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3.5 

Pre-Approved for Haunting

By Patrick Barb
Pre-Approved for Haunting by Patrick Barb digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A collection of weird, dark stories and millennial anxieties.

In this new collection, Patrick Barb explores themes of family found and lost, media consumption and the dangers of runaway nostalgia, the supernatural in our lives, and the impact of violence in both the long- and short-term.

  • A young couple's reunited with their lost son whose favorite fuzzy bear suit connects him to the ghost of a vengeful mama bear while he's alone in the forest.
  • A jaded screenwriter can’t escape the haunted screenplay that’s ruined his career.
  • A man returns to his small hometown, where the people are gone and the trees have taken over.
  • A Slasher and Final Girl brother-sister duo match wits and blades against a sentient, dimension-hopping apocalypse at a never-ending summer camp.

From rural backwoods to Park Slope brownstones, Barb's characters face impossible, awful situations, testing their inner strength and understanding of reality. Covering quiet horror, weird fiction, supernatural horror, slasher horror, topical dark fiction, and more, these stories spotlight supposedly familiar terrors and fears in new and unexpected ways.

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13 Reviews

3.5
“Going into this book was so fun. Collections of weird stories are always fun. Twists, turns, all things fun. Lots of tropes and horror themes. A fun time and a fun read. I want to personally thank NetGalley, as well as the author, publisher, and anyone else involved in providing copies, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Reviews will also be submitted to Goodreads when possible.”
“Na más no le di menos estrellitas porque los temas están creativos, pero nada me dio miedo :/ creo que fue el estilo narrativo? No se, yo me quiero asustar siempre que agarro uno de estos libros pero hoy hasta me voy a dormir temprano yo creo jaja”
“My favorite stories are Pre-Approved For A Haunting, The Crack In The Ceiling, Iggy Crane and The Headless Horse Girl. I think this is a really great collection with stand out stories. I would recommend this to those who enjoy horror stories. Special Thank You to Patrick Barb, Turner Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.”
“Pre-Approved for Haunting is kind of a hard one to review for me because there's no uniting theme and the stories were really uneven. There's a few stories that are really strong so I would still recommend the collection as a whole for these but there were quite a few of the stories that I felt needed more work. Here's what I thought of each story in a nutshell: Lost Boy... Short and uncomfortable. 4/5 A Portrait of... Family horror meets art horror in a beautifully fevered story. 4/5 Casual, well that was a different type of dating, possible not so positive aro-ace rep (/jk)? Not particularly scary but quite fun. 3.5/5 Have you seen... A cautionary tale about paying close attention when people speak. 4/5 Pre-approved for.... This one I would have wanted more of and I would recommend this collection solely for this particular story about a peculiar brand of haunting 4.5/5 The Crack in the... I feel like I've read this one before (an isolated community that performs ritualistic sacrifices...) 3/5 Melvin... I get the message, but it felt out of place almost inappropriate in the context of this collection. There's No Bunk... I read it a couple of times and I think I don't *get* it. 2/5 Iggy... That one was really fun; horse girl horror is something I don't see often enough. 4/5 The Decimation... Oddly choppy read almost like an outline more than an actual story. Shattered, the women have been changed by The Signal, there's a nice little splash of body horror. 3/5 The Giallo Kid... Is another one that I could have taken more of, slasher action meets end of the world type scenario in a gritty and fast-paced package, really solid. 4.5/5 And rapid fire round for the other stories: Return to Voodoo... 2.5/5 And our Next... 3/5, Rose from... 2/5, I Will Not... 3/5, Other Half of... 2/5, Putting Down Roots 2/5.”

About Patrick Barb

Patrick Barb is an author of weird, dark, and horrifying tales. His short fiction has appeared in a number of recognized horror and speculative fiction magazines and anthologies. His debut dark urban fantasy novella, Gargantuana's Ghost, was a part of Grey Matter Press’s Emergent Expressions line. Patrick is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association and a Full Member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. Originally from the Southern United States, he’s currently living in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, two sons, and a large dog who thinks she’s actually a lapdog. 

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