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Dumb Blonde
Short story by AJ Scudiere, author of RESONANCE and VENGEANCE. All horror films have that scene - the one where the scary music is playing and the stupid girl continues to walk through the house looking for the bad guy when any sane person would run as fast as they could. DUMB BLONDE tells one girl's story of shadows in windows, scary music playing, and nobody believing her.
- GenresShort Stories
24 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2008
8 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Scudiere
66 books398 followers📖𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘆, 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲
♟️stories you can't outguess! 𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘺!
🏆USA TODAY bestselling author
🎁grab a FREE BOOK at my website ReadAJS.com
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝟥𝟢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳!
GET YOUR FREE BOOK FROM ME HERE
https://www.readajs.com/book-series/n...
"Install a seatbelt in your favorite reading chair!" - ★★★★★
♟️stories you can't outguess! 𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘺!
🏆USA TODAY bestselling author
🎁grab a FREE BOOK at my website ReadAJS.com
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝟥𝟢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳!
GET YOUR FREE BOOK FROM ME HERE
https://www.readajs.com/book-series/n...
"Install a seatbelt in your favorite reading chair!" - ★★★★★
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 30, 2020
You ever heard the one about the dumb blonde?
Well, this missy has a break-in, one day. Is it an ex boyfriend, who wants to “say goodbye?” Is it a psycho killer? Is she just hearing things?
You know how these stories are, with the dumb 👱♀️.
Well, this missy has a break-in, one day. Is it an ex boyfriend, who wants to “say goodbye?” Is it a psycho killer? Is she just hearing things?
You know how these stories are, with the dumb 👱♀️.
August 27, 2012
Book Info: Genre: Horror Satire Reading Level: Adult
Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book for 99¢ on Amazon; although I am under no particular obligation, I am happy to provide an honest review.
Synopsis: All horror films have that scene – the one where the scary music is playing and the stupid girl continues to walk through the house looking for the bad guy when any sane person would run as fast as they could. Dumb Blonde tells one girl's story of shadows in windows, scary music playing, and nobody believing her.
My Thoughts: A.J. Scudiere has written such fabulous books as Resonance , Vengeance , God’s Eye and Phoenix , and I have loved them all. When I saw this little short story, I had to grab it and read it as quickly as possible. (Reviews can be reached by clicking the link from the book’s title).
This is a very fun little story, where the “dumb blonde” had to deal with mysterious shadows, strange music, and disbelieving cops. This is a wonderful little story, and all blondes should definitely read it. Highly recommended!
Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book for 99¢ on Amazon; although I am under no particular obligation, I am happy to provide an honest review.
Synopsis: All horror films have that scene – the one where the scary music is playing and the stupid girl continues to walk through the house looking for the bad guy when any sane person would run as fast as they could. Dumb Blonde tells one girl's story of shadows in windows, scary music playing, and nobody believing her.
My Thoughts: A.J. Scudiere has written such fabulous books as Resonance , Vengeance , God’s Eye and Phoenix , and I have loved them all. When I saw this little short story, I had to grab it and read it as quickly as possible. (Reviews can be reached by clicking the link from the book’s title).
This is a very fun little story, where the “dumb blonde” had to deal with mysterious shadows, strange music, and disbelieving cops. This is a wonderful little story, and all blondes should definitely read it. Highly recommended!
October 31, 2015
So they are not all dumb. Excellent. This very short story was suppose to be an introduction to a new author and as far as introductions go, it was pretty much serviceable not the sort of thing that'll send one looking for author's other works immediately, but not one to put the reader off either. Decent writing, predictable twist, nice girl power style ending. Kindle copy had a distractingly screwed up formatting. Story is basically about as short and entertaining as a dumb blonde joke. One that takes up about 10 minutes.
June 24, 2018
Author A.J. Scudiere is a blonde (at least in the photo on her website), but she is far from dumb, with two masters degrees in fields I can’t even spell, much less understand. You might think such an author would be able to craft a clever story about a prototypical dumb blonde, and you’d be right. Like the author, however, the heroine of the witty story “Dumb Blonde” proves to have a good bit on the ball.
Missy, the heroine of “Dumb Blonde” seems to live up to her name. When readers first meet her, she is sunning herself in her bikini after spending a good bit of time figuring out which tan lines she wanted to accentuate for the upcoming summer. However, her relaxation is rudely interrupted by a moving shadow inside her house. As a veteran horror fan (she even named her cat “Freddie” after the erstwhile Mr. Krueger), she fears that the shadow is not the aforementioned Freddie moving around, but, rather, a kindred spirit to Mr. Krueger, instead. Then, as she goes into the house, loud music turns on, again, not caused by Freddie, but what she takes as a prelude to an unfortunate encounter between a hapless bikinied blonde and a chainsaw or machete wielding psych. So, Missy calls the police, one of whom is her current boyfriend. Needless to say, they don’t find anything, but that’s not the end of the story …
“Dumb Blonde” is a short story, only about 20 pages long, and it’s definitely tongue in cheek, but during those 20 pages or so, the author manages to both incorporate every blonde stereotype imaginable into the story and mine it as a sense of humor and, while so doing, turn the tale into an entertaining, albeit short, suspense story. Then, when the story becomes a battle of wits, so to speak, between Missy and, let’s just say, somebody else, the author manages to come up with a great punch line on which to end the story.
Obviously, in a story this short, an author can’t lay the same foundation for all the plot developments that she could in a longer story. And, although the story cheats a bit in explaining just how things transpire as they do, I can’t really complain. Frankly, this is a case of less is more, as the type of more detailed explanation appropriate for a longer work would simply make “Dumb Blonde” drag and lessen its impact.
No matter how smartly written “Dumb Blonde” is (and the author proves herself quite adept with description and humor), in the end, it’s simply an extended joke with a very clever punch line at the end. Sill, anyone reading this is not expecting War and Peace. This story is perfect to pass the time on a lunch hour or train ride to work when a reader doesn’t want to get involved in something more detailed. “Dumb Blonde” is a short but smart pleasure.
Missy, the heroine of “Dumb Blonde” seems to live up to her name. When readers first meet her, she is sunning herself in her bikini after spending a good bit of time figuring out which tan lines she wanted to accentuate for the upcoming summer. However, her relaxation is rudely interrupted by a moving shadow inside her house. As a veteran horror fan (she even named her cat “Freddie” after the erstwhile Mr. Krueger), she fears that the shadow is not the aforementioned Freddie moving around, but, rather, a kindred spirit to Mr. Krueger, instead. Then, as she goes into the house, loud music turns on, again, not caused by Freddie, but what she takes as a prelude to an unfortunate encounter between a hapless bikinied blonde and a chainsaw or machete wielding psych. So, Missy calls the police, one of whom is her current boyfriend. Needless to say, they don’t find anything, but that’s not the end of the story …
“Dumb Blonde” is a short story, only about 20 pages long, and it’s definitely tongue in cheek, but during those 20 pages or so, the author manages to both incorporate every blonde stereotype imaginable into the story and mine it as a sense of humor and, while so doing, turn the tale into an entertaining, albeit short, suspense story. Then, when the story becomes a battle of wits, so to speak, between Missy and, let’s just say, somebody else, the author manages to come up with a great punch line on which to end the story.
Obviously, in a story this short, an author can’t lay the same foundation for all the plot developments that she could in a longer story. And, although the story cheats a bit in explaining just how things transpire as they do, I can’t really complain. Frankly, this is a case of less is more, as the type of more detailed explanation appropriate for a longer work would simply make “Dumb Blonde” drag and lessen its impact.
No matter how smartly written “Dumb Blonde” is (and the author proves herself quite adept with description and humor), in the end, it’s simply an extended joke with a very clever punch line at the end. Sill, anyone reading this is not expecting War and Peace. This story is perfect to pass the time on a lunch hour or train ride to work when a reader doesn’t want to get involved in something more detailed. “Dumb Blonde” is a short but smart pleasure.
June 7, 2017
Very enjoyable! Had trouble putting it down:)
January 7, 2018
Interesting short story
A very quick read but keeps you interested. She's not so dumb after all. Only the second story I have read by this author and I have become a fan.
A very quick read but keeps you interested. She's not so dumb after all. Only the second story I have read by this author and I have become a fan.
August 20, 2019
Cliche’ Not!
Love reading books that are different? Love reading books that turn cliches upside down and on their heads? If you said yes, then check out Dumb Blonde.
Love reading books that are different? Love reading books that turn cliches upside down and on their heads? If you said yes, then check out Dumb Blonde.
March 29, 2022
Great author, but this was just too short of a short story for me. I prefer her "meatier" works.
January 8, 2018
PG-13 (younger kids simply wouldn't care about it)
No sex
Little or no "language"
I completed reading this in 30 minutes just as predicted by my kindle.
Fun story idea: Will the dumb blonde keep going further into the creepy circumstances or do as we all yell out at the movies and get out of there. NOW.
My one criticism is that I didn't understand the rather important story setting element: the layout of the deck or shed or wherever as the end of the story approached.
Yes. Read it for a quick, light, and humorous diversion for your day.
No sex
Little or no "language"
I completed reading this in 30 minutes just as predicted by my kindle.
Fun story idea: Will the dumb blonde keep going further into the creepy circumstances or do as we all yell out at the movies and get out of there. NOW.
My one criticism is that I didn't understand the rather important story setting element: the layout of the deck or shed or wherever as the end of the story approached.
Yes. Read it for a quick, light, and humorous diversion for your day.
January 22, 2012
This review originally appeared at Red Adept Reviews.
(Note: What detracts most from the overall score are formatting issues. The author has since contacted me to say she'd been unaware of the issues, and that they'd since been corrected. I can only review the copy that I read, but I want to put this information out there for people who might be interested in the story except for this issue. The overall rating is 3.5 stars, and I have to round either up or down for the Amazon stars. I'm choosing to round up based on her assertion.)
Overall: 3 ½ Stars
Storyline/Plot: 4 stars
I like the premise - a lot. This love probably comes from being a "Buffy" fan since the concept behind the show was for the little blonde girl in the dark alley to "take back the night." One of the themes of the show was how, because she was tiny and cute, she was continually underestimated. Anyone who is a blonde, or knows some capable ones, will appreciate the inherent humor and girl power message here.
I liked that there was a sly sense of humor here, an acknowledgement of the horror/suspense tropes being paraded through the story. Missy is fully aware that she has found herself in the middle of a slasher movie scenario.
As always, short stories are not to everyone's taste, and I don't think this story will be the one to make you a fan of this length if you're not currently.
I enjoyed this story overall, while feeling that it could have been a little punchier and saucier to lead up to - what I consider to be - a pretty darned good last line.
Characters: 3 ½ stars
I liked Missy well enough, as well as enjoying the portrayal of the secondary characters, but I think a page or two more to develop her would have made the story all the stronger. Because the story is short, because the plot is pretty straightforward, I think for Dumb Blonde to be really good that it had to excel as a character piece - and it didn't quite get there.
What I like is that Missy, as expected, is smarter than the stereotype. What I really like is that, realistically, she is still not exactly a Rhodes Scholar, and the reader can play backseat driver on what she should do.
Writing Style: 3 3/4 stars
The author got the job done, and the result was a nifty little story. I would read more by the author, and I'm actually curious to see what she could do with a novel, but... well, see editing score. There was something here that felt ... unpolished. Still, the effort was a good one.
Formatting: 2 stars
The formatting is seriously off here, with paragraphs running together. I emailed the author to tell her about this - and mentioned that the samples of her other books had the same issue. I requested she email me to let me know when this was resolved. I have yet to hear back, so I have to assume this is the same. We don't normally contact authors on these things, but I thought it was so big of an issue, yet something that could be a simple mistake, and so - in this case - I'd play Good Samaritan. Other than that, no other issues with editing, but this one took away from my enjoyment.
(Note: What detracts most from the overall score are formatting issues. The author has since contacted me to say she'd been unaware of the issues, and that they'd since been corrected. I can only review the copy that I read, but I want to put this information out there for people who might be interested in the story except for this issue. The overall rating is 3.5 stars, and I have to round either up or down for the Amazon stars. I'm choosing to round up based on her assertion.)
Overall: 3 ½ Stars
Storyline/Plot: 4 stars
I like the premise - a lot. This love probably comes from being a "Buffy" fan since the concept behind the show was for the little blonde girl in the dark alley to "take back the night." One of the themes of the show was how, because she was tiny and cute, she was continually underestimated. Anyone who is a blonde, or knows some capable ones, will appreciate the inherent humor and girl power message here.
I liked that there was a sly sense of humor here, an acknowledgement of the horror/suspense tropes being paraded through the story. Missy is fully aware that she has found herself in the middle of a slasher movie scenario.
As always, short stories are not to everyone's taste, and I don't think this story will be the one to make you a fan of this length if you're not currently.
I enjoyed this story overall, while feeling that it could have been a little punchier and saucier to lead up to - what I consider to be - a pretty darned good last line.
Characters: 3 ½ stars
I liked Missy well enough, as well as enjoying the portrayal of the secondary characters, but I think a page or two more to develop her would have made the story all the stronger. Because the story is short, because the plot is pretty straightforward, I think for Dumb Blonde to be really good that it had to excel as a character piece - and it didn't quite get there.
What I like is that Missy, as expected, is smarter than the stereotype. What I really like is that, realistically, she is still not exactly a Rhodes Scholar, and the reader can play backseat driver on what she should do.
Writing Style: 3 3/4 stars
The author got the job done, and the result was a nifty little story. I would read more by the author, and I'm actually curious to see what she could do with a novel, but... well, see editing score. There was something here that felt ... unpolished. Still, the effort was a good one.
Formatting: 2 stars
The formatting is seriously off here, with paragraphs running together. I emailed the author to tell her about this - and mentioned that the samples of her other books had the same issue. I requested she email me to let me know when this was resolved. I have yet to hear back, so I have to assume this is the same. We don't normally contact authors on these things, but I thought it was so big of an issue, yet something that could be a simple mistake, and so - in this case - I'd play Good Samaritan. Other than that, no other issues with editing, but this one took away from my enjoyment.
February 13, 2017
Amusing short story about a young woman who called in sick to work so she could sunbathe. Unfortunately she gets more than she bargained for.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews