Labor Day Hunt by Calvin Demmer

31815027Jared Rodgers needed cash and had to work, while the rest of his hometown got to kick back and enjoy Labor Day. After answering a job ad in the local paper, he is directed to an abandoned warehouse. An ominous feeling grips him as soon as he enters the boarded-up building. By the time he realizes what’s going on, the hunt has already begun.

I cannot elaborate on what the story holds because is it short. Just know that Jared finds himself in a really unfortunate situation  and the ending was open ended… I guess the moral of the story is- don’t respond to dodgy newspaper ads. Not for work, not for love, not for nothing.

My rating: 3 stars. I liked it. It had a nice surprise to it with a gruesome horrory feel. And how cool is that cover!!?!

Hungry Ghosts by Calvin Demmer

31308950A rocky relationship threatens to ruin Lara Adams’ first time abroad. To her surprise, she finds that she and her boyfriend, Ray, have arrived in China during the “Hungry Ghost Festival”. Swept up in the warm mood of the festival and people, Lara feels things may finally improve. This year, however, the ghosts have found a new way to prolong their stay in this realm.

I really enjoyed this story. The relationship was realistically falling apart, the setting was spooky and it was one of those times where as a bystander you just know that they should not do what they’re about to do, because that’s when things start to go wrong and people start dying.

My rating: 4 stars. I really liked it and the horror was good.

***

Overall: I enjoyed these 2 quick reads. They were both quite different in themes and the writing was consistently good. The author definitely manages to dip into his imagination. The stories were succinct, full of action and even though short, the characters backstories were nicely presented without leaving a gaping hole. Very satisfying! I think, if not full length novels then these 2 short stories could easily be turned into novellas as well.  And… if these two were turned into movies- yup, I would watch them…

*I received copies of these stories directly from the authpr for honest review. Sorry, I couldn’t be more wordy but there’s only so much one can say about shorts 🙂 *

Labor Day Hunt: Amazon UK — Amazon USA

Hungry Ghosts: Amazon UK — Amazon USA