Deeply Twisted, Chantal Noordeloos
Although there was a couple of stories within this book, I didn’t care for...the overwhelming majority makes this a great purchase. For those who enjoy creepy bedtime stories- this is for you. For those who enjoy a horror story full of twists, curves, surprise and bone-chilling fear.- this book is for you.
Each story is uniquely different and packed with thrill and surprise.
Any book packed with an assortment of short stories, even those by the same author, are bound to have a few tales within which a reader is not particularly fond of. However, this book is well worth the read as the vast majority is bound to please the reader. I am certain there are many who will lover every story packed within.
I look forward to reading more of this author and so should every reader of horror. ( )

Horror is meant to shock and disturb us. It's also meant to show how strong people can be when faced with something that is truly terrifying. Horror stories don't often have happy endings and if someone does get a happy ending they most likely suffered along the way. Horror can be a lot of things and Deeply Twisted by Chantal Noordeloos offers up 20 short stories that show what horror is really all about.

This anthology has a lot to offer, there are stories about witches, alien creatures, the devil at a dinner party, sea monsters, a man who collects souls, a mysterious clock tower, grave robbers, zombies and much more. This is a great horror anthology, some stories are better than others but even the ones I didn't care for had some great ideas and we're well written.

One of my favorite stories in this book was the zombie tale: Victims Of Evolution. I loved how Eloise describes her family then describes being bit by a zombie, changing into one and evolving into something else. I loved this concept and it was an original take on zombies. Another great tale is Death Awaits You which has a great twist and some disturbing imagery with some gory descriptions of dead bodies. Out Of The Storm was also a story that had great imagery with its descriptions of a monster storm and a haunted hotel.

Dinner Date was a fascinating story with a good twist. One of the main characters in this is a woman named Lucretia who has some interesting insights into everyone around her but she isn't taken seriously because of her personality. She is the only one who notices the truth behind the blind date that another character set her up with. What I loved about this one is how if you scratch the surface of each character in the story you see a different person and that's not necessarily a good thing.

Deeply Twisted also includes two stories about grave robbers which is a subject that fascinates and disturbs me. The first one is The Angel's Grave, I loved the character of Duff and how he ends up having to rob graves. He doesn't have a choice but he has to pay for his sins anyway courtesy of a vengeful spirit. The other story is called Jade, despite having the same subject matter it is a very different story and I loved how the man telling them they shouldn't be doing this gets called a fool and it shows what happens when you get too greedy.

I can't think of many bad things to say about Deeply Twisted, Chantal makes each story come to life through spooky imagery and memorable characters. If you love short horror fiction then this is a must have. One thing that made this anthology excellent is how some stories are connected. For instance the story The Widow talks about a ghostly urban legend and the children who don't believe. I thought this story was good but I didn't understand the ending. Later in the anthology there was a story called Deeply Twisted that gets into how the legend started and added a lot of depth to The Widow. Reading Deeply Twisted reminded me why I love horror fiction and it also made me want to buy Chantel Noordeloo's novel Coyote: The Outlander. Horror fans don't pass this book up. ( )

I have to admit, I have never really been a fan of short story collections. I always feel like there are a few really good stories, some average stories and just filler. Several social media friends have recommended Deeply Twisted by Chantal Noordeloos. So being as OCD about my reading..I put this off for a few weeks. I finally delved into this book last week. Normally I read a book in a few days. This one took me a week! Not because it was bad, but because I loved each story so much that I tried savoring them. I can honestly say every story in this collection was excellent even the couple page “When the Heavens Cried Gold” all enjoyable.
Chantal has that rare uncanny ability that most writers either don’t have or don’t know how to use and that is the ability to put the reader in the middle of the story. With her remarkable descriptiveness you feel like you are in the story with the characters. I feel like this when I read Robert McCammon. Every story Chantal sucks you in no matter how short or long that story might be, you feel all the characters are unique, different and fleshed out.
I have to say my favorite is hard to pick from. I really dug Victims of Evolution. It gave a very different perspective on the zombie genre that sucked me in visually and emotionally. Jade and the Dispensation of Jack Harrington are tied for my second favorite stories. Loved the concept behind Jack Harrington, while reading this, I was like this is bloody brilliant. Every story is unique…whether it is a cool adventurous tomb raider story like Jade or a sci-fi horror thriller like When the Bell Tolls you get something uniquely different that makes you want more.
Good job Chantal…you might have rekindled my faith in the short story collection again. 5 stars. ( )