When the FANGORIA Community Book Club went trick or treating at Blackstone Publishing, we each came back with copies of Sometimes I Scare Myself by Jeneva Rose. Rose has become known for her psychological thrillers like New York Times Bestseller The Perfect Marriage, but when we picked up her latest trio of short stories, none of us were expecting horror that hit so close to home.
Best known for her gripping thrillers, Rose ventures into darker territory with this collection of three horror novellas that prove you don’t need hundreds of pages to get under a reader’s skin. From blood-soaked birthday parties to sinister country homes and a cabin getaway gone horribly wrong, Rose transforms familiar horror premises into unpredictable nightmares packed with suspense, gore, and some more of Rose’s signature psychological terror.
Fango Community Book Club veteran Drew Fischels describes the collection as “a terrifying triptych of horror tales.” The stories reach for different corners of the dark with an unexpected guest who leaves a birthday party caked in blood, a family that discovers that their country home comes with a disturbing history and unsettling neighbors, and a group of college friends who find that their last hurrah may be their last mistake. Or as Fischels summarizes it, “Three stories that scared me three times. Jeneva Rose is undefeated.”
But what makes these stories so frightening isn’t simply the bloodshed or the supernatural. It’s Rose’s ability to make the unbelievable feel disturbingly real. Colton Andrade observes that even without the supernatural, Rose has crafted “such human horror that you still won’t walk away unscathed.” The people in these stories are flawed, familiar, and often painfully relatable, making their increasingly horrifying circumstances all the more unsettling.
Rose builds suspense from the opening lines, creating vivid worlds and believable characters before twisting familiar horror tropes into something unexpected. Allan Piper praises her ability to develop “real-feeling worlds, relatable characters, and unforeseeable twists,” adding that he felt as though he were living inside each story and could barely put the book down.
Book club regular Ron Berg said he “had a feeling while reading through these stories that all three of the main characters could have been the same woman at different points in her life, that this is where things could have ended if one particular thing had gone different,” a point he found confirmed in the afterword. “It’s an interesting way to present the horror to the reader through the eyes of the same person who is experiencing these events at different chapters of their life, even if they are just “what ifs.” But just like in our own minds, those thoughts never really go away entirely, and lie just under the surface, waiting for their time,” Berg said.
That immersive quality is one of the collection’s greatest strengths. Readers are drawn intimately into the characters’ fears, doubts, and decisions, feeling every unsettling discovery as if they were standing right beside them. Zach VanDyke captures that tension perfectly, describing how he “couldn’t wait to turn the page” while simultaneously feeling terrified of what might be waiting around the next corner. “These three stories will keep you guessing the entire time as to whether the events are the evils of humanity, or something darker.”
And, of course, there are the twists.
Rose knows how to make readers comfortable just long enough to catch them off guard. According to Chris Brunner, she is “a master storyteller” who can keep readers guessing and still surprise them at the end. He particularly praises her ability to create a literary jump scare, explaining that it takes real talent to invest readers so deeply that “just a turn of a page or the next paragraph can make you jump out of your skin.”
The collection also delivers plenty of visceral horror. Adam Campos praises the way Rose takes familiar conventions—including a seance gone wrong (a nod to the cover art), a haunted house, and a slasher—and turns them “wildly on their heads.” The result is three compulsively readable novellas filled with carnage, twists, and a surprising amount of fun. Antony Watkins likewise highlights the collection’s tightly written stories, believable dialogue, strong characterization, and “some awesome, surprisingly grisly gore!”
For horror fans who appreciate atmosphere as much as bloodshed, Rose delivers both. Daz Broadbent praises her ability to create vivid scenes, from the creaking of an empty house to the shadows hanging over a room filled with blood, shock, fear, and paranoia. Complemented by chilling illustrations, these moments give the collection an extra layer of unease.
Yet the real terror may lie in the characters themselves. James Kirkland notes that Rose creates flawed narrators who inspire empathy even as their decisions make readers want to scream at them. Their self-doubt feels authentic, while the growing sense of dread leaves readers desperate for them to recognize the danger before it’s too late. Of course, in horror, that realization often comes after the damage has been done.
And the unease doesn’t necessarily end when the book closes. Casey Borders admits that Sometimes I Scare Myself had them rethinking every relationship in their life: “friends, neighbors, partners, no one is safe.” Rose’s stories linger because they tap into the uncomfortable possibility that the people and places we trust most may not be as harmless as they seem.
Valentina Montagna binged the book over three days during a weekend, describing the experience as intoxicating and leaving her wanting more. Justyn Christofel echoes that enthusiasm, warning readers not to underestimate the creepy, possibly cursed cover and praising the way each story pushes its characters to the point where things couldn’t possibly get worse—before twisting the knife again.
Luis Tirado Jr. gives the collection five stars out of five, celebrating its storytelling, characters, gore, bloodshed, and spine-chilling illustrations. For longtime fans who discovered Rose through her thrillers, the collection offers a welcome glimpse into a darker side of her writing.
So, can a short story haunt you more than a full-length novel? With Sometimes I Scare Myself, Rose makes a compelling case. These concentrated nightmares deliver memorable characters, relentless suspense, shocking twists, and horrors that stay with readers long after the final page.
Intrigued? Order your copy here.
