Kindle Edition Amazon Hellfire Publishing Category:  Horror Publisher: Hellfire Publishing Type: Fiction Pages: 41 Copyright: June 10, 2011 This isn't a sweet Bambi tale. Jacob Ellis and his wife Donna live in the north woods of Wisconsin. Like most young couples, they have hobbies they enjoy. Jacob likes the outdoors, choosing four-wheeling and hunting as his forms of relaxation. Donna loves cooking, but her true passion is working in her flower garden. That is until her labor of love becomes nothing more than a colorful, tasty treat for the white-tailed deer, who share their surroundings. One night the pair experience more than the typical four legged visitor to their yard. The evening sets the path for Jacob’s decision to go against nature. After hearing a legend passed down through generations of the Chippewa Indian’s, Jacob must now decide if it’s just a myth or a lesson in the balance of law and justice— between people and nature.       Excerpt The darkness of night had now completely descended, making it harder to see the four legged visitors. The yard light over by the garage automatically came on and lit up the parking area quite well, but it did very little in the way of illuminating the area closer to the house. Deciding he’d seen enough, he turned heading to the refrigerator, when he noticed movement outdoors. A large doe appeared from the shadows of the night, looking directly at Jacob. “Son of a bitch,” Jacob whispered so quietly that Donna didn’t hear him. The two stared at each other. Jacob transfixed on the eyes of the doe. At first he thought the glow of its eyes were like that of any normal animal when reflected light caught them at a certain angle. The seconds ticked by in the visual confrontation, when the eyes of the doe changed to a glowing, florescent green. Jacob was having a hard time understanding what he was witnessing. He stood there cemented with a mixture of curiosity and fear, as the intensity of the glowing neon color grew. Jacob remained there spellbound, as the deer took a step forward, then rearing up onto its hind legs. The animal balanced itself on its rear legs, pawing the air in front of it. The amount of time it remained in that position was only a couple of minutes, yet longer than was normal. The action displayed by the doe caused Jacob to break eye contact, stepping back. What the hell was that? I didn’t just see that, that’s not possible! Jacob thought, as he tried to comprehend what he just experienced. His mind had to be playing tricks on him. “Something wrong J—” Donna asked from her seat on the couch. “Uh, no…” he answered trying to convince himself, he imagined everything, that nothing was wrong. “When you come back could you grab me a can of soda?” “Sure…” Jacob muttered, taking a step forward to look out the window once more. Nothing. He saw absolutely no signs of the demonic looking doe. Blinking several times and then rubbing his eyes trying to clear his vision, he took one last look. Nothing. Okay, maybe I did just imagine all that. He thought, yet he knew better. Walking over to the fridge he grabbed himself a beer, and a Diet Pepsi for Donna. He really needed a drink after all that. Walking past the patio doors on the way back to the living room, he couldn’t help but to peer out into the night. He stopped dead in his tracks. Outside the huge doors, he saw the glowing eyes of the deer. It had to be the deer. It seemed to be a fricking herd of deer. Jacob watched, as the eyes moved closer, yet not close enough that you could make out their bodies in the darkness. All he saw were their eyes. Jacob was going to turn away, when a large buck silently walked up to the patio doors. It had somehow quietly made its way onto the back deck, appearing right outside the glass, staring back at him. The stag was large, with a rack any hunter would be proud to mount and hang on his wall. Jacob was frozen to the spot on the opposite side of the glass doors. While inspecting the animal he noticed the buck’s eyes weren’t neon green like the others. These were glowing, an eerie red.

interesting/different/gut-churning
I read "Oh, Deer" as one story in a collection of shorts called "Hot Reads Collection, Volume 1". The stories included in this volume vary considerably in subject matter, but they all are generally good. My personal favorite definitely was "Oh, Deer"; that's got to be one of the most interesting/different/gut-churning shorts I've read in a long while. "Criminal Portrait" and "After Hours" also were pretty creepy stories. I personally didn't care all that much for "Bad Moon Rising Over Oz", but I can see how others might find it entertaining... it's definitely no bed-time story for the kiddies! But, back to the main topic - "Oh, Deer". This story could be expanded to novel length and it would be just as good. In fact, I'd love to see it as a novel! It's a good story, and I recommend it whether you get the collection or just the stand alone short story

Brilliant!
A lot was packed within this short story. I read only half of it the first time, but the second time I read all the way through and was extreamly pleased. This author is extreamly talented, I am going to be reading more of her work in the next few weeks. Over all I enjoyed the read very much.

One of the Best!
Savannah Rayne put more than a chill up my spine with this read and that is a very hard thing to do! Her creative manner and style is very much like one of the all time greats, Alfred Hitchcock... and I am very proud to see a author bring back the feel of horror without the need of the all so familiar blood, gut and gore. Not many are able to put a twisted spin on a tale that is mixed with suspense and romance and leave you wondering for days after you read it, if that can really happen??? ...not to mention everytime you see a Deer, and other things which I cannot say due to it is a spoiler.

What I can say, is I will never be able to drive down to my homeland ever again and see the many deer out in the fields without thinking of this read. Nor will I ever look at an Apple Tree or Pie the same way as long as I live!!! ; )If I could rate this read higher than a 5 Star, it would already be done~