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Everything Went to Shit: A Horror Collection
“R.E. Sargent never fails to entertain and chill the reader!”
-Richard Chizmar, Bestselling author of Chasing the Boogeyman
“R.E. Sargent is quickly becoming a force to reckon with on the horror scene.”
-Kevin J. Kennedy, Author of Halloween Land
It was just a matter of time!
Things seemed perfect in your fairytale world…almost too good to be true. But then it all changed in a heartbeat—in that one instant, everything went to shit.
Lock yourself inside a panic room and jump headfirst into this unique collection of horror A murdered radio DJ seeks vengeance from beyond the grave. A groom discovers his new wife isn’t all that she seemed to be. A serial killer is reunited with his long-lost kill tools, but is his secret out? A bully gets his comeuppance, but he becomes the least of his victim’s worries. A woman uses her body to get anything she wants, but is the price more than the men are willing to pay? A man finds himself repeatedly covered in blood, but it isn’t his. A man wakes up from a nightmare to find it has followed him into lucidity—will he figure out the source before it destroys him? Devastated after losing everything dear to him, a man extracts his revenge without even realizing it.
From the twisted mind of R.E. Sargent—enjoy these tales of danger, deceit, death, destruction, and debauchery, all in one collection.
-Richard Chizmar, Bestselling author of Chasing the Boogeyman
“R.E. Sargent is quickly becoming a force to reckon with on the horror scene.”
-Kevin J. Kennedy, Author of Halloween Land
It was just a matter of time!
Things seemed perfect in your fairytale world…almost too good to be true. But then it all changed in a heartbeat—in that one instant, everything went to shit.
Lock yourself inside a panic room and jump headfirst into this unique collection of horror A murdered radio DJ seeks vengeance from beyond the grave. A groom discovers his new wife isn’t all that she seemed to be. A serial killer is reunited with his long-lost kill tools, but is his secret out? A bully gets his comeuppance, but he becomes the least of his victim’s worries. A woman uses her body to get anything she wants, but is the price more than the men are willing to pay? A man finds himself repeatedly covered in blood, but it isn’t his. A man wakes up from a nightmare to find it has followed him into lucidity—will he figure out the source before it destroys him? Devastated after losing everything dear to him, a man extracts his revenge without even realizing it.
From the twisted mind of R.E. Sargent—enjoy these tales of danger, deceit, death, destruction, and debauchery, all in one collection.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 22, 2023
11 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
R.E. Sargent
39 books58 followersR.E. Sargent, the author of Relative Terror, One-Star Review and the Fury series, lives in Oregon with his wife, Sandi and their two fur children, Mason, a Bernese Mountain Dog, and Riley, a Chocolate Lab.
Born in California, R.E. spent most of his life living and working in Arizona, where he met his wife. Between them, they raised four sons. Talk about a lot of testosterone in the house!
An avid reader, R.E. fell in love with books when he was a child and the bug never went away. It was his love for the written word--and his admiration for authors such as Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Gregory Mcdonald, Paul Gallico, Donald Westlake and Roald Dahl--that persuaded him to write novels himself. Currently, he is working on the latest novel in the Fury - Scorned series.
When not working or writing, R.E. and his wife enjoy making trips to the coast and taking in the ocean air. Life doesn't get much better than watching the waves crash on the shore as the sun sets below the horizon. Well, maybe one of those drinks with the little umbrellas would make it better. You know what I mean, right?
Born in California, R.E. spent most of his life living and working in Arizona, where he met his wife. Between them, they raised four sons. Talk about a lot of testosterone in the house!
An avid reader, R.E. fell in love with books when he was a child and the bug never went away. It was his love for the written word--and his admiration for authors such as Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Gregory Mcdonald, Paul Gallico, Donald Westlake and Roald Dahl--that persuaded him to write novels himself. Currently, he is working on the latest novel in the Fury - Scorned series.
When not working or writing, R.E. and his wife enjoy making trips to the coast and taking in the ocean air. Life doesn't get much better than watching the waves crash on the shore as the sun sets below the horizon. Well, maybe one of those drinks with the little umbrellas would make it better. You know what I mean, right?
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 25, 2023
As the title suggests, this book is filled with shorts where everything falls apart in one way or another. Inside are nine tales that involve revenge, bullying, hauntings, and more. Each story is gripping and features a few supernatural elements along with bits of human depravity.
I thought each story was well written and had decent character development for a book of shorts. My favorite was Reunited. Sargent tosses in some twists on this one that starts to lead you one way and then completely changes direction and delivers the unexpected. Great buildup in this one!
I’d recommend this collection to any horror lover looking for some quick but entertaining reads.
I thought each story was well written and had decent character development for a book of shorts. My favorite was Reunited. Sargent tosses in some twists on this one that starts to lead you one way and then completely changes direction and delivers the unexpected. Great buildup in this one!
I’d recommend this collection to any horror lover looking for some quick but entertaining reads.
March 2, 2024
If I could give it more, I would. Brilliant storytelling. Rarely do you find a short story collection where all the stories are phenomenal. Highly recommend
August 13, 2023
Everything Went to Shit is a collection of nine short horror stories. All nine of them are five-star stories, in my opinion. Sargent’s writing style is smooth and precise. I liked how easy it was to get lost in these stories. Before I knew it, it ended so quickly and was a fantastic story to experience.
Daniel Volpe wrote the foreword and shares that he thinks this is a great collection for an intro to some extreme horror. However, the seasoned extreme horror readers will thoroughly enjoy this collection, too. I totally agree! A fabulous collection for everyone!
Killer Radio is about a DJ buying his first radio station. He has lots of plans, hopes and dreams with his new station. There are some folks though, that don’t like his music choices and make it clear they are not happy with his station. A truly awesome one-of-a-kind story.
‘Til Death Do Us Part is a love story, of sorts. Tyler meets the love of his life at a local coffee shop. Things are going great until they aren’t. The twist in this story was so unexpected and out there, I loved it!
Reunited is an amazing story of a mother mourning the loss of her daughter. An emotional and horrific story of mourning and revenge. This one really touched my heart, and it is still with me. I think this story is probably one of the best shorts I have read in years.
The next story, Lucy, is about Lucy who runs a business that helps people deal with unsavory types of other people. This is one of those catch-22 stories. Hopefully, when you read this one, you’ll see what I mean.
Shadow of Torment is a crazy story! A kid is constantly bullied and his online buddy helps him escape the torments of the abuse. He comes to rely on the companionship and support from his online buddy. Man, the outcome of this story… I didn’t see that coming at all!
No Sanctuary is another insane story with a twist. Kristen is in one of those love/hate relationships. I want this story to be a novel!! You get fear, gore, fire, revenge, and more!
A Shattered Mind. Subliminal messaging is turning a regular man into a mad-man! This story belongs on the Twilight Zone show. It has that weird, what-the-hell-is-happening-oh-my-god-did-I-do-that feeling.
Stayed Awake All Night is about a young man that can’t fall asleep because his nightmares are so surreal and he’s worried how real they feel. A fabulous story.
The House on the Hill. Woody is way down on his luck, but karma always has a way of sneaking in next door. I will say this is a great if-you-hate-your-job type story that’ll satisfy you, hehe.
I am excited to jump into some more of Sargent’s stories. He is a brilliant writer, and I enjoyed every moment in this book. I definitely recommend this one to all levels of horror readers!
Daniel Volpe wrote the foreword and shares that he thinks this is a great collection for an intro to some extreme horror. However, the seasoned extreme horror readers will thoroughly enjoy this collection, too. I totally agree! A fabulous collection for everyone!
Killer Radio is about a DJ buying his first radio station. He has lots of plans, hopes and dreams with his new station. There are some folks though, that don’t like his music choices and make it clear they are not happy with his station. A truly awesome one-of-a-kind story.
‘Til Death Do Us Part is a love story, of sorts. Tyler meets the love of his life at a local coffee shop. Things are going great until they aren’t. The twist in this story was so unexpected and out there, I loved it!
Reunited is an amazing story of a mother mourning the loss of her daughter. An emotional and horrific story of mourning and revenge. This one really touched my heart, and it is still with me. I think this story is probably one of the best shorts I have read in years.
The next story, Lucy, is about Lucy who runs a business that helps people deal with unsavory types of other people. This is one of those catch-22 stories. Hopefully, when you read this one, you’ll see what I mean.
Shadow of Torment is a crazy story! A kid is constantly bullied and his online buddy helps him escape the torments of the abuse. He comes to rely on the companionship and support from his online buddy. Man, the outcome of this story… I didn’t see that coming at all!
No Sanctuary is another insane story with a twist. Kristen is in one of those love/hate relationships. I want this story to be a novel!! You get fear, gore, fire, revenge, and more!
A Shattered Mind. Subliminal messaging is turning a regular man into a mad-man! This story belongs on the Twilight Zone show. It has that weird, what-the-hell-is-happening-oh-my-god-did-I-do-that feeling.
Stayed Awake All Night is about a young man that can’t fall asleep because his nightmares are so surreal and he’s worried how real they feel. A fabulous story.
The House on the Hill. Woody is way down on his luck, but karma always has a way of sneaking in next door. I will say this is a great if-you-hate-your-job type story that’ll satisfy you, hehe.
I am excited to jump into some more of Sargent’s stories. He is a brilliant writer, and I enjoyed every moment in this book. I definitely recommend this one to all levels of horror readers!
May 28, 2023
What a great collection of short stories. R.E. Sargent has compiled a wide range of themes and characters that's sure to grab hold of even the most die hard horror lovers. There's nothing to extreme here. That's not to say that it doesn't have its moments.
These stories run the gamut from werewolves, revenge, murder and everything in between. I highly recommend this one.
#booksfromthedoomsaloon
These stories run the gamut from werewolves, revenge, murder and everything in between. I highly recommend this one.
#booksfromthedoomsaloon
August 18, 2023
What a great collection of short horror stories!!
This is my first by R. E. Sargent and I know I'll definitely read more! I'd heard good things about the writing but didn't expect to be taken by surprise by almost all the stories.
What surprised me the most was the ability to write stories apparently very normal, but that then slapped you in the face unexpectedly with the twists! For every story I imagined how things would go and every time I was wrong and so far off from what I envisaged. I also loved the subtlety of how things turned and the psychological aspect throughout.
Really great collection of stories to be savoured in which every situation just go massively to s**t!!
Thanks to the author for the opportunity to read it and this is my honest review.
This is my first by R. E. Sargent and I know I'll definitely read more! I'd heard good things about the writing but didn't expect to be taken by surprise by almost all the stories.
What surprised me the most was the ability to write stories apparently very normal, but that then slapped you in the face unexpectedly with the twists! For every story I imagined how things would go and every time I was wrong and so far off from what I envisaged. I also loved the subtlety of how things turned and the psychological aspect throughout.
Really great collection of stories to be savoured in which every situation just go massively to s**t!!
Thanks to the author for the opportunity to read it and this is my honest review.
April 7, 2023
The writing style, dialog, well-drawn characters... reading this collection is like wearing my favorite, comfy clothes. There's nothing terrifying or extreme here, just 9 entertaining horror stories of multiple sub-genres. 💀
I enjoyed it! Those that I liked the best were:
Reunited - slasher
Shadow of Torment - revenge
House on the Hill - creature feature
I enjoyed it! Those that I liked the best were:
Reunited - slasher
Shadow of Torment - revenge
House on the Hill - creature feature
March 2, 2023
An interesting collection of stories. Recommended if you like horror. Read books from the author in the past and look forward to more.
May 5, 2023
R.E. Sargent doesn't hold anything back in his new collection of short stories, he gets your attention right from the start all the way through to the final sentence. He is another author that I wouldn't hesitate to read more from.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews