On creepy nostalgia, short-form horror, and getting a peek inside Jeneva Rose’s mind
Book Details
Title: Sometimes I Scare Myself
Author: Jeneva Rose
Genre: Horror / Short Stories
Themes: Fear, suspense, dark humor, the uncanny, horror nostalgia
The Premise
Not all nightmares come from sleep. Some come from bestselling author Jeneva Rose.
Three horror stories.
A dinner party. A quiet house. A roadside stop.
You’ll recognize the setup. You won’t recognize what comes next.
My Review
I already enjoy Jeneva Rose as a suspense and thriller writer, so seeing her step into the horror genre with Sometimes I Scare Myself was such a fun change. There’s something entertaining about getting a peek inside the mind of an author who already knows how to make you uneasy, and this collection felt like seeing her play with a darker, stranger side of that.
I also loved that she chose to do a collection of short stories. It immediately reminded me of the scary short-story books so many of us grew up reading in the ’90s; the kind you could finish quickly but that still managed to leave something unsettling behind.
Short stories are usually a hard sell for me. More often than not, they feel too brief to give me enough character, atmosphere, or payoff to really care about what happens. Somehow, Rose managed to avoid that here. Every story gave me enough to feel satisfying without overstaying its welcome, which is not an easy thing to pull off.
I also think horror is such a natural fit for short fiction. Not every creepy idea needs hundreds of pages. Sometimes a strange premise, a quick escalation, and one unsettling ending are more than enough.
Final Thought
Overall, this collection reminded me why Jeneva Rose is an auto-buy author for me. I’ll follow her into suspense, thrillers, horror, or whatever genre she decides to wander into next. I also thought it was really cool that the physical book is a ouija board (hint: look under the cover).
Rating: 3/5 Stars
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
