fuonlyknew

Welcome to My Monday Minis.

This is where I review very short stories and flash fiction.

For today I’ll be telling you about The Harvesters

by Ashley Hill

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You get all of the ingredients for a good horror story. A thunderstorm, a rustic old cabin deep in the woods and some really creepy characters. There’s the huge shambling guy with the axe, the sly shotgun wielding old man, and the creepy kids.

I think the kids creeped me out the most. It had me thinking Blair Witch, when they hear the weird voices outside their tent and the kids giggling and slapping the tent.

The Harvesters is relentless and you land right in the thick of it from the get go.

Ash creeps around in the cellar of the ratty cabin and finally spots her boyfriend, Jason. He’s manacled to a metal table.

From this point on, I girded myself for what was coming.

Ash manages to get his hands free before this huge man throws an axe at her. She heeds Jason’s warning and hightails it but is rushed by a little kid. She sweeps past him and slams the door of the cellar shut behind her.

That’s when she hears the whispering.

She rushes to the truck outside, but, of course, there are no keys. A vision flashes in her head of the keys hanging on a hook inside the cabin.

This is where I wonder what I would’ve done. We know the warnings for these scenes. “Don’t go back inside!” But if your true love is lying in there, helpless, about to be carved up, what else can you do?

So, in she goes again.

From the very beginning it’s a mad dash through this short story.

You’ll get to read about it from two points of view. Ash narrates most of the story, but Jason does have his own side to tell.

Then their story meets again as they struggle to survive multiple attacks with no help for miles in any direction.

 I was thinking serial killers or a family of cannibals maybe. I’m still not sure exactly what they wanted from Ash.

That brings me to the ending. It’s a cliffhanger and a big one. I kind of saw it coming, but I think I would have been disappointed if it wrapped up neatly.

This way, I get to look forward to more. I wonder if one of the next books will be about Jason. He has a dark past and I think his story would be harrowing.

We’ll see.

3 Stars

Go here to check out the trailer!

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