My Inspiration

“This book does something rare, it treats death with respect rather than spectacle.

There are no cheap shocks here. No gore for its own sake. Instead, the stories linger in the spaces people avoid. The hospital room at 3 a.m., the battlefield after the noise stops, the quiet after a final goodbye. The Grim Reaper is not cruel, nor merciful, but profoundly attentive.

What makes Chronicles of the Grim Reaper Volume 2 resonate is its insistence that every life matters, even when it changes nothing. Especially then.

The emotion is earned, not forced. When a story hurts, it’s because you can relate to it, that realization is painfully true: that love and loss are inseparable, and that caring is always a risk.

This is not a book you binge for entertainment. It’s a book you sit with, that you sip like a fine single malt Scotch (which I find helps when reading it). One that leaves echoes with you instead of answers.

If you read Volume 1, you were introduced to the Reaper, in Volume 2, you get an expansion of Grim’s existence. It moves beyond the simple witness, the empathy, the guiding of those who have passed and those left behind and into his own existence, and dare I say, his own emotions and Grim’s own existentialism.

This volume, much like the first, came at a time of personal loss. The story Held for a Moment hit me especially hard and pushed me toward introspection which I really needed. The true gift of Griz’s stories is that they are thought provoking, healing, cathartic, and heartfelt.

I would recommend to anyone who has ever faced or is facing loss that you pick up both volumes, read them, and take them to heart.”

—JOHN TOBIAS

“Chronicles of the Grim Reaper: Volume 2 by Griz Calderon is a beautiful and soulful collection of stories that shine a new warm light onto the subject of death, and in particular the Grim Reaper. Calderon's refreshingly kind and loving perspective on death challenges readers to rethink their own fears, and to surrender to the possibility that we are all more guided and protected than we can imagine -- and that death itself is one of those loving guides. Her stories are richly descriptive, deeply moving, and, at their heart, touch upon the painful beauty of what it means to live, love, and die. The stories focus on humans, animals, fantasy, and the Grim Reaper himself. I was particularly drawn to the animal stories, the stories of love, and the stories of women who had lost their way from themselves. The book illuminates how death brings meaning to life—to all areas of life—and that it comes from a place of love. Each individual short story, while complete on its own, also acts like a chip of a block of marble. At the end, you step back and see that what has been sculpted is a whole new way of looking at the thing that human's fear the most. And what a beautiful sculpture it is. "

—SAMANTHA CHILDS

“This beautiful book is a gift. One you don't want to put down and then reread certain stories again. 

You'll shed tears again for something that touched you or new tears you needed to shed. 

Only this time it changes you. You walk away with a sense of relief, of understanding and of peace with a smile that lights up your soul.

We know there is something unknown we can’t touch or see, but it’s there just the same.

Griz gives that something a meaning, a name. 

The Grim Reaper isn't something to fear but to rejoice in.” 

—CODI CRAFT

“If I had more time in the day, I probably would've finished it in just a few hours. Putting it down to do mommy task and housework was hard to do. 

I loved every story in this part of the Grim Reapers tales. You had me tearing up once again with the animal stories and the stories during war times.

The one that I believe hit home the most for me was the Unseen Burdens. Being the oldest daughter who had to grow up too fast and do way more than my body should've had to, that one hit home for sure.

This book was absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to see more from you in the future. I'm definitely going to need a physical copy of this one to match the one on my shelf.

Thank you for letting me be part of this journey with you.” 

—ASHLEY B.