The Feast and Other Horrifying Tales – a Review

David Vorhees has a great imagination for horror. All of these tales of horror are linked to one of the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Once you read them, you might never think of these holidays the same way. They will root themselves in your mind so deeply, especially “Thanksgiving,” that you’ll never forget them.

“A New Year, a New Day, a New Life” – A man tries to get away with the murder of his wife. He is resting easy when he hears a knock on the door. Yeah, he’s nervous, but he can handle this. Then he begins hearing her cell phone ring even though he knows it can’t be near him. And it keeps ringing.

While I was reading this, I kept thinking of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by the great Edgar Allan Poe. Mr. Vorhee’s style of writing is different, but what the story is about brought “The Tell-Tale Heart” to mind.  Great story.

“Necrophilia – A Love Story” – The title is a bit of a giveaway with this one. Jonah falls in love with this woman the first time he lays eyes on her. Fantasies about her going on a date with him and spending the evening with him fills his mind. Then he asks her out.

“Easter” – Your sin will find you out. A pastor has caused a couple of his female parishioners to stray from their marriage vows, and one of these dalliances has produced a child. Someone is now out to make him pay.

“Fourth of July” – George is convinced his neighbor is a terrorist and sets out to prove it.

“The Vengeance of Cassidy Clay” – This is a poem that tells the story of Cassidy Clay, a slave hunter. He is protected by the law until he kills the wrong person.

“Thanksgiving” – A husband and wife are on their way to her parents’ house to spend Thanksgiving. On the way there, they have a wreck. Once they awaken, to their horror, they find that their four-year-old son has disappeared from the car. They are helped out by a seemingly nice country family, who lives way out in the middle of nowhere, but they have no phones and no cell service. They are about to find out about the horrifying Thanksgiving ritual their rescuers have. This story is definitely my favorite.

“Christmas” – This story has to be my second favorite. In “Christmas,” you get to see inside the mind of a serial killer and what caused him to start killing. He doesn’t want caught; he just wants someone to confess what he has done and is still doing.

I am an editor, so I always attempt to turn off my inner editor when I read books to review. I realize that typos make it past the author, the proofreaders, and the editor, so there is no need to mention a simple misspelling, a misplaced punctuation mark, or a confusing sentence. But when the error is made time and time again, it is hard to ignore. I feel that I would be doing future readers of the book an injustice if I didn’t let it be known they were there. That being said, there are many instances of improperly used dialogue tags in this book, the direct address comma is often not used, and random words are capitalized for no reason. These editing mishaps were very noticeable to me and took away a bit of my enjoyment of the stories.

But am I glad I read this book? You bet I am. Do I recommend this book? Yes, I do. Mr. Vorhees has the ability to weave tales of horror that will stay with you for a long time. Quite possibly these stories will invade your dreams, turning them into nightmares.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to a copy of this book for yourself or another lover of horror, I’ve provided an Amazon link below.

Amazon Link: The Feast and Other Horrifying Tales

Favorite Sentences:

He felt as if his body and brain were shutting down as he looked down at the amputated finger that was housed in the tiny plastic egg.

All day he had lived in fear, but this fear froze him in place.

It still amazed him how those two created and raised this amazing woman that he was lucky to be married to.

Let me start by saying that I am not some whimsical child believing in some fat magic man that once a year brings toys to little boys and girls worldwide.

New Words Learned:

dormer window – a window set vertically in a structure projecting through a sloping roof

About the Author:

David Vorhees is a veteran of the United States Navy. A husband, he is the father of five and the grandfather of five. He loves history and has always been interested in the supernatural, the occult, and the scarier side of life. He truly believes there is nothing better than a good story.