In "A New Offering of Mini-Short Stories," author Leif E. Trondsen returns from a brief literary hiatus to offer up a compilation of ten "creepy tales for nighttime reading." Six of these mini-short stories, those bite-sized tales comprising some 500-2,500 words, are draw from Trondsen's prior fictional works. Additionally, the author includes four new and never published ones, including "The Painting," which some critics regard as his best work to date. All these creepy tales, however, should provide many a sleepless night to their readers.

Part One of the book features seven stories that Trondsen refers to as "Victorian Gothic Tales." All these mini-short stories, therefore, take place against the backdrop of Victorian England (1837-1901), one cotemporaneous with the writings of Charles Dickens as well as the height of the Industrial Revolution and British imperial glory. All, moreover, are Gothic in genre. This literary term denotes an air of "gloom, grotesqueness, mystery, and decadence." There also exists an atmosphere of repressed or even overt sensuality, especially in the Gothic tales of the Victorian fin de siècle. Decay, as exhibited in both the physical surroundings (old castles, manor homes, graveyards) and the moral character of the protagonists, is another salient feature of this unique form of literature. The supernatural, however, need not be present at all, although ghosts and vampires do make their appearance in some of these spook stories. In Part Two, Trondsen includes three traditional horror stories, set in a variety of venues in both time and place, which all contain supernatural visitations from the dark realm.

The ten mini-short stories included in this volume thus have a Gothic atmosphere or feel as a common central element. All, moreover, conclude with Trondsen's tell-tale "twist" endings, in the style of his favorite short story writers Edgar Allen Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Saki, and O. Henry. A sampling of these new mini-short stories includes: "The Governess," a harrowing Victorian Gothic tale of a new governess and the "unusual" child for whom she must care and tutor; "The Phantom Lover," another haunting Victorian Gothic tale involving a young married woman wooed by a mysterious ghostly lover; "The Apparition," a tale of forbidden love and bloody revenge involving a New England farmer who enters into an "unlawful tryst" with a ghostly apparition; and "Abigail," a frightening story about a hapless married man who purchases a haunted doll on e-Bay to jump-start his new career as a paranormal investigator. These mini-short stories are intended to "entertain, inspire, enlighten, challenge, and, yes, even shock their readers."

Beautifully set in Perpetua type and illustrated with color photographs, "A New Offering of Mini-Short Stories" is a welcome literary departure from the traditional Gothic or horror story. Read these "creepy tales" alone at night - if you dare!