Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Clown & Run Like Hell

The Clown & Run Like Hell are two outstanding short stories, written by a fellow blogger - Mike Majewski - http://theworldofimike.blogspot.com/
Mike is an unpublished author [this seriously needs to change!] who has written a short story collection entitled What Could Have Been: A Collection of Short Stories. Mike found my blog and saw that I also review books, so he sent me these two stories from his collection, and I was completely floored! So, without further ado, onto the reviews. . .

The Clown
Genre - Horror/Slasher
[Unpublished]
Length - 41 pages
Written by Michael Majewski

Rating: 5 Skulls

Review:
With such a simplistic title, The Clown is easily one of the most brutal and depraved stories that I have ever read!

In this one, Majewski tells the story of a sick & twisted cannibalistic, serial-killing mask-maker, who wears a clown mask when raping & torturing his victims. [he then leaves behind his fingerprints, semen, saliva, half-eaten organs, etc without a care in the world] Soon enough a man-hunt ensues. . .

I figure the less that I say about this one, the better. I will say that the story could have easily ended at page 26, however Majewski chose to give us an additional 14 pages - showing us the aftermath of The Clown's killing spree and giving us a reason behind it all, ending up going full circle, which was brilliant!

This one has my highest recommendation! [be warned however that this is an extremely graphic read - if you are at all offended, or prone to gagging, this is not recommended for you - for hard-core horror fans only!]

Run Like Hell
Genre - Horror/Zombies
[Unpublished]
Length - 44 pages
Written by Michael Majewski

Rating: 5 Skulls

Review:
This one is a zombie story. . .

What I really liked about this one was, in the 1st chapter, Majewski shows us the zombie's perspective. From their viewpoint, the zombie's minds are still aware, yet they are no longer in control of their bodies. While the zombies are feeding, their minds are horrified at their actions, which I thought was a very interesting take!

In chapters 2 - 5, we meet some survivors, three of whom are brothers. Once the out-break is realized, one of the brothers leaves to check on his girlfriend. . . Will he make it to her in time?

Majewski once again writes with vivid and visceral detail, and he doesn't hold back [even a child is taken out by a slew of zombies!] Also, in this story, Majewski's zombies are of the swift persuasion.

Again, these two stories are up there with the best in the business! I will not be at all surprised one day to see Majewski's name on the bookshelves.

Jason

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