Unknown Caller | Horror Review | AstraDaemon

A train journey home for Owen breaks from its uneventful tradition when all of the phones in his carriage begin to ring simultaneously. A private number. Owen ignores the call and heads home from the station. Turns out it wasn't just the phones on his train. Owen soon discovers that the event occurred around the world, though it seems that nobody thought to answer it. Some kind of poorly judged advertising campaign, it appears.

Three months later, the private number rings again.

As the calls continue to come, it becomes increasingly obvious that those that have answered the phone are no longer the same people they once were.

COLD CALL by Jon Hillman is far more intense than I ever imagined. The first phone call is strange, and, even though people are immediately impacted, I understand why no one made a connection until the third and fourth calls. Anyone who may have linked the calls with the worldwide pandemic of severe depression would have been dismissed as conspiracy theorists.

However, despite the lockdowns, even Owen doesn't seem to be afraid enough to take better precautions, especially with his twin infant daughters. The effect of the calls moves from psychological to physical, and Owen has a complete meltdown around the time he realizes there are other ways to reach people besides phones.

Of all the horrible things which happen to Owen and his loved ones, the scene with the dog is the one I broke down over. I knew not to expect a happy ending, but I wasn't expecting to be left with unanswered questions. I'm fine with the story as a stand-alone, but I think some readers are going to be furious.

In any case, this novella is absolutely terrifying, especially after the events of 2020 and 2021...which is why I'm recommending this to all horror fans.

As always,

AstraDaemon