Tooth and Talon: Stories

by James Walter Lee

Overview

Some things bite and some things tear in this INDIEFAB Awards Finalist collection of eleven suspenseful horror stories.

An elderly woman discovers the source of the disturbance beneath her home. A vampire finds solace and humor in his own senility. A couple struggles to escape an icy prison and an unnatural captor. A young boy taunted on the playground knows that worse nightmares await him at home, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780996605816
Publisher:	2nd Sight Press
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	846 KB

About the Author

James Walter Lee is an American author. His debut novel, Kilómetro Cero, released in November 2023, won a Literary Titan Award. He is also an INDIEFAB Awards finalist for his short story collection, Tooth and Talon. He holds a Master's in Fine Arts from The New York Academy of Art and a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies. James is also an avid photographer and lives in Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

DEVIL BENEATH

CLOSET MONSTER

SEVENTIES

GROUND WAR

KING OF THE ROAD

SNOWBALL'S CHANCE

THE TALE

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

NORTHERN LIGHTS

THE FIELD

NO GOOD DEED

Editorial Reviews

"Eerie, entertaining tales whose recurring themes and characters make them stronger." - Kirkus

From the Publisher

2015-10-08
Vampires, otherworldly creatures, and human killers populate Lee's debut collection of horror and suspense stories. In the opening story, "Devil Beneath," Marion hears scratching sounds and thuds from the crawl space under her house, as if something were trying to make its way aboveground. This is the essence of Lee's book, brimming with stories that are refreshingly subtle while often hinting at the supernatural. The titular beast in "Closet Monster," for example, torments 7-year-old Jeremy with glimpses of its talons and eyes in the blackness of night. Similarly, David becomes a captive while on an Alaskan trip in "Northern Lights," a straightforward story that's chilling even before its preternatural twist at the end. Nevertheless, humans prove just as creepy, as in "Snowball's Chance," in which Samuel Piejak and police officers search for his daughter, Coleen, who readers know has already been taken by someone unhinged. Disturbed individuals also highlight "The Tale" and "The Field," stories that, despite their misleadingly humdrum titles, are delightfully ambiguous (i.e., there might be a supernatural element to explain what's been taking place). In the book's best story, "King of the Road," hateful white-collar worker Jerry McIntyre slowly develops road rage on his commute to and from the office. But unlike other drivers, Jerry, giving in to his interstate fury, somehow finds a way to clear the road of unsafe motorists who'd dare occupy his lane. It's undoubtedly satire but manages to be simultaneously wry and bizarre, if not outright terrifying. Some stories in Lee's book are connected by characters who crop up more than once, which can enhance the narrative. It's particularly unsettling, for instance, when one man, who doesn't survive his initial appearance, is alive in the very next story. The strongest link involves the final tale, which follows Lester, Marion's missing husband from the first story—alternate perspectives that serve as fascinating bookends. Eerie, entertaining tales whose recurring themes and characters make them stronger.

Kirkus Reviews