Prose as delightful as a crystal clear pond in a mountain stream on a baking summer's day.

"Down on the farm there's plenty to do, like fixing machines and hosing out poo." It's a wacky rhyming tale of what happens when Rosie the dairy cow steps in to help with the hay harvest in the face of imminent rainfall. Lots of kid humor (like spinning the cat so her claws can cut the hay) and unique illustrations that merge photographs with digital drawings to create a lively, eclectic collage style.

This is the second time I have found this book on the library shelves and reached for it, taking it home with me.  Having had insect macro-photography as a habit in the past (and still sometimes to this day), it is the cover that first grabs me.  An ant on the tip of a dew-covered leaf, gesturing as if gamely posing for the photographer, his slim waist and multiple legs sharply visible against the soft white and green blur of an out of focus background.  The title is inviting, cool, and peaceful: a yellow, semi-cursive font with the hint of a river's swirl.  I frequently realize that collect books for their covers, for their titles, books I have no inner need to read but that have messages I need to re-remember typed onto their spines.  Step Gently Out is such a message.  Be peaceful and heed the beckoning of Mother Nature.  This is an American book (the author is from Indiana and the photographer from Michigan) and from the jacket flap it sounds like Helen Frost wrote the poem after seeing insect photos by Rick Lieder, the photographer.  She writes, "When I first saw Rick's photographs, they reminded me of begin a child and watching insects for hours.  So I went outdoors and looked closely and discovered that the insects were still there, all around me."

The poem is spread through the book, the text artfully arranged in front of full-page, full-color, high-quality photographs.  The most text is on the last page, where there are 12 whole words.  Some pages contain just three or four words, which I found an invitation to spend time appreciating the illustrations rather than just rushing forward.  At first glance, because of how the phrases are split across many pages, it appears to be free form poetry, but there is a gentle rhyme and rhythm to the book.  The near rhyme "…grass….past" fits together without struggle due to the distance in pages. When you reach the last line of the poem, don't close the book just yet.  A hidden treasure lies at the very end where a two page spread serves as an appendix and key for all of the insects featured: photo, name, and some general details against a faint photographic background of a six-legged observer.

100 Nightmares by K.Z. Morano is a collection of 100 horror stories, each written in exactly 100 words, and accompanied by over 50 illustrations. Inside, you’ll find monsters—both imagined and real. There are vengeful specters, characters with impaired psyches, dark fairy tales and stories and illustrations inspired by bizarre creatures of Japanese folklore.


Praise for K.Z. Morano

"100 Nightmares took me for a thrill ride from the very first page. This book is filled with some of the creepiest and horrifying illustrations and flash fiction I've ever come across. K.Z. Morano knows how to take the fairy tale and twist it into a horrifying piece of flash prose, or subject an innocent person to the most brutal torture, or death. Seriously, some very disturbing moments were encountered as I read each story. Wow, keep an eye out for this writer, my friends, she's going to be delivering horror the way it's meant to be." ~Charles Day, Bram Stoker Award®-nominated Author of THE LEGEND OF THE PUMPKIN THIEF, and author of DEEP WITHIN and HUNT FOR THE GHOULISH BARTENDER

“I can’t say enough about this book… It's well written, different, scary, and very unique.” – Bittersweet Book Reviews

“There’s an art to writing an effective story in so few words and the author nails it.” – THE CULT OF ME

"Such a brilliant concept with no two stories alike. Timeless enjoyment to be reread over and over..." - Paula Limbaugh, Horror Novel Reviews

“In all, Morano delivers an eclectic range of ambitious micro-fiction, the more accomplished of which is truly impressive in what it achieves in such a small amount of words.” – Horror After Dark


It takes a brief encounter with death to cause enduring nightmares.
A single well-placed blow could maim you for life…
One well-placed word could haunt you forever.

Micro-fiction is a blade—sharp, swift…
Sometimes it goes for the jugular, killing you in seconds.
Its silver tongue touches your throat and warm blood hisses before you can scream.

Sometimes, the knife makes micro-cuts in the sensitive sheath of your sanity, creating wounds that will fester throughout eternity.

Take my 100 words daily like a slow-acting poison or read them all and die of overdose.
Your call.
It’s your suicide after all.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JVRJNG0

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Nightmares-K-Z-Morano-ebook/dp/B00JVRJNG0

Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/kz-morano/100-nightmares/ebook/product-21592369.html

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/431783