Dreaming At The Top Of My Lungs: Israel Finn

Reviewed by Steve Stred

Dreaming at the Top of My Lungs is the first collection of short stories by Israel Finn, and I suspect by the quality of stories included in this anthology, it won’t be his last.

I started this collection and was startled by how easy I found the stories to read. It was as though Israel and I were sitting in a bar chatting leisurely about messed up life experiences. Before I realized it, I was done.

To pick out one single stand out story is impossible and frankly there isn’t a story in this group that brings any of the others down. Some may end up staying with you longer, but by no means is that down-grading any of the others.

My hope from this fantastic collection of truly dark thoughts would be that more people check out his work. I find that sometimes the best way to find out if you like an author is by picking up a package like this. I can guarantee you, personally, this collection has made me a fan. I can’t wait to dive into Israel’s long reads and see what world’s he will be opening up for me.

Now, you ask, what type of tales are in this? Well I won’t give you any spoilers, but I will give you a few brief overviews of a couple, taken from Israel’s own descriptions;

• A woman on trial in a world where telling the truth is a crime.
• An outcast who must decide between vengeance and forgiveness in a world turned upside down by war and famine.
• A man who is faced with the prospect of losing the most important thing in his life—his son—but instead loses his mind. And then finds himself trapped in a waking nightmare with no way out.

While these are some of the descriptions I have included, these are just a few snippets of the highly engaging and memorable nightmares Mr. Finn puts forth.

I highly recommend you check this collection out.

Star Rating (out of 5): 5*

KR: You can read the Kendall Reviews interview with Israel here

Twelve Dark Tales From The Mind Of Israel Finn:

-A man who is faced with the prospect of losing the most important thing in his life—his son—but instead loses his mind. And then finds himself trapped in a waking nightmare with no way out.

-A frustrated man who curses life for having the audacity to pass him by, but discovers how it feels to be truly forsaken when the universe chooses to teach him a horrifying lesson.

-An outcast who must decide between vengeance and forgiveness in a world turned upside down by war and famine.

-A woman on trial in a world where telling the truth is a crime.

-A boy who lives in constant terror of someone who is supposed to love and protect him, but who has betrayed that trust. A horror story that examines the real-life beasts who walk among us every day.

And more…

You can buy Dreaming At The Top Of My Lungs from Amazon US & Amazon UK

Steve Stred

Steve Stred is an up-an-coming Dark Horror author. Steve is the author of the novel Invisible, the novellas Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick.

Steve also has a number of works on the go and enjoys all this horror, occult, supernatural and paranormal.

Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog Oj.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred

You can visit Steve’s blog here