Thank You for the Flowers: Stories of Suspense & Imagination

Rating:
Summary: Thank you for the Stories....
Review: In this collection of 13 chilling stories by Scott Nicholson, you will not be disappointed if you have an appreciation of that tingly odd shiver that teases your spinal cord from time to time. In summary, here are the stories.

Haunted - One of my favorites, a story of who's-haunting-who?

The Vampire Shortstop - Probably my least favorite. I'm not a fan of humanized vampires or sports either. A young vampire boy just wants to play baseball.

Skin - Another favorite. Do donors haunt their parts?

Dead Air - Great story of a disc jockey's telephone relationship with a serial killer.

In The Heart Of November - A haunting relationship between two friends that crosses the border of the living.

The Three Dollar Corpse - A tale of prisoner's who sell the right to take corpses out from their camps in order to buy goods, and a revelation of who watches them.

Thirst - What, or Who, are the elements anyway?

Do You Know Me Yet? - The madness of a writer, and a bit of a dig at S. King.

Homecoming - Another of my favorites. A down to earth man is visited by the corpse of his son.

Kill Your Darlings - Not one of my favorites, another surrealistic writer's fantasy of his pages coming to life.

Metabolism - Not one of my favorites, a walk through insanity with a frail woman.

The Boy Who Saw Fire - Another story of what, or who, are the elements? Similar to Thirst.

Constitution - Another favorite. Loves crosses all boundaries, even death.

Afterwards - I listed this like it was a story, but it is not. It is Mr. Nicholson's tales of each of the 13 stories here, how he thought them up and where they were first published. Since I enjoyed his musings on his selection of tales, I included it as a story worth reading.

All in all, a fine collection of dreamy tales that are short and easily read, a worthwhile addition to your collection. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Thank you for the Stories....
Review: In this collection of 13 chilling stories by Scott Nicholson, you will not be disappointed if you have an appreciation of that tingly odd shiver that teases your spinal cord from time to time. In summary, here are the stories.

Haunted - One of my favorites, a story of who's-haunting-who?

The Vampire Shortstop - Probably my least favorite. I'm not a fan of humanized vampires or sports either. A young vampire boy just wants to play baseball.

Skin - Another favorite. Do donors haunt their parts?

Dead Air - Great story of a disc jockey's telephone relationship with a serial killer.

In The Heart Of November - A haunting relationship between two friends that crosses the border of the living.

The Three Dollar Corpse - A tale of prisoner's who sell the right to take corpses out from their camps in order to buy goods, and a revelation of who watches them.

Thirst - What, or Who, are the elements anyway?

Do You Know Me Yet? - The madness of a writer, and a bit of a dig at S. King.

Homecoming - Another of my favorites. A down to earth man is visited by the corpse of his son.

Kill Your Darlings - Not one of my favorites, another surrealistic writer's fantasy of his pages coming to life.

Metabolism - Not one of my favorites, a walk through insanity with a frail woman.

The Boy Who Saw Fire - Another story of what, or who, are the elements? Similar to Thirst.

Constitution - Another favorite. Loves crosses all boundaries, even death.

Afterwards - I listed this like it was a story, but it is not. It is Mr. Nicholson's tales of each of the 13 stories here, how he thought them up and where they were first published. Since I enjoyed his musings on his selection of tales, I included it as a story worth reading.

All in all, a fine collection of dreamy tales that are short and easily read, a worthwhile addition to your collection. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Everything a Collection Should be!
Review: Scott Nicholson, author of the very successful The Red Church, first began his career writing short stories. This short story collection assembles some of his quieter, more affecting pieces. And what a collection it is! You will not find a single story that rings false in this book.

Two of the best pieces, The Boy Who Saw Fire and Thirst, are two stories set in a strange mythology Nicholson has created. These stories explain the reasons behind rain and wind and the sunset/sunrise. They fully display Scott's great imagination and his skill with words.

There are also many ghost stories in this book. Haunted is a traditional haunted house story (every author needs to have one!) and The Three-Dollar Corpse is a strange ghost tale set in a concentration camp. Then, there is also In The Heart of November a very poignant and sad love story set around a ghost.

These are only some of the good pieces. The great ones are the ones we should talk about. First, there is Kill Your Darlings, a great little story that borders satire about writers and where they get their ideas. There is also The Vampire Shortstop, a great vampire tale about a little boy who just wants to play baseball. The ending will leave you all choked up.

The one story I enjoyed most was Dead Air, about a radio dj who receives calls from a murderer. The story is simple but the characters so likeable and the dialog so witty that I found myself grinning through the whole thing.

This is a great collection to have in your personal library. Every story has its own voice and style. Scott will surely become a great name in horror fiction, so you should grab his debut before they're all gone.

Rating:
Summary: No, Scott --- Thank you!
Review: Thank You for the Flowers is a rare book-- a single author collection without a single wasted page --- Scott's voice varies enough from tale to tale to avoid the reader being about to get a firm grasp on his world view --- no way of telling what's coming from second guessing him.

The mood of the stories shifts as well, from disquieting glimpses into aspects of human behavior to straight up fantastic with an odd not-ammoral twist . . . Scott is not precisely a moralist --- He does have opinions about right and wrong, good and evil --- while the reader may not always agree with his opinion the integrity of his fiction is such that you go along for the ride.

One of the stories in this volume is on my list of best stories I've ever read ---- several of them are worth the price of the book.

This is Scott's first book --- I suspect that collectors should grab it now ---

Rating:
Summary: Surreallistically thought-provoking
Review: Thank You For The Flowers is an interesting blend of short stories containing subjects ranging from the initial loss of childhood innocence to stabs at spiritual role playing. These unusual perspectives provide insights into this author's twisted gatherings of thoughts derived from daily experiences.

Rating:
Summary: A solid dose of great short stories. 5 stars *****
Review: The one thing I came away from after reading these stories was, that Scott Nicholson is not confined to the horror genre: he can write solid pieces of fiction that I would suggest anyone read, even if they are not into horror.

Picks in this collection are the entire book; just read them all and enjoy.

Be sure to read the author 'after words' section at the end. There's some interesting info on where Nicholson got his ideas for these and what mags they were published in, for any writers out there.

5 STAR ESSENTIAL RATING. *****

Rating:
Summary: Nicholson Shines
Review: The only short story collection where each story shines. From touching your heart in The Vampire Shortstop, to chills and thrills, this is by far the best collection of stories I have ever read.