Title: Fifteen Eyes

Author: Tyler Downs

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Fifteen-Eyes-Tyler-Downs-ebook/dp/B0FJ84MJ8Q/

Summary

Solomon Northcutt enjoys the simple things in life: a nice sweater vest, trivia night with co-workers, and using the eyeballs of the deceased to transcribe horrific deaths for his bosses’ reading pleasure.

Tag along with our happy-go-lucky tour guide, Solomon, as he cracks open a fresh batch of 15 sordid tales. There’ll be all sorts of fun stuff inside…

Astrology cults. Bodily theft. Cowboys. A whole ton of ants. Cosmic gods the size of skyscrapers. Religious pilgrimages. Arsonists. A traveling guitarist who grants wishes. Desert cannibals. People floating away on balloons. Addiction. A trip to Heaven. Mental hellscapes. The end of the world. A puppet made from decaying body parts and household appliances. Oh, and maybe a werewolf.

My Review

5/5 Stars

I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that this is a debut collection, because this book was fantastic. Easily one of my favorites of the month. There’s something about Mr. Downs’ writing that makes it easy to get lost in his stories. The characters feel grounded and relatable, the horror is genuinely unsettling, and there’s a smart touch of humor woven too.

My favorite stories were:

1. Lonesome Lake – A lonely woman finally puts herself out there… and ends up in a situationship that’s anything but ordinary. Totally eerie and unpredictable. I had no idea where this one was headed.

2. Anthill – A young girl seeks revenge, but she’s no ordinary girl. Gave me total Black-Eyed Kids vibes.

3. Seventh House – When what’s your sign turns into something far more ominous than an annoying small-talk question.

With fifteen stories in this collection, there’s truly something here for every horror fan. If you enjoy character-driven, unsettling tales with just the right amount of dark humor, this book is absolutely worth picking up. Bonus points for that awesome cover!