“An assortment of jolts, abominations, and shaken nerves that readers won’t soon forget.”
Kirkus Reviews
The house at the end of the block with the overgrown lawn. The darkened store window in a forgotten corner of the shopping mall. The colorful characters of a children's TV show. What dark secrets do they hide?
From award-winning author Christopher Hawkins come thirteen tales of the horrors lurking right next door.
A shut-in sets out to make a new life for himself by losing weight at the point of a scalpel.
A store clerk with a mannequin obsession hides a macabre and tragic secret.
A master thief tries for one last score in a house that doesn't want him to leave.
Two friends learn the hard way that having superpowers doesn't always make you a hero. It might just make you a monster.
A lonely painter finds freedom with the help of something lurking beneath the ocean waves.
At turns whimsical and somber but always unsettling, this debut collection of short horror stories is essential reading from a rising voice in dark literary fiction.
“A masterfully written collection of dark and uniquely disquieting tales. Some tales collected here are bizarre and whimsical. Others are distressing and uncomfortable. Regardless, each tale is brilliantly tethered by an absolute truth: there is darkness lurking inside each person you pass on the street. Peel back the gristle and behold the exquisite void waiting for you beneath the skin…”
Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes
“Each of the stories in SUBURBAN MONSTERS is a masterful exercise in building tension and creating a sense of unease, as author Christopher Hawkins delves into the dark, twisted inner lives of characters who may not be all they seem.”
IndieReader (Starred Review)
“Human fiends and supernatural ones collide in Hawkins’ Suburban Monsters. Shows us that beneath any facade of normalcy, strange things lurk, just waiting to sink their teeth in. Christopher Hawkins loves turning over rocks and showing us the grotesque, squirming things underneath, and you’ll have a hard time looking away.”
Brian Asman, author of Man, F*ck This House
“Hawkins’s bold premises and deft followthrough create gut-wrenching tension sure to thrill horror enthusiasts... Throughout, visceral imagery brings the terror to life: readers will hear the “wet gurgle” and see the “blossom of brownish red” liquid spreading out. Killer opening lines such as “It was the blood that changed everything” make the twisted and ominous worlds inviting.”
Booklife
“Harrowing and irresistible. A terrific collection of short stories that unmasks the horror lurking in everyday humanity. You’ll never look at your neighbors in the same way again.”
Brian Pinkerton, author of The Nirvana Effect
“These are more than horror stories; these are little word grenades that roll quietly into the closet of your mind… only to explode later! I may never forget the last lines of “A Candle For The Birthday Boy,” perhaps the perfect closer to this incendiary collection. Read at your own risk.”
John Everson, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Five Deaths for Seven Songbirds and NightWhere
“Reading Christopher Hawkins’ Suburban Monsters is like walking down a street in a dark neighborhood at night with the windows lit and curtains, some of them, parted. Terrible things go on inside, but out here you’re safe, except then there’s a soft sound behind you, and then another. The faces in all those windows turn, and you are seen.”
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