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Served Cold by [Alan Baxter, Anthony Rivera]

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Alan Baxter

Served Cold Kindle Edition

by Alan Baxter (Author), Anthony Rivera (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

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Winner of the Australian Shadows Award for Best Collection.
Includes "In Vaulted Halls Entombed" featured in the Netflix Original Series Love, Death & Robots.

"Alan Baxter is Australia's master of literary darkness." — This Is Horror

Collected together for the first time ever, these sixteen provocative and intensely chilling tales by multi-award-winning-author Alan Baxter venture into the depths of the darkest and most shadowy places where unspeakable horrors are the predators and we the willing prey.

Prepare for an always terrifying, frequently heartbreaking journey in multiple stages, each piece echoing Alan Baxter’s unique voice that effortlessly blends horror, fantasy and the weird with elements of the dark fantastique, resulting in an unforgettable volume of fiction.

Praise for Served Cold:

“Step into the ring with Alan Baxter, I dare you. He writes with the grace, precision, and swift brutality of a prizefighter. Served Cold is a stellar showcase for his talents. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading him yet, start here!” — Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and The Pandora Room

“In Served Cold Alan Baxter shows off his impressive versatility and range with a host of stories that mix old school terrors with very now concerns. At turns creepy and visceral, Baxter delivers the horror goods.” — Paul Tremblay, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

“Alan Baxter’s Served Cold is a feast for readers, who will push back from the table wanting more!” — John F.D. Taff, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Fearing and The End in All Beginnings

Proudly presented by Grey Matter Press, the independent home of multiple award-winning and Bram Stoker Award-nominated titles.

Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publication date

September 17, 2019
File size

1419 KB
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Alan Baxter
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Tim Miller
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Jeremy Robinson
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David Lee Summers
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Alan Baxter
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From the Publisher

horror short stories, horror anthologies, military horror, survival horror, occult, supernatural

Praise for SERVED COLD and Alan Baxter

“Step into the ring with Alan Baxter, I dare you. He writes with the grace, precision, and swift brutality of a prizefighter. Served Cold is a stellar showcase for his talents. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading him yet, start here!” — Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and The Pandora Room

“In Served Cold Alan Baxter shows off his impressive versatility and range with a host of stories that mix old school terrors with very now concerns. At turns creepy and visceral, Baxter delivers the horror goods.” — Paul Tremblay, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

“Served Cold is a feast for readers, who will push back from the table wanting more!” — John F.D. Taff, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of

The Fearing and The End in All Beginnings

“Served Cold is a powerful collection of Alan Baxter’s writing at its best. Be it twisted desires or impossible choices, the harshest of consequences or the depths of despair, in these stories Baxter shines a light into the darker corners of what it means to be human.” — Joanne Anderton, award-winning author of The Bone Chime Song & Other Stories

“Alan Baxter’s fiction is dark, disturbing, hard-hitting and heart-breakingly honest. He reflects on worlds known and unknown with compassion and demonstrates an almost second-sight into human behaviour.” — Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Grief Hole

“Alan’s work is reminiscent of that of Clive Barker and Jim C. Hines, but with a unique flavour all of its own.” — Angela Slatter, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Aurealis Award winner

“Alan Baxter is an accomplished storyteller who ably evokes magic and menace.” — Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase

“Baxter delivers a heady mix of magic, monsters and bloody fights to the death. Nobody does brutality like Baxter.” — Greig Beck, International bestselling author of Beneath the Dark Ice and Primordia

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Step into the ring with Alan Baxter, I dare you. He writes with the grace, precision, and swift brutality of a prizefighter. Served Cold is a stellar showcase for his talents. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading him yet, start here!" -- Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and The Pandora Room

"In Served Cold Alan Baxter shows off his impressive versatility and range with a host of stories that mix old school terrors with very now concerns. At turns creepy and visceral, Baxter delivers the horror goods." -- Paul Tremblay, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

"Served Cold is a powerful collection of Alan Baxter's writing at its best. These stories never shy from the darkness or the weird and yet are, at their core, deeply human. As readers, we identify with his characters even--or maybe especially--when we would rather not. Be it twisted desires or impossible choices, the harshest of consequences or the depths of despair, in these stories Baxter shines a light into the darker corners of what it means to be human." -- Joanne Anderton, award-winning author of The Bone Chime Song & Other Stories

"Alan Baxter's Served Cold is a feast for readers, who will push back from the table wanting more!" -- John F.D. Taff, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Fearing and The End in All Beginnings

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07WVS9Y45
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grey Matter Press; 1st edition (September 17, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 17, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1419 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #209,021 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #179 in Horror Anthologies (Kindle Store)
- #357 in Horror Anthologies (Books)
- #366 in Horror Short Stories

Customer Reviews:
51 ratings

About the author

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Alan Baxter

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Alan Baxter is a British-Australian, multi-award-winning author of horror, supernatural thrillers, and dark fantasy. He’s also a martial arts expert, a whisky-soaked swear monkey, and dog lover. He creates dark, weird stories among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of NSW, Australia, where he lives with his wife, son, hound and other creatures.

He is the author of several novels, including the Alex Caine trilogy, Bound, Obsidian and Abduction, The Balance duology, RealmShift and MageSign, the urban horror noir novel, Hidden City, and the horror/crime thriller Devouring Dark. He’s also written several novellas, including the cosmic horror thriller The Book Club, the supernatural noir Eli Carver novella series, Manifest Recall and Recall Night, with a third volume on the way, and the wildly popular gonzo horror novella, The Roo. A new collection of five interconnected horror novellas, The Gulp, came out this year.

Alan has also had more than 80 short fiction publications in journals and anthologies in Australia, the US, the UK, France, Germany and Japan, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Daily Science Fiction, and many others. Alan has two volumes of collected short fiction, Crow Shine and Served Cold.

At times, Alan collaborates with US action/adventure bestselling author, David Wood. Together they have co-authored the short horror novel, Dark Rite, four action thrillers in The Jake Crowley Adventures, and the Sam Aston Investigations giant monster thrillers Primordial and Overlord, with a third in that series due any time now.

Alan has been an eight-time finalist in the Aurealis Awards, an eight-time finalist in the Australian Shadows Awards and a seven-time finalist in the Ditmar Awards. From those shortlistings he won the 2014 Australian Shadows Award for Best Short Story (“Shadows of the Lonely Dead”), the 2015 Australian Shadows Paul Haines Award For Long Fiction (“In Vaulted Halls Entombed”), the 2016 Australian Shadows Award for Best Collection (Crow Shine), and the 2019 Australian Shadows Award for Best Collection (Served Cold). He is also a past winner of the AHWA Short Story Competition (“It’s Always the Children Who Suffer”). Alan’s first collection, Crow Shine, also made the preliminary ballot for the 2016 Bram Stoker Award (TM) for Best Collection.

Read extracts from his novels and novellas, and find free short stories at his website – www.alanbaxter.com.au – or find him on Twitter @AlanBaxter and Facebook, and feel free to tell him what you think. About anything.

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4 star		31%
3 star		9%
2 star		6%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Laurel Hightower

Wonderfully varied horror collection

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2020

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A strong. enjoyable collection of short stories from an author who's quickly becoming one of my favorites. There's not a single story in here that I didn't love, and there's a wide variety of tone and subject matter. I appreciate that not every ending is dire - the story arc of each fit the piece. I wont try to write about each story, but stand out favorites included Exquisite, which was short, sharp and deliciously twisted; How Father Bryant Saw the Light, which was deeply disturbing in all the best ways; The Goodbye Message, which was viscerally eerie and evocative, and In Vaulted Halls Entombed, which was a completely different flavor and equally terrifyng and enjoyable.

Baxter is a gifted writer, and I look forward to catching up on his back catalog.

One person found this helpful

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Alaric Cabiling

A kaleidoscope of plot-driven horror classics

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2022

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Mr. Baxter's short stories are studies in contemporary horror, meaning they're easy to love and appreciate, no matter your tastes. The stories have plots that morph from weird and suspenseful to violent and supernatural. He is adept at using spare language to convey textured narratives, deft meaning with the use of simplicity. It's fun to read one story at a time on a day when it's best suited: a kaleidoscope of stories for every shadow and spangle of light. These stories are plot-driven, rich, and highly innovative. You feel like strapping on night vision glasses every story and going for a ride to the dark side.

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Anders Haywood

Another great collection!

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2019

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After reading Baxter's other collection of short stories (Crow Shine), I had high hopes for this set.
I was not disappointed. The stories were vastly different in scope and genre(some supernatural, some cosmic horror, all of them spooky).
There was honestly not a single story I disliked or was ambivalent about. All of them were really good!

3 people found this helpful

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James Milton

Another excellent collection of short horror.

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2019

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Finally read Served Cold, Alan Baxter’s new short horror collection. Baxter excels at short fiction — his previous, Crow Shine, was excellent & this is just as good. I’d cite The Goodbye Message & In Vaulted Halls Entombed as the standouts. Rating each story out of five and averaging, Served Cold is a solid 4.4. Well worth reading.

One person found this helpful

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David Samuels

Like an Aussie Stephen King

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2019

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I really enjoyed these short stories! Haunted houses, freaky cults, and body-snatchers abound in Alan Baxter's newest anthology.

2 people found this helpful

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Ian Middleton

Great Collection

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2020

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A solid collection of unsettling stories

One person found this helpful

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John

One of the finest collections I’ve ever read

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2019

By many accounts, writing a good short story is much different than writing a good novel. Many prolific authors may struggle to write a few good short stories, never mind an entire collection. With that being said, what’s accomplished here is no small feat. Alan Baxter has written one of the finest short fiction collections I’ve ever read.

I struggled with that introduction because simply put, words don’t do this collection justice. Alan Baxter’s Served Cold is a collection of sixteen stories brought together in one stunning package. From the strikingly beautiful cover, to the immaculately written stories contained within these pages, everything about this book is perfect. Baxter writes like a man possessed. The stories within are brutal, deftly written examples of an author who has perfected his craft.

With a collection this good, it’s difficult to choose my favorite stories, I loved them all. Some of them are creepy, some gory, some of them emotional, but all of them wonderful. If I had a gun to my head I’d choose Exquisite and Simulacrum of Hope. Those two were my favorites for sure. More standouts include How Father Bryant Saw the Light and Goodbye Message. This collection is so good though, that my list would be completely different if I were asked again.

2019 saw multiple high profile collections in the genre, and I believe that Served Cold stands as the best of the bunch. This is a book which would be a highlight in any authors bibliography. It’s a must own, deserving of a place on any readers bookshelf.

5/5

3 people found this helpful

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Tracy Robinson

Solid Collection

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2021

As always with collections or anthologies, I like to highlight my favorites. These are listed in the order they appear in the book, but I’ll be sure to note my two absolute favorites.

“Served Cold” - as an opening story, this one does the trick. I love revenge stories and Baxter delivers.

“How Father Bryant Saw the Light” - this one is short and a fascinating riff on demons/possession

“The Goodbye Message” - this one has a different writing style and as a reader that reads with her heart on her sleeve, this story of love and grief is an automatic win for me. This is one of my top two stories in the collection.

“Crying Demon” - like the first story, we meet young protagonists and Baxter writes them well. This also involves revenge and a video game storyline I really liked.

“Her Grief in My Halls” - what a title. This one pairs nicely with The Goodbye Message in terms of tone and content to a degree. Shout out to the author for spacing these stories out so they hold more power.

“Waters Strangely Clear” - again with the title! Baxter certainly has a knack for it. This story is the second of my two absolute favorites. It involves Halloween and dreams and is filled with little horror Easter eggs that made my horror heart happy.

“Yellowheart” - this novellette (maybe?) is a great bookend with Served Cold in terms of length and storytelling. I love survival stories and this one is a great end to a strong collection.

I first read Baxter’s work in the Suspended in Dusk II anthology and I’m happy to report that his short story game is as strong as it ever was. I gravitate towards novels and novellas 95% of the time, but give me an Alan Baxter story and I’m a happy reader. Check this one out!

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Top reviews from other countries

Mike N

A fine example of the genre

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2019

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Having had Alan Baxter in my "must get round to reading these authors" list for a while, I finally got around to buying Served Cold. Kind of wish I'd done it earlier now!

Every story is well crafted and suspenseful. This collection is a fine example of what horror can be when it is done right.

I won't go through all the stories, but I think my 3 favourites were:

Exquisite: Reminiscent of (and I'm sure more than likely inspired by) Clive Barker at his best. A burglar gets a bit of a surprise when looking for valuables while the homeowner is out for the evening, but it's not quite what he thinks.

In Vaulted Halls Entombed: Not the only cosmic horror in this collection, but for me the best one I think. A squad of soldiers is tracking down a handful of enemy combatants, and their chase leads them deeper and deeper underground. They find the people they were looking for, but they find something else down there too ...

Crying Demon: A bullied child gets his revenge via a dark web online game, then tries to make amends when he realises he's gone too far.

D.A. Watson

Bite sized creepy goodness!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2019

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My first time reading Mr Baxter's work, but definitely won't be the last. Some serious talent on show in this collection, which I found genuinely engaging, relatable, creepy and very well written with novel takes on well known tropes. Only took one star off as I thought one or two tales ended a bit abruptly and could have been fleshed out and bit more. Even so, a very solid collection and a writer I'll certainly be revisiting.

The Grim Reader

Wrap up warm!

Reviewed in Australia on February 16, 2020

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Served Cold goes a long way in convincing me that Alan Baxter is an underrated gem. Whilst I didn't feel this collection hit the heights of the near-flawless Crow Shine, it is still a collection of high-quality dark fiction best read late at night the wind howling against the window. Some stories really hit hard: Exquisite was a real highlight for me and its horrific imagery will be burned long into my brain. In Vaulted Halls Entombed sees Alan go full military horror and it's a fantastic pulse-pounding read. The collection finishes strongly with the longer story Yellowheart. Although it follows some familiar tropes, it kept me engrossed right until the bloodthirsty finale. Overall I really enjoyed Served Cold. And so...

4/5 birds on a wire from the Grim Reader

Jose Manuel

Great read

Reviewed in Spain on June 11, 2022

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I acquired the book because one of the stories was the basis for a great Love, Death & Robots episode, and I wanted more.

Right now, I'm half way through the book and I'm loving it! The feeling I got when I started it reminded me of when I read E.A. Poe's stories.

I will definitely read more of this author's work.

jonesytheteacher

Quality scares!

Reviewed in Australia on October 17, 2019

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A fantastic collection of short stories that could be happening as we speak. I got some genuine shivers from a couple of the yarns. He built some pretty scary images in my head with his words. This has made me want to go and chase up more of Alan's work. I'll be back!

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