Rising Fears
Rising Fears book cover

Rising Fears

Paperback – February 3, 2011

Price
$9.99
Format
Paperback
Pages
192
Publisher
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1456599898
Dimensions
5.25 x 0.48 x 8 inches
Weight
9.9 ounces

Description

"The writing is superb. The characters are believable and sympathetic... the theme of a parent who's lost a child figures strongly; it's powerful stuff, and written from the perspective of experience that no one should ever have to suffer." (Christine Morgan, The Horror Fiction Review ) AN INTERVIEW WITH INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER MICHAELBRENT COLLINGS Q: What is your profession and how are you connected to the writing world? A: I am a writer. That's it. I used to be a moose wrangler, but the owners started complaining, saying things like "I don't need my mooses wrangled!" and "Leave my meese* alone" and "You know the restraining order applies to both me AND my moose!" So I gave it up and focused on writing. Also, writing has the huge bonus of being pants-optional, which is almost as cool a job perk as having a spacesuit. If I am ever offered a job as a writing astronaut whose spacesuit has no pants . . . WOW! But for now, I'm just a writer. I'm one of the top selling indie horror writers in the U.S., I sell pretty well in a number of other countries as well (bestseller in over 40 countries as of this writing), and I also work in Hollyweird as a screenwriter from time to time. But the moose... the moose will always have my heart. Q: What inspires you to write? A: The need to eat. xa0 Seriously, I do this for a living. And while occasionally that bolt of lightning strikes and the angels sing and dance upon my noggin while I scream "EUREKA" and dance naked atop a flagpole, usually it's just a matter of banging away on the keyboard. Because eating. Q: Tell us about your writing process. A: See above. I sit down with my computer and face off. There can be only one. xa0 Occasionally I square off with a pad of paper. There can still be only one. Q: What do you think about the future of book publishing? A: It will happen sometime after today. Q: What first attracted you to horror writing? A: Probably the chance to attract babes. Because nothing is quite as cool as going up to a random stranger at a party, leaning nonchalantly against a wall, and then saying, "I dream about interesting ways to murder people for a living. You have lovely skin. Very... skinnable..." xa0 Sigh. If only the world worked that way. High school would have been much better, and I would have spent way less time in the school therapist's office. Q: What's your opinion of writer's block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you 'cure' it? A: I never suffer from it.xa0 I actually have written a series of articles on it, one of them at michaelbrentcollings.com/2012.07.22.DiePoopBirdDie.html. Basically, I think that most people suffering from "writers block" are really suffering from "the idea that the first draft has to be perfect block."xa0 Just write, people!xa0 Write total dreck if you must, but write!xa0 Mistakes are what God invented the "delete" button for. Q: What do you do when you're not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks? A: I used to do a lot of martial arts and work out and play videogames.xa0 Now I'm a dad, so I do a lot of Dora the Explorer, Phineas and Ferd, and Voltron watching. Q: What's next for you? A: More writing! I've always got another book or two up my sleeve. Best way to keep abreast of what's next is to join my mailing list at eepurl.com/VHuvX. Those folks get first crack at new books and sales. Also, I will occasionally offer you a great home mortgage refinance rate and/or the opportunity to get in on an inheritance from a Saudi prince! Michaelbrent Collings is a novelist and screenwriter. He has written numerous bestselling horror, thriller, sci-fi, and fantasy novels, including Apparition, The Haunted, The Loon, and the YA series The Billy Saga (beginning with Billy: Messenger of Powers).He hopes someday to develop superpowers, or, if that is out of the question, then at least to get a cool robot arm.Michaelbrent also has a Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/MichaelbrentCollings and can be followed on twitter @mbcollings. Follow him for cool news, updates, and advance notice of sales. You will also be kept safe when the Glorious Revolution begins! Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Welcome to the town of Rising. A place where everyone knows everyone else. A place where no one locks their doors. A place where everyone's worst fears...are about to come true.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(107)
★★★★
25%
(89)
★★★
15%
(53)
★★
7%
(25)
23%
(82)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

From "The Horror Fiction Review"

As soon as I'd finished reading THE LOON, I chased down Michaelbrent Collings to rave about it, and he rewarded me with ANOTHER book! (I love this job!).

RISING FEARS is his take on the one-mysterious-night-in-a-small-town story. The small town in this instance is Rising, Washington ... where everyone is neighborly, everyone looks out for one another, and everyone is afraid of something.

In fact, that's why these people live in their nice small town: most of them are afraid of something, hiding out from or on the run from or avoiding facing the fears of the outside world. Even those who can't wait to get out harbor their own inner dreads, secret terrors, awful memories and private phobias.

Things aren't about to work out so well for the good folks of Rising. They're about to find out that some fears can't be hidden from, run from or avoided. Not when the fears come from inside. Not when they're becoming all too real. Real enough to kill.

The writing is superb. The characters are believable and sympathetic (well, except for one, but she's supposed to be a selfish little snot so it's okay to not like her very much). Once again, the theme of a parent who's lost a child figures strongly; it's powerful stuff, and written from the perspective of experience that no one should ever have to suffer.

The story's reminiscent of Koontz' PHANTOMS, streamlined to the essentials. Though I may sometimes get teasing flack for "clobbering" Koontz these days, back when PHANTOMS came out he was at the top of his game so I definitely intend it as a compliment!
4 people found this helpful
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Gripping and Primal

Unexplained and bizarre deaths in small-town Washington trap the sheriff and a local teacher, forcing them to confront evil without and within. I can't read novels that don't actually tell stories; this book was hard to put down, hooking me at the end of every chapter and driving me to the end with relentless suspense, mystery and terror. By the end I felt like I knew a little more about what it meant to be human... and I also couldn't fall asleep without the blanket pulled all the way up to my neck.
4 people found this helpful
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Rising Fears Chills Audiences

Rising Fears is best epitomized by the description given by
its small town sheriff; namely, " Small towns are about fear
either fear to leave or fear of whatever made you run there
in the first place". Michaelbrent Collings captures the
folksiness of a small town in Rising, Washington. For instance,
the local schoolhouse is the center of the universe on
Friday evenings. Small town gossip continues unabated.

The story begins when Amy-Lynn Rand, her husband Ron and
Sean Rand (son) move from California to Rising, Washington.
The Olympic Mountains is the setting for the impending drama
that ensues with growing certainty. High drama begins when
Sean-Rand disappears suddenly leaving a trail of blood and
no corpse. The drama increases when Jason examines the basement
and finds blood everywhere as though a monster's claws gutted
the boy.

The characters Jason and Ron are presented as local townsmen
that bury their own children. Lenore Harris, a local educator
experiences the stresses of a great loss and the unknown
facts which surround the disappearance of Sean Rand.

Adding to the drama is the mysterious appearance of
childishly drawn words in the darndest places.
For instance, " WE'RE NeXt " is written on Jason's notes.
"I wil be first" appears on Jason's computer screen.

Rising Fears captures the small town character of Rising,
Washington, its people, the surrounding countryside and
the high drama of a mysterious happenstance. The story
is a quick read in two hours or less and is written in
the light literature or belles lettres style. The suspense
builds from the very beginning of the book.

The reader suspects but does not know for sure whatever
happened to Sean Rand. Was he killed by a wild animal
in the basement? Was the event a murder by a hardened
criminal? Does Sean Rand ever return? Was the whole
occurrence just a bad dream? Read the book and draw
your own conclusions.
3 people found this helpful
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This book must be bought

This is the kind of book that is perfect for someone like me, aka/ someone that doesn't actually like horror. It's short enough that reading it doesn't ever stray into torture, and intense enough that there is no physical way to put it down and go to sleep. If you're a slow reader (like me) you will be up into the early morning hours reading.

WARNING: Recommend having cat, or other such pet around while reading. They will help keep you from dying of fright.
3 people found this helpful