American Hoarder

by Jason Arnopp

In this chilling short thriller, episode 223 of the hit US Reality TV show American Hoarder goes very wrong...

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Adult, Horror Thriller, Paranormal

ebook

First published February 6, 2016

About the author

Jason Arnopp is the author of the chiller-thriller novels Ghoster (2019) and The Last Days Of Jack Sparks (2016). He is also the co-author of Inside Black Mirror with Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones.

Arnopp wrote the Lionsgate horror feature film Stormhouse, the New Line Cinema novel Friday The 13th: Hate-Kill-Repeat, various official Doctor Who works of fiction (including the BBC audiobook Doctor Who: The Gemini Contagion) and script-edited the 2012 Peter Mullan film The Man Inside.

Arnopp has also written 2012's Beast In The Basement, a horror novella available at Amazon, and experimental ghost story A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home.

He is the author of non-fiction ebook How To Interview Doctor Who, Ozzy Osbourne And Everyone Else. He is on Twitter here, and is represented by literary agent Oli Munson at The AM Heath Agency. He is also represented for film and TV by Lawrence Mattis at Circle Of Confusion.

He runs a private cult - sorry, that should have read CLUB - at Patreon, where members enjoy various perks.

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this story reminds me that at one point I saw too many hoarder shows. And what is seen can't be unseen.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun creepy short story about the dangers of hoarding. Featuring Hollywood Paranormals from the absolutely terrific Arnopp's debut novel The Last Days of Jack Sparks. The story itself is only about 15 minutes, free from Arnopp's website and well worth a read, but Jack Sparks' adventures get my strongest recommendation. And apparently now optioned for a movie. Woohoo.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like this was an episode of Supernatural Hoarders. It was really interesting and I didn’t want it to end.

Check all trigger warnings before reading.

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this short story on my Paperwhite for a while, and decided to read it today.

During an American Hoarder episode, something goes terribly wrong. And Bill is telling the bizarre story to someone who is very interested...

I really enjoyed this!

The writing style gets the story across so well, and the creepiness keeps the suspense going from start to finish.

I've watched a few hoarder episodes and like all reality TV, there's always a set formula for how the person deals with their clutter and emotional state. And this story certainly dealt with it in a comical, yet horrifying way.

Plus it leads back to Last Days of Jack Sparks, which is an awesome book everyone should read.

Very cool shortie that'll make you think twice about clutter. O.o

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Now I understand a little more clearly why I'm so persnickety about picking up trash. Lovely little short story with a great narrator's voice.

[lorin ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

i'm being so generous

[Lovely · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting foray into the behind-the-scenes action of a hoarding reality show~ I watched way too many episodes of the real thing back in the day, but even if I hadn't, the descriptions in the book are pretty vivid.

A short story with a weird couple of twists~ the only thing I didn't really like was the final ending. I guess if I had read Arnopp's other work I would get it, but I was like, who is Jack Sparks and why are they talking about him like I should know about him? I think the whole ending was a little off, and would've been better without the commentary from the undercover journalist(?) and just ended with Billy noticing the pile had grown and the glint in the pile... it would have felt more cohesive instead of having this random tacked-on thing at the end. It also broke the illusion of the reader being the one hearing the story because now there's a second character for a page... without that, it definitely would've been almost a 5 star, but I guess to each their own, and for a free short story (you get a link to it on his website), it was a fun read~ 3.75

[Chandni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jason Arnopp's writing. He manages to combine reality TV + horror into a book which are basically 3 of my favourite thing. This story was about a reality show that encountered a paranormal entity, and it has a link to his fantastic novel The Last Days of Jack Sparks. I totally want to re-read his novel again because it was SO GOOD.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told in the format of an intoxicated anecdote, this novelette is about a reality tv show along the lines of Hoarders where things turn out so unexpectedly the episode could never be aired. With commentary on the staging of & manipulation of reality for what claims to be a reality show, this also had a few casual ties to Last Days of Jack Sparks.
3.5 STARS

[Litwithlove · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a creepy little story this was! I used to really enjoy Hoarders style shows a lot, and this book captured that whole energy very well. It's creepy in the way that one of RL Steins books may give you a single shiver up your spine accompanied by a good natured laugh at yourself for being spooked. I will probably seek out more of Jason Arnopps writing.

[Timothy Burbage · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story about the dangers of hoarding. It has a horror vibe, and the writing style was interesting (written as an interview, with interjections of "hand me another beer" and all that).

An interesting read, that I feel Stephen King fans would like.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uses humor to demonstrate the horrible realities behind reality television while recalling some of the details of the episode that never was, leaving larger questions unanswered.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this one free from Arnopp's website. Love everything of his I've read so far, and really stoked for the next novel!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely original and a great introduction to the universe of Jack Sparks. Freaky as hell and plays with an almost completely new kind of monster.

[N.]

Well. An interesting short story.

What the heck...

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun short story about hoarding mixed with the paranormal. Recommend you read this if you liked Jack Sparks it’s kind of a prequel but can also easily be read alone and enjoyed. 🎥👓👻

[Gracie Harlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun creepy twisty one by Jason Arnopp!

[Sarah x · Rating 2 out of 5]

EY WAIT A DAMN MINUTE PRELUDE TO THE LAST DAYS OF JACK SPARKS? I LOVE THE LAST DAYS OF JACK SPARKS!

[Vanessa O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet and super contemporary.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garbage in Garbage out Lovecraftian Style

Hoarding too much garbage in the house is the reason why we should keep things clean, nice, and tidy. We’d have difficulty shuffling our butts through the narrow corridors of trash. As the TV crew learned the hard way, one shouldn’t get too close to the reality of garbage. Why? Read the story and find out. Is it unsettling? Why not?

[Monica M · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a fictional hoarder tv show that go wrong.

At first i thought this to be a psychological or symbolic story lining up with the hoarding act itself.
But it's not.
Quite creepy read haha >.<

[Sarah Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cracking short story from Arnopp, who is the king of cracking short stories. Makes me even more determined to read The Last Days of Jack Sparks ...

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice little tie-in to The Last Days of Jack Sparks - a creepy little tale about a reality television episode that goes wrong and never makes it to air.

[Katy Stamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in 20 minutes, the perfect pre bedtime length except now I don't want to sleep, I want to tidy my room.