Stephen King recommended author. He says: "Who's the scariest guy in America? Probably Jack Ketchum."and"He is, quite simply, one of the best in the business, on par with Clive Barker, James Ellroy, and Thomas Harris."and“Ketchum has become a kind of hero to those of us who write tales of horror and suspense. He is, quite simply, one of the best in the business.”

Will leave reviews as I work my way through, not necessarily in order. (Format is: star rating out of five, denoted by the number of *, followed by the title of the story being reviewed)***** The Rifle Ketchum pulls no punches, kicking this collection off with a 12 page roundhouse to the brain. Kids with...um... problems, always a good premise for horror and the master delivers the goods with understated elegance on this one.*** The BoxNicely written eerie tale, once again about kids with proble...

It's Ketchum...what else needs to be said? The guy makes the rest of us who write feel like we don't have a clue how to tell a story. Miss you, Dallas!

I love Jack Ketchum, I really do! Whether it's a short story, his old hustler porn stories, or his novels, I love them all! This book really shows how great he is. While I didn't enjoy every story, most of them were truly awesome. Especially Gone, Sundays, The Box...he is the best!

A vast array of mediocre stories, with one or two diamonds in the rough to make it almost worthwhile. SNAKES stands head and shoulders above the rest--not only did it have me on the edge of my seat, it even creeped me out a little. CLOSING TIME is a nice melodrama that packs a nasty bite. THE WORK was also interesting, in that Ketchum is obviously writing about much of his own career. As for the rest of these tales, I could, for the most part, take 'em or leave 'em. Virtually all of them start o...

Amazing imagery from Jack Ketchum--He can phrase something so skillfully that I have to stop and laugh, or reread, or shiver.1. Cowboys around a fire, pondering an unpleasant reality, from the story "Luck":They passed the bottle and moments passed silent and sullen as kicked dogs...2. This is my long dark night of the soul?, from the story "Chain Letter":His Gethsemane bored him.3. Your significant other leaves again, and this time, you realize, is the last time, from the story "The Exit at Tole...

This is one of those books that I did not want to end. I've read a bunch of Ketchum's novels, but this was my first foray into his short stories. He does not disappoint! The stories cover an array of genres and themes, but all have one thing in common: superior writing and the ability to hook the reader from the opening paragraph. Probably my favorite is "The Work." I won't spoil it, but will say that especially for authors, this story will shake you up. This is a beautiful collection of vicious...

As is the case with every collection of short stories, this one has it's tops and it's bottoms. There are some really good ones in here; The Box, Closing Time, Gone. Mostly, there are OK to good stories that's enjoyable for a reading. No story in here is a complete waste of time, even though some of them didn't really get to me. For Ketchum, this isn't as gruesome as one couldve expected, but there sure are some harsh bits in this one.

It took me three months to work my way through this 400+ page collection because I wanted to savor each and every word. Ketchum could write about anything and turn it into something special. Highly recommended!

This eclectic collection of short stories (mostly variations of horror, very broadly defined) features some good ones, some mediocre ones, and some simply bizarre ones, like the incest story that turns into a zombie story. You have to give Ketchum points for nerve, though.

Well... I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It certainly was a collection of brutally horrific stories, which I guess is what I expected from Jack Ketchum. But there's something so much more upsetting about his style in short story format. I can't really put my finger on it but I think in his books you know everyone's going to die and you have time to get comfortable with that, so when it happens you're like "ah well I knew they were all doomed." Here, where every story is 3-10 page...

Thank god Books-A-Million keeps their Ketchum novels in the buy two get one free bin; not that this makes his work a bargain, but it let’s me look back on the wasted time and wasted money, and the time I wasted at work making that money….nevermind, it depresses me. Let’s just say his work is largely a fucking waste of effort.I’ve given Ketchum’s work several chances, all novels (Off Season, The Lost, Red) and of course the free short stories/novellas they include in his books in order for the pe...

Now that I'm done reading this book, I can safely say it is one of the worst books I've ever read. Some people are excellent at writing short stories, but unfortunately, Mr. Ketchum is not one of them. He says it himself that his writing is all over the place, and in some cases, that's not a bad thing. Some authors are capable of writing about many-a-subject, and some authors even do it well. Jack Ketchum, however, is good at violence. He's good at shocking. But the subject matters he attempts t...

Although Jack Ketchum is one of my favorite horror writers working today this collection of stories is a hit and miss. Some of the stories here are astoudinly brutal, like the first in the collection "The Rifle", where a mother discovers the horrible truth about her ten year old son or "The Visitor" where a man visits the hospital room his wife died in day after day to watch over the next occupants pass away. But there are some pointless ones here too. "Chain Letter" seemed a little muddled in w...

We're gonna go through this bad Larry and review every short story. Buckle up.The Rifle- A rather dark and disturbing opener, but also extremely well written, about what happens when a mother discovers that her son has some rather nasty hobbies he performs in his clubhouse. It's harrowing, and a pretty good indicator about whether or not this collection, or Jack Ketchum as a whole, is something you want to continue reading.The Box- This is the first of two Bram Stoker award winning stories in th...

The name Jack Ketchum is notorious for extreme sex and violence in fiction (see my review of Right to Life). As an avid reader of short fiction, I was looking forward to digging into Peaceable Kingdom, and was anxious to see how it would compete with my other favourite short collections, Dreadful Tales by Laymon, Nightmares and Dreamscapes by King, and The Collection by Little.As outlined by Ketchum in the introduction to this book, be prepared for a variety of different genres in this great col...

Be warned, all kinds of uncomfortable topics are covered in this collection of short stories. Jack Ketchum writes like the devil, it's gritty, edgy and I like the writing a whole lot, as far as terror and suspense go. The problem with this is I think there are just too many stories lumped together (30+) and while some were great, others were passable and one too many just left me feeling unsatisfied. The writing builds the tension higher and higher and it feels like you're watching a balloon bei...

One of the best short story collections I have ever read.

Having read a couple Jack Ketchum novels, I wanted to check out some of his short stories. Most horror authors that I've come to enjoy have collections like this and it's usually a pretty enjoyable experience. Sometimes the stories are hit-or-miss but I've come to expect that with short story collections. I'm not exactly sure how to explain my reaction to this book, but I don't know if hit-or-miss qualifies here.The stories were...interesting. If you're looking for something that lives in the da...