“Orrin Grey writes tales that are as eloquent as they are eerie. He deftly blends the high Gothic aesthetics of classical horror with a raconteur’s innate knack for storytelling. Grey is a unique talent, and is destined to become a major name in weird fiction.”
- Richard Gavin, author of The Darkly Splendid Realm
“Ghosts. Ghouls. Monsters of all sorts. These are what line the pages of Orrin Grey’s Never Bet the Devil. Grey’s voice is solid and secure, with the sort of natural joyful ease other writers only envy. A marvellous debut collection. “
- Simon Strantzas, author of Nightingale Songs
“Grey’s proclivity towards monsters, comics, the cavernous antiquity of the Hammer horror world, Corman’s Poe adaptations, and the classic tales of Lovecraft, Lieber, Hodgson, and James all combine in his work to create something that, in its strangeness, maintains a sense of fun. A cosmic curiosity that, while it may lead to dire conclusions, does not arrive there under a shroud of impenetrable doom.”
- Scott Candey, Spookatorium podcast
The Mysterious Flame
“It has the feel of a classic monster movie, and even when horrors rise, victims fall, and violence is committed on the just and the unjust alike one never gets the impression that the story has a malicious bone in its body. It is, in a word, fun, the sort of story that makes you grin when it’s over in spite of any grim goings on found within.”
- Jesse Bullington, author of The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart and Enterprise of Death (from Goodreads)
“…a very elegant gothic feel. Grey does a great job of balancing storytelling, action, and character development in 44 pages.”
- The Monster Librarian
“Grey is a fan of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, in whose universe these characters would be right at home.”
- Vintage Horror.com
“…this short book packs as much into its forty-four pages as is humanly possible without in any way feeling like it is overreaching or attempting to force too many disparate elements together. Additionally, for a book with such a potentially heavy subject matter, The Mysterious Flame manages to maintain a surprisingly light tone for the most part. Mr. Grey makes some welcome serious points about the nature of the mysterious flame [...] but the book simultaneously remains a whole lot of fun.”
- Speculative Fiction Junkie
“Grey leaves a lot of open space and unanswered questions about Barnabus in the end, and the rather existential mystery of a golem who does know why he was created is an interesting one. I’d love to see some more stories about him.”
- Kristopher Reisz, author of Tripping to Somewhere and Unleashed (from Goodreads)
