Bane of Kings writes a short review of the self-published, mini-horror anthology Abrasion, written by Andrew Gilmore and available through Amazon.co.uk

“A collection of two, mini stories that will keep you entertained from an author with strong promise.” ~The Founding Fields

This review is going to be shorter than normal mainly because the book itself was a short one. Standing at 47 pages according to Amazon, you’ll be able to fly through this one easily in no more than a day. The collection itself is cheap, coming in at only £1.39 on Amazon.co.uk and free with Amazon Prime, so If you’re looking for a quick read than there are much worse options out there than this book.

Tales that will stay with you forever

.ONLY WITH YOURSELF. A marooned pilot desperately tries to repair his vessel and escape a cruel desert planet. When a figure appears on a nearby dune he believes he has been saved from the maw of loneliness. However the planet has something else to share with him. 

FRAME 313. Stephen Porter needs a break. The movie magazines aren’t interested in what he wants to write about. To add to his woes he discovers the last authentic Grindhouse cinema in New York City is being destroyed. A secret has been festering in the darkness, enduring the racket of civilization. A straw is about to break the camel’s back.BONUS MATERIAL. Opening to the zombie story DOG FOOD and illustrations by the author.

Both of the stories presented in this collection are by no means poor just because they are self-published, however – they’re not entirely perfect. The main problem that i had with both of them was their length – they felt more like elongated flash fiction to me, and they never felt long enough to be a single short story. However, that said – there isn’t any major gaps where I felt the story could have been increased in length – I just feel that it should.

Out of the two shorts, I felt Only with Yourself certainly had the more powerful impact than Frame 313, even though the two stories themselves are both very different and prove just how varied the horror genre can be. Only With Yourself has a small dramatis personae and whilst the main character isn’t too memorable, we’re given a nice, quick read that is very entertaining. It’s stronger than Frame 313 mainly because of the way it was executed – and probably because I don’t like Shia LeBeouf as an Actor in general (you’ll see why I mentioned his name once you read Frame 313).

The second short, Frame 313 presents another entertaining short and is more the down-to-earth of the two. Whilst this story also happens to be the less memorable, it’s a fun, quick read, and like the latter, and if you’re looking for a quick read, then you can’t go wrong with these to.

Both short stories in general are combined together in this story as well as an extract from the zombie story Dog Food, and some decent illustrations from the author as bonus material. It’s certainly well worth the price to be paid on Amazon, but don’t go in expecting a novel length work.

Verdict: 3/5

Buy the Amazon Kindle Edition: UK / USA