[Arturo De Tuoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time I've read a book because it started following me on Twitter (or rather the agents responsible for its existence started following me on Twitter).

It's a veritable mix in quality and in types of horror. It has a homespun feel which may or may not be off-putting for some.