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Cold As Hell
It’s days before Christmas and the Craig family are out for their final shopping trip. When the kids pile into an electric kiddie train, the family continues to shop and await their return.
“Things are not what they seem,” the uncle warns them.
As time goes by, the kids don’t return. Now the uncle is missing. And no one’s heard of the electric kiddie train prowling the sidewalks and streets of the trendy lifestyle center in the brutal cold.
The night will only get darker and colder and more terrifying for the Craig family as the desperate search for the missing family members begin.
“Things are not what they seem,” the uncle warns them.
As time goes by, the kids don’t return. Now the uncle is missing. And no one’s heard of the electric kiddie train prowling the sidewalks and streets of the trendy lifestyle center in the brutal cold.
The night will only get darker and colder and more terrifying for the Craig family as the desperate search for the missing family members begin.
Hardcover
First published June 16, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 24, 2015
I Approached Cold as Hell by David Searl’s with a little trepidation mainly because it's my second Christmas horror story of the year and its not even May. Plus the first one was rubbish so hopefully this would bring horror back to the festive period of April.
Peter and Ava are Christmas shopping with their seven year old twins when an electric train ride comes past, of course the kids want in and the adults won't fit in the carriages so Peter has to wait with Uncle Buster for the twenty minute ride to end while Ava shops till she drops.
The temperatures biting, it's as cold as Hell, the Browns are up against the Colts and he has a small investment on the outcome. So the availability of toasty heat and several wall-mounted flat-screens beckon him from the inside of the bar behind them. There's time for a beer and five minutes of the game, of course there is.
6:42 is the time, he repeatedly checks, trying to work out when they should get back, Buster is outside in the cold waiting, testicles like ice cubes most probably and the Browns are losing. He finishes his beer, times still 6:42 and this day is getting weirder. Outside Buster's gone, no kids and the first slither of panic creeps into his mind.
"Just remember one thing. Okay?” the Santa was saying. “Things are not as they seem. Things are not as they seem. They never are"
Cold as Hell prays on every parent’s worst nightmare, losing your kids and then as if unsatisfied with the ensuing panic. David Searl’s torments the lines of reality, questions your sanity and then waits patiently as the pieces of the puzzle slot into place. A short read at just shy of 60 pages but very well written, completely gripping and I look forward to reading more from this author.
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
Peter and Ava are Christmas shopping with their seven year old twins when an electric train ride comes past, of course the kids want in and the adults won't fit in the carriages so Peter has to wait with Uncle Buster for the twenty minute ride to end while Ava shops till she drops.
The temperatures biting, it's as cold as Hell, the Browns are up against the Colts and he has a small investment on the outcome. So the availability of toasty heat and several wall-mounted flat-screens beckon him from the inside of the bar behind them. There's time for a beer and five minutes of the game, of course there is.
6:42 is the time, he repeatedly checks, trying to work out when they should get back, Buster is outside in the cold waiting, testicles like ice cubes most probably and the Browns are losing. He finishes his beer, times still 6:42 and this day is getting weirder. Outside Buster's gone, no kids and the first slither of panic creeps into his mind.
"Just remember one thing. Okay?” the Santa was saying. “Things are not as they seem. Things are not as they seem. They never are"
Cold as Hell prays on every parent’s worst nightmare, losing your kids and then as if unsatisfied with the ensuing panic. David Searl’s torments the lines of reality, questions your sanity and then waits patiently as the pieces of the puzzle slot into place. A short read at just shy of 60 pages but very well written, completely gripping and I look forward to reading more from this author.
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
July 6, 2015
This was the first book by David Searls I have read. And I have to say not a bad start, looking forward to reading more of David's books in the future. The story starts out with Peter Craig going to the mall with his family, his wife Ava, two kids and Uncle Buster. The kids were seven year old twins named Ellie and Jack. They see this Electic train that rides on no tracks and want to go for a ride. Peter finds out that the ride will cost five dollars for both kids. So the kids go on the ride and Ava decides to go shopping while Craig waits for the kids. Cold as hell Craig decides to wait in the Gridiron Sports Bar for the kids and watch the Browns and Colts game on tv. Will stop here, this is when the story gets going. This was a very good quick read, well worth your time. I gave Cold as Hell 4 stars.
I received an e-arc of this book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review
I received an e-arc of this book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review
April 30, 2015
This was my first read from David Searls, and I was very impressed. Peter and Ava are out Christmas shopping with their two twins, and an enigmatic Uncle Buster. As the title states, the cold plays a vital role in this story, permeating the atmosphere physically, mentally, and emotionally. When used in this manner, the setting can really make the story work so effectively, and Searls does a fantastic job with this!
After letting the twins ride a small train around the mall for an "18 minute" ride, Peter runs into a bar to check the progress of a local game he has a bet on. Things start to get strange when his watch consistently reads 6:42--from then on, Peter is thrown into a search for not only his children, but for everyone he knew.
Things are not always as they seem. They never are.
I'm anticipating reading more from David Searls in the future.
Highly recommended!
*I received an advance copy of this e-book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.*
After letting the twins ride a small train around the mall for an "18 minute" ride, Peter runs into a bar to check the progress of a local game he has a bet on. Things start to get strange when his watch consistently reads 6:42--from then on, Peter is thrown into a search for not only his children, but for everyone he knew.
Things are not always as they seem. They never are.
I'm anticipating reading more from David Searls in the future.
Highly recommended!
*I received an advance copy of this e-book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.*
January 12, 2016
Here I go again, reading another tale of cheerful holiday spirit this Christmas! This time, it's a quick-read novella from DarkFuse that feeds into every parent's nightmare, following a man who he loses track of his twin children after letting them ride on a kiddie train for an 18-minute ride around the fancy outdoor mall on a cold and snowy night. Time seems to stop, people seem to not have seen the train or know that one even exists, and as his Uncle Buster and Santa Claus tell him: "things are not what they seem..."
It's a moody, well-written tale where the author blurs the lines of reality and has you questioning everything your read. His use of the increasing biting cold and snow adds a strong, creepy atmosphere over the story, with the jovial Christmas spirit of the mall providing an unnerving contrast. This book is best read in one sitting and packs a lot in it's small page count.
It's a moody, well-written tale where the author blurs the lines of reality and has you questioning everything your read. His use of the increasing biting cold and snow adds a strong, creepy atmosphere over the story, with the jovial Christmas spirit of the mall providing an unnerving contrast. This book is best read in one sitting and packs a lot in it's small page count.
April 23, 2015
6:42pm...and holding.
A very good quickie from Mr. Searls. This one reads fast and is a well written Twilight Zone-esque tale of a man and his search for his two children...and his sanity. My first Searls and I look forward to more from this author. Well done.
A very good quickie from Mr. Searls. This one reads fast and is a well written Twilight Zone-esque tale of a man and his search for his two children...and his sanity. My first Searls and I look forward to more from this author. Well done.
May 2, 2016
David Searls works his magic once again, this time with a beautifully written, one-sitting read that appears to have been air-dropped straight out of the Twilight Zone.
A story this tightly-told could have easily become a tangled mess in the hands of an artisan less skilled, but Searls mesmerizes as he deftly weaves this beautiful web of words, leaving the reader awash in the chilling heartache of loss.
5 Stars. Recommended.
A story this tightly-told could have easily become a tangled mess in the hands of an artisan less skilled, but Searls mesmerizes as he deftly weaves this beautiful web of words, leaving the reader awash in the chilling heartache of loss.
5 Stars. Recommended.
December 13, 2015
4.5*
I received an E-arc from Darkfuse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Peter has taken his family to do some Christmas shopping, his kids spy a Christmas themed electric train and even though the man operating the train gives Peter the willies he decides to let his kids go off unescorted for an 18min journey.
His uncle advises him against it and stands waiting for their return whilst Peter decides to get out of the cold into the nearest bar as his wife, Ava, gets on with the shopping. As Peter sits at the bar he begins to feel unsettled especially as his watch refuses to move past 6.42 and there is no sign of his kids coming back from their trip. Uncle Buster has also disappeared and someone strange is now answering Ava's phone. Panic begins to set in and Peter feels he is missing some vital detail that will help him make sense of what is going on.
As the pieces of the story begin to come together we see how Peter's past is now influencing his present state and future, can he change any of this and bring back his family or are they lost forever.
It's hard to believe that this read was only 57 pages, it packed as much character development, emotion and storytelling in as something 3 times as long. Peter was a fairly complex character, at times sympathetic but as his past indifference to his family is revealed you hate his selfishness and ego. This doesn't stop you feeling his pain as he becomes more distraught at his family's plight and I felt genuinely sad at what he had lost during his life.
The story was very clever and kept me guessing up to the last few pages, because I felt so much for Peter I really hoped that all would turn out well but I'm glad that the author didn't take the easy way out for the ending, as heart breaking as it was.
I've very surprised how much this read got to me, I really didn't expect it to be so emotional and to connect with it as I did. This is a new author for me and I'm really glad I got to sample his work.
Recommended.
I received an E-arc from Darkfuse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Peter has taken his family to do some Christmas shopping, his kids spy a Christmas themed electric train and even though the man operating the train gives Peter the willies he decides to let his kids go off unescorted for an 18min journey.
His uncle advises him against it and stands waiting for their return whilst Peter decides to get out of the cold into the nearest bar as his wife, Ava, gets on with the shopping. As Peter sits at the bar he begins to feel unsettled especially as his watch refuses to move past 6.42 and there is no sign of his kids coming back from their trip. Uncle Buster has also disappeared and someone strange is now answering Ava's phone. Panic begins to set in and Peter feels he is missing some vital detail that will help him make sense of what is going on.
As the pieces of the story begin to come together we see how Peter's past is now influencing his present state and future, can he change any of this and bring back his family or are they lost forever.
It's hard to believe that this read was only 57 pages, it packed as much character development, emotion and storytelling in as something 3 times as long. Peter was a fairly complex character, at times sympathetic but as his past indifference to his family is revealed you hate his selfishness and ego. This doesn't stop you feeling his pain as he becomes more distraught at his family's plight and I felt genuinely sad at what he had lost during his life.
The story was very clever and kept me guessing up to the last few pages, because I felt so much for Peter I really hoped that all would turn out well but I'm glad that the author didn't take the easy way out for the ending, as heart breaking as it was.
I've very surprised how much this read got to me, I really didn't expect it to be so emotional and to connect with it as I did. This is a new author for me and I'm really glad I got to sample his work.
Recommended.
June 26, 2015
David Searls' COLD AS HELL is a mighty strong short story/novella that is driven by crisp writing, psychological suspense, and a mystery narrative straight out The Twilight Zone.
While Christmas shopping with his family, Peter and his wife allow their kids to board a children's train ride around the outdoor shopping center, with Peter left behind as the designated watcher while she finishes shopping. Peter ducks into a nearby bar to beat the cold and catch a few minutes of a football game when he realizes his phone is somehow stuck on the time 6:42. Soon enough, he begins to worry about the missing time, and his missing children. What follows is a complex and twisty story that kept me glued to the page.
COLD AS HELL is a lean read and short enough to plow through quickly. Searls makes it work and the story is completely propulsive in its telling, wrapped up in enough layers of weirdness to satisfy me fully. Highly recommended!
While Christmas shopping with his family, Peter and his wife allow their kids to board a children's train ride around the outdoor shopping center, with Peter left behind as the designated watcher while she finishes shopping. Peter ducks into a nearby bar to beat the cold and catch a few minutes of a football game when he realizes his phone is somehow stuck on the time 6:42. Soon enough, he begins to worry about the missing time, and his missing children. What follows is a complex and twisty story that kept me glued to the page.
COLD AS HELL is a lean read and short enough to plow through quickly. Searls makes it work and the story is completely propulsive in its telling, wrapped up in enough layers of weirdness to satisfy me fully. Highly recommended!
December 31, 2015
Another first read of an author as I'm finishing up 2015 with a flurry of reads. Searls knocks this one out of the park. Craig is finishing up Christmas shopping with wife, the twins and his Uncle Buster. We've all been there. It's freezing cold in an outdoor mall and all you want to do is get inside somewhere warm. But for Craig, the twins want to go on a ride of a outdoor kiddie train and his wife leaves him there to wait for them while she goes off to shop some more. Craig has a hundred bucks on the game and is freezing his tail feathers off. As the kids go off, he checks his watch and sees that it's 6:42. He decides to step inside a bar for a moment to catch the score and to warm up while the kids are on the ride. He begins to get confused as his thoughts start to begin tripping over one another. He looks down at his watch and it still says 6:42.
Cold as Hell is a fun trip into the surreal as you try to decipher what is going on. I'm looking forward to more from Searls. I think he'll be a name to remember.
5 frostbitten fingers out of 5
You can also follow my reviews at the following links:
https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/A2J1...
Cold as Hell is a fun trip into the surreal as you try to decipher what is going on. I'm looking forward to more from Searls. I think he'll be a name to remember.
5 frostbitten fingers out of 5
You can also follow my reviews at the following links:
https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/A2J1...
April 30, 2015
Cold as Hell is one of those stories that diving in to the plot at all in a review would ruin it. Peter loses his kids while Christmas shopping and things start to get weird. In the short length David Searls still manages to create sympathy for Peter, a character who starts out as a self-centered jerk. There are revelations but I have read this type of story before, so they weren't very surprising. The writing is top-notch though, so I will be sure to read more from David Searls, maybe in a longer form novel. Recommended for a quick fun read, 4 stars.
June 17, 2015
Excellent read about a father who loses his children at a mall at Christmas. "Things are not always what they seem. Highly recommended!
July 13, 2015
I read this one while standing in line at Six Flags in the Texas heat. Trying to get some reverse psychology going. The bad news is, it didn't work - it was just dang hot.
The good news is, it is a pretty cool story (groan). Peter is regretting letting his kids go on the kiddie train at the outdoor mall, despite the warnings of his uncle, when he really just wants to check out the game in the warm confines of the bar. But, as is said a few times in the story, all is not as it seems. Can't say a lot about this one without spoiling it, but David weaves the different "realities" very deftly, and the end result is a weird, enjoyable ride reminiscent of an old Twilight Zone episode. You really feel for Peter as his frustration level grows and as the weirdness deepens.
This is the first work of David Searls' that I have read, but it definitely won't be the last. Highly recommended.
The good news is, it is a pretty cool story (groan). Peter is regretting letting his kids go on the kiddie train at the outdoor mall, despite the warnings of his uncle, when he really just wants to check out the game in the warm confines of the bar. But, as is said a few times in the story, all is not as it seems. Can't say a lot about this one without spoiling it, but David weaves the different "realities" very deftly, and the end result is a weird, enjoyable ride reminiscent of an old Twilight Zone episode. You really feel for Peter as his frustration level grows and as the weirdness deepens.
This is the first work of David Searls' that I have read, but it definitely won't be the last. Highly recommended.
June 18, 2015
Fourth offering by David Searls I've purchased, second thing I've read. The first read was his wonderfully written and sadly underrated first novel Yellow Moon; gladly reprinted by Samhain. This novella is further proof that Searls can write and write well. Deeply melancholic and insidiously creepy until the final reveal. Like one of the finer episodes of The Twilight Zone, Cold as Hell is the perfect length for this tale to be told and told it is. Along with Lisa von Biela's Skinshift, June was a great month for novellas at DarkFuse.
December 28, 2017
This story really tricked me! Showing all signs for a creepy horror story, the story suddenly turned into something completely different and became unexpectedly dramatic and sad. At the end, it left me feeling moody and sorrowful for a while. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to finish this on Christmas day...
December 7, 2016
An incredibly great novella to get everybody in the "Christmas Spirit". The story centering around a father on cold, cold day of Christmas shopping. David relates the tale of a father dealing with multiple realities in his life in the course of a few hours, told with amazing transitions of dialog. A definite must read. Kudos, David!!!
July 21, 2024
This eerie, snowy chiller should probably be read around Christmas instead of July, but then I’ve always been the type to read wintry stories in the summer and vice versa. It’s a short read — my hardcover is 130-some pages but really it’s about half that, as the book is tiny, with very few words per page — but I felt it was the perfect length for this sort of freaky, Twilight Zone-ish story.
It concerns Peter and his wife Ava, out doing some last minute Christmas shopping with their two kids and ole’ Uncle Buster at an outdoor mall, or “lifestyle center” as they call it. When a trackless kiddie train pulls up and the creepy conductor offers the children a ride through the snow-filled shopping center, Peter and Ava hesitate, but assume it’s a regular mall attraction and will stay nearby, so they eventually relent. After that, all I’ll say is that the kids are gone and shit gets weird. “Things are not as they seem,” warns the disheveled, smoking mall Santa to Peter. Weird, Uncle Buster said something similar earlier on, and where the hell did he go?
This packed a lot of tension and nightmarish atmosphere into its short length, and it ended up being quite moving in a lot of ways, almost like a modern day, horror version of A Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life. And no, that’s not me being spoilery, there’s just a similar vibe, only terror-filled. It’s written very sparsely, but Searls does a great job of keeping the reader on unsteady ground and entirely invested in the outcome. I read the whole thing in probably an hour, so I wouldn’t recommend paying any of the outrageous prices I’ve seen online. But if you happen to come across it relatively cheap like I did, it’s well worth a gander.
Especially if you’re in the mood far a quick late night read that will leave you feeling wholly unsettled.
It concerns Peter and his wife Ava, out doing some last minute Christmas shopping with their two kids and ole’ Uncle Buster at an outdoor mall, or “lifestyle center” as they call it. When a trackless kiddie train pulls up and the creepy conductor offers the children a ride through the snow-filled shopping center, Peter and Ava hesitate, but assume it’s a regular mall attraction and will stay nearby, so they eventually relent. After that, all I’ll say is that the kids are gone and shit gets weird. “Things are not as they seem,” warns the disheveled, smoking mall Santa to Peter. Weird, Uncle Buster said something similar earlier on, and where the hell did he go?
This packed a lot of tension and nightmarish atmosphere into its short length, and it ended up being quite moving in a lot of ways, almost like a modern day, horror version of A Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life. And no, that’s not me being spoilery, there’s just a similar vibe, only terror-filled. It’s written very sparsely, but Searls does a great job of keeping the reader on unsteady ground and entirely invested in the outcome. I read the whole thing in probably an hour, so I wouldn’t recommend paying any of the outrageous prices I’ve seen online. But if you happen to come across it relatively cheap like I did, it’s well worth a gander.
Especially if you’re in the mood far a quick late night read that will leave you feeling wholly unsettled.
December 1, 2016
Cold as Hell by David Searls is a relatively short novella that contains an emotionally chilling wallop. Peter Craig is Christmas shopping with his wife, elderly uncle and two kids at one of those “lifestyle” malls – which means it is outdoors. The weather is brutally cold, but he kids still want to ride an electric kiddie train that runs around the mall. The parents relent and allow the kids to go, despite the uncle’s warnings that things don’t seem quite right. The mom takes the opportunity to complete some last minute shopping while Peter and the uncle hang out for the train to return. After Peter ducks into a bar to warm up, he returns to find the uncle missing and no sign of the kids or the kiddie train.
The nightmare begins.
The rest of the story involves Peter frantically trying to find the kids. No one has ever heard of (or seen) the kiddie train. The subsequent events become increasingly bizarre and terrifying. For a short piece like this, the characters are nicely drawn. Peter’s frenzied inner dialogue is spot-on, and anyone who has ever misplaced a child for a brief period of time will recognize the distraught sensations of the character. I was able to gulp down this story in one sitting, not only because of its short length but also because of the intense nature of the plot. Unnerving and scary, Cold as Hell has a distinct Twilight Zone feel to it.
The nightmare begins.
The rest of the story involves Peter frantically trying to find the kids. No one has ever heard of (or seen) the kiddie train. The subsequent events become increasingly bizarre and terrifying. For a short piece like this, the characters are nicely drawn. Peter’s frenzied inner dialogue is spot-on, and anyone who has ever misplaced a child for a brief period of time will recognize the distraught sensations of the character. I was able to gulp down this story in one sitting, not only because of its short length but also because of the intense nature of the plot. Unnerving and scary, Cold as Hell has a distinct Twilight Zone feel to it.
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