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Bad Apples #1-3
Bad Apples: The Complete Collection
Buckle up for a journey into Halloween eternal.
This special collection features all three volumes of the
highly rated Bad Apples: Halloween Horror anthologies,
showcasing rising names in modern horror.
Over 700 pages of Halloween novellas and short stories by: Kealan Patrick Burke, Evans Light, Adam Light, Edward Lorn, John McNee, Mark Matthews, Jason Parent, Craig Saunders and Gregor Xane.
This special collection features all three volumes of the
highly rated Bad Apples: Halloween Horror anthologies,
showcasing rising names in modern horror.
Over 700 pages of Halloween novellas and short stories by: Kealan Patrick Burke, Evans Light, Adam Light, Edward Lorn, John McNee, Mark Matthews, Jason Parent, Craig Saunders and Gregor Xane.
732 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2018
About the author
Kealan Patrick Burke
200 books2,006 followersBorn and raised in a small harbor town in the south of Ireland, Kealan Patrick Burke knew from a very early age that he was going to be a horror writer. The combination of an ancient locale, a horror-loving mother, and a family full of storytellers, made it inevitable that he would end up telling stories for a living. Since those formative years, he has written five novels, over a hundred short stories, six collections, and edited four acclaimed anthologies. In 2004, he was honored with the Bram Stoker Award for his novella The Turtle Boy.
Kealan has worked as a waiter, a drama teacher, a mapmaker, a security guard, an assembly-line worker at Apple Computers, a salesman (for a day), a bartender, landscape gardener, vocalist in a grunge band, curriculum content editor, fiction editor at Gothic.net, and, most recently, a fraud investigator.
When not writing, Kealan designs book covers through his company Elderlemon Design.
A movie based on his short story "Peekers" is currently in development as a major motion picture.
Represented by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House Agency.
Kealan has worked as a waiter, a drama teacher, a mapmaker, a security guard, an assembly-line worker at Apple Computers, a salesman (for a day), a bartender, landscape gardener, vocalist in a grunge band, curriculum content editor, fiction editor at Gothic.net, and, most recently, a fraud investigator.
When not writing, Kealan designs book covers through his company Elderlemon Design.
A movie based on his short story "Peekers" is currently in development as a major motion picture.
Represented by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House Agency.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 30, 2019
It’s Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare
I’ll start by saying if you don’t know who said the quote in the title of this review, this book is not for you!
I also have to admit that I love the Light brothers and read everything they write, which is what attracted me to this compilation in the first place. I will also divulge that I’ve been sitting on Jason Parent’s novels for God know’s how long and have never gotten to them. That is about to change. I know that Jason is a horror aficionado and knows his movie trivia (although not as well as I do, if you recall), so I absolutely adored his short stories (more on that in a minute).
I actually had comments for each story but had to shorten this down because of word count. I will list the stories you must read!
BAD APPLES VOLUME ONE (overall A)
1. The Riggle Twins: this was almost my favorite story. Gregory Xane has really impressed me with his weirdness.
The Riggle Twins is a fantastic short story that manages to blend Halloween urban legend with a unique setting, plot, and characters. It was an intriguing premise that also caused the reader to want to know more about the lives and fate of Ben and Bella, and Sam’s ultimate goals. Personally, the concept is so good that Gregory could easily create a longer version of this universe. A+
2. Ghost Light Road: Adam Light goes with an urban legend and blows it out of the water. This is also one of my favorite tales in the book. He takes what could have been a simple urban legend and gives it an almighty twist. You’ll have a blast reading this. A+
3. Easy Pickings: a creepy, fun little read by Jason Parent. He also puts a unique twist on a bully story. I only had one issue: SPOILER
Trevor definitely deserved what happens to him but I’m not sure about Pasquale. If he didn’t hurt Jack, why did the monster attack with the same logic that was applied to Trevor’s mom and Trevor. (Just saying!) A
4. The Scare Rows: a wild adventure from Edward Lorn. This is a story in which you are introduced to the entire town and the reader gets hooked on each of their stories. You have to love the fact that Edward named the Scare Rows proprietor, Mr. Stuart Keane (like the horror author). I just hope that the real Stuart Keane’s penis is not made of an ear of corn.Very unique, interesting story. The only issue I had was how the ending fit together. SPOILER
The yeast infection explained how Mr. Keane was no more but what about Bohdan? A
BAD APPLES VOLUME TWO (Overall B-)
1. Halloweekend: another winner from Edward Lorn. Quite a strange story but you gotta love an author who names his characters after Laymon (he gets points just for this), Straub, and McCammon. He also has a cameo with the corn cob man and tells the reader that this story is taking place in a city nearby Bay’s End (the name of the city and main character in The Scare Rows). There are a few twists in this story and the creation of Joe and Dead Jerry were pure genius. A
2. Dia De Los Muertos: when I first started this story by Jason Parent, I didn’t think I would like it. It was all over the place. From the mind of a strung out homeless man, to war torn Afghanistan, back to the day of the dead in Mexico. But what made this story so good was its vividness and it’s depth. I loved the ending and that completely won me over. A+
BAD APPLES VOLUME 3 (Overall A with the best story of the entire anthology)
1. Belle Souffrance: FINALLY! A great story by Evans and Adam Light. It is intriguing, unique, deep, and disturbing. The main character, Serge, tells a great story. Loved the idea of the trinity ruling his life. A
2. Chocolate Covered Eyeball: This was in a tie for my favorite story. A must-read by John McNee. It was just an awesome tale. So good, in fact, that the reader wants to know more about the town’s history and Old Man Koolter.A+
3. The Uncle Taffy’s Girl: Excellent story about a guy who just wants to get laid. Gregory Xane has another winner here....Disturbing but fun. Great dialogue . A+
4. Last Stop: this was absolutely an homage to Richard Laymon. You will just breeze through this story by Edward Lorn. A
5. Pulp!!!!!! Jason Parent gets the award for my favorite story! This is a love letter to horror movies and it was just a pleasure to read. From naming the characters after famous horror directors and actors like Von Sydow, Carpenter, Raimi, King.... to giving them Halloween characters to match our favorite horror icons, Jason certainly uses all the horror tropes at his disposal to give us a page-turner roller coaster ride. The only comment I would like to make is that I think it would have been even more intriguing to NOT mention who some of the characters were, and some of the movie quotes. The reader can use their browser of choice to research and learn as much horror trivia as Jason and I. Bravo, Jason! This was an A++
I’ll start by saying if you don’t know who said the quote in the title of this review, this book is not for you!
I also have to admit that I love the Light brothers and read everything they write, which is what attracted me to this compilation in the first place. I will also divulge that I’ve been sitting on Jason Parent’s novels for God know’s how long and have never gotten to them. That is about to change. I know that Jason is a horror aficionado and knows his movie trivia (although not as well as I do, if you recall), so I absolutely adored his short stories (more on that in a minute).
I actually had comments for each story but had to shorten this down because of word count. I will list the stories you must read!
BAD APPLES VOLUME ONE (overall A)
1. The Riggle Twins: this was almost my favorite story. Gregory Xane has really impressed me with his weirdness.
The Riggle Twins is a fantastic short story that manages to blend Halloween urban legend with a unique setting, plot, and characters. It was an intriguing premise that also caused the reader to want to know more about the lives and fate of Ben and Bella, and Sam’s ultimate goals. Personally, the concept is so good that Gregory could easily create a longer version of this universe. A+
2. Ghost Light Road: Adam Light goes with an urban legend and blows it out of the water. This is also one of my favorite tales in the book. He takes what could have been a simple urban legend and gives it an almighty twist. You’ll have a blast reading this. A+
3. Easy Pickings: a creepy, fun little read by Jason Parent. He also puts a unique twist on a bully story. I only had one issue: SPOILER
Trevor definitely deserved what happens to him but I’m not sure about Pasquale. If he didn’t hurt Jack, why did the monster attack with the same logic that was applied to Trevor’s mom and Trevor. (Just saying!) A
4. The Scare Rows: a wild adventure from Edward Lorn. This is a story in which you are introduced to the entire town and the reader gets hooked on each of their stories. You have to love the fact that Edward named the Scare Rows proprietor, Mr. Stuart Keane (like the horror author). I just hope that the real Stuart Keane’s penis is not made of an ear of corn.Very unique, interesting story. The only issue I had was how the ending fit together. SPOILER
The yeast infection explained how Mr. Keane was no more but what about Bohdan? A
BAD APPLES VOLUME TWO (Overall B-)
1. Halloweekend: another winner from Edward Lorn. Quite a strange story but you gotta love an author who names his characters after Laymon (he gets points just for this), Straub, and McCammon. He also has a cameo with the corn cob man and tells the reader that this story is taking place in a city nearby Bay’s End (the name of the city and main character in The Scare Rows). There are a few twists in this story and the creation of Joe and Dead Jerry were pure genius. A
2. Dia De Los Muertos: when I first started this story by Jason Parent, I didn’t think I would like it. It was all over the place. From the mind of a strung out homeless man, to war torn Afghanistan, back to the day of the dead in Mexico. But what made this story so good was its vividness and it’s depth. I loved the ending and that completely won me over. A+
BAD APPLES VOLUME 3 (Overall A with the best story of the entire anthology)
1. Belle Souffrance: FINALLY! A great story by Evans and Adam Light. It is intriguing, unique, deep, and disturbing. The main character, Serge, tells a great story. Loved the idea of the trinity ruling his life. A
2. Chocolate Covered Eyeball: This was in a tie for my favorite story. A must-read by John McNee. It was just an awesome tale. So good, in fact, that the reader wants to know more about the town’s history and Old Man Koolter.A+
3. The Uncle Taffy’s Girl: Excellent story about a guy who just wants to get laid. Gregory Xane has another winner here....Disturbing but fun. Great dialogue . A+
4. Last Stop: this was absolutely an homage to Richard Laymon. You will just breeze through this story by Edward Lorn. A
5. Pulp!!!!!! Jason Parent gets the award for my favorite story! This is a love letter to horror movies and it was just a pleasure to read. From naming the characters after famous horror directors and actors like Von Sydow, Carpenter, Raimi, King.... to giving them Halloween characters to match our favorite horror icons, Jason certainly uses all the horror tropes at his disposal to give us a page-turner roller coaster ride. The only comment I would like to make is that I think it would have been even more intriguing to NOT mention who some of the characters were, and some of the movie quotes. The reader can use their browser of choice to research and learn as much horror trivia as Jason and I. Bravo, Jason! This was an A++
Displaying 1 of 1 review