Bunny's Reviews: Bad Realities Review Spotlight

Welcome to the tour for Andrew Schrader's creeptastic collection, Bad Realities. Read on for more details!

Bad Realities is a collection of short stories of suspense, shock, and a touch of horror by Andrew Schrader. Each story is unique in it’s own way. With each one the author takes readers to twisted worlds where the apocalypse has struck, where horrors walk, and where the reality is more twisted than one would wish to truly experience.

The author gives you a taste in the blurb of his book, but what you find inside is more than what would could possibly hope for. Unless you’re looking for a lot of horrific events. Then you might be mildly disappointed, but one thing is for sure – the stories will keep you coming back for more.

Some are super short, only a couple of pages, but there is one that is a full story that gives you a beginning, middle and end. Yet it hints that there could be more.

The stories found inside this book will absolutely intrigue you. You’ll find yourself wondering about certain ones long after you’ve moved on to the next. You’ll wish that there was another one to connect back to one of the ones you’ve read previously. Just to get a little more of the characters, the scenarios told in that particular story. Some you will simply want a clarification as to what exactly is going on.

Regardless of what you find in these pages, you’ll find yourself pulled into the book and not allowed to “escape” until you have read the last page. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself wondering – could one of these be a “potential” future for our world. You just never know.

The two that stuck with me the most, I wouldn’t say that they were the most “twisted” but one for sure took me by surprise. The story titled “Family” paints such a picture that will find you smiling briefly. But the truth is a twisted reality that will take you by surprise. It’s interesting while highlighting a truth that many of us refuse to acknowledge. Technology – while a good thing, can create a twisted reality, one that better suits us, but is far from the truth.

Jack Nasty on the Wind is probably my favorite of the stories. It reminds me of another story that many of us read as children in a certain horror story collection. This particular story drew me in and kept me page-turning to find out what would happen next. The character lays out a thrilling story filled with horror, death, and fear. Part of you is going to want to dismiss it as something – nonsensical, until a particular piece of evidence is laid out for you. Then...that begins the slow jaw drop and you scooting to the edge of your seat. LOL! I loved it.

The blurb of this book is a nice teaser, but the good stuff? The really good stuff? Well, the author leaves those little gems tucked into the book for the reader to discover on their own.

No two stories in this collection are the same. Each one of them is unique and twisted. Bad realities for those who find themselves trapped inside those pages. Though, to be fair, not all of the realities are bad. Not at least in the way that we would think something is bad. There is one story that takes more a neutral stance. So you can think of that one as a – palate cleanser. Something to give you a brief refresher before you are taken and dropped into some new twisted reality.

Andrew Schrader has created a unique collection of stories that will pull at you to dive deeper. Some will tease you with the horrors that they contain in their pages. Others will have you contemplating the potential fall of the world as a whole. The one thing is for sure that these stories will have you coming back for more, and in some cases leave you with unanswered questions. Maybe one day they will be answered, maybe not. We’ll just have to see what the future holds.

For readers who enjoy books that mix of horror, post apocalypse, science fiction, and drama then this is the book to pick up. The blending of those genres in this book will have you eyeing this author for his next book to see what he brings to the table next. It will be like stepping into the Twilight Zone, but as a really good book. This is one book that I absolutely recommend if you are looking for something fun and twisted to check out. I’m sure that you’ll find something to enjoy in this novel.

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to the author, Andrew Schrader and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to what comes next!

Bad Realities: Stories of Shock and Suspense

Expected Publication Date: Spring 2023

Genre: Speculative Fiction/ Horror/ Suspense/ Sci-Fi

To avoid the apocalypse, a boy must cannibalize the dead in . . . THE IMPORTANCE OF EATING ERNEST

A Tarkagen barbarian returning home to retrieve an ancient elixir faces his own worst fears in . . . HONDO RANE AND THE CITY OF ILLUSION

After World War IV, a giant, radioactive floating brain haunts the wastelands. Can a psychic girl harness her powers long enough to stop it? . . . in THE FLOATING BRAIN.

Join these poor souls and many others as they struggle to survive in worlds gone wrong. Can you handle the shock? Or will their stories leave you in a crumpled heap, screaming in vain to escape.

Now Available on Amazon and Free for KU!

About the Author

Andrew Schrader is a Los Angeles-based author and film director known for his fascination with the stranger sides of human nature. He’s directed two feature films, music videos for bands Osees, Moon-Drenched, and White Reaper, and was a script consultant on “Afterlife,” a horror series for Crypt TV.

His three-book series, What Goes On In The Walls at Night, was featured on the Reddit No Sleep podcast and twice won the Red City Review Book of the Year for fantasy and horror. He also wrote several episodes of the animated show Tig n’ Seek. Bad Realities is his fourth book of short stories.

Yes, of course he loves cats.

Andrew J. Schrader