I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher BHC Press in exchange for an honest review.

Ordinary Souls is a horror short story collection, supposedly about normal people in abnormal situations but this doesn't really ring true. However, it's a neat collection regardless and I found the majority of the stories interesting. There's quite a large range so I'm going to go over some of the standout ones now.

The Mirror-A woman buys an antique mirror with a dark twist. I liked this story and it was pretty solid but there was a massive plot hole/confusion that I couldn't overlook. So initially the mirror is said to show the future. Later on, it's revealed that it actually shows your deepest fear and the narrator fears the future which is why she sees that. But then at the end, it is showing the future again for different characters? It really bothered me.

The Ghosts of Memory-A group of students go investigate an abandoned house and creepy stuff happens. This was a really solid story, fantastically paced and intriguing. The narrator was a little dense but this was definitely one of my favourites of the collection.

Journal Entry from the End of the Universe-A woman who becomes immortal writes diary entries. A pretty great take on the concept of immortality but I feel like the ending lacked a little detail. I wanted to know more about the future than was discussed, and I think that would have helped this story be even more original in concept.

The Author, the Lonely Walker, and the Class-This is basically three stories in one: a short story, sections from the POV of the author and then sections focused on a classroom discussing the short story in an academic setting. There was a really interesting concept at play her but sadly I didn't find the short story discussed all that compelling. It was a good idea though!

Maria-A couple are looking at a plain painting which appears black to one of them and white to the other. Then it ends. I was so into this story but it is waaaay too short. I don't even know what was meant to be going on and it fell so flat because of that. It's such a shame because it had a great concept. And why was it called Maria? It makes no sense.

There are 16 stories in total so this is by no means a comprehensive list but these are the ones I felt like I had something to say about them. All in all, it's a fair collection but there were sadly a lot of stories which didn't gel with me. Three are related to other works by the author so I felt like I would be missing stuff if I tried to read them. There is also a fair amount of sci fi or other things which don't quite fit the horror genre so just be aware of that as well.

Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Short story collections can be very hit or miss for me, because well they are short and usually just a taste of a story. I judge them on if I enjoyed reading them and if they make me want to read more by the author, This collection was a yes on both counts. Each of the stories left me wanting them to be longer, I was invested in the characters/situations and I think that makes them good short stories. I would definitely read more by this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this wonderful book. The stories are either scary, makes you think, thrilling or something in between. My favorites were Imaginary Friend, Journal Entry and Weary Traveler although it was hard to pick out a favorite. There wasn't a story that wasn't a fun read. Give this a try if you like a little horror in your life.

****Review*****



Short-twisted stories.


Perfect if you only have a few moments to yourself. A wide variety of short stories that hold you enthralled from start to finish. Thanks to these short stories I know have three other books by the same author I am going to read. I enjoyed these short stories and hope other will find them as delightful as I did.
Thank you to Netgalley/J.S. Bailey/BHC Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ordinary Souls is a wide variety of short stories with a bit of creepiness, a dash of horror, a dose of supernatural and a smattering of heart.These realistic characters are all ordinary people just getting through their day, when something happens that shakes things up.. How does individual respond to the event, big or small, that makes the one day in the store different from the days before?
These stories will leave you with a wide range of emotions-from horrified to inspired to saddened to hopeful and in some cases twisted.
"And Lead Us Not" kept me guessing and as it went along I could feel my gut twist....but all it not always what it seems.
If I had to pick a favorite I'd say, "Agoraphobia" would be it. Pain, vulnerability, fear...hope. This left me feeling good.
"Weary Traveler" confused me, in a good way. The narrator was confused and we feel that so very well. In the end we realized why she was so confused and we understand.

J.S.Baily doesn't rely on vampires, zombies or serial killers running around with nail guns, chainsaws and ice picks to creep us out. Perhaps the real monsters are in our own heads...or they're in our own species, and that's the scariest thing of all.
#OrdinarySouls #Netgalley

I'm always really excited to dig into a new anthology, especially in the horror genre, as so many of the creepiest works I've ever read have fallen into these releases. Often the tension of horror works are simply at their most taut over a brief period of time, since few authors can maintain that feeling of miasma through an entire novel.

Unfortunately, this one is just not very creepy at all-- rarely thrilling and barely mysterious. Defying all of its genre tags. It's not terrible.. the stories are just not entertaining as a rule. Most of them started with interesting ideas, but just never panned out.

There were about three that stood apart from the rest.

'The Mirror' did a pretty good job of building that tension.. even dread.. to a degree. It began subtly and the stakes rose sharply. There were some missed opportunities though, I feel, to play out the consequences our characters stumbled upon, and by the end.. it fizzled out rather predictably.

'Maria' had this really cool sort of 'Night Gallery' feel to it. The story felt very old fashioned and moved more briskly than the others. In fact, I think that's the only thing that was really wrong with it. When I finished reading it, I felt like I'd only read about half a short story, even though I'd gotten my ending. It just didn't feel full.

And really that's the problem with all the stories in this collection. They feel mostly unfinished. Those that don't, feel like they suffer from the opposite. From taking longer than the particular story maybe needed to. Pacing and substance are definitely an issue.

'Solitude' seemed to lack neither. Though it was more of a sci-fi short story to me and didn't seem to belong in this collection at all. What it did lack, however.. was a good ending. It was almost good. Then some unnecessary fluff was tacked on behind what should have been the end and that weakened the story considerably.

To be honest, if you just need something for a break between heavy reads, it's not bad. I didn't hate it. It just didn't make much of an impact on me. Maybe you'll feel differently.

Now that's a book of short stories! I loved this book- you never knew what to expect. Will it be in the future, on another planet, or just an ordinary Wednesday? A mix of genres, but each with something unexpected. A few even left me with a smile on my face. I will look for other books by this author now!

This is a lovely collection of short stories that all contain an element of mystery and just enough doubt about what is 'real' to cause hesitation and doubt.
Short stories require a lot of information in a short space; this collection does just that. Characters are well drawn and the action moves swiftly.
An interesting addition is the explanations of where the stories came from by the author- it enhances each story.

Good read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this collection. Wonderful stories. Really look forward to purchasing this book for my collection. Will recommend to others.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley..

This was my first book by this author.
This is an unique collection of stories.
While it wasn't my favorite collection, it was definitely interesting.

Ordinary souls in extraordinary circumstances. That’s the basic premise of this collection. I was vaguely familiar with the author through a Canadian anthology she edited and I enjoyed, but this one intrigued me all the same. And it didn’t really disappoint, either. Bailey’s writing style is very plain, the main start of the attraction is her imagination, though. I really liked some of the plots, they span the gamut of speculative fiction from scary to sci fi to strange, but were mostly a good deal of fun. There are a lot of prequel stories in this volume, almost made it seem like a promo thing, but a lot of them were perfectly enjoyable as standalones, the only one that didn’t really work for me was the fantasy one that had something to do with portals. Otherwise, there are haunted antiques and places, immortals, spaceships and so much more. The plainness of the writing actually worked well to compliment the theme, the ordinariness of these souls as juxtaposed to the wild realities they get thrust into. This collection isn’t going to set the world on fire, but it’s plenty entertaining and the author deftly handle going from natural to supernatural and back again. Certainly impressive for someone who lists Koontz at the top of her favorite authors. What, how, why? I mean, that’s just an embarrassing choice. But then again it’s the one easily surpassed, so one can say with confidence that Bailey is writing with more promise, soul and imagination that her favorite author, already. So yey. A quick and entertaining read, I did have fun with this one. Thanks Netgalley.

Ordinary Souls was an eclectic blend of extraordinary occurrences in ordinary lives. There was a story about a cursed mirror and there was a story about living on a other planet. It was fascinating how the author mixed in different genres of stories and somehow made it work.

Most of the stories were perfect in my opinion. However, my favorite would have to be Journal Entry from the End of the Universe. It showcased the author's vivid imagination perfectly.

I found Maria to be quite interesting but it felt a bit incomplete. Vapors was a bit confusing to me as well.

Agoraphobia was also one of my favorites. I saw in the author's notes that she wanted to try writing in the second person and it worked quite well here.

The Outing also stood out to me. I can definitely understand why the person who proofread it was concerned about the author's husband. I would have been to. Lol.

This is a book that has something for basically everybody. It can be read by teenagers as the violence in the book was not overwhelming. Based on this book, I would love to try some more of this author's writing.

Violence: Moderate
Sexual Content: None
Profanity: None
Religious Themes: There was talk of a demon in one story.
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Mention of moonshine as well as driving drunk.