I read ‘From the Ashes of Pompeii and Other Dark Tales’ as part of the NoSleep Podcast Book Club.



I am familiar with Lyset’s work after having been listening to the NoSleep Podcast since its infancy. Lyset crafts creepy worlds in a way that seems almost effortless making for excellent reads (or listens!)



This collection includes the stories:



From the Ashes of Pompeii

-- This story details a museum curator who is forced to take over an installation on Pompeii after her co-worker originally in charge kills himself in a brutal way. As she prepares herself for the exhibit, she discovers there is a dark secret tied to the artifacts intended for display, and perhaps her co-worker’s death wasn’t as cut-and-dry as she’d originally thought.



This is a cool story. Lyset has taken a familiar and tragic piece of history and spun an intriguing supernatural element into it.



I Thanked the Man Who Murdered My Only Friend

-- In this tale, a man becomes friends with the bartender at his favorite watering hole. They’ve known each other for years, so he thinks he knows the barkeep well. But when he falls asleep in the bar and finds his only friend murdered, he learns that no matter how long you’ve known someone or how kind they’ve been to you, they can still surprise you.



-- I remember this story from the podcast. Reading it for myself, though, after having already heard it did not dampen my enjoyment of it. This is a tale that makes you think about the people in your life because the truth is you never really, truly know someone.



The Mercy Ship

-- The Mercy Ship sails the seas giving free health care to those who can’t afford it. When it first docks, a father takes his ailing daughter there in hopes of some answers and help. They tell him to bring her back when they dock there again in a couple of months so they can perform a surgery on her. He does as he’s told, but when the ship arrives for a second time, he gets a bad feeling in his gut. Something terrible has happened aboard The Mercy Ship.



This is a sad tale and a believable tale. Sometimes, the scariest monsters aren’t paranormal -- they’re human.



Studio Audience

-- What if you had a constant studio audience reacting to your life in your head? That’s what this story proposes.



I like stories that turn the absurd into horror. They work wonderfully when well done, and Lyset has done this one well. What a true torture a condition like that must be. Who’s in that audience?



Girl in the Shed

-- A young man stumbles upon a little girl chained up in a dilapidated shed in the woods. Vowing to save her, to become the hero, turns out to be a really, really bad plan.



I remember this story, too. The main character’s actions make complete sense. Who wouldn’t do what he does if confronted with the same situation? And no one could possibly expect what his actions will result in.



Isolation

-- While attending a tour of a 50s-era nuclear bomb bunker, the main character decides to depart from the group and explore on their own. Doing so results in them getting locked in the place and bearing witness to true horrors.



I had heard this story, too. The atmosphere in this tale permeates your skin. The scare dives deep, and I’ll bet you’ll be thinking about this story long after its finished.



I Used to Hack Baby Monitors

-- A group of teenage boys decides they are going to screw around with new parents in their city by hacking into the frequency of their baby monitors and saying creepy things. One boy, though, gets more than he bargained for.



Yet another story I’d heard before. (Manen Lyset’s stories get around, if you know what I mean!) This story, in particular, freaks me out. I do *not* like baby monitors. The devices in themselves are scary as all get out to me. Especially the video ones. I can’t help but imagining hearing or seeing something unwanted and unexpected through them.



A Sunken Dock

-- Needing a break from the hectic-nature of our modern world, the character in this story turns to camping in the woods. While there, they discover a half-sunken dock. Inspecting it turns their whole world upside down.



This story wasn’t anything like I expected. In the very best way. It’s mind-boggling and a really fun read.



Good Luck

-- There’s a superstition that says saving a ladybug’s life grants you as many years of good luck as spots on the bug’s carapace. But luck is subjective, as the person in this story quickly discovers.



This is my favorite story in the collection. The concept really messed with my head, and that’s exactly what I want from my horror fiction.



The Gardener

-- A terrible drought has befallen a farming community, and this brings out The Gardener. Beware!



This story is body horror done well! The descriptions are so vivid they actually made my skin crawl. Love this story!



The Serpent of Bourbon Street

-- A party-goer has looked forward to attending a Mardi Gras celebration all their life hoping for the experience of a lifetime but, during it, they get the fright of one instead.



This was my least favorite story in the collection, but it’s still an enjoyable read. It did not stick with me the way the others did. I had to go back and reread it before writing this review because I didn’t remember it enough to write about it.



The Pigeons Around Here Aren’t Real

-- Two pest control people believe they’ve found the perfect solution to a growing pigeon problem -- using fake eggs to convince the birds they are nurturing more offspring than they are. They buy the eggs from an unknown online dealer, though, and that proves to be really, really bad news.



This story perfectly examples what it’s like to buy goods online sometimes. You think you’re gonna get a silky, blue, formfitting gown but, instead, you get the equivalent of a blue potato sack. Only in this story, the consequences are far, far more reaching.



Pick up this collection. The stories will remain with you, like a dark and creeping shadow.



Read this review and more on my blog at roxiewrites(dot)tumblr(dot)com.