Trapped: A Dark Dozen Anthology
2 journalers for this copy...
I got this softcover from an online seller. As per the title, it's an anthology themed on the concept of being trapped - whether literally or figuratively. Among my favorite entries here:
"Aisle Four" by Jae Mazer features a man being questioned by the police while a snowstorm rages outside. The story gradually reveals the layers of a tense, dysfunctional family, with the suspicions as to who has done what to whom shifting as the tale goes on.
"Dead Fall" by Daemon Manx is about a man living in the woods off the grid in Rindge, New Hampshire (a town within an hour's drive from my home, for a touch of local interest {wry grin}). He's aging and alcoholic, and tormented by his own demons - and then a tragic accident leads him to increasingly bad decisions and eventually to becoming trapped in his own pit.
"Staycation" by Brian Asman is a very dark re-imagining of the wacky "Home Alone" film, taking the movie's not-nearly-as-lethal-as-they-would-be-in-real-life traps and rendering them much more realistic and grisly. And in this story the forgotten child is also more-believably traumatized by his experiences - to the point that, twenty-odd years later, he still acts like a child and refuses to leave the house. I liked this spin on what is a problematic movie-plot, and it does reveal different levels of neglect, trauma, and desperation - not pleasant, but effective.
"The Thing Beneath the Dock" by Tylor James is about an unusual family: mother, father, son - and The Other, the oldest child, a webbed, gilled creature whom the father keeps confined in an underwater cage in the lake behind their house. Here, it's the boy's love for his unusual sibling that sets the tone for the story.
"House-Sitting" by Regina Watts is an entertaining look at neighborly relations, with a very strange couple stepping in to help when their neighbor goes away - and a burglar targets her house.
"Extracurricular" by Nikolas P. Robinson is a tale of the victim of a serial killer - who escapes and makes her own plans for revenge...
"Aisle Four" by Jae Mazer features a man being questioned by the police while a snowstorm rages outside. The story gradually reveals the layers of a tense, dysfunctional family, with the suspicions as to who has done what to whom shifting as the tale goes on.
"Dead Fall" by Daemon Manx is about a man living in the woods off the grid in Rindge, New Hampshire (a town within an hour's drive from my home, for a touch of local interest {wry grin}). He's aging and alcoholic, and tormented by his own demons - and then a tragic accident leads him to increasingly bad decisions and eventually to becoming trapped in his own pit.
"Staycation" by Brian Asman is a very dark re-imagining of the wacky "Home Alone" film, taking the movie's not-nearly-as-lethal-as-they-would-be-in-real-life traps and rendering them much more realistic and grisly. And in this story the forgotten child is also more-believably traumatized by his experiences - to the point that, twenty-odd years later, he still acts like a child and refuses to leave the house. I liked this spin on what is a problematic movie-plot, and it does reveal different levels of neglect, trauma, and desperation - not pleasant, but effective.
"The Thing Beneath the Dock" by Tylor James is about an unusual family: mother, father, son - and The Other, the oldest child, a webbed, gilled creature whom the father keeps confined in an underwater cage in the lake behind their house. Here, it's the boy's love for his unusual sibling that sets the tone for the story.
"House-Sitting" by Regina Watts is an entertaining look at neighborly relations, with a very strange couple stepping in to help when their neighbor goes away - and a burglar targets her house.
"Extracurricular" by Nikolas P. Robinson is a tale of the victim of a serial killer - who escapes and makes her own plans for revenge...
Journal Entry 2 by 
GoryDetails
at LFL - Thornton Rd (34) Thornton Park in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, August 11, 2024
GoryDetails at LFL - Thornton Rd (34) Thornton Park in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, August 11, 2024
Released 1 mo ago (8/11/2024 UTC) at LFL - Thornton Rd (34) Thornton Park in Nashua, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it![See other recent releases in NH here.]
Released for:
** 2024 One Word Title challenge **
** 2024 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover challenge. **
I grabbed this from the LFL when dropping off a few others and hope to read it and release it soon!
