Tales from 2 A.M.
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Nominated for the 2005 Minnesota Book Award: Best Short Story Collection
Two A.M.
A time when someone can’t sleep.
The darkest time of the night.
These are tales for such times, from such times.
These tales will not let you will sleep soundly. They will not let you lie on the comfortable mattress that is your life. They will make you dream with your eyes wide open.
These are tales of vampires and vengeance, of biological engineering and ghosts, of astronauts escaping the past and of young people fearing the future. Bitterness, betrayal, and murder lurk within these pages.
But all is not dark. The dawn will come. These are also stories of hope. Of second chances. Of redemption.
Look! It’s two o’clock in the morning.
Time to read.
"Schreiber has a wide range of imagination and the talent to put it into words. . . . His imagination invents word pictures that spark the mind to envision a screen larger than Hollywood is capable of."
– News-Enterprise, December 1, 2004
* * * *
What others are saying about Hillcrest Journal:
“Skillfully told . . . very realistic . . . recommend not only to teenage readers but also to parents who may have a slightly hazy recollection of adolescence.”
— West Concord Enterprise
What others are saying about Passing Through Paradise:
“Tough to put down. The themes are masterfully interwoven.”
— Byron Review
Helpful Link:
Schreiber has posted some of his published articles, essays, and poems along with book group discussion questions for Tales from 2 A.M. at John Schreiber´s Books
Customer Reviews
Fantastic Variety of Short Stories
The variety of stories surprised me (very different from Schreiber's novels), but kept me reading: horror, science fiction, and realistic. In tone they varied too. The initial stories are vintage horror, but even a little humor is tossed. As the stories progress, Schreiber seemed to arrange them to bounce between more experimental styles and more traditional styles. There's also a sort of chronological order to them--but I don't want to give any surprises away--just know that the Methuselah Brown stories deserve a book by themselves.
This is the perfect collection to buy for someone who likes great writing and interesting stories. I don't know what else to compare it to because it's so unique--maybe early Bradbury? Serling? All I can say is that it would make a great gift for Halloween, Christmas, or Easter. It fits all three.
Overall, the stories build on each other--darker stories in the beginning and more encouraging ones toward the end. Highly recommended! Glad to see that it's available as an epub book! Thanks, Apple.
Breakdown of stories: "Me and Josh and Gideon' -- vampire story told with several twists and use of vampires as metaphors ; "Of Ghosts" -- MN ghost story on the Mississippi; "to-ate" -- sad tale of genetic engineering; "Monsters in Paradise" was an enjoyable, lighter adventure story; "Three Blind Mice" -- stream of consciousness/sci-fi/adventure mix; the three Methuselah Brown stories--great page-turners; "Maiden Rock" a prequel to novel "Passing Through Paradise" (and look into a dark marriage); "On the Banks of Babylon" -- morality fantasy. The play at the end was a nice addition.