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Twisters: Stories of the Sinister and Macabre
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 27, 2018
Average Rating: 3.53
Fifteen short stories of the sinister and the macabre. Quite a few stories (9) were really good with 4-stars. A readable book, quick to finish, hardly 120-pages, stories are fast-paced and well-crafted. The stories range from the 1950s-70s.
Fifteen short stories of the sinister and the macabre. Quite a few stories (9) were really good with 4-stars. A readable book, quick to finish, hardly 120-pages, stories are fast-paced and well-crafted. The stories range from the 1950s-70s.
April 26, 2014
'Firebird' by John Escott short story in 'Twisters'
1. I decided to read this short story as it was recommended to me and sounded interesting.
2. Zimmer was an interesting character in the story for me. He is a lonely teenager who has no friends and is not popular. At school he always gets teased and laughed at. He also has a weird family. His mum is usually sleeping with someone else because his dad works for the NAVY and is mostly away. Zimmer struggles with English at school and most other subjects. He gets bullied everyday by his English teacher Logarth and creates a conflict with him. Later in the story, he plans a revenge on Logarth, but the revenge backfires.
3. "He felt as if he was burning alive" was my favourite quote in 'Firebird' because it left me thinking. The quote was a strong and powerful ending to the story. Zimmer had just burnt the school down and now he had felt like he was burning. The two words "burning alive" had a strong effect and made me think deeply about the whole story again.
4. After reading the story, this came up to my mind..."What goes around, comes around." I learned that trying to do something bad or evil to get revenge is not a good way to sort things out. I also learned that being evil is not always good. It taught me that there is no point in getting angry because it makes things worse.
1. I decided to read this short story as it was recommended to me and sounded interesting.
2. Zimmer was an interesting character in the story for me. He is a lonely teenager who has no friends and is not popular. At school he always gets teased and laughed at. He also has a weird family. His mum is usually sleeping with someone else because his dad works for the NAVY and is mostly away. Zimmer struggles with English at school and most other subjects. He gets bullied everyday by his English teacher Logarth and creates a conflict with him. Later in the story, he plans a revenge on Logarth, but the revenge backfires.
3. "He felt as if he was burning alive" was my favourite quote in 'Firebird' because it left me thinking. The quote was a strong and powerful ending to the story. Zimmer had just burnt the school down and now he had felt like he was burning. The two words "burning alive" had a strong effect and made me think deeply about the whole story again.
4. After reading the story, this came up to my mind..."What goes around, comes around." I learned that trying to do something bad or evil to get revenge is not a good way to sort things out. I also learned that being evil is not always good. It taught me that there is no point in getting angry because it makes things worse.
September 11, 2024
A fun and macabre anthology of horror tales with a twist in their tales. Aimed at younger readers, but which will also appeal to adults as well. Includes a couple of my all-time favourite stories, including 'Examination Day' (Henry Slesar), 'Hey You Down There' (Harold Rolseth) and 'Nightmare in Yellow' (Fredric Brown). A great read!
November 19, 2011
This is an excellent collection of short macabre classics. Has a very 'Tales of the Unexpected' feel about most of them, except with the creep-o-meter raised a few notches. I read this when I was fourteen and loved it, again at 25, and now - I still think they're pretty damn good. Especially like the Fredric Brown stories. Here is a copy of the TOC and details of this fine little collection:
Twisters : stories of the sinister and the macabre / edited by Steve Bowles.
Published
London : Fontana, 1981.
Physical Description
121 p. ; 18 cm.
Contents
A Lot to learn / Robert T. Kurosaka
Nightmare in yellow / Fredric Brown
The Man who could turn back the clock / Ralph Milne Farley
Examination day / Henry Slesar
Hey you down there! / Harold Rolseth
Pick-up on the Dover Road / Julian Symons
Little old lady from Cricket Creek / Len Gray
Firebird / John Escott
Man eater / Dorothy Edwards
The Chaser / John Collier
Sauce for the goose / Patricia Highsmith
The Haunted man / Henry Slesar
Maid to measure / Damon Knight
A Judicious half inch / Ursula Curtiss.
Recommended
Twisters : stories of the sinister and the macabre / edited by Steve Bowles.
Published
London : Fontana, 1981.
Physical Description
121 p. ; 18 cm.
Contents
A Lot to learn / Robert T. Kurosaka
Nightmare in yellow / Fredric Brown
The Man who could turn back the clock / Ralph Milne Farley
Examination day / Henry Slesar
Hey you down there! / Harold Rolseth
Pick-up on the Dover Road / Julian Symons
Little old lady from Cricket Creek / Len Gray
Firebird / John Escott
Man eater / Dorothy Edwards
The Chaser / John Collier
Sauce for the goose / Patricia Highsmith
The Haunted man / Henry Slesar
Maid to measure / Damon Knight
A Judicious half inch / Ursula Curtiss.
Recommended
September 11, 2011
Read this book when I was a child and loved it. I searched for it and bought it second hand as an adult. Reread it and still enjoyed it.
(How can the only other reviewer so far have only rated it 2 star! - at least I'll be taking the average up.)
(How can the only other reviewer so far have only rated it 2 star! - at least I'll be taking the average up.)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews