Traps and Specters by Philip Fracassi is a great horror collection full of haunted houses, haunted items, ghosts, and bizarro horror. The collection features 14 stories and an introduction by Matt Dinniman, writer of Dungeon Crawler Carl.
The collection is called Traps and Specters, and we get a lot of both. We get booby traps, people trapped in haunted places, and people trapped in marriages. The specters are ghosts that haunt homes and treehouses, along with the corpses of famous celebrities.
This collection has four long short stories that border between short stories and novellas. The collection also has shorter stories you can read in ten minutes.
Fracassi’s writing is amazing. He takes tropes and expands on them well past where they usually go, forming stories that feel unsafe. You’ve seen some of these scenarios play out a hundred times, but never like this. I can say I did not like every story in this collection, but for the most part, I did not know where the stories were going, which was exciting.
My favorite stories were previously released as chapbooks. D7 was a chapbook released by Shortwave about a haunted jukebox. The Servitor, my favorite short story, was a chapbook released by Rapture Publishing about a person whose job it is to service an Indiana Jones-like booby trap. I was shocked it was in this book since it just came out, but the Rapture chapbook did have an epilogue written by Tyler Jones.
It also has bizarro horror like The Mummified Corpse of Reese Witherspoon, which is exactly what it sounds like, and My Love, Do Not Wake.
Traps and Specters was first published on September 22, 2026, by Shortwave Publishing.
Why did I read Traps and Specters by Philip Fracassi?
Philip Fracassi is one of my favorite new authors. I discovered him last year with The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre, which was a very clever slasher. This year, I read Sarafina, my top horror book of the year.
So when I saw Traps and Specters was coming out and that it included The Servitor, a chapbook I wanted but did not buy, I preordered it.
I have met Philip Fracassi, but I had only read The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre at the time. I was a fan then, but now I’m a superfan.
I preordered the book, but I did it with another book that will not come out until November. I was fine waiting, but then the ARC request came through, and I thought it would be nice to read it when I originally planned to.
Thanks to Shortwave Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. The ARC copy did not have the Matt Dinniman introduction, so I look forward to reading that.
Stories Ranked from Least Favorite to Favorite:
While I read each story, I wrote a mini-review with a spoiler-free synopsis to capture my first thoughts.
14. King Mob
King Mob features fantastic descriptions, though I personally struggled to connect with it. The plot revolves around William Blake, an author I only know a little bit about.
While I managed to predict where the narrative was heading, Fracassi clearly has a blast playing around with the imagery. Fans familiar with Blake’s poetry will likely appreciate this one much more than I did, as I felt it could have leaned even further into capturing his artistic perspective.
13. The Mummified Corpse of Reese Witherspoon
The Mummified Corpse of Reese Witherspoon is a bizarro horror tale set in a futuristic world where an artist gets to keep the preserved body of Reese Witherspoon for seven days after winning it.
It has some darkly funny moments that landed well, but overall, I felt like the narrative was a bit fragmented, almost like two separate concepts patched together. There are a lot of jokes about Reese and her book club that were funny.
12. The Black Rider
The Black Rider is a quick read centering on a harsh grandmother raising two children. To maintain control, she frightens them with tales of a sinister entity known as the Black Rider, who arrives on a dragon to harvest souls.
It felt a bit like a dark, twisted fairy tale. Overall, it was a fine entry, though pretty predictable from the start.
11. Dream of Me
Dream of Me is the scariest story in the collection. It features very creepy dreams that are described so visually.
It follows Jenna, who gets a dream journal from her Nana. Her Nana hates Jenna’s mother and blames her for the death of Jenna’s dad, who took his own life.
The story was a little too long, and I don’t know if everything made sense. It was just an okay story that had good scares, but I wanted more from the narrative.
10. The Resident
The Resident is about a pair of brothers who break into a house and find there is more going on than they thought.
This story was creepy, with great imagery and a quick pace. The story is a little predictable but still fun. The ending was good.
9. My Love, Do Not Wake
My Love, Do Not Wake is a bizarro horror story about a married woman who has an affair. Who she has the affair with is the interesting part.
I enjoyed this story. It says a lot about instant love and relationships. The story has a couple of twists. I only saw the last one coming, but Fracassi takes the twist and keeps going further with it.
I laughed out loud at the absurdity.
8. The Hunter
The Hunter is a fast-paced, super short story with great descriptions. I loved the twist and did not predict it.
It is about an abused son who finds help in the darkness.
7. Point Oh One
Point Oh One is a story about Charlie, a gambler down on his luck. He sees an opportunity to settle something and takes it.
This story is messy in the best ways. The story relies on a trope you’ve read about or seen before, where things usually work out smoothly. This story makes things go messy.
I liked all the character reveals and the ending.
6. Betrothed
Betrothed is about an older couple who have been together for 30 years. They get a burial plot together so they can be side by side forever. But what if one dies first and it becomes an issue?
I loved this short story. It is very atmospheric and deals with a real conversation that can be a little morbid.
The story is very short, but I was hooked from the beginning.
5. The Visitor
The Visitor is a great haunted house story about a priest sent out on a snowy night to investigate a house and bless it. But there is more than meets the eye to this house.
This story had me on edge. The slow dread that creeps in is amazing. There is great writing of tension with good descriptions.
4. Red Leather
Red Leather is a ghost story about an anniversary dinner at a diner in a red leather booth.
This story is great. Fracassi takes a sweet story and flips it, turning it into nightmare fuel. The imagery is very good and vivid.
I liked the setup, and the twist was set up so well. This one wasn’t the strongest, but there is imagery that will stick with me for a while.
3. D7
D7 is a story about a haunted jukebox that is so freaking dark.
A couple looking for a late-night drink are suddenly trapped in a bar with a jukebox that, at first, just wants them to dance. But then it wants so much more.
There is a great final twist and a good mystery surrounding the haunting. There is great writing about the couple and how they communicate through looks alone.
2. I Think My Treehouse is Haunted
I Think My Treehouse is Haunted is a great story. It has coming-of-age vibes, and the horror is made even more effective by one of the best endings in the collection.
The story is very tense. It develops the creeping dread very well.
I love how the treehouse was described. It gave me all kinds of nostalgia.
1. The Servitor
The Servitor is about the job of cleaning and maintaining booby traps for an ancient Inca treasure. This story was previously released as a Rapture chapbook.
The story is awesome, with so many layers and a great ending.
As I was reading the story, I would question something, and then a page later, Fracassi would answer it.
I loved the lore and the ancestry of serving the family. The traps were fun and well thought out.
Recommendation:
Traps and Specters is a fantastic horror collection. I ranked all the stories, with over half of them falling in that 4 and 5-star range.
Fracassi writes in a very cinematic way, where everything is easy to picture, but he still manages to work clever prose into the stories. He has a way with dialogue that makes it feel natural.
I have just scratched the surface of Fracassi’s writing and plan to read so much more in the future.
Rating:
Traps and Specters by Philip Fracassi
4.5 out of 5 stars
Leave a Reply