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His writing really makes you feel like a kid again. A wonderful collection from a unique and highly-skilled writer.
I couldn't finish this book. I made it to through the first (5) short stories before I gave up. The stories were a bit juvenille to me and not the least bit scary or chilling.
As delightfully strange and wonderfully Bradbury-esque as the first time.
There are more things strange herein than the mere subject matter...So I was thrilled to see that "Toybox" had finally been released for Kindle, as it's been out of print for a little while. Even more so, since it's coming up on Halloween and his spooky stories would be just the thing to get me in the mood. As with any collection of short stories, some definitely outshine the others. "Snow" and "The Corn Dolly" really stood out to me, although I have to say "Children of Cain" was probably the be...
I've never really been a fan of Sarrantonio's longer work, but I'd never tried out his short fiction before, and in the intro to this book, Joe R. Lansdale talks about how awesome these stories are. I respect Lansdale a lot, so I hoped this collection would turn me around. In many ways it did. Sarrantonio has an amazing style, and he's a great writer. I'm hard pressed to think of a living writer who does atmosphere so well. But there is a problem: almost all of these stories are about kids. I ca...
General CommentsAl Sarrantonio is a clear admirer of Ray Bradbury, capturing a similar measure of flowery prose as well as weaving tales of dark fantasy from the perspective of a child. Yet Sarrantonio lacks the narrative variety or the mature thematic complexity of Bradbury - most of the stories within this collection are too simplistic and they begin to echo one another far too often. That's not to say none rise above this criticism (a few do), but they strike the same simple notes repeatedly....
This is a fairly solid collection of short horror stories. As with any collection, there's a few misfires. Wished and Snow are also a bit similar, but spaced out enough that it's not a huge problem. Worth a look if you're looking for kind of a young adult Twilight Zone type feel.
This is the worst, most poorly written book I've started in, in, I don't even know how long. It's terrible. I picked it up because the short story Wish was recommended on a Kindle board. Not a good idea. It reads like the 80's reworked Twilight Zone. Blech.
There are some decent stories, some really good stories, and a few plain old bad stories. It isn't so much his writing, but the ideas behind the stories that make or break them. His writing is good, his plots, not always.
Al Sarrantonio, Toybox (Leisure, 2011)Sarrantonio has written the odd novel over the course of his career, but his strength, to me, has always been short stories. I first encountered Sarrantonio back in an old Year's Best Horror collection (I think it was in 1980, but don't quote me, and yes, I bought it new). Sarrantonio's story closed the volume. It was called “Pumpkin Head”. I don't recall my twelve-year-old self being overly impressed with it at the time, but the story's final, somewhat myst...
This is a mixture of children's and adult short horror stories. Favorite being the first entitled Pumpkin Head."My lunch and dinner." "My dinner and breakfast."Definitely would have been creeped out reading it when I was 10 plus years old. The nuances, however, in many of the stories, would have passed over me.
This is my first Sarrantonio collection. I've read some of his anthologies before, and I love his editing. Toybox is split in two parts. The first part didn't initially stand out to me. The stories were short and seemingly simple little campfire horror stories, sometimes with predictable endings. Fun, but usually not something that'd stick long in my mind. Reaching the end of the section, though, I started to realize that Sarrantonio had consistently evoked this "wholesome" Americana feel. The m...
I've never read anything by Sarrantonio before, his style is different from anything I've ever read. Anthologies are hard to rate there's always some stories I enjoy more than others so I decided just to name off my favorites.1. Pumpkinhead 2. Wished3. The Corn Dolly, this is probably my favorite 4. Snow5. Father Dear, a close second 6. Children of Cain7. Red EveHis writing is unique and while some of it wasn't up my alley I do plan on checking out some of his other books.
Holy crow, these stories are seriously creepy! The author must be very interesting to talk to, because he uses language in such a charming way that it occasionally takes me out of the story just so that I can sit back and enjoy that last sentence for a sec. But the stories are insidious. It's okay to lose focus; you'll be back in the vortex in no time.
Sarrantonio is a gifted writer. His descriptive powers are unbelievable. He's the type of author that makes you shiver and "see" exactly what he is writing about. The stories are not bad either! So far, I've really liked three of them. These are worth reading, though, for the imagery and description alone; it is always excellent. And he doesn't use gobs of description, adjectives, etc either... just the right amount to bring you the world in sharp edges and shadows when needed.
Very funI had a great time reading this. I will buy more from this author. The. Short stories were well written and fun
Should have read this one instead of the audiobook but it was still a good listen.
This short story collection was like most I have read. A few good stories amongst a lot of crap. Mostly it was crap. I've not much to say about it. Other than not really all that worth reading.
