Alphabet Soup: Horror Stories for the Tormented Soul (Haunted Library) by Tobias Wade

Alphabet Soup: Horror Stories for the Tormented Soul (Haunted Library) Reviews

• 
  Cheryl

  An ingenious collection of 27 short stories (A-Z including ampersand) that leave you with a shiver down your spine and a sense of dread of what is happening the further you read into the book. Some stories are scary, others just mysterious, but I must say it was the last few stories in the collection that left an impact with me at the revelations.
  While Tobias Wade says the book is a collection of stories written by various authors, I'm wondering whether this is perhaps a sleight of hand on his behalf as the stories are too interconnected to simply be a letter of the alphabet each chosen by a different author. The stunning conclusion ties all the stories together in scenes dripping in horrid conspiracy, and I think only one author could achieve such an ending of a complex series of plots.
  I have another of the author's books that I'm beginning to read now and I'll see how it compares to this work. The author really has a talent for building dread and exposing the horror in seemingly everyday events. (I never knew that a barnacle was a living creature and after reading the short story revolving around them I NEVER want to see one. They are the creepiest little fuckers ever!!)
  
  I received an ebook copy of this novel from the author via Bookfunnel. I have voluntarily chosen to review the book, and the gifting in no way determines my rating/review, which reflects my honest opinion.
• 
  K.T. Rose

  3.5 stars
  
  Some stories were good. A very few of them were just ok. I liked how they tied together but I thought the conclusion fell a little flat.
• 
  Shanelle

  This book is horror stories for every letter of the alphabet. I loved all the stories except N. Let me rephrase that. N was a good story but it was way too gory and gross for me. I couldn't finish it. I had to skip it.
  
  I was reading the story for N and my husband asked me what was wrong. He said I had such a look of horror on my face. He had never seem me look like that while reading, haha. I couldn't even explain, I just had him read it. He couldn't finish it either and he can handle gory stuff. I mean Final Destination is one of the mans favorite movies! That should tell you something!
• 
  Beverly Laude

  First of all, this book wasn't at all what I expected. Usually a collection like this contains unconnected stories, sometimes written by different authors. That was not the case with this book.
  
  Each story was named for a letter of the alphabet (hence the name), with a different author's name on each. However, I think that Mr. Tobias Wade actually wrote each of the stories since they had a similar writing style.
  
  Some of the stories were quite creepy, but some were just disturbing. There was a smattering of sci-fi, some serial killers, a "priest" leading believers in a cult, and a lot of sexual perversion. In fact, it seemed like most of the stories had a sexual undertone, even when it really didn't add much to the tale.
  
  A few of the stories had some haunting qualities about them and I will never look at barnacles in the same way! The "B" story called "Barnacles" was probably the best of the lot.
  
  There were some threads connecting the stories to each other in the way that something in one story was a reference to another story. The last chapter was (supposedly) the wrap up of the collection, but I just didn't see it.
  
  The narrator did a good job, but like another reviewer said, his very British accent was not a good fit for this Midwestern set of stories. Nothing against the narrator, it just didn't fit.
  
  All in all, this just wasn't that good of a horror collection in my opinion. I never really got that creepy, look behind you feeling while I was reading this book. My feelings were more revulsion at some of the things that were described but weren't scary, just disgusting. There was some horror, but not that much. I was given a copy of this audiobook by Audiobook Boom and chose to review it.
• 
  Hank Hoeft

  This book is an intriguing concept. It's an anthology of 27 short horror stories by 27 different authors, one for each letter of the alphabet and an additional story for "ampersand," but that's not the intriguing concept. The stories are a mixed bag - some good, some mediocre, and some that left me totally flat - but after reading several of them, it becomes apparent they are not random and disconnected. The reader notices similar themes, similar settings, similar characters, but it's not until the later stories that a coherent narrative finally develops and comes into focus, sort of like an old Polaroid photograph.
  
  When I realized how the stories were connected, my interest in finishing the book increased. I would have rated Alphabet Soup higher than three stars, except that some of the stories just weren't that good. Also, some of the stories needed better editing. But still, it was an interesting read.
  
  Final footnote: I read this via my Kindle app on my phone. So I would read it at odd times - while waiting in line or at other random moments. I think I would have perceived and appreciated the overall story arc sooner and more clearly if I'd actually sat down and read the book in a more conventional manner.
• 
  Jesse

  First of all: "This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."
  
  With that out of the way, let's talk about this book. The short stories in this book are all connected in a couple of ways. First of all, they are presented sequentially, with the title of each story starting with the next letter in the alphabet, A is for Addiction, B is for Barnacle, etc. They are also connected thematically, with many recurring elements throughout the stories, such as barnacles, doomsday cults, etc. I really liked the cohesiveness this lent to the work as a whole. While the writing style overall was excellent, I found that some of the stories just didn't hold my interest.
  
  The narrator of this audiobook has a terrific voice for the genre of horror. His accent added an element of mystery to everything, and his voice was overall very pleasing. The emotional rawness of the tales was expressed nicely in his vocal tones, and he really helped to draw me in to those stories that grabbed me the most. Overall, a nice collection.
• 
  Dragoș Ionescu

  Currently reading this book, but also note that this is the second time I've tried to read it. I seem to always be stuck on 'B is for Barnacle'. Yes, I'm sure that I should just skip it, but I'm a completionist, and don't usually want to do that.
  
  My problem with this particular story isn't that it's bad, per se, it just seems like the author has a background in Marine Biology or something similar, and any enjoyment I would have received from this particular story gets smothered by the endless jargon about barnacles and their genitalia, and etc. It isn't entirely necessary, and it's not actually something I want to be exposed to. I read to escape from my otherwise technical life, not find it in a book of horror stories. I don't know about you, but I really don't need to be reminded that barnacles have the largest penises in the animal kingdom, a fact that I actually did know.
  
  Unfortunately, the first story wasn't entirely interesting either, and I hesitate to move on to the third.
• 
  Ami

  Twenty-seven short stories by multiple authors about many (seemingly) different events. All have one thing in common. They are horrific, many have extremely gruesome happenings. There are small similarities, characters from one author's tale make guest appearances in other author's works. Hints were dropped, but not until I read the final chapter did I see everything pulled together and it blew me away. Please note, this is NOT a clean book. It is filled with ghastly, disturbing and repugnant occurrences with cursing, cannibalism and sex thrown into the mix.
  
  I borrowed this ebook from Amazon Prime Reading.
• 
  Amber

  I liked the premise of this book, and discovering how they began to interconnect means I will probably re-read this at some point.
  
  I’m giving 3 stars instead of 4 because several of the stories needed to be edited further. Typos and sentences that need correction because of extra words or words out of order really have no place in any written work at this point. The stories themselves could also flow better together. I was expecting 26 individual short stories so the connection was pretty cool. But they didn’t flow very well and a little effort to smooth that out (along with the regular editing) could even make this a 5 star book.
• 
  Pamela Faust

  27 horror stories with each chapter based on a letter of the alphabet (they’re considering an ampersand a letter). Since 26 was a running theme through all of the stories, they could have left out a chapter and stuck with the proper 26). The stories were new and imaginative and I enjoyed them until it became apparent (about halfway in) that they were going to end up all being related. The last quarter felt a little verbose and desperate to make the connections. The R for Romance chapter was a little too porny for me.
  
• 
  Mark Lucas-Taylor

  An anthology of (some very short) stories that one gradually discovers link together. One or two did leave me a little puzzled as to exactly what they were about. The main themes throughout the book soon reveal their interconnectedness. I was left wanting more and hope we do get more of Morai, I would certainly read it.
  They’re supposedly written by 27 different authors however the style and content of the whole lead me to believe that this is a clever conceit on the part of Tobias Wade.
• 
  Chris

  Awesome Book! Usually short stories have nothing to do with each other. They may have a theme, like zombies or vampires. But THIS collection.............you are happily reading along, when all of a sudden, you start thinking....... I READ this already........... no wait.......... sort of. LOL I don't want to spoil the surprise.......... I will leave it at this: you will WANT to go back and read the "Forward" again, after you finish the last story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy the ride!!!!!
• 
  MarkAnthony

  The stories-some quite short-were interesting but some left me confused at their conclusion. Towards the end of the book most of them tie together. But after I finished the book I was left with a few unanswered questions...like some of the stories didn't fully fit into the ending. Still, I finished it-so it did keep my attention.
• 
  Kathleen

  This book from Kindle Unlimited actually surprised me. I liked how the stories were somewhat interconnected as an overall narrative (some way more obvious than others). Also, it turned out to be more science fiction than horror which was an interesting change of pace. There were a few moments that made me cringe.
• 
  Becca Rockafellow

  The ABC's of horror
  
  This book has several authors writing uncensored. They each write a horror based on the 26 letters of the alphabet! The stories are rich in horror and they will chill you to the bone! This is worth your time!
• 
  Rev. Iris R. Keys, M.D,

  Excellent short stories
  
  Most of the stories were ask written. However there were a few at I had difficulty getting the point. I had to reread those and ponder them. But perhaps that was the author's intent.
• 
  Mikal

  Amazing Horror of a DIFFERENT KIMD
  
  Loved,the different authors and how all of their stories blended together,without really seemingly "blending". Totally bizzarre, interesting and like nothing I've ever read. I highly recommend!
• 
  Vera Scanlan

  It definitely was a collection of Alphabet horror stories!
  
  Most stories were great, some calmly terrifying! Some were a little confusing, but in following stories explanations suddenly came to light! All in all, the book certainly kept my interest!
• 
  Teresa Grabs

  I love short fiction. I like horror. Put the two together and I was excited to read this collection, but aside from a few stories, the whole thing fell flat. Too much reliance on sex and gore to tell a story for my taste.
• 
  Carra

  Interesting anthology
  
  So, I didn’t hate this at all. It was pretty neat and I loved how some of the stories were interwoven. However, I would’ve liked a little more cleared up about the Moirai and who and what they are. But overall, I enjoyed this read.
• 
  Alikat

  26 shorts that keep you turning the pages, woven together by a common thread, yet able to be read in any order, or even stand alone.
• 
  Raven

  Absolutely terrible. The stories dont make sense and give out bad impressions. I managed to stick to the end of the first story. Just awful