Oddities & Entities 2

Vessels

Fiction - Horror
254 Pages
Reviewed on 05/06/2017
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Benjamin Ookami for Readers' Favorite

Whether it is the many years that Roland Allnach has spent working hospital night shifts or just an overly imaginative mind capable of shaping one of a kind horrors, the reason why he has won so many literary awards screams out in every dose of flat out weirdness that can be found in Oddities & Entities 2: Vessels. In the short story Defaeco, a man who goes by the alias of John uses the services of a woman named Eve to, shall we say, go on a journey. For fans of dystopian fiction, the short story Parts with Hearts forces a father and son to make tough decisions for the benefit of the military. Six short stories, one poem, one novelette, and one novella are the pieces of this collection.

This is one journey into the weird I'll never forget. Our bodies are things that we will only escape through death. We die and we leave our vessels. For the characters in some of these stories, escaping their vessels are not that simple and I don't exactly know how to put into words the weirdness of some of the creatures I've read about throughout the course of this book. I've never encountered Allnach's oddities anywhere else. The novella Overlay revolves around two shape shifters, but the oddness and horror of it all comes with Allnach's own unique twists. His originality coupled with his well developed characters and amazing story telling capabilities fuse together to become an unforgettable book in the horror genre.

Sefina Hawke

Oddities & Entities 2 (Vessels) by Roland Allnach is the second book in the Oddities & Entities series; it contains nine stories that range from horror to abstract fiction and the supernatural. This is a book that would appeal most to a mixed audience of adults and mature young adults who enjoy pushing boundaries and embracing fear. Roland Allnach reconnoiters the communion of spirit, substance, and the eccentricities of flesh within this book and its stories as he pushes the boundaries of conventional comfort. Each of the stories is unique and independent of the others, while still sharing a mutual theme of spirit, substance, and flesh.

Oddities & Entities 2 (Vessels) by Roland Allnach left me worried about nightmares with its vividly described horrors and twisted minds. That said, I found myself glued to the pages and unable to put it down, no matter how scared and freaked out it made me feel. The writing style that Roland Allnach utilized reminded me a bit of the WestWorld and Game of Thrones TV shows with how he developed the characters and was not afraid to make them evil and twisted. I personally found the abstract nature of the stories interesting in that it allowed me to fill in the details of the story with my own imagination. For this reason, the story called Defaeco was my favorite because it never explains what John did to make him seek out Eve or how he found her. Overall, I enjoyed the level of uniqueness each story maintained while still sharing a similar feel.

Rabia Tanveer

Oddities & Entities 2: Vessels by Roland Allnach is a collection of absurd, freakishly real horror stories that you will not be able to resist. At first, when you start reading this book, you will notice slight strains of Stephen King, but as you continue reading, you will notice a spark that is undeniably Roland Allnach’s own style of storytelling. He is a true master of storytelling, his words are engaging and his characters are very well-developed. At times, you will be disgusted by the characters and you might be pleasantly frightened by how real they seem.

The book is a collection of nine stories that will grab your attention right from the moment you start reading. Even if you like horror stories, these stories will push your limits, you will want to stop, but you will not be able to. I promise you that! The stories cover all themes related to the horror genre: supernatural, paranormal and creepy. He has written some horror stories as well, but for me, the creepy stories were the ones that I loved the most. Because they were realistic and felt so close to being reality, these stories made me shiver!

Oddities & Entities 2: Vessels by Roland Allnach is the perfect amalgamation of creepy with horror. Allnach’s writing style speaks to readers; it grabbed my attention and made me read it, and even though I wanted to stop at most times, I just couldn’t. Why? Because I wanted to read till the end and see what happened. I love his writing style and how articulate he is when it comes to transitioning his thoughts into words. The cover is brilliant and fits really well with the story. I really loved this book.