Worse Than Potholes

Every road has its price; every choice has its consequences: a professional kidnapper gets more than he bargained for when his latest abduction leads to terrifying supernatural encounters on the Florida Turnpike.

TOLL ROAD by Antonio Simon Jr. is a short story about a kidnapper battling supernatural creatures after his latest job goes horribly wrong. There is a lot of action and the ending surprised me in more ways than one, but there's also a lot of unnecessary details. If the author removed the filler and cut it down to flash fiction, the horror scenes might have more of an impact.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Waste

Late one night, a stranger wanders into a diner off the interstate highway. He orders coffee, takes a refill, and steps back out into a downpour. The waiter knows there’s something off about his visitor, but he has no way of knowing just how otherworldly this stranger is until the authorities call him in for a recorded statement the next day. Just who – or what – is the mysterious Company Man?

COMPANY MAN SIGHTING #1 by Antonio Simon Jr. is a flash fiction piece in the style of a transcript, and it is the worst thing I've ever read by this author. I don't see a point to this story, at all.

To be fair, this was written years before the other Simon stories I've read, so at least I know his writing style has greatly improved.

As always,
AstraDaemon

There's Something Wrong Up Here

Built at the turn of the century, Stratosphere Heights Amusement Park had seen more than its share of grisly—bordering on supernatural—events before being torn down to make way for the highway interchange. But when the person who knows the place best can't be trusted to keep his story straight, who can separate fact from fiction? A dark fantasy from the anthology: Postcards From The Void.

STRATOSPHERE HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY by Antonio Simon Jr. is a clever piece of flash fiction. This story provides the perfect example of an unreliable narrator. I love how the story variations overlapped slightly, hinting at a bit of truth here and there, with a plausible explanation of the narrator's mental state.

If you enjoyed the author's short story, NO THANKS, you'll enjoy this one as well. Both stories emphasize a questionable state of mind.

As always,
AstraDaemon