Binding: Digital
Label: Amazon
Manufacturer: Amazon
Number Of Pages: 23
Publication Date: 2006-08-16
Publisher: Amazon
Release Date: 2006-08-16
Studio: Amazon

The idea for “They” came to me on a winter evening at twilight when I peered out my living room window toward a snowstorm, only to be surprised by shadows moving behind the veil of snow. Low shadows. Swift. Large. At once, they were gone. Probably just my imagination, I decided. A trick of the fading light. Or maybe the shadows belonged to some dogs running past my house, eager to get out of the storm. But then my imagination kicked in. What if the shadows were real and belonged to something I needed to be afraid of, and what if I lived in something far less sturdy than the room from which I watched the shadows?

Customer Rating:
Summary: Creepy Little House on the Prairie
Comment: What happens if you cross Little House on the Prairie with Wolfen? Read this Amazon short and you'll find out.

This story is told from exactly the same perspective as Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie. The similarities abound. You've got Ma, Pa, and the log cabin. Except here the threats are Wolfen-like creatures that are constantly watching from the snowy shadows outside. And as this young girl struggles to survive, perhaps she comes to slightly different conclusions about her family members than Laura Ingalls does.

Life on this prairie is a little more dangerous.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Since Leiningen Versus the Ants
Comment: This terrific tale reminds me of the classic Leiningen versus the Ants in that it is a survival tale of man versus a powerful natural enemy. In this case, Morrell's hero is a boy, and the enemy a pack of fire scared canines, but the thrill is here as it is in Leiningen.

I've been a fan of Morrell's work for some time. This short story does not disappoint. If the story seems to end abruptly for some, one has to keep in mind that the epilogue would probably, if written, contain only that an absence of evidence was ever found, and that would be, in my opinion anti-climatic.

In any event, I think this maybe destined to be a classic tale of action and adventure, though it also falls into horror, and the western genre.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Chilling Tale from a Master Craftsman
Comment: THEY is a thoughtful story with page-turning quality which is well-crafted. I loved the story and how David Morrell brought together the different pieces of a high drama. It kept my attention. Would-be fiction authors (which seems to be plentiful at least in my circles) can learn great lessons in pacing and storytelling from careful study of this Amazon Short. I highly recommend it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Shortened too short
Comment: This story starts out fast paced and tries to cram too much into few pages, then ends predictably and cut short. The reader [meaning me anyway] ends up feeling like something was either left out or not completed to an end that gives closure...and jumping the story's main character to her present time does not obsolve the author promise of a good story. Nothing like the scary "reviews" others gave and was mildly amusing if anything, but definitely NOT scary. Given time and deeper thought this author could have had a masterpiece, instead we ended up with a story appropriately titled an Amazon SHORT.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Kept me reading
Comment: This was my first exposure to David Morrell, which I think is one of the goals of Amazon Shorts--to expose readers to authors they wouldn't ordinarily read. I like Morrell's style in They although the dialogue can be a bit confusing at times. The story is interesting, gripping, and suspenseful--kept me reading right through to the end. If you're looking for a creepy tale of wild demon dogs on the hunt, I highly recommend They.

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