The Horror Library - The Best in Horror Fiction

"100 Jolts" by Michael A. Arnzen - A *No Spoilers* Review
By R.J. Cavender

If you're not familiar with multi-Bram Stoker Award Winner Michael A. Arnzen, I can't think of any better place to start reading his work than his collection "100 Jolts - Shockingly Short Stories". It's a rare occasion that I find a horror collection that is both consistently entertaining and also an educational experience, but this book delivers all that and much more.

On the entertaining side, Arnzen has offered forth a collection of flash and micro-fiction that is to be rivaled by few. The stories range from just a few paragraphs to a few pages in length, and the ideas he presents within these small spaces are nothing short of revolutionary. Arnzen can accomplish in a few simple words what it takes others pages of rattling on to get around to.

I first became aware of Arnzen years ago when a friend sent me a link to his website (another Bram Stoker Winner), Gorelets.com. Samples of his work are freely available to read online as well as a newsletter and one of the most entertaining horror/author websites I've ever seen.

But, I would clearly suggest that not only the horror fan get "100 Jolts", but I would also recommend this collection even more so for the horror writer. I found myself occasionally wondering exactly where this guy comes up with all his ideas. I mean, 100 stories is a lot to commit to for a flash-fiction collection, but almost each and every one of these little 'shockers' delivers the goods in a refreshingly sick and twisted way.

This book is inspirational for the horror writer in much the same vein as "On Writing" by Stephen King or "On Writing Horror" by Mort Castle and various writers of the Horror Writers Association. With each turn of the page, I found myself thinking of new and inspired ideas based on some of the perverse and haunting thoughts that Arnzen puts down on the pages here.

Arnzen also lists a regular section in his newsletter called "Instigations", where he offers up a sentence or two of twisted prompts for the horror writer and will gladly place a link to any stories published that were created from using his prompts. It seems that Arnzen is just as interested in entertaining as he is in inspiring other authors, and nothing says that more than the fact that he's a graduate studies professor for "Writing Popular Fiction" at Seton Hill University. His work just has a way of inspiring creativity, in both small and large doses.

I'm going to refrain from listing story titles and ideas in this review, hence the *no spoiler* moniker on the title of this page. But, I can assure you that this collection will be a treasured favorite for any collector of horror literature and indispensable reference material for any writer, horror genre or not.

To check out Michael A. Arnzen's website, "Gorelets" go to: www.gorelets.com