Long Term Damage is a collection of short stories by Billy Hanson. These stories follow characters who often find themselves in adverse situations with long-lasting ramifications. A man in Hell faces Satan without fear or remorse until Satan finds a new way to torture him. A powerful patriarch of an affluent family suddenly finds himself at the mercy of his two-year-old grandson's dangerous games. A young girl goes out into the woods with her little brother in search of a missing high school boy and encounters two dogs she used to know as puppies. A young woman aggravates an old lady while catching a cab ride in traffic, which leads her on a nightmarish journey of a lifetime. A man struggles with the choice to shave off his carefully cultivated beard, and for good reason.

Dark and twisted, Long Term Damage is a gripping collection of short stories that shed light on human behavior in catastrophic conditions. Drenched in horror, mystery, suspense, and intrigue, these tales explore the darker aspects of the human condition by putting the protagonists in extraordinary situations that have disastrous consequences. Author Billy Hanson has masterfully crafted these stories, and they hook you in from the get-go and keep you glued to the pages until the end. Despite the dark and foreboding narrative tone, some of these tales are also infused with a healthy dose of black comedy. You might find yourself laughing at some inopportune moments while reading. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology, and if you love unpredictable stories with mounting tension and horror, you will too!

Long Term Damage by Billy Hanson is an anthology of dark, chilling stories that explore the sudden moments and long-buried decisions capable of shattering lives. Each tale delves into the unsettling side of human nature, whether it’s young siblings stumbling upon sudden horrors, a woman trapped in nightmarish traffic, or an aging criminal confronting his chequered past. Hanson's stories are filled with tension, fear, and emotional intensity, offering a blend of the terrifying and the poignant in equal measure. With elements of suspense and dark humor aplenty, this collection keeps readers on edge, contemplating the fragility of life and the weight of choices whilst giving them a good old-fashioned tingle down the spine too. This collection of seven meaty stories captures the unpredictability of life with tension that lingers long after each story ends. This is not the typical shock horror collection because of how deeply personal the characters feel, allowing their emotional and psychological reactions to dark situations to resonate with readers' own worst fears and anticipation of unknown disasters.

My personal favorite of the collection was ‘Puppies’, where the jarring violent imagery of the characters’ experiences was so unsettling, balanced against the younger characters and their innocence of the grim situation around them. I had my heart in my throat through the whole chain of horrifying events. Billy Hanson's vivid and often graphic descriptions are well-placed and never feel overused or gratuitous. These suitably shocking moments make his worlds terrifyingly real, immersing readers in each character’s nightmare while pushing the boundaries of fear and discomfort at just the right moments. I was also impressed by the variety in tone between different stories, offering sharp shifts of character that help readers settle into a new tale immediately, showcasing Hanson’s versatility in shifting emotional landscapes, but also consistently offering the confident tone of an author who knows what he’s doing. Overall, Long Term Damage is a must-read for horror story fans seeking something deep and accomplished that will linger long after reading.

Long Term Damage by Billy Hanson is an anthology of original short stories that hinge on a common theme: how short-term, snap decisions can cause long-term problems. The stories range in length, tone, and tenor. In Fresh Hell, Curtis Booker faces a powerful entity after death, confronting painful memories of his violent past and the difficulties he endured in life, leading to a shocking conclusion when payment for his sins comes due. Meanwhile, The Burden follows Trip O'Leary, who has no choice but to juggle his demanding construction job and his passion for piano. As he comes to terms with disappointment after a not-great audition and a strained relationship with his father, Trip's future is thrown into doubt when a tragic accident irrevocably alters his path. All told, Hanson's stories lean into the connective tissue of the human experience, past and present.


Billy Hanson’s Long Term Damage is a fantastic collection of exceptional storytelling. Each is unique and creatively crafted, with surprisingly deep character development given the size of each read. My personal favorite is It’ll Grow Back, which takes readers through one man's internal struggle over shaving his beloved beard—a symbol of his identity. Stuck between his true personal attachment and the desire to please his girlfriend, it is another tale culminating in a shocking twist that hammers home the unforeseen consequences of seemingly simple decisions. Hanson does well in balancing horror with moments of introspection and dramatic turns. Overall, Long Term Damage is a masterclass in the art of irony, and one of the best suspense anthologies I've come across this year, leaving a lasting impact on readers long after the final page. Very highly recommended.

What we do with our lives boils down to the decisions we make as individuals. Sometimes, those decisions can push us to the zenith of our ambitions, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20, and that run of good fortune often turns out to be the exception and not the rule. A single uninformed decision becomes the first domino in a falling cascade of bad choices we wish we never made. Read along and discover how a man's final meeting with the Grim Reaper does not go the way both parties anticipated, an ill-timed taxi ride takes a rude young woman on the ride of her life, and a grandfather's inordinate ambition to make an honest man out of his grandchild almost costs him his life in Billy Hanson's Long Term Damage.

Long Term Damage is a collection of short stories about learning to appreciate the importance of every decision we make. Billy Hanson establishes solid origin stories for every character in this exciting anthology. The dialogue is easy to follow and, courtesy of his unique approach to storytelling in many instances, comes off as downright comedic despite its generally dark overtones. The author begins with a sequence of ordinary events, skillfully building the tension with a graduated pace until even something as fundamental as making the wrong turn on the street turns into a terrifying experience that will quickly pique the interest of horror and suspense fans. Hanson shows his mastery of the art of the scare with this one-of-a-kind anthology. I enjoyed reading Long Term Damage.