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The Call of the Loon
Lee and Wayne backpack in the high Sierras. Although trail buddies for a long time, Wayne has a particular reason for wanting Lee along this time, and will not share until they reach their destination. A beautiful, pristine alpine lake teems with trout, accompanied by the sound of coyotes and loons. What could possibly go wrong?
22 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 8, 2015
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March 4, 2015As the author of this short Horror story, I will not post a review. I could tell you it's the best story ever written, but why should you believe me? Besides, it's NOT the best story ever written. By a long shot. It's only okay, in my opinion.
Nevertheless, in order to get this off my TBR list, I have to post something here. So I might as well tell you this story is okay. I liked it as it is, naturally, or I wouldn't have published it yet. Several readers have also contacted me to say they enjoyed it, too.
I don't blame you for not wanting to spend a buck on a short story from an unknown author, so here's what I'm going to do. Every story I publish - which will be a weekly event, barring any unforeseen circumstances - will be FREE the first weekend it is available on Amazon. That means Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. (I'm retired, so I observe 4-day weekends now.)
Plus, after I've published 10 stories, I will combine them in an omnibus edition, which will be available for $2.99. That way you're only paying 30 cents per story, instead of a buck. In the meantime, check out some of the stories when they're free. If you like them, great. If you don't, you'll know not to waste your $3 when the omnibus comes out! What a deal!
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy my stories!
Nevertheless, in order to get this off my TBR list, I have to post something here. So I might as well tell you this story is okay. I liked it as it is, naturally, or I wouldn't have published it yet. Several readers have also contacted me to say they enjoyed it, too.
I don't blame you for not wanting to spend a buck on a short story from an unknown author, so here's what I'm going to do. Every story I publish - which will be a weekly event, barring any unforeseen circumstances - will be FREE the first weekend it is available on Amazon. That means Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. (I'm retired, so I observe 4-day weekends now.)
Plus, after I've published 10 stories, I will combine them in an omnibus edition, which will be available for $2.99. That way you're only paying 30 cents per story, instead of a buck. In the meantime, check out some of the stories when they're free. If you like them, great. If you don't, you'll know not to waste your $3 when the omnibus comes out! What a deal!
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy my stories!
February 13, 2015
I obtained a copy of this book for free today, on Amazon.com.au. Regardless of receiving a free copy, these are my honest thoughts. Please don't take offense to it.
The Call of the Loon is the first book of the Unforeseen Circumstances series by AJ Coonley. The stories are short horror fictions. The first features Lee and Wayne. For some time now, Wayne has been trying to get Lee to go on a camping trip. Unfortunately, Wayne has not mentioned a few things, especially his real reasons for wanting to come out camping. Hearing strange noises and finding that Wayne has brought a couple of guns along, Lee starts to question his friend's intentions. Have a read to see what happens...
The overall story is kind of stereotypical; a couple of people going on a camping trip hear strange noises and encounter a beast. Whether it is Bigfoot, a werewolf or even a vampire, the story has been done often enough and there's no particular originality in terms of plot. Moving on with that, there are many irrelevant things that could have been taken out of the story. It just seemed unnecessary to have them whining about their girlfriends, the girls' fathers and even their own fathers. Realistically, the girlfriends only played a tiny part in the story and they didn't need to be introduced as characters at all. Their parts could have been replaced by some unnamed character who mentions that these two people have gone missing in the area. It would be improved because then we wouldn't need to hear either of them whining about home life; the talk about the girlfriends distracts from the matter at hand and really takes away from any spooky element that the author is trying to create.
To continue with that point, I'd like to mention that I found the story to be kind of dull. I didn't find it to be scary or even so much as a little bit freaky. It's pretty obvious from the first mention of the strange noises that they're going to come across some sort of beast or character that's going to try and harm them. Though, I don't really blame the beast for wanting to do that; that type of behaviour is in its nature and the two men ought to have left it alone. I find Wayne to be at fault in this scenario. To be quite blunt, Wayne just seems like an idiot (and that's as polite as I can get at this point); he's heard strange noises in the night and decides to hunt it down rather than leave it alone, despite whatever danger that the adventure might hold. He begs Lee to go camping with him. When Lee does come along, he finds that Wayne has been hearing these strange noises several times before. Wayne's brought guns with, to "protect" them from whatever might be making these noises. Yet, to me, it just seems like he deliberately put his friend and his own self in danger... For no reason whatsoever. Wayne is responsible for his actions and those of his friend. The outcome of the story is Wayne's fault, I have to say. He should have left the beast alone and he is completely stupid for dragging his friend into the matter.
For a first published story, it's not the worst thing to be written. Though cliché, I guess the plot is reasonable. The characters have little intelligence, but I can see what the author was aiming for. Two stars. I might continue with this series considering that they're each (from what I gather) meant to be separate horror stories. Maybe the next will be better.
The Call of the Loon is the first book of the Unforeseen Circumstances series by AJ Coonley. The stories are short horror fictions. The first features Lee and Wayne. For some time now, Wayne has been trying to get Lee to go on a camping trip. Unfortunately, Wayne has not mentioned a few things, especially his real reasons for wanting to come out camping. Hearing strange noises and finding that Wayne has brought a couple of guns along, Lee starts to question his friend's intentions. Have a read to see what happens...
The overall story is kind of stereotypical; a couple of people going on a camping trip hear strange noises and encounter a beast. Whether it is Bigfoot, a werewolf or even a vampire, the story has been done often enough and there's no particular originality in terms of plot. Moving on with that, there are many irrelevant things that could have been taken out of the story. It just seemed unnecessary to have them whining about their girlfriends, the girls' fathers and even their own fathers. Realistically, the girlfriends only played a tiny part in the story and they didn't need to be introduced as characters at all. Their parts could have been replaced by some unnamed character who mentions that these two people have gone missing in the area. It would be improved because then we wouldn't need to hear either of them whining about home life; the talk about the girlfriends distracts from the matter at hand and really takes away from any spooky element that the author is trying to create.
To continue with that point, I'd like to mention that I found the story to be kind of dull. I didn't find it to be scary or even so much as a little bit freaky. It's pretty obvious from the first mention of the strange noises that they're going to come across some sort of beast or character that's going to try and harm them. Though, I don't really blame the beast for wanting to do that; that type of behaviour is in its nature and the two men ought to have left it alone. I find Wayne to be at fault in this scenario. To be quite blunt, Wayne just seems like an idiot (and that's as polite as I can get at this point); he's heard strange noises in the night and decides to hunt it down rather than leave it alone, despite whatever danger that the adventure might hold. He begs Lee to go camping with him. When Lee does come along, he finds that Wayne has been hearing these strange noises several times before. Wayne's brought guns with, to "protect" them from whatever might be making these noises. Yet, to me, it just seems like he deliberately put his friend and his own self in danger... For no reason whatsoever. Wayne is responsible for his actions and those of his friend. The outcome of the story is Wayne's fault, I have to say. He should have left the beast alone and he is completely stupid for dragging his friend into the matter.
For a first published story, it's not the worst thing to be written. Though cliché, I guess the plot is reasonable. The characters have little intelligence, but I can see what the author was aiming for. Two stars. I might continue with this series considering that they're each (from what I gather) meant to be separate horror stories. Maybe the next will be better.
February 18, 2015
What a fabulous short story! But don't let the shortness of this story fool you. It gave me enough of a scare that I was a little creeped out in my bedroom late the night I read it. I've never been a person who likes camping---it's the snakes I can't stand---just the thought of seeing one---ughhhhhhh! Anyway, now I have another reason to fear being out in the wilderness when the sun goes down and the full moonlight makes the shadows come alive!
A great, short read!!
A great, short read!!
August 13, 2016
Lee and Wayne are best buds that are on a normal camping trip that takes a turn for the worse very quickly. The author adds a dose of humor into a horror story that made this a pretty good and quick read. I hope we get to see more of what happens to these two young men in the next installment.
March 7, 2015
I am really enjoying these stories.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews