What do you think?
Rate this book
The Monster Within Idea
The monsters lurk in monsters of greed, of guilt, of the pleasure found in pain, of the pain found when pleasure dies. Carefully disguised, the monsters can sit down beside you or take up residence within you at the slightest twist of fate. Will you try to stop them? Will you want to?
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 16, 2009
26 people are currently reading
426 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 29, 2012
Literally. This book had some of everything. Vampires, zombies, monsters, and everything else in between. Most of these stories were very disturbing, did not end happy, and all in all had a very strong creep factor. Unfortunately, I did not realize this was an anthology until I was done with the second story. My own fault for not reading the synopsis more closely. When I finished reading the first story and then it went into the second one, it flowed well enough for me that I didn't even realize I was reading a second story at first. It wasn't until I actually finished the 2nd story that I realized this was an anthology. I don't know if it's because of how the original book was set up that made it hard for me to tell or if it was just the way it downloaded to my Kindle but it was not obvious to me at first when one short story ended and another one began.
That being said, I loved how original these stories were. The fear and creep factors were so strong that I had no problem whatsoever suspending reality to get into these stories. It's been a while since I first read this so I can't remember the names of each of the stories but there were a few that stood out to me. One I believe was actually the 2nd story (which I went and read over again when I realized it was it's own work) and it was about someone saying they were abused at a park and that they were going to stay there and wait and it wouldn't happen to anyone else ever again. I know that was a really lame explanation of the story but I don't want to give out too many details.
Another one that I really liked was about a boy and a girl who are best friends and a little bit of trouble makers but it goes too far when they start stalking a pretty woman with a mask over her mouth. Again, lame description but I don't want to give anything away.
All in all this was a great collection of original stories that really stick in your head and continue to gnaw at the brain. If you like tragic and horrific stories, and aren't afraid to be a little...scratch that...EXTREMELY disturbed then you'll love this anthology.
That being said, I loved how original these stories were. The fear and creep factors were so strong that I had no problem whatsoever suspending reality to get into these stories. It's been a while since I first read this so I can't remember the names of each of the stories but there were a few that stood out to me. One I believe was actually the 2nd story (which I went and read over again when I realized it was it's own work) and it was about someone saying they were abused at a park and that they were going to stay there and wait and it wouldn't happen to anyone else ever again. I know that was a really lame explanation of the story but I don't want to give out too many details.
Another one that I really liked was about a boy and a girl who are best friends and a little bit of trouble makers but it goes too far when they start stalking a pretty woman with a mask over her mouth. Again, lame description but I don't want to give anything away.
All in all this was a great collection of original stories that really stick in your head and continue to gnaw at the brain. If you like tragic and horrific stories, and aren't afraid to be a little...scratch that...EXTREMELY disturbed then you'll love this anthology.
April 29, 2009
Short story books tend to be hit or miss, horror short story books more so than not. However, Riley has compiled a book of short wicked tales that are thrilling, exciting, gruesome, terrifying, and above all well written. The stories range from vampires, to zombies, to wishes gone bad, and each of them is engaging and forces the reader to feel the need to devour the next story too, and the next one after that. You'll find yourself tearing through this book as if your life depended on it. Among my favorites are "The Run" and "Twin Thieves" both of which are a bit longer then some of the others, but are just flat out FUN reads. Yes they are horrifying, these tales delve into the dark nature of man, even the supernatural tales are rooted in our own human shortcomings - the "what ifs" of life. Greed, remorse, vanity, all of our deadly sins are represented and twisted with the natural ease of a truly gifted story teller. Riley is the man you want to have telling the tales around your campfire at night - provided you don't mind laying awake in horror that evening.
Rated R - violence, monsters, gore
Rated R - violence, monsters, gore
February 23, 2016
This book was sloppy in more ways than one. I was left dissatisfied by most of the stories. For the most part they visited well-traveled ground and held few surprises. Besides that, I often felt that large parts of the stories were left out -- details that might have made them more comprehensible or at least more interesting. More than one of them ended without coming to a satisfactory conclusion, while the title story was so cryptic as to be totally pointless. The editing was shoddy as well: words were frequently missing, while the punctuation was haphazard at best. The final story even included the author's notes on changes he intended to make to the text, as if the text wasn't even edited between the first draft and publication. I will definitely not be rereading it.
February 15, 2012
This is a decent collection of short scary stories that hits on every horror and tabboo theme you can imagine. I give thumbs-up to the fact that each story was interesting and surprising. My favorite part, however, was the last bit where the author talks candidly about his inspirations and methods for writing.
The book doesn't get a lot of stars from me due to the simple fact that short stories aren't my favorite reads. I tend to feel dis-oriented at the beginning of each story as I try to figure out who the new characters are -- even worse when it's a first-person narrative and you don't know if it's male or female, animal or vegetable telling the tale.
The book doesn't get a lot of stars from me due to the simple fact that short stories aren't my favorite reads. I tend to feel dis-oriented at the beginning of each story as I try to figure out who the new characters are -- even worse when it's a first-person narrative and you don't know if it's male or female, animal or vegetable telling the tale.
February 20, 2015
AN UNEXPECTED, THRILLING RIDE!!
WOW!!!! I am completely and utterly blown away by this Anthology by R. Thomas Riley!!!!!! It's almost impossible to describe each story without taking up your time, so please just take my word as a bookworm, book blog host, and book reviewer, that if you truly like anthologies, bizarre and sometimes insane stories, then this book is for you. Some stories are very short and to the point, a few are a tad long but enjoyable, and a couple stories you will be discussing around the water cooler.
I will be reading more books by R. Thomas Riley very soon!!!
WOW!!!! I am completely and utterly blown away by this Anthology by R. Thomas Riley!!!!!! It's almost impossible to describe each story without taking up your time, so please just take my word as a bookworm, book blog host, and book reviewer, that if you truly like anthologies, bizarre and sometimes insane stories, then this book is for you. Some stories are very short and to the point, a few are a tad long but enjoyable, and a couple stories you will be discussing around the water cooler.
I will be reading more books by R. Thomas Riley very soon!!!
January 21, 2020
For the first time ever, I’m going to issue a trigger warning. There’s very little that offends me but I know there are some out there that would be rather bothered by the themes. There are a few stories that have adult themes, the first story references child abuse/sodomy, another deals with rape. The stories aren’t bad but they aren’t great either. Some of them were better than others, a few creepy, and a couple were indeed disturbing. I hate to just give 3 stars but that’s my designation for average. This book is currently available on Kindle Unlimited, so as a ‘free’ read, it was good enough.
May 5, 2012
A collection of short stories. Some capable of actual horror, while others were easily forgotten. Towards the end, only a handful really stayed in my head; this is not to say the others weren't good, just that they weren't as memorable.
A great collection to read if you have the time. The story for which this book was titled was one of my favourites.
A great collection to read if you have the time. The story for which this book was titled was one of my favourites.
August 17, 2017
its probably not a good idea to read this at 3:00am but I did anyways..
Excellent stuff, human shortcomings, loss, grief, depression, vanity, good ol' fashion serial killers, child perdators and some real excellent zombie tales i.e. in a maternity ward. :0
Excellent stuff, human shortcomings, loss, grief, depression, vanity, good ol' fashion serial killers, child perdators and some real excellent zombie tales i.e. in a maternity ward. :0
June 21, 2012
Overall, a great set of short stories. Each story was well written, and although a scant few left something to be desired, the great ones made up for the lackluster shortcomings of the others.
I look forward to reading more of Riley's work in the future.
I look forward to reading more of Riley's work in the future.
April 13, 2013
Great collection of short stories!
December 4, 2013
I didn't realize this was a collection of short stories until 2 stories in (after a bit of confusion). It took me 2 months to get through this- every time I sat down to read I fell asleep.
Read
February 1, 2010I was one of the editors on this book, so I'm a bit biased.
September 2, 2015
The Monster Within Idea, R. Thomas Riley's collection from Apex Publications is an exploration of monsters in all their various forms, supernatural and dark, beneficial and very, very malicious.
"Attrition" the first tale in this collection, is the story of an incarcerated man who is preparing for his release day. To be free all he has to do is walk out, where a vicious tunnel will either deem him worthy of being a part of society, or turn his sentence into a self-fulfilling death penalty.
"Touching God" is a surreal story of two boys trying to escape a personal darkness, only to find that something follows them back to the mundane world. A story of family tragedy, it's heavily character based with an open ending that implies the worst is yet to come. Continuing with a child's point of view, "Too Little" tells another short, dark story of victimization and revenge in a lilting, almost playful tone.
"Jenny" is the tale of a jealous lover, a woman who will possess or punish the man she loves. It's a little too obvious, but a darkly amusing addition to the collection.
"Perfect" also uses a very female point of view, as a woman obsessed with body image imagines that as she airbrushes models' pictures she also cleans them of their other flaws. If only she could fix her own life as easily.
The next two tales are both zombies stories. "Haven" is a wholly depressing story of a boy who is trying to get to his older sister after a zombie uprising. After days of traveling and barely surviving, he reaches the hospital where his sister works in the maternity ward, which has been overrun with zombie infants. As is often found in zombie tales the desolation is overwhelming and there can really only be one end.
"In the Beginning" could be the start of a longer zombie tale. The imagery of a bio weapon going off at a Six Flags amusement park is chilling, but the story is one readers already know.
Taking readers to the Old West, "The Run" is about a man hired to transport a mysterious package from one town to another. He's warned not to look at or open the package, but a busted wheel leads him to being trapped in the growing dark, in the woods, with its contents. There's a feeling of filler to this story, though it fits the theme. The setting doesn't quite come alive, though the monster within certainly does.
Tales of love gone wrong is one of Riley's strength, as is evident by the next two tales, both tackling the topic. "Twin Thieves" is a surreal tale, tinged with sadness, of a man trying to make things work between himself and his wife, at any cost, when some things are just meant to be broken.
"Tautology" is darker, displaying a different form of co-dependency and depression with a side order of stalker. As short as many of the other tales, this one is also stronger, despite the only action being the emotional ex-boyfriend repeatedly calling his love. It has a killer and an unexpected ending that makes the tale one of the strongest in the collection.
Going back to the Old West "A Pair of Aces, a Pair of Eights" tells of a gunfighter so loved by the people around him that even Death himself seems to want to take revenge on his killer.
The following tale, "Bubo", is also primarily set in a bar. But in this bar a yuppie with a last wish finds a creature that shouldn't be on Earth and learns that most wishes are better off just in your head.
"The Day Luftberry Won It All" is a surprisingly imaginative tale of Luftberry, a pool shark living after the apocalypse when other players are a fast fading commodity. In one of the last "Sin" bars in this semi-science fiction world, he is challenged by a strangely serpentine man. In a game for his soul, literally, Luftberry becomes so preoccupied with winning that he never stops to consider that the prize might not offer much of a victory.
"Just Decoration" is a revenge story that's simply too short. The revelations are fired at readers like bullets, rather than slowly revealed, making them feel contrived. There's no time to build up the character, thus their relationships, before suddenly they're all dead and the reader is left feeling out of the loop.
"The Lesser Evil" pits the young black, ex-thug trying to do good against the stupid white corrupt congressman. A voyage that touches on the splatter scene with a grisly pair of murders with no solid explanation, "The Lesser Evil" is part discourse on racism and politics and part murder mystery.
"The Monster Within Idea" is remarkable for how very little it reveals, which only emphasizes the quest of the mysterious girl trapped in a closet trying to determine what's real and who she really is. Where it could have delved into stark realism and drama, instead Riley merely hints and leaves the true horror for the reader's minds to make up.
"Brittle Bones, Plastic Skin" is one of Riley's best, and it's a pleasure to say it's been included in this collection. Here he walks the line between surreal and reality, pitting a man against an ancient evil with the lives of children at stake. Other tales have been told in the same style and fail, but this story maintains a level of dark, paranormal questioning through out, making the point of view changes only add to the robustness of the tale.
One of the longest additions, "The Core of Forgotten" pits a pair of children, bored and a bit criminal on a long summer vacation, against the neighborhood witch, who's genuinely evil. When the kids' stop watching the witch and instead break into her house they get more than they bargained for, ending up in a bloody, ruthless showdown with the witch, a demon and stand byers whose interests have turned from merely malicious to wicked.
Finally is "Only Spirits Cry". An excellent way to end the collection this one is the long, emotional tale of a man who is willing to do almost anything to save his mother from death, because he's done so before. A delicate weave of old magic, modern setting, childhood magic and unconditional love it's one hundred percent pure adventure.
Riley's strength lies in spinning emotional tales, often ones that involve or are told through the point of view of children. While not all the tales in this collection are the best of the best, there are several darkly brilliant gems that readers can be happy to have in one bound volume.
"Attrition" the first tale in this collection, is the story of an incarcerated man who is preparing for his release day. To be free all he has to do is walk out, where a vicious tunnel will either deem him worthy of being a part of society, or turn his sentence into a self-fulfilling death penalty.
"Touching God" is a surreal story of two boys trying to escape a personal darkness, only to find that something follows them back to the mundane world. A story of family tragedy, it's heavily character based with an open ending that implies the worst is yet to come. Continuing with a child's point of view, "Too Little" tells another short, dark story of victimization and revenge in a lilting, almost playful tone.
"Jenny" is the tale of a jealous lover, a woman who will possess or punish the man she loves. It's a little too obvious, but a darkly amusing addition to the collection.
"Perfect" also uses a very female point of view, as a woman obsessed with body image imagines that as she airbrushes models' pictures she also cleans them of their other flaws. If only she could fix her own life as easily.
The next two tales are both zombies stories. "Haven" is a wholly depressing story of a boy who is trying to get to his older sister after a zombie uprising. After days of traveling and barely surviving, he reaches the hospital where his sister works in the maternity ward, which has been overrun with zombie infants. As is often found in zombie tales the desolation is overwhelming and there can really only be one end.
"In the Beginning" could be the start of a longer zombie tale. The imagery of a bio weapon going off at a Six Flags amusement park is chilling, but the story is one readers already know.
Taking readers to the Old West, "The Run" is about a man hired to transport a mysterious package from one town to another. He's warned not to look at or open the package, but a busted wheel leads him to being trapped in the growing dark, in the woods, with its contents. There's a feeling of filler to this story, though it fits the theme. The setting doesn't quite come alive, though the monster within certainly does.
Tales of love gone wrong is one of Riley's strength, as is evident by the next two tales, both tackling the topic. "Twin Thieves" is a surreal tale, tinged with sadness, of a man trying to make things work between himself and his wife, at any cost, when some things are just meant to be broken.
"Tautology" is darker, displaying a different form of co-dependency and depression with a side order of stalker. As short as many of the other tales, this one is also stronger, despite the only action being the emotional ex-boyfriend repeatedly calling his love. It has a killer and an unexpected ending that makes the tale one of the strongest in the collection.
Going back to the Old West "A Pair of Aces, a Pair of Eights" tells of a gunfighter so loved by the people around him that even Death himself seems to want to take revenge on his killer.
The following tale, "Bubo", is also primarily set in a bar. But in this bar a yuppie with a last wish finds a creature that shouldn't be on Earth and learns that most wishes are better off just in your head.
"The Day Luftberry Won It All" is a surprisingly imaginative tale of Luftberry, a pool shark living after the apocalypse when other players are a fast fading commodity. In one of the last "Sin" bars in this semi-science fiction world, he is challenged by a strangely serpentine man. In a game for his soul, literally, Luftberry becomes so preoccupied with winning that he never stops to consider that the prize might not offer much of a victory.
"Just Decoration" is a revenge story that's simply too short. The revelations are fired at readers like bullets, rather than slowly revealed, making them feel contrived. There's no time to build up the character, thus their relationships, before suddenly they're all dead and the reader is left feeling out of the loop.
"The Lesser Evil" pits the young black, ex-thug trying to do good against the stupid white corrupt congressman. A voyage that touches on the splatter scene with a grisly pair of murders with no solid explanation, "The Lesser Evil" is part discourse on racism and politics and part murder mystery.
"The Monster Within Idea" is remarkable for how very little it reveals, which only emphasizes the quest of the mysterious girl trapped in a closet trying to determine what's real and who she really is. Where it could have delved into stark realism and drama, instead Riley merely hints and leaves the true horror for the reader's minds to make up.
"Brittle Bones, Plastic Skin" is one of Riley's best, and it's a pleasure to say it's been included in this collection. Here he walks the line between surreal and reality, pitting a man against an ancient evil with the lives of children at stake. Other tales have been told in the same style and fail, but this story maintains a level of dark, paranormal questioning through out, making the point of view changes only add to the robustness of the tale.
One of the longest additions, "The Core of Forgotten" pits a pair of children, bored and a bit criminal on a long summer vacation, against the neighborhood witch, who's genuinely evil. When the kids' stop watching the witch and instead break into her house they get more than they bargained for, ending up in a bloody, ruthless showdown with the witch, a demon and stand byers whose interests have turned from merely malicious to wicked.
Finally is "Only Spirits Cry". An excellent way to end the collection this one is the long, emotional tale of a man who is willing to do almost anything to save his mother from death, because he's done so before. A delicate weave of old magic, modern setting, childhood magic and unconditional love it's one hundred percent pure adventure.
Riley's strength lies in spinning emotional tales, often ones that involve or are told through the point of view of children. While not all the tales in this collection are the best of the best, there are several darkly brilliant gems that readers can be happy to have in one bound volume.
August 5, 2017
Mister Riley put together a pretty decent collection here. Some of the stories are scary, some are mystifying, others are simply strange and somewhat confusing. Even so, I have to give him my respect for his originality. I'll be looking forward to reading more from him in the future.
August 12, 2011
Now this is horror.
Riley is dark and thought-provoking. This collection packs an emotional wallop. I was not disappointed in any of the stories.
The story Brittle Bones, Plastic Skin is nothing short of amazing. I wish I had written it myself.
If you like horror stories, emotionally charged writing and clever plots you should get this book as soon as possible.
Riley is dark and thought-provoking. This collection packs an emotional wallop. I was not disappointed in any of the stories.
The story Brittle Bones, Plastic Skin is nothing short of amazing. I wish I had written it myself.
If you like horror stories, emotionally charged writing and clever plots you should get this book as soon as possible.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews