It’s been about twenty years since I read a lot of horror/thriller fiction. But after reading R.D. Barnes’ Mind Shadows, I plan to return to reading this genre I once loved.

If you’re a fan of the old Amazing Stories or Twilight Zone television series, you’ll love the stories in this book. It contains a nice combination of thrillers, very light horror stories, and some “believe it or not” stories mixed in. The stories range from the very short, to a novella. They’re entertaining and intriguing stories.

This such an impressive first book from this talented writer. Some of his stories follow the classic short story format, while others are more experimental. Both mainstream and African American short stories can be found in the book. And I love the author’s notes on the background and conception of each story. I hope this is just the first of many more books to come from R.D. Barnes.

-----Kathy Low, Librarian

R. D. Barnes has crafted some remarkable stories. They combine an eerie atmosphere with a distinctive sensitivity to his characters, most notably the troubled alcoholic of "The Walklight Predictions." Read that story and you will never look at a homeless man wandering the streets in the same way. Nor, for that matter, will you see those flashing red crosswalk-signals in the same way. Likewise, "Momma's Pride" puts a unique and compelling slant on maternal love and its demands.

Barnes makes effective use of dialect while opening the shadows in his own mind to the light of the reader's examination. He draws on his varied personal background for themes and settings, with results that have to surprise those who know the author in person as the most gentlemanly of individuals, little suspecting the ferment of his imagination.

A collection like this -- single-author, previously unpublished short fiction -- does not fit the commercial publishing paradigm. For that reason, it is fortunate that an alternative is available to make this anthology available to readers.

Allow me to recommend this fine collection.

--Kenneth W. Umbach, Ph.D.