Robbed of Sleep: Stories to Stay Up For

by Troy Blackford (Editor), Guy Medley, David Eccles

Twenty-two tales from nineteen of the most unique authors working in the horror and speculative field today, all congealed into one fleshy mass for your reading enjoyment. Whether you want to become 'A New You,' are leading a 'Double Life,' or are merely looking for some chills 'Within Walking Distance,' the third volume of the Robbed of Sleep series will have you up all night, taking the 'Bait' and scaring yourself 'Wordless.'

Not enough title-based puns? Seriously: that's the best we could come up with. But the nineteen authors in this alternately hilarious, disturbing, moving, and unhinged book have provided stories that truly are worth staying up for, and, as always, work tirelessly to ensure you are utterly ROBBED OF SLEEP.

Genres: Horror

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2015

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

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to hurry to write this down. Don't know how much time there is left for me for I made the mistake of reading the first story.

This is the ideal reading to fight a summer heat wave. Those stories are goose-bumping, spine-chilling, blood-freezing, and, well, sort of cool!

DISCLAIMER: One story came from me, but this fact didn't affect my rating. Scout's honor! You will surely trust a man who's going to d—

[Manny]

There must be other people who want to know how Matt can simultaneously be responsible, or at least partially responsible, both for Eine Million Dinge Die Ich Gesagt Habe, the definitive reference on counting sheep to induce slumber, and also for this book. It seems wildly paradoxical, though somehow I am sure there is a logical explanation. But what?

[Kenneth Gagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading

I've never really been a huge fan of anthologies. It's always interesting to be exposed to a variety of different styles or to experience glimpses into several different worlds in the same book, but that exposure and those glimpses don't always lead to memorable experiences. Fortunately, every story in here is a memorable experience, with characters and events that are described in such a way that readers feel as though they are listening to the characters or participating in events first-hand or that they could be under the right (or perhaps more appropriately, wrong) circumstances, despite the fact that these characters and events only span a few pages. This is commendable in and of itself, but especially commendable for the genre, and so I recommend this anthology to fans of the genre, but more importantly, to anyone who's ever chosen a good read over getting shut-eye and had no regrets whatsoever in the morning.

[Justin Bloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really don't think there's a bad story in this bunch, but honestly, the book is worth the price just for the two stories "Yreka" and "Within Walking Distance." Both are told with unique voices and, while so different from one another, are the two stories that have stayed with me. The first is subtle, the second strange, but both are extremely well written and just superb examples of short fiction.

[Book lover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth staying up for

Its a thoughtfully put together anthology of strange thought provoking original tales. I was entertained and amused. I recommend this book to lovers of horror, science fiction, thriller and the supernatural. Especially if you don't have the time to commit to a long novel.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any short story collection, there are hits and misses. Personally, I mean. Surely there are folks who will appreciate the ones I didn't and vice versa. And that's fine. I primarily read this to see what I was up against as a burgeoning writer myself. Not to put down any of the authors contained herein, but I feel pretty confident.
Now, I will say this: I thought the title a bit misleading. True, some of the stories were spooky or creepy, but on average they didn't "rob me of sleep." They were generally enjoyable and I'd recommend this to anyone who might appreciate reading emerging writers.

[Hermit Hank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry

Sorry, but I didn't think that this was an interesting book. From the title I was expecting much more but I was sadly disappointed.

[Arturo De Tuoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

It all started because their Twitter account started following me. And now I've read the third volume of this madness. There's the potential start for a horror story in all this.

If you fancy a few trips around the bend sinister done well in earnest, this series has its moments.