​MY FIVE FAVOURITE SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS BY DAVID JENKINS

Ginger Nuts of Horror is honoured to welcome David Jenkins to the site today to kick off the blog tour for his latest book Gardens, Galaxies And Goosebumps with his article on his favourite short story collections.  Be sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour, details of which can be found at the end of the article, and make sure you come back here on July 19h, where we will be closing the blog tour with his article on Dracula as a character in other books.  

And as a special bonus to the readers of the site, if you leave a comment below telling us what your favourite short story collection is we will enter you into a prize draw to win a copy of Gardens Galaxies and Goosebumps 

David Jenkins has always lived in Skelmersdale and is the current secretary of Skelmersdale Writers Group. He writes in a variety of genres including horror, fantasy and science fiction across multiple formats including comics, short stories and novels. His reviews and articles have been featured on various websites including Mass Movement, Attack on Planet B and Gingernuts of Horror. Gardens, Galaxies and Goosebumps is his first short story collection.

 
There are a lot of brilliant short stories out there but having a collection of them either by one author or a theme is difficult as there is a massive chance of sameness. After all, there are only so many plots (seven according to Christopher Booker) and few authors can write successfully in a variety of voices. Stephen King has published several great short story collections like ‘Four Past Midnight’ and ‘Different Seasons’ the latter includes Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. However, many of his short stories are novellas which is a bit longer than I like for a short story. So the collections in the list below all contain tales that can be read and finished while commuting. In no particular order, my favourite short story collections are.
 
1-    Weird Ales volume 1 edited by Theresa Derwin- Features a variety of tales about alcohol and apart from two stories featuring Cthlulu the rest are original. Before talking about my favourite I would just like to reiterate the uniqueness of the plots- A magazine hack searches for a classic punk singer in a strange bar filled with fairies, an alcoholic becomes obsessed with a poisonous but enlightening drink and a businessman wants to sell a new beer in his nightclubs despite the misgivings of the beer club. These were just some of the stories I felt were good but not great. As for my favourite. In ‘Belly Buster’ the first person narrative is realistic but humorous with Bob declaring ‘I’m what you call out of shape- well I suppose a barrel is a shape’. Bob tells the story of how he killed a cat with the beer he was testing after not following the serving suggestion.  The success of the author Hayley Orgill in this story is making you feel completely in Bob’s shoes as he realises his mistake, tries to get rid of the cat and then decides what to do with the last bottles of Belly Buster.

2-    Satan’s Shorts by Heide Goody and Iain Grant- Is a collection of short tales mostly about Clovenhoof (AKA Satan who lives in Birmingham under the disguise of a mortal man). Like the main Clovenhoof series these stories are funny, cringe-worthy and different to anything else I’ve seen.   From Satan enrolling in night classes to his attempts to cure his best friend Ben of Arachnophobia these stories are pure silly entertainment.

3-    Disenchanted by CL Raven- Is a collection of stories based on fairy tales but no guarantee of a happy ending. There are some great twists here from Prince Charming being a necrophiliac to Hansel & Gretel being sent into the woods as a sacrifice. These stories are more of a weird, modern take on the tales with both the original tale and the new parts complementing each other.  Sleeping Beauties with Prince Charming was my favourite as it was so different from the Disney version with its eroticism and dark humour.

4-    We Can Improve You edited by Brian Marshall and Alex Davis - Has an interesting cover and I enjoyed at least 10 out of the 13 stories even though they focused mostly on brain capacity and technology failing. Like any good Sci-fi collections and indeed fiction, in general, it made me think about the future. ‘Driver Not Found’ by Gav Thrope is my favourite tale in this book due to the focus on how technology controls everything and the constant reference to time which adds to the tension.
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5-    Issac Asimov: The Complete Stories volume 1 and 2- The creator of the robot and the three laws of robotics doesn’t disappoint with thoughtful, tight prose that entertains, educate and inspire. Picking a favourite is impossible as each story grips you from the start either with its voice, its premise or how realistic it is, often all three.

Gardens, Galaxies And Goosebumps by David Jenkins

Does the thought of moving into a house where a Satanist once lived terrify you? Have you ever wondered how society would change following a failed alien invasion? Do you find it strange that humans don’t eat more vegetables even though they’re so good for us? Find the answers to all these questions and more in the nine stories that make up the mixed genre offering that is Gardens, Galaxies And Goosebumps.

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