October Tales: Seven Creepy Stories

By: Steve Vernon

Narrated by: Stephen Wolfe

The leaves are falling.

You can smell that long-dying aroma of Autumn in the air. Kids are talking trick or treat and the leaves are already screaming at you in red and yellow and deep golden rust as they prepare for one final parachute down into the dirt. The tombstones are talking amongst themselves and winter is hiding just around the corner. It is the time of the year when people draw around the wood stove and the campfire and whisper stories of death and omens and ghosts and things that don't even have a name.

These are some of the creepiest October stories that I have ever written.

Why not pick up a copy today?

©2014 Steve Vernon (P)2017 Steve Vernon

Carve a pumpkin and get ready for tricksntreats!

I really do appreciate Steve Vernon's style. The man is pretty versatile, so one story may be straight up monster booggity boogity and the next a psychological thriller that has some real emotional depth and meaning. He has here seven tales that mix up the terror levels and amps the creep factor a lot. Some are really bothersome, like the tumble bug man burning bones in a barrel, and others kind of touching like the dog in Cat Call. I have probably said this a dozen times, but I believe that Vernon knows his craft, and that no stories sounds like it is related to another. Yeah, you know he wrote it, but the ideas vary so far and wide the only connection they share is him. What I mean is, if you bought a Rolling Stones album in the sixties and listened to it, and then bought one in the nineties you would recognize that it was the Stones, just by their sound. You can't do that with Vernon. He really shifts and adapts his style to the story. He can go light hearted to inky blackness with just a period in between the two. Not many writers can do that.

This is a fun listen for a trip or a night alone, just before bed, or even better while you are in bed.

Wolfe does a nice job narrating, he does a have a specific pace that he sets, and it seems to be maintained through each tale. He does really great in stories with just a few voices, but handles the larger cast, such as in Cat Call just as well. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.


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Promising, But Underdeveloped

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short collection of short stories (one of which tops out at less than 90 seconds) all loosely themed around a creepy, Halloween feeling.

I found most of the stories to have promising aspects and premises, but ultimately in need of more work. To be clear, the stories weren't bad, but they felt like story ideas, rather than finished products. Stories like "Cat Call," "All Wood Dreams of the Sun," and "Fiddle Legs" all have a lot of potential, but honestly need to be longer, and in some instances could use more explanation. If these were expanded, and reworked a bit, I think they'd be really good.

Another point of criticism is the excessive use of similes. There are a lot of similes, many of which lead off into asides that really don't add anything to the story. They seem to be intended to flesh out the setting, but need to be curtailed. To quote short story master, Anton Chekov, "Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." There are a lot of "guns" in many of these stories. I think this goes along the stories needing to be longer.

Criticism aside, I actually found "Beat Well" (the less that 90 seconds story), to be one of the best. It's parts worked well, with just enough detail to let you know what's going on, but still vague enough to make you ask, "Was that really pumpkin in the pie?"

The essay at the end, "Galloween," was my favorite part. It really had that Halloween feeling.

The narrator, Stephen Wolfe, does an alright job, but sounds like he's pretty sleepy for the most part. He does best when he only has to narrate or do one voice. His voice isn't unpleasant and he speaks clearly. It's when he has to voice more than one character, or tries to do an accent that it doesn't work very well.

Overall, it's a short listen, and not bad.

Great to listen to on a crispy autumn day

As the subtitle claims, these stories are indeed creepy (not scary). I liked some of them far more than others. Pretty much any tale involving a grandmother, I didn't care for. I would not want to be a grandmother in these stories.

I found myself liking the shorter stories rather than the longer, drawn out ones.

Stephen Wolfe did a pretty good job narrating, but he sounded a little rushed and out of breath in parts.

All in all, it was a dark and spooky listen. Great for the Halloween season!

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

Starting off Halloween differently

This is a good set of short stories for Halloween lovers out there. It starts slow and builds up over the hour and a half it takes place. The narrator does an excellent job, especially with the above the top accents for the characters. Short of a dip in quality for about a paragraph, where the author seems to focus on the racism of red neck America, and has no bearing on the outcome, this has a flow that had me considering playing it through again and a again to retell as Halloween stories to scare kids. Recommended well for the price.

An interesting bunch of halloween stories

Heads up: I got this title in exchange for an honest review.

I'm just gonna start off with the narrator. I felt that Wolfe was fine, but not good much less great. When having to do certain parts his voice acting fell apart a bit. When it was mostly a solo part, it was some good narration! Wolfe's voice work didn't help Vernon's writings at all.

As for the tales themselves....some worked, others didn't. I really enjoyed 2 of them, disliked 2, and thought the others were good. All and all this is a fine, if a bit brief bundle of tales. I would say it's a worthwhile 90 minute listen if you're in the mood for a few spooky stories.

Creepy fun

(Unrelated to the rest of the book, the beginning of the intro was unexpectedly jarring to listen to on 9/11.)

This collection was good Halloween tales as they should be. Creepy rural southern stories told in an appropriate drawl. As with most collections and anthologies, this is a mixed bag. The low points are disposable and hits are very good.

- cat story: 3/5
- tumblebug man: 5/5
- fiddle legs: 2.5/5
- silent stones: 5/5
- jack o'lanterns: huh?
- something after saturday: 4.5/5
- gallow-ween: 5/5

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Cool stories

I received this audio book for free in exchange for my honest review. This is a cool collection of short stories.

October Tales

The stories are somewhat scary not as gross as I expected. All in all it was an hour of entertainment.

Creepily Enjoyable!

I enjoyed this book for the nice afternoon read it is. I'll definitely put this on my autumn reading list for a lazy afternoon. Mr Vernon does a wonderful job with his metaphors and paints a rather creepy picture for his stories.

Pick this book up, grab a nice cup or tea, and wrap yourself under a warm blanket for the afternoon. Just be prepared to see the world in a slightly darker manner.

October Tales

I liked most of the seven stories.Grandmas don't make out too well in any of them.lol The last one was my favorite.Stephen Wolfe was a fine narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.