Tales Of Blood And Sulphur

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First and foremost, this book took me way out of my comfort zone. I must admit I am not too fond of horror or stories that give me the chills. But this book was different.

This book is a collection of twelve short stories. Each of them can be read in isolation. Yet, somewhere there was a common thread that ran through each one. If I say that they were similarly dissimilar or dissimilarly similar then I won't be wrong.

Clay has a different style of narrating. In fact, the stories have an inherent tone of fear as a backdrop. The way he has used words to create fear in the minds of readers is commendable. However, there are a few places where he has used slangs and that put me off a bit. It is my personal view, maybe since I am not used to hearing such words hence the hesitation. And that is the reason for reduction of one star. Keeping that aside, each story had the power to create mental imageries. In fact, there were two stories that had me so scared that I had no option but to take time to get over the goosebumps they gave me.

Most of the stories had protagonists who aptly justified their role in their respective stories. There were two stories whose characters appeared weak. But again, maybe they were meant to be so.

To sum up, the book is worth reading. However, these tales of blood and sulphur are gory and violent. Definitely a no-no for young readers and faint hearted people. Read it at your risk and at the cost of losing sleep thanks to the fear you would develop. JG Clay is a writer to watch out especially for fans of horror and paranormal.

P.S -  Thank you Dane from Booktrope Publishing for giving me this scary yet really different set of stories.

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