The Stray Reader

Author:	Matt Shaw
Genre(s):	➡️ Horror ➡️ Short Story
Series?	❎ No
Goodreads Rating:	⭐ 4.14 (14 ratings; 3 reviews)
Personal Rating:	⭐ 3 / 5 Overall

BLURB

There’s an old village in England. It was once thriving, full of life from those who worked in the nearby mines. But, when the mines closed, the families had no option but to move away to pastures new.

Decades later, with the village left to rot, and the British government decided to step in. In an effort to breathe new life into the village, they decide to sell the houses at ultra-low prices. The catch? The new owners have a set amount of time to renovate their new home. What they do from there is up to them. Some would want to move in, others would want to sell up. Then,there are those who’d rent it out as a holiday home.

For those looking to take part in the scheme, it sounds like an amazing opportunity. And, it was and could have stayed that way too…

If only they didn’t go digging up past secrets.

Source: Amazon

🌟Review (3/5) 🌟

Not as scary nor as fleshed out as I hoped but still written well.

There are two reasons why I picked this book up. Well, three if you count the fact that I’m making my Kindle Unlimited subscription worth every cent. First: atmospheric horror. An old, abandoned town in England? Sign me up! Second: it’s Matt Shaw. I can always count on him to write an excellent plot buildup, a scary atmosphere, and a well-paced plot.

Unfortunately, while I still love Matt Shaw’s writing, I found this story quite lacking even for a short story. True, the characters were well-written and had a good foundation to move the plot along. But I found myself looking for more plot and horror intensity. I feel like it cut off the moment where something interesting was just about to go down. Perhaps the death(s) could’ve been a lot slower? Maybe adding another present neighbor to add an interesting twist or a body count? All I know is that I needed something more out of it.

Recommendation

If you’re looking for a short, supernatural horror story set in an old, semi-abandoned English town with a small number of characters, then give ‘The Rot of Karma’ a chance. It’s currently free to read from Kindle Unlimited.