Introduction
I was given a copy to review by Titan Books and Netgalley. My reviews are always honest and all opinions are my own. #ARCReview #Netgalley #TheyLurk #RonaldMalfi #TitanBooks #Horror

Review
They Lurk is the third work by Ronald Malfi and I really need to get into his back catalogue. My first introduction was Black Mouth a full novel that was perfection, my second was Ghostwritten and now They Lurk. I can say I think Malfi is becoming one of those authors that are an instant buy because you know you are going to get something good, scary, creepy or gory or perhaps all those things in one! This collection has five horror novellas reissued in one place. All five were brilliant. I particularly liked Skullbelly, where three children disappear in a forest which leads to private investigator uncovering a terrible local secret and Fierce that considers and tests the bonds of mother and daughter in a terrifying way.

That said The Separation which sees a friend visit Germany to help his old friend and up-and-coming prizefighter Charlie snap out of a deep depression. But soon Charlie’s behaviour grows increasing ly worrying and bizarre. Is the man suffering a nervous breakdown or is an other worldly force at work is brilliant, but was probably rated the lowest for me (because of my pet peeve of animal cruelty although fitting in with the story). The Strange being set in a Florida parking lot was a real ride, pun intended when David returns to find a stranger sat behind the wheel. The doors are locked and there’s a gun on the dashboard and slowly the insanity begins to start. Finally After the Fade which is almost biblical in parts sees a girl walk into a Annapolis tavern collapse and die but something latched itself to the base of her skull and it didn’t arrive alone. Now the patrons are all trapped, held imprisoned by the walls as monstrous things trying to find their way in.

Each story was unique but had Malfi’s flare and style of storytelling but of different aspects of horror as well. We have creeping horror, a take on folk horror, the horror of the human condition and so much more. On top of this the characters in these novellas are all too human with saving graces and flailing in equal parts. I honestly loved this collection. It is a must for any horror or thriller fan out there. If you know Malfi’s work you’ll not be disappointed and if this is your first you’ll be left wondering why you didn’t read his works sooner!

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A series of unsettling horror novellas republished as a single volume, They Lurk is at turns eerie, gory, violent, and supernatural, with each of it's stories bar one constrained by the word limits of their previous homes in lit mags, there is a sense that with just a few more pages, the level of satisfaction with the conclusion of each story could have been increased. That being said, these succeed in being unsettling portraits of horror across small town America, and prove to be eminently readable - particularly the newest addition, Fierce.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC

Wow what a collection of story stories 👏 Ronald Malfi is an author who I've read from before but I wasn't expecting this. Malfi has a way of gripping you into his novels and each one of these short horror stories did just that.

I feel like each of the 5 novellas had something different, some were slower to get into, others were faster and much more gory. There's something for every horror, mystery or thriller fan here.

A great set of creepy, unknown horror, supernatural based novellas that I enjoyed reading.
Thanks Titan and netgalley for providing me with a review copy of They Lurk which is publishing on July 18th.

I'm giving it 2 out of 5 stars because I enjoyed 2 out of 5 stories (not usually how I rate short story collections but I really struggled with this book)

First let me say, I've read Black Mouth and Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi and really enjoyed them so I was excited to get a netgalley of The Lurk and started reading it straight away.

I found the first story, Skull belly, so hard to get into. Everytime I tried to read it I fell asleep and ended up reading a few pages a day. When I did manage to stay awake long enough to read it, I found it to be a bit boring. I didn't like the main character and nothing really happened until the end. It was quite unsatisfying.

The second story, The Separation, I also didn't enjoy and again, didn't particularly like any of the characters.

The Stranger was horrific. I thought I was going to be sick. I'm not a huge fan of gory horror and this was super, stomach churning gore. Well written but not for me.

At this point I was considering giving up with this book but it's hard to dnf short stories as each one is different. So I carried on and I'm glad I did because the last two I actually really enjoyed and were by far the strongest in the collection.

After The Fade is about a group of people barricaded in a pub while the end of the world takes place outside. Enjoyed it although it would have been nice if the female characters were doing more than just being told to sit down every 2 seconds.

Fierce is the newest story in the collection and was really good. There was a big difference in the writing in this one compared to the older stories. And it featured strong female characters! Whoop! This one was tense, exciting and creepy!

I wish I had enjoyed this book more and could rate it higher but I really didn't find it that enjoyable. I do recommend Black Mouth or Ghostwritten though as they were really good!

Thank you titan press for the early copy to review!

They Lurk is a collection of unsettling novellas. It’s not often that I say this with short story collections, but I enjoyed every single one! I wish the stories could have been full length novels because they were interesting and just the right amount of mystery and scariness. I could not put this down!

This collection is compulsively readable, eerie, and a must get for horror/mystery fans when it’s published on July 18th. Ronald Malfi really excels with his short stories and is quickly becoming a favorite author for me. I will read whatever he writes.

Skullbelly was my fave story of the collection. 💀
Thank you for giving me something that makes me want to sleep with the lights on. 💡

If there's one thing Ronald Malfi does well, it's real people with the supernatural lurking in the background. In these five novellas, sometimes it rears it's ugly head, sometimes it remains in the shadows.
"Skullbelly", probably my favorite in the collection, gives us a private investigator following up on the disappearance of some campers, following the clues where they lead, even if that road is fraught with impossibilities. A great demonstration of Malfi's ability to pivot genres on a dime.
"The Separation" gives off a perpetual off-kilter vibe, keeping the reader unsure and in the dark until the final act is ready to pull back the curtain.
"The Stranger" plays off a premise that is truly terrifying. An unknown entity acting in an unpredictable way for reasons that are not made clear. Malfi takes us from mysterious to creepy to terrifying without tapping the brakes.
"After the Fade" could fit into the creature feature sub-genre. Another favorite specifically because of the amount of character work and set up before the bugs hit the fan. Once it gets weird, it gets unapologetically weird and what an ending.
"Fierce" explores a dual narrative to give a complete picture, keeping the supernatural on the fringes, and providing a bit of unexpected full circle closure on a terrific collection.
While some of the novellas resonated more than others, there are no clunkers in the bunch. Five stories to make you question what's outside the window and encourage you to sleep with the lamp on.

A very good book of novella's favourite stories are Fierce and After the Fade but all are very good and creepy. Dare you to read at night. Will look out for more Ronald Malfi as only read about two books so far.
I received this book free from Titan books and Netgalley for a review.

This is my first read of anything by Ronald Malfi. I understand that 4 of these novellas where released previously but this new release had one extra story. What a great idea to re release these! I really enjoyed this authors writting style. The unnerving, heart pounding and gripping elements really had me fully interested in these stories.

I particularly liked the second last and last stories. These are a brillaint horror combination.I would love to give a copy away to friends for a dark, spooky halloween nights reading.
I will definatly look to read more from this author. He has a fantastic talent in really getting us to feel and see the scene. We are made to feel like we are hiding/running from the threat too.

Many thanks to the Author, publisher and netgalley for an ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my review

This book of short stories had some previously published ones as well as a brand new one. In my opinion, Malfi has improved his writing through the years, so I can definitely see the difference between the older stories and the newer one. But, I have never read a Ronald Malfi story/book that I didn't like, so I really enjoyed the whole book.

The last story, in particular, called After the Fade (which was the newest), was really good and scary!

Overall, another great anthology by this author. I will continue to read anything he publishes!

Thank you to Ronald Malfi, Netgalley, and the publisher Titan Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this ebook.

Five stories that crawl into your mind and kick out all the unimportant stuff. Ronald Malfi delivers. On the heels of Ghostwritten, he doesn't let up. The fact these are reissues doesn't matter. AFTER THE FADE is an engrossing and utterly terrifying dystopia with one of the best endings I can remember. Malfi is at the top of horror novella writers today.

I have two other Malfi books waiting to be read on my bookshelf at home. I look forward to reading them, but I admit - this particular collection of stories wasn’t a full hit for me. The perspective from which each story was told and/or the endings felt like they missed maximizing the horror potential of each story. The premise of each story was great, but there was always some side detail of the narrating MC that just felt like a distracting element that they kept coming back to instead of giving me that deep dive on the horror.

Well, the one exception is the last new story. It’s pretty wild and I would say, one of the best in the collection.

Thank you to the author, publishers Titan Books and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

A collection of five novellas about the creatures that lurk in the dark places.

I’m left a little bit disappointed by this collection. In the author notes they explain that the first four stories have previously been published in magazines and represent older works. The restrained word count of magazine writing may be why I felt each of the endings were disappointing, leaving me with a sense of ‘so what’.

The last novella, the new to publication one is the best of the bunch. It’s like if Stephen King’s The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon crossed with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The ending was still disappointing though, throwing in a did it/didn’t it happen moment that spoiled an otherwise decent thriller for me.

A great collection of stories from Ronald Malfi!!

There is something about Malfi’s writing. Sometimes in your face, at time nuanced, always engaging! I was pulled into each of these stories, especially The Separation, The Stranger and After the Fade.

Each story is totally different and adds to a different layer of unease. The Separation is the strange unraveling of a boxer, who is reeling from a messy divorce. In The Stranger, we get the more visceral body horror. In After the Fade, we get a beginning of an apocalypse of sorts, where these murderous bugs are taking over, with an ending that was perfection.

What I think I enjoyed most about this collection, was the way you are left to use your own judgement in order to discern parts of these stories. The open-ended-ness in a couple of these were the perfect way to end them. You’re given the ability to distinguish your own conclusions.

"They Lurk" is a captivating collection of short, fun and fast paced novellas, four previously published and a fifth new release. The stories are varied, each offering its own brand of supernatural or open-ended mystery - each tale takes readers on a different journey, with unique flavors of horror. While I liked all, the last one was definitely the best - reminded me of "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon", one of my favorite books, with its themes of something that might or might not be stalking the protagonist, and might or might not exist at all.
"They Lurk" is a standout collection for all horror and suspense fans, definitely recommended if you're looking for a fun ride that will keep you glued to the pages.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐮𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐢
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒⭐️
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫
𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 18𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 2023
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: 5 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴

My first Ronald Malfi read and wow! I understand the hype with his books. **adds all books to wishlist**

Each novella was horrendous in its own individual way.

They all had nice short chapters which all ended on a cliffhanger so you had to read more.

The stories were gross, bizarre yet fascinating.

I had two absolute favourites from
This novella which were Skullbelly and Fierce.

1- Skullbelly, 3 kids missing, no one is telling PI Jeffers the truth and they all seem to be hiding something.
Wow, what a creepy read, I had no clue what was going on, I had a few theories but they were all wrong. I felt sorry for the PI. I really wanted this story to be longer
And
5- Fierce; this one… I’m still processing. I’m in shock, awe and I’m disgusted which means I absolutely loved it. It gave me literal nightmares as I finished this one before bed the other night. I think it will stay with me for a long time 🤣!

100% recommend any horror/thriller enthusiast who loves a bit of gore.

Thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for this Arc.

Don’t forget 18th July for release date!

#bookstagram #netgalley #bookstagrammer #bookstagramuk #netgalleyreads #titanbooks #netgalleyreviewer #bibliophile #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #bookish

— "Mothers sometimes have to be fierce. And on the heels of that, Connie thought, Daughters sometimes, too."

This collection of horror stories was fantastic so I wanted to go through each one individually, they all deserve their own spotlight!

'Skullbelly' had some great build-up, the tension was amazing. I got so invested in where it was going but unfortunately the ending was pretty lackluster. I was hoping for, well, not so much a conclusion to the story? But at least a more impactful or punchy ending.

'The Separation' was also pretty great, and had a much better end to the story. Again lacks a bit of a conclusion, but I wonder now if maybe that's the point of all these. I was definitely desperate to know what was going on with Charlie through the whole story, and the end had a good twist I didn't see coming.

'The Stranger' was gross. So gross. But honestly so good, I really enjoyed this one. The main bulk of the story is just one continuous scene but it's packed full of action and tension, it really worked. Some great characters too, I'd have loved a bit more of this one.

'After The Fade' was similar to the last in that it's one long running scene, but this was longer and more fleshed out. I love me some spooky bug stories and this did a fantastic job, a great "end of the world" plot. There's a handful of very different characters that are quickly introduced but you find yourself rooting for all of them anyway. The ending was amazing, ends on sort of a cliffhanger, and I'd LOVE to see this as a full novel. Has such amazing potential.

The final story, 'Fierce', was by far my favourite. The build-up was great, the tension was phenomenal, the imagery was amazing. I felt real fear (after the crash!) and real disgust (the burger scene!!!) throughout all of this. The initial opening story is intermingled with flashbacks to when Connie, the main character, was younger and I loved these scenes, it really built upon her relationships with her parents. There was a proper conclusion to the end of this one which I appreciated a lot and I honestly cried a little at the end. A fantastic read this one!

Overall this was an amazing collection of short stories. I was going to give it 4 stars initially but 'Fierce' pushed it to 5 for being just so, so incredible. Definitely recommend if you love weird creepy horror stories about cryptids!

Thank you to @netgalley + @titanbooks for the ARC!

4.0/5.0

5 fully immersive, terrifying and pretty gory novellas. I was on the edge of my seat but hiding under my covers all at the same time.

Ghostwritten was my first experience with Malfi, and it was in audio format. I REALLY enjoyed listening to his dark, twisty, creepy tales, despite not normally preferring shorts or novellas. I think this is due to his uncanny (in all senses) ability to craft complex characters even within limited page/word counts. He is very evocative in his imagery, and it works really well in this format. When I saw a second collection available, I eagerly requested it. I dug in - and must confess that I found it somewhat less engaging.

I'm not sure if it was the stories themselves or the format - I really enjoy listening to horror as I've gotten older, because I find that my stomach is stronger when I hear the words! I have a very active and vivid imagination, and a lot of the grisly descriptions that I simply cannot read without them staining my brain for days are manageable somehow when I listen to them rather than read them directly. I found that particularly pointed out to me with The Stranger in this collection, which was so gruesome that I instantly stopped reading as soon as the horrifying bits began...

On the whole, this was not a stellar collection, fit-wise, for me personally. I enjoyed Skullbelly a lot, it felt more like the Ghostwritten tales to me. The characters in The Separation and The Stranger irked me, and of course the latter had the gross factor dialed up to 25. As did Fierce, although the characterizations and storyline there were much more compelling for me, and I did finish it, albeit with much cringing -and some skimming - along the way. After the Fade was creepy in an old-school way that I enjoyed, and probably my favorite of the lot.

Five strong and creepy novellas, four of them previously published but all new to me. I always enjoy Malfi's writing style which is horror that also provides fully fleshed out characters, people you can care about. Like all short story/novella collections, I liked some of the stories more than others. A short description of the novellas and my ratings: Skullbelly: three stars. This one is about a young man who goes hiking with friends and comes back by himself, with injuries and covered in blood, also catatonic. The story is from the viewpoint of a PI hired by the families to find out what really happened. I liked this one but wanted more of an ending.

The Separation: 4 stars. This one reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode and had a strong psychological bent. A man whose wife has left him experiences a strange separation from himself and a friend of his who is a psychologist tries to help him with classic horror result. The Stranger: A man checks into a motel with his girlfriend and notices a stranger is sitting in his car. The rest you should find out about yourself. 4 stars. After the Fade: This one reminded me of a Stephen King story. A group of people are trapped together in a bar as mysterious and deadly bugs appear in their town. Another 4 stars. The last novella is Fierce: This one was a five star for me. A mother and daughter are driving in the snow and get into an accident. Only the snow and cold are the least of the worries when they come across a dangerous man on the road. Overall, a really good collection. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

They Lurk is a collection of five novellas, four previously published between 2009 and 2012, and one that’s brand new. All of the stories are of the strange and unusual variety, with a good dose of dread thrown in there.

Skullbelly

Three months ago, four teenagers went into the forest. One returned, and he’s not talking. The families, frustrated by the police’s lack of response, hire P.I. Jeffers to investigate. Wandering around in a forest looking for evidence of … something gave me Predator vibes. I love Predator! This was my favourite story.

“There’s animals, Mr. Jeffers. Things with claws and teeth.”

The Separation

Prizefighter Charlie hasn’t been himself since Gloria left him. Charlie’s psychotherapist friend, Marcus, hopes he can help. I guessed where this one was heading.

“She took a part of me with her when she left”

The Stranger

Someone’s sitting in David’s car. And they won’t get out. I had absolutely no idea where this story was going to take me. In hindsight, I would have been extremely surprised if I’d figured this one out ahead of time.

“God has laid a miserable fate upon us.”

After the Fade

Tommy was planning on breaking up with his girlfriend at The Fulcrum tonight. Then once upon a cheerleader Wendy Pratchett showed up and everything changed. Tommy probably should have stayed home instead.

“It’s still ringing. How can 911 still be ringing?”

Fierce

Connie and her mother survived the car accident but now they’re living a nightmare. There’s a fun connection between this and the first story.

“Keep it together, Connie. Collect yourself.”

I’m keen to read more books by this author. As this is only my third Ronald Malfi read, I’ve got some catching up to do.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.