I very much enjoyed all the stories included in this collection. The author has a great creep level and doesn't have to write with blood and guts to chill you. Great book. Fast read.

Stranger Things Have Happened is a likable collection of short stories for those of us that like all things creepy. A big plus for me is that Thomas Gaffney does not rely on blood, guts and gore to put the scare in his tales, instead he goes for the imagination. Thank you for that. The collection starts and ends with "...a story about a tree..., which ties things together nicely and if you think about it, might remind you that some horrors never really die...they are repeated in some way or another over and over throughout lifetimes and centuries.

The stories are well written and each one managed to hook me right away. I stayed interested until the end of each, even during the ones that I had pretty muich figured out early on, such as Ghost. I think that my favorite was probably Missing, there were some surprises in that one. Eight Days A Week gets my vote for the most unique.
A quick read and nice work by a promosing author.

#StrangerThingsHaveHappened #netgalley #reviewathon

Seven stories, with a snapshot at the start and end that nicely tie the collection together.
Some of the stories come across as complete, and others as if they would serve as the opener for longer works, Napkin in particular gives the sense that there is more to explore if the author wants to.

Highlight for me was The day Harold Sanford got cancer, a neat story that reminded me of the film Momento, both with the stories structure and with the way it revealed more the further back it went.

Overall an enjoyable collection of stories and well worth a read

I thought this was a great collection of short stories, the writing was really well done and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

3.5/5


STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED is a mashed-up horror anthology consisting of tales ranging from vampires to the paranormal. Most of the stories were well written, yet bland and lacked form. Gaffney’s writing shines in the final three, which I vigorously enjoyed. They are as follows:

THE DAY HAROLD SANFORD GOT CANCER-Ending was completely unexpected

MISSING-Satyrical observation on the Women Seeking Men online adds. Or perhaps, it’s ‘Something Else’ Seeking a Man.

FRAXINUS AMERICANA-The perfect short story for the seasonal summer to fall transition and brings out some natural beauty to this collection.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy for honest feedback.

This book gives you exactly what it promises: strange stories set in unremarkably normal settings. There were a few stories that hit the mark for me (Fraxinus set the tone and had me hooked, Ghost reminded me of my favourite childhood horror reads, Missing caught me off guard and Fraxinus Americana capped it off quite nicely).

If you're in the mood for stories that leave you equal parts confused, entertained and disturbed, then definitely pick this one up.

Oops. I shouldn't have requested this title. For some unknown reason, I loathe collections of short stories. I have tried time and again, but even from my favorite writers I cannot stand them. Will skip this one.