But you scared me the most

220 pages

English language

Published Feb. 13, 2016

ISBN:: 978-1-61373-475-9
OCLC Number:: 920680486

(2 reviews)

"This collection of twenty-six dark but often humorous short stories features a pantheon of disturbed and disturbing characters, human and otherwise. Many of the stories are modern takes on classic monsters crafted with twisted plots. The Wolfman of 'Wolfman and Janice' is doing the best he can under very trying circumstances, especially when confronted with eating his elderly neighbor's cat. Theres an adolescent vampire-wannabe who is suffering badly: in love for the first time. 'Frankenstein and His Mother' is a terrifying story of a grown man who wears a Frankenstein mask, lives with his mother, and watches TV and eats corn chips all day, too afraid to work. 'Draculas Daughter' turns a pretentious hippie into an honest ghost. And Bigfoot -- lonely, sexually frustrated -- tells all. Other stories feature characters who seem perfectly normal until they're alone. Phil, for instance, is never so happy as when hes with his …

"This collection of twenty-six dark but often humorous short stories features a pantheon of disturbed and disturbing characters, human and otherwise. Many of the stories are modern takes on classic monsters crafted with twisted plots. The Wolfman of 'Wolfman and Janice' is doing the best he can under very trying circumstances, especially when confronted with eating his elderly neighbor's cat. Theres an adolescent vampire-wannabe who is suffering badly: in love for the first time. 'Frankenstein and His Mother' is a terrifying story of a grown man who wears a Frankenstein mask, lives with his mother, and watches TV and eats corn chips all day, too afraid to work. 'Draculas Daughter' turns a pretentious hippie into an honest ghost. And Bigfoot -- lonely, sexually frustrated -- tells all. Other stories feature characters who seem perfectly normal until they're alone. Phil, for instance, is never so happy as when hes with his inflatable girlfriend, Vanessa -- until she tells him the devastating truth about himself. Elderly Ellen is running out of patience with her dead husband George, whos turned prankish. 'Bob and Todd' tells the story of a hitchhiking ride gone bad that will have readers squirming in their seats. More than just standard monster stories, the tales in But You Scared Me the Most reveal the dark heart of human nature." -- Amazon.com.

3 editions

AdamMoe2023 reviewed But you scared me the most by John Manderino

Hilarious and Haunting

4 stars

The description above is accurate. These are 26 dark and humorous short stories. Some are so short that they could even be classified as vignettes or sketches, but that isn’t a knock all. I have great respect for anyone who can write something this short and this tight and still make me feel something. In fact, a couple of these stories tore my heart out.

These shorts are hard to classify. I’d have to say that many of them lean toward horror, though it’s the type of thoughtful horror that someone like Ray Bradbury might write. The collection is filled with nods toward classic horror monsters including the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Frankenstein’s monster, but never in the ways you might imagine. There are also some terrible human monsters, as well as some pretty awful situations.

But I feel like horror doesn’t complete the label. …

The description above is accurate. These are 26 dark and humorous short stories. Some are so short that they could even be classified as vignettes or sketches, but that isn’t a knock all. I have great respect for anyone who can write something this short and this tight and still make me feel something. In fact, a couple of these stories tore my heart out.

These shorts are hard to classify. I’d have to say that many of them lean toward horror, though it’s the type of thoughtful horror that someone like Ray Bradbury might write. The collection is filled with nods toward classic horror monsters including the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Frankenstein’s monster, but never in the ways you might imagine. There are also some terrible human monsters, as well as some pretty awful situations.

But I feel like horror doesn’t complete the label. Most of these - the ones that want to be, anyway - are extremely funny. I laughed FAR more than anything else as I read, so it’s definitely comedic.

Dark humor is the appropriate shelf for this book, I suppose. But it feels like so much more. Definitely one of the strongest collections I’ve read in some time.

WellWorthARead reviewed But you scared me the most by John Manderino

Review of 'But you scared me the most' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was a quick read, I believe just over 200 pages. I was able to finish it all in one night. It's hard to review each story individually without giving too much away but I will say the description was quite accurate and there is much humor in these odd ball characters. If you like short stories and dark humor I'm sure you will find something enjoyable in these pages. Some are disturbing, others thought provoking, and a few I must admit just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Several were quite good. My favorites were Too Old To Trick Or Treat Too Young To Die, Otto and the Avenging Angel, Wolfman and Janice, Bigfoot Tells All, Self Portrait With Wine, The Mummy, and A Matter of Character, which was a bit longer than some of the rest. I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

I …

This was a quick read, I believe just over 200 pages. I was able to finish it all in one night. It's hard to review each story individually without giving too much away but I will say the description was quite accurate and there is much humor in these odd ball characters. If you like short stories and dark humor I'm sure you will find something enjoyable in these pages. Some are disturbing, others thought provoking, and a few I must admit just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Several were quite good. My favorites were Too Old To Trick Or Treat Too Young To Die, Otto and the Avenging Angel, Wolfman and Janice, Bigfoot Tells All, Self Portrait With Wine, The Mummy, and A Matter of Character, which was a bit longer than some of the rest. I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy for review

Subjects

American Short stories
Humorous stories
Monsters
Fiction