Title: Footsteps in the Dark
Subtitle: Stories of the Bizarre and Unusual
Author: Carlo Armenise
Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.
ISBN: 1478786736
Pages: 138
Genre: Supernatural / Horror Fiction
Reviewed by: Manik Chaturmutha
Hollywood Book Reviews
Footsteps in the Dark: Stories of the Bizarre and Unusual is a collection of eight short stories, ranging from supernatural to thrillers. These eight stories are based on human flaws.
In today’s world, many people are driven by greed and materialism, making them do anything to get what they want. Author Carlo Armenise portrays this in every story. In each story or step, as the author named them, the protagonist delves into the extremes to fulfil their wants but understands these obsessive thoughts have violent consequences. That is where the fine line between a want and an obsession comes into play.
In the second story, The Potion, Mona Moore is a forty-year-old leading actress in Hollywood. Her obsessive need to look young and beautiful makes her paranoid about the upcoming actresses. Her character comes off as cold and unwelcoming; she is scared because her career is on the line. It is also the same case with Norman in the fourth story, Best Laid Plans. He does not worry about his failed marriage but desperately tries to live longer to build his research career. This makes one question whether this obsession is justifiable when there is a valid dream behind it. Does it make us evil when we take on any path to achieve this dream?
This book is a great mix of a collection of stories. The stories all have a dark and eerie undertone in the plot, making you feel oddly uncomfortable anticipating a shocking turn of events. With every character working on a broken moral compass, it makes you see the world from a bleak and selfish point of view. This narcissism seen in them can make one irritated by the characters, but a part of you cannot help but relate to them. It is a real page-turner, with curiosity getting the better of you as the narration of some of these stories keeps you hooked, so much so that even if Armenise chose to describe an empty sky for fifteen pages, you would still want to know more. The comical way in which the absurdity of the people in this capitalistic world is hiding behind sarcasm and snide remarks is hard to miss. However, as bizarre and unusual as these stories’ plots are, bizarreness drop towards the end.
Overall, this book is a fun read with realistic characters that checks our idea of what is good and evil. Readers wanting to read dark and unsettling stories would enjoy this book. The narration and setting of the story make the book worth reading. What Armenise does with his writing and the feeling he leaves the readers with is impressive for a short story.