This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Coronis Publishing and #NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A unique, intriguing, collection of stories that might just keep you up at night. Kudos to Christopher Hawkins for their talent in the horror genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for chance to read and review. Was different from what I normally read but I enjoyed it for the most part

Starting off, I want to say that I have never read a book by this author before. That being said, I will say this anthology was a bit of a hit and miss for me. I am picky with anthologies, however.

Personally, some of the stories were lacking for me. There were a few that I did enjoy, but that may have been 3 of them, at most. The writing was great, just didn’t really resonate with anything I like in short stories. However, the author is amazing, and I will read more from them.

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.

These stories alternate between dark, freaky, creepy, cringeworthy to relief for the underdog who’s winning and despair if you see the underdog losing the fight. The narration is spot-on, especially in the first story told from a little girl’s point of view. #SuburbanMonsters #netgalley

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
Usually I’m not the biggest on anthology books but I enjoyed this one.
Nice collection of twisted horror stories of suburban hell. Definitely worth checking out. Author did a great job.

Christopher Hawkins has a very crazy imagination from a little girl addicted to a kid show while her mom is addicted to drugs and investigating said kid show, to the little girl who is in love with her overgrown lawn and disheveled home to many more stories that are worth buying on their own let alone in the collection like this. I love horror collections and this is a great one. Suburban monsters is almost kid friendly but still horrible it’s so hard to explain but just know all the stories a good and only proves hora Authors’s are twisted. I received this great collection from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was my first time reading this author and I'm always up for an anthology of horror stories. They were well written and really interesting. Some were clearly supernatural, others were implied supernatural, and some were just natural (not sure if that's the right term for non-supernatural).

The author was most successful with the ones that didn't have a clear supernatural element. The stories with the mannequins, the one on the beach, and the final story were my favorites. The last story with the birthday party had me on the edge of my seat and is one I won't soon forget. I just looked at the chapter list and realized I blocked out the cannibalism story and now regret remembering it :)

In the supernatural realm - the thief in the house was a great one. The thief says he can get in and out of a house in 10 minutes and the story is told counting down from 10 in what would approximate 1 minute increments. It was very creatively done. Interlude was awesome. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on and then I laughed and laughed and hid under my covers.

For some of his supernatural stories, I found myself left with questions at the end. There was a pattern of getting to the climax and then that's the end. It's not my favorite storytelling technique since I'm someone who wants to know "why" (even though most of the time the answer with horror is "because"). For the resignation letter and shadow ones, I wanted a little more.

This is a solid collection of stories and I would recommend them to anyone who's looking for a combo of supernatural and non-supernatural horror stories that are high on the creep factor.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

A fun collection of creepy and twisted tales. Some were beautiful, others were sad, eerie, disturbing, or a combination of everything.

Each story is unique and makes you stop and think about the characters and their situations.

I think my favourite tale was Green Eyes, it made me feel melancholy, but at the same time, the rebirth of the mother was magical.

Definitely pick this one up asap as there are thirteen stories to delve into!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Coronis Publishing for a copy!

I was given a copy of this book for review.

This is a collection of short horror stories, quite a. I would call them old-school horror shorts, well-written and enjoyable. Not a great deal of gore, more focused on horror. Each story is different than the one prior to what was just read. this makes them enjoyable and easy to read.

Overall, a well-written collection of stories and worth the time to read.

3.75/5 stars.

I haven’t found a good format for rating story collections yet. So this is what you get!

Overall the quality was consistent, there wasn’t a story that dramatically lacked in comparison to the others. The vibe is creepy, confusing, suspenseful, and just generally WTF?! Everyday aspects of life turn into twisted tales: birthday parties, watching TV, working, etc.

•Green Eyes (3.5/5): liked the child like POV, mysterious but not necessarily creepy
•Moonrise Over Water (4/5): loved the vibes, Callie Stan account
•Storms of the Present (4/5): Really enjoyed reading this one. It made me super uncomfy and felt socially relevant.
•Origin Story (3.25/5): suspenseful, nice to mix in a super hero aspect.
•Poppy (3.5/5): PEAK mental illness, liked the POV.
•Interude (3.5/5): This made me uncomfortable in a way I don’t even understand but I’m pretty sure it has to do with clowns?!?!
•The Stumblybum Imperative (4/5): This could easily be made into a horror movie. This might’ve been my favorite, I loved the conspiracy aspect.
•Shadowman (4/5): Villain origin story vibes except everyone got what they deserved for being little shits. Yasha stan account.
•Carpenter’s Thumb (3/5): Seek help? Is it your thumb that’s crazy or maybe it’s just you bro.
•Swallow (5/5): SUPER ominous and also what the fuck?!
•Ten and Gone (3/5): Made me think of the other mothers house in Coraline. Crazy how you have to almost be killed by some house baby monster to realize you want to be with your gf and baby???
•Notice (5/5): Loved that this was a letter. Creeeeepy. Lots to unpack.
•A Candle for the Birthday Boy (4/5): okay this bitch CRAZY?! Also why was everyone able to move past that incident????


Thanks to NetGalley and Coronis Publishing for gifting me a digital copy of this book!

I’d never read this author before, so an anthology of stories seemed to be a great place to start. I wasn’t disappointed…

“Green Eyes”
Well, that was a quick and interesting start. I’m excited to see what else we have! 3/5

“Moonrise Over Water With Sargassum, 2022. Oil On Canvas”
This writing is so poetic - the story was okay, but the writing…wow! 3.5/5

“Storms of the Present”
Losing weight isn’t easy, but I think this person made it harder than it had to be… 4/5

“Origin Story”
A superpower invention, gone wrong…or right? 3/5

“Poppy”
Mannequin stories are always so creepy, and this was no exception. 4/5

“Interlude”
Another one written so poetically, but I just didn’t feel it. 2.5/5

“The Stumblyum Imperative”
Only if this was about Teletubbies would it be more creepy. So far, the best in the book! 5/5

“Shadowman”
Another great one, this is about a boy with… shadowy…powers? I can’t explain it, it’s just good. 4/5

“Carpenter’s Thumb”
This is the biggest compliment I can give an author: I thought I was reading a Stephen King short story. I don’t think I’m comparing it to “The Moving Finger”, because they’re nothing alike, but they both have a fantastic idea. 5/5

“Swallow”
Another one that reminded me of Stephen King! This felt like the “Survivor Type”, I suppose because of the autocannibalism - great story! 5/5

“Ten and Gone”
This was a strange story about a burglar finding more than he bargained for… 3/5

“Notice”
One person’s resignation letter - can’t say I blame them! 3/5

“A Candle for the Birthday Boy”
A child’s birthday party doesn’t turn out quite as planned… 4/5

Overall, I’m not sure if the author and I have a similar style or similar taste, but I must say that the writing is phenomenal. Most of the stories weren’t really my style, but the writing made up for it a lot of the time, raising my rating of 3.5 to a solid four.

(Thank you to Coronis Publishing, Christopher Hawkins, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

This was spooky, good fun. “Suburban Monsters” has 13 scary stories, and 9 of them
had me on the edge of my seat. I love books like these with short stories in them because they don’t require your undivided attention while still are super entertaining. I give this a solid 4⭐️

Suburban Monsters, a collection of short horror stories, has more than a dozen unique tales for horror lovers to enjoy. The stories were hit or miss for me, but when they hit…they HIT! Shadowman and A Candle For The Birthday Boy are my favorites in this collection because of how unique and terrifying they were. My heart was pounding reading the latter! If a story was a miss for me it was simply because I’m not a huge fan of body horror. Overall I have to say Christopher Hawkins was able to paint a vivid and horrifying picture by being an extremely talented and imaginative writer. I’m so glad I discovered this hidden gem.

Christopher Hawkins is a gifted story teller. Each tale is finely crafted with mind bending creativity. Bite sized, yet robust, the collection is perfect for a segmented series of night time reads or a rich binge treat.

You know, I saw the cover and the title and I was immediately interested. I mean just look at it. That lawnmower and title are already telling you a gory story. Then I read the book description and I was in. As soon as I read the first story, I was all in. Truly horrifying tales that don't spoon feed you the horror. Some of it is overt, and then there are details that you don't realize at first the depth of the horror until you think about it and it sinks in. I definitely recommend this book for any horror fans.

Having been blown away by Christopher Hawkins's stories before, the moment I saw his horror collection I snatched it up immediately. I am so happy I did! Reading it was pure joy: any horror fan will appreciate the subtlety of Hawkins's use of language, but it is the seamless engagement of the horrific and the realistic, most of all, that will leave an impression. Fantastic stories, combining all kinds of horror with deeply disturbing and haunting imagery; yet it is the deceptive familiarity of the urban territory that kept me turning the pages. The collection is aptly titled: it's chock full of that urban mood, most of the stories taking place in suburban settings, such as a neighborhood birthday party, a comic shop, a new house. Even before I was done reading, I had picked a few favorite stories already.

There are 13 stories in the collection. Although I liked them all, in the following I'll write a few words on those I loved.

Storms of the Present:
An overweight woman, who has learned to live with her mother's scorn, decides to take matters in her own hands (pun intended.) Very effective body horror, the honesty of the unnamed first point of view adding to the creepiness of the story. By the time you realize what is going on, what the deliveries are for, the story has won you over.

Origin Story
Two guys guessing at the superpowers they'd like to have. Yep, a superhero kind of story. Very clever, brimming with nasty humor. Totally unexpected ending.

Poppy
One of my favorite stories: a second-hand store, mannequins, a beautiful goth and thieving kids - what can go wrong? Well, you'd never guess.

Interude
Such a good story! Parents watching their kids transitioning into... Ok, no spoilers. Short and sweet. A feat of subtle writing.

The Stumblyum Imperative
Another favorite: Candle Cove in the suburbs. The mysterious TV show destroys both mother and daughter, and doesn't stop there. A very cruel story on motherhood, addiction, and the vagaries of TV control. This is a must read; the kind of story I personally prefer.

Swallow
Another body horror story. Have you ever tasted yourself? Well, if you have (and who hasn't?), you'll sympathize a lot with the protagonists of this story.

Ten and Gone
My absolute favorite: everything that is good in this collection can be found here in one package. A brilliant tale about a thief who tries to make a quick score out of a house in the suburbs, thinking it's empty. But it's not - not exactly. A great story: suspenseful, full of uncertainty, terrific imagery, true anxiety-inducing horror.

To sum up, all the stories in Hawkins's collection are worth reading. None disappoints. Some of them, however, once read, cannot be forgotten. They have all the markings of horror classics and should be appreciated as such.

Huge thanks to the author and the publisher, for an advanced digital copy of this collection, courtesy of Netgalley.

"But it was almost like…almost like she was communicating with them somehow. She’d look right into their eyes—not that they had eyes, or faces, even. It was all just white plastic—and it was as if they just held her there."

I really enjoyed this one, Christopher didn't disappoint. I have to confess I didn’t know anything about this author, I only knew this was horror and I was hooked. Also, that cover is genius. Simple, but it works really well.
You’ll find a great diversity of stories here. Some of them were meant to make you consider some things about your life, like a different perspective. And those were nice. But I absolutely devoured the creepy and disturbing ones, feeding my psychological horror hunger.
I highly recommend Moonrise over water and A candle for the birthday boy

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve been on a short story kick for over a month now and I snatched this gem up as soon as I saw it and I’m not even a little bit disappointed. Hawkins did an amazing job with this collection of stories.

Moonrise Over Water:

A story that shows what a neglected and abused wife might do when given the opportunity. Very Rah Rah Woman! One of my favorites in this lot.

Storms of the Present:

As someone who always struggled with body image growing up, this story was absolutely horrifying and I couldn’t have been happier with it.

Poppy:

Right off the bat, mannequins scare the life out of me. As soon as it was brought up in this story, I was ready to huddle under my safety blanket for the night. However, reading through this, I found it quite sad and found myself sympathetic to the dang things. Still doesn’t mean I need to run into any at night.

A Candle for the Birthday Boy:

The twist… Read it.

If you like your thrills in all different styles, pick this up to read!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of the book.

The little girl that lives in the house full of leaves and vines. The dark window in the corner of the shopping mall. The colorful, manic characters in a progressively violent children's TV. Is it true that a TV show can influence the real world? An obese woman’s attempt at weight loss self surgery.
A store clerk’s unique talent with mannequins hides a sad secret. A house that wants to keep the thief for itself. Superpowers should definitely be used only for good, and are a dangerous gift for the troubled mind.
Something beneath the ocean waves comes forth to help a woman regain her freedom.

These stories alternate between dark, whimsy, creepy, cringeworthy to relief for the underdog who’s winning and despair if you see the underdog losing the fight. The narration is spot-on, especially in story #1 told from a little girl’s point of view. #SuburbanMonsters #netgalley

I enjoyed this, not knowing anything about the author. I've been a fan of the short story genre, and this didn't disappoint. Some creepy, some thoughtful, some horrible, the author covered a bunch of bases, and was pretty successful.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.