Come As You Are

Book of short stories. My favorites were "A Bone in the Throat"' "Walker" and "Come as you Are". The other stories were ok but to me, these were the standouts. Good selection of short stories. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Getting your evil spells from Craig's List is never a good idea. Great middle school read for those reluctant readers who like creepy stories.

It's times like this that I wish I was a writer myself, so that I could more adequately describe how much I enjoyed this book and why any horror lover should be dropping everything to read this as soon as it becomes available. I mean seriously do yourself a favor and clean up your "to be read list"
The title story "Come As You Are" really grabbed me. I mean who doesn't hate a bully? Ivan is having a rough time at school, and when he finds a notebook belonging to a former student who was also bullied before he disappeared.. who can blame him for taking a peek? Revenge is not always sweet as Ivan finds out the hard way. This was an excellent story. It may say "young adult fiction" but to me it was just plain classic horror. It would have made for a great episode of Tales From The Crypt. I mean if Tales hadn't had so many clunkers and so few good episodes. If it is "young adult" it is only because it is horror without sex scenes and when you are being this entertained you don't need them. When it ended I thought to myself sure, here comes the bland filler stories to make this novel length. I will now admit that thought was WRONG. Nothing here is empty filler. Every single story is a creepy little gem. There's a man who has a new lease on life after recovering from oral cancer, in fact he's so happy he's singing, but heaven help you if you hear him. You may want to put your ear plugs in. Don't even get me started on what can happen if you wake a sleep walker. Everyone knows not to do that right? Unfortunately some don't believe until it's too late.
Do you have a fear of spiders? Not necessarily the big giant invaders of arachnophobia, but what about the little spider you can't see? The one that's hiding in your home right now, maybe plotting against you. I don't want to go on and on, giving away too much. I will just say if you have read my reviews you know I don't rate 5 stars often or lightly. Come As You Are gets a big fat freaky and frightening 5 out of 5 stars from me.

This book does what so few modern horror tales can accomplish - it gives you realistic characters facing horrors that, ultimately will seem just a bit too real.

Come as You Are is an interesting collection of horror short stories by author Steven Ramirez. It fits neatly into the young adult subgenre. There are a few very interesting tales in the mix, but they’re balanced out by a handful of weaker ones so that the whole collection as a whole feels somewhat mediocre. I would be interested in reading more of the author’s work, just perhaps in longer novels instead of a collection.

Come as You Are, the title novella of this collection, was an interesting middle-grade-ish horror story. I had trouble believing some of the adult mindset of the twelve year old protagonist, but other than that, no real picks. I think pretty much every kid that’s ever been bullied has wished they had a way to get back at the bullies. Come as You Are was a warning about being careful what you wish for. Well written and doesn’t hold back on the disturbing imagery.

Nailed It was a bit weird. Adult-ish characters on a plane, and one of them tells the other a disturbing story. Not really much to stay about it.

Brown the Recluse was disturbing. This version of Spiderman could give readers nightmares if they have even a touch of arachnophobia. Very, very creepy, and well-told in the few pages it was given. Surreal. It’s definitely the type of story to linger in your mind.

I’ve Been Better wasn’t very good. It was one of those stories that leave you wondering “What the …” The author tries to put in a twist at the end that just really doesn’t make sense, considering how everything is laid out.

A Bone in the Throat was definitely different. I knew where it was heading pretty quickly, but the author managed to surprise me with the sheer savagery of what happened in the end. It’s the type of revenge that lasts for a long, long time. A very satisfying read that left me smiling at the end. Good to see someone like that get what’s coming to them.

Regino Sings – It seems to be a theme in this collection of how bad things you do come back to bite you in the butt. Regino Sings had an interesting concept in the man with the mechanical mouth, and how he thinks it has it all, only to have everything turned around on him. But, it’s one of the weaker stories in the collection with no lasting power.

A Proper Revenge Takes Time was ‘ok’. I liked the idea behind it, and it was something I haven’t read much about in horror stories. However, it just didn’t have much of an impact. It was a skim-type read that fled my mind almost as soon as I’d finished it.

Something to Hold was… honestly, it was so boring I don’t even want to write any more about it. Let’s just say interesting idea, weak execution. Moving on.

The Widow and Her Magician was a fun read. I giggled at one of the scenes where a saying is taken literally. A bit risqué and off-beat, it was a nice counterpoint to the three weaker ones that had come before it.

Walker was solid read showing the talent that came through in Brown the Recluse. It’s a disturbing tale based off an old superstition. The scenes are worded perfectly, and the imagery will stay in the reader’s mind.

Overall, it was worth the read just for some of the stories like Brown the Recluse and Walker. The rest are fairly forgettable, but it was only a few hours of reading, so easy to get through regardless.

Do you remember what it was like at school when you were in seventh grade? If you weren't in the popular group, I suspect that you may have. What if you and your best friend were bullied would you do? Go to your parents for help? I don't think so. Ivan finds a way to get revenge or at least thinks he has? How did he do it? Will he change? It's an excellent novella.

This book is a collection of stories including one novella and nine stories. They are all exquisite horror stories. They all move quickly and are all types of different horror. Some of it is graphic but not all. The plots are unpredictable and full of surprises. Even though this is marketed for young adults, I think adults would enjoy them as much as I did. The author has a new fan!

Grim, gruesome, and buckets of fun, Ramirez's book will whet the appetites of genre buffs, but it will also, doubtlessly, lure new victims to the genre, who will be easy prey to the transformation into horror fans.

This is a solid collection of short horror stories.

Come as you are is a book which contains 10 short stories. The first and longest story is titled "Come as you are." Of all the stories, this was my favorite. I wished it was more than a short story. I would have loved for this to be longer. This story could have progressed with others acquiring Craig's list. As for the other stories, most of them ended so abruptly I was left looking for more. Not in the same way as the first story. For some of these, I felt like there was really no ending. Perhaps this is what Mr. Ramirez was looking to achieve. Being the cynic that I am, I wonder if a true ending simply eluded him. The writing style was very enjoyable and as I stated the first story was very good. I wanted more of this story in a good way. Most of the other stories left me wanting more, but as more of an explanation or a wrapping up of the story. Many people may appreciate the ambiguity of these stories, so please do not let my confusion stop you from giving this book a chance.

I'm a horror lover. I've been watching horror movies religiously every Friday since my early teens - and let me tell you, I love me a good horror film. But books rarely achieve the same level of "scariness" as visual images tend to do. I've been disappointed by so many horror book in the past, that now I only pick up these books in hopes that it will actually end up being a well done frightful goose-bump-breaker. Come As You Are did it for me. Not every single story was an absolute creepfest but good half of the stories sent chills running down my spine. My personal favourite is Walker. I don't even really know why - it just seems to be one that stuck with me the most, maybe because I have a history of childhood sleepwalking, who knows?
Would I buy this? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes. Will I reread some of the creepiest, freakiest, most terrifying ones? Most definitely.

Disturbing, horrifying, terrifying and macabre these are just some of the adjectives that are used when describing this page turning collection of stories by the excellent Steve Ramirez, the Los Angeles writer who you may know from the horror thriller series "Tell me when I'm dead".

In all there are ten short stories of varying length and each show the accomplishment of the writer. The opening story which is the title of the book is the longest and is written in the first person of a school teenager encountering supernatural forces. This has many shock horror comedy elements and is certainly not for the squeamish of you.

Like many horror short stories it is the last line that stays in the mind and "A bone in the throat" is a good illustration of this.

So if you like a good scare I would recommend that you give this a try and I believe that you will not be disappointed