Artificial Condition (2018) – Martha Wells

Martha Wells delivers another entertaining entry in the Murderbot Diaries with Artificial Condition. Much like the first story, this is only a novella as well and it rips along at warp speed, filled with action beats, laughs, and a small exploration of the worlds that Wells is building. The story picks up shortly after the…

All Systems Red (2017) – Martha Wells

I absolutely loved Martha Wells’ All Systems Red. I will admit to be a little disappointed when I downloaded from the library to my e-reader and discovered it was only a novella, a preface if you will to the adventures to come. When I dug into the story, however, any doubts I had about it’s…

The Mistletoe Mystery (2024) – Nita Prose

I absolutely loved Nita Prose’s The Maid and The Mystery Guest. I love her writing style, I love the way she creates her story and mystery and the characters she’s created, over the course of two books have become friends. So, when I heard there was a Christmas novella, The Mistletoe Mystery, I wanted to…

1922 (2017) – Zak Hilditch

Thomas Jane stars in the Zak Hilditch helmed and adapted version of Stephen King’s novella, 1922. Wilfred James (Jane) is a proud farmer in middle America, where he lives with his son, Henry (Dylan Scmid) and his wife who has bigger dreams than living on a farm, Arlette (Molly Parker). With Arlette’s land, added to…

In the Tall Grass (2019) – Vincenzo Natali

In the Tall Grass a novella by horror legend Stephen King, and his son Joe Hill makes for a fascinating and unnerving watch, even if the film version leans towards a kind of happy ending that wasn’t even brushed on in the original source material. And speaking of, horror novels work on a whole different…

In the Tall Grass (2012) – Stephen King and Joe Hill

This week I decided to dig into something quick, and unnerving, and settled in for Joe Hill, and his father, Stephen King’s short novella, In the Tall Grass. And it’s wonderfully unnerving, bloody, and frightening. The concept of the story is so simple, and that is where some of the true horror lies. Cal and his…

The Mist (2007) – Frank Darabont

Thomas Jane takes the lead in Frank Darabont’s third adaptation and direction of a Stephen King novella, and the next title on the What Else to Watch list in DK Canada’s The Movie Book. Part of King’s short story collection, Skeleton Crew, this tale has always been one of my favorites, and while the novella…

At The Mountains of Madness (1931) – H.P. Lovecraft

Lovecraft’s unnerving novella, At the Mountains of Madness was my next read, and I can’t believe how much I enjoyed it. It’s dark, frightening, and immensely enjoyable. An Antarctic expedition finds something they don’t expect, and from there the tale descends into horror and madness. I feel that the story influenced the short story of…

Cycle of the Werewolf (1983) – Stephen King

Reading like a cross between Our Town and The Wolfman, Stephen King’s too short novella, Cycle of the Werewolf is on the Book Shelf this week. Serving as the basis of the 1985 film, Silver Bullet, Werewolf reads as a not fleshed out enough short story. That’s not to say it doesn’t work. It does….