Category: body horror

Chlorine

A Coming-of-Age Tale of Body Horror

5/5 Star Review

Ren Yu grew up on stories of mermaids. She knows all of the myths, legends, and truths. Mermaids drove her to swimming at a young age and now in her teens, she is a competitive swimmer. She starts and ends her days at the pool and her only goal is to get scouted so that she can get a full scholarship to college. Chlorine follows Ren on her path from girlhood to womanhood and all of the changes and pressures that transistion brings. As her junior regional competition looms ahead and the stress is as high as it’s ever been, Ren starts to lose herself as a human and gives into her mermaid desires.

This book, you guys – this book! It ticks so many boxes for me: Coming-of-age? Check. Body horror? Check. Literary horror? Check. Sapphic longing? Check. All of these elements are wound up into a tightly written narrative from a protagonist that is, to put it quite simply, other.

We experience all of these “firsts” with Ren as she looks back on her human life, through the lens of a queer, immigrant mermaid. This sounds a little out there – I know, but stick with me on this one because the prose and the story are just so good! Chlorine is one of the best debut novels that I have read in quite some time. It was unique, spellbinding, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Jade Song is one to watch out for and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of their works in the future.

The Prettiest Girl in the Grave

A Novel of Pageantry Hell by Kristopher Triana

5/5 Star Review

“Some girls are fearful, others are brave. One girl’s a princess, the next one, a slave. But all girls are equal, when they’re down in this cave, until just one is left standing – The Prettiest Girl in the Grave.”

Kristopher Triana continues to prove himself as a voice to be reckoned with in the horror genre. His latest, The Prettiest Girl in the Grave, is a must-read for fans of Gone to See the River Man and The Long Shadows of October.

“What do you fear?”

In the small town of Greenwalk there is a forgotten cemetery in the woods. Every generation, a group of girls manages to find their way to it and become embroiled in a century old game – Who will become The Prettiest Girl in the Grave?

“Who do you love?”

Bella, Rose, Celeste, Aubrey, Savannah, and Marnie all sneak out at midnight to meet at the old cemetery. Aubrey has learned about a secret game that’s only played by local girls in this graveyard, at one specific crypt. As the girls begin to play, they open themselves up to a night which they may not survive.

“What happens when you die?”

When Bella’s mother, Holly, wakes up to find her daughter missing she has a horrible suspicion that she knows where her daughter and her friends are and what may be happening to them. Holly played the game when she was a teen and barely escaped with her life. Holly returns to the crypt and tries to save her daughter from the very fate she faced as a young girl.

Fans of Triana’s trangressive horror, rejoice! The Prettiest Girl in the Grave delivers a supernatural punch filled with all sorts of nasty little surprises. He has deftly crafted his own folklore and surrounding urban legend for the town of Greenwalk – think Bloody Mary, but amp it up to eleven. As the reader, more and more of the history is revealed to us as it is told through Bella’s point-of-view and in flashbacks from her mother, Holly. I couldn’t put this one down and blew through it in one day and I think you will too!

It’s worth a mention that if you’re a fan of Triana’s more extreme horror, you won’t find it here. While there is a good amount of violence and blood in this novel, it’s far more subtle compared to some of his other novels, like Body Art or Full Brutal. If you’re looking for a good place to start reading Triana, or to turn a new reader onto his work, The Prettiest Girl in the Grave is an excellent place to start.

The Prettiest Girl in the Grave releases on May 12, 2023 from Grindhouse Press. Pre-order the paperback or ebook now! OR Be one of the really cool kids and pre-order the limited edition hardcover bundle straight from Triana’s site here. It’s an absolute steal at only $45!

Hill House Comics: A Look at Daphne Byrne and The Dollhouse Family

A few years ago, Joe Hill joined forces with DC Comics’ Black Label and cultivated his own line of horror comics. The series launched with Basketful of Heads, written by Hill himself. The line continued in the following months with The Dollhouse Family; The Low, Low Woods; Daphne Byrne; and Plunge. I decided to start my journey into Hill House with Daphne Bryne.

This would prove to be a poor decision.

Daphne Byrne, written by Laura Marks, follows fourteen year-old Daphne in the mourning period after her father’s untimely death. Set in New York in 1886, the setting is perfect for the spiritualist background of the story. Daphne’s mother is drawn in by a charlatan medium who claims to converse with her dead husband and will not believe her daughter’s attempts to disprove the woman. Daphne watches as her mother wastes their dwindling coin and wrestles with troubling dreams she is beginning to have, about a young man who claims to be her friend, but who also appears to her during the daytime as well.

On the surface, Daphne Byrne sounded great and I wanted to love this story. What I got instead was a mess of convoluted ideas, many of which never went anywhere and they did absolutely nothing to advance the story. At best this was derivative of Rosemary’s Baby and honestly, it was barely passable as a cohesive narrative. Unless you are a series completist, I can’t think of any reason to recommend this title.

The bar was set low for Hill House Comics.

The Dollhouse Family, written by M.R. Carey, was my next dive into this curated graphic novel line. This story follows Alice who inherits a beautiful 19th-century dollhouse from an estranged great aunt. Alice quickly falls in love with the house and the little antique dolls inside. It’s not long before she realizes that she can magically enter the house and interact with the dolls. What starts off as a joyous escape quickly becomes a nightmare as Alice discovers the Black Room and what it asks of her to do.

Aaaand we are back on track.

The Dollhouse Family was exactly what I wanted Hill House Comics to be – dark, haunting, mysterious, cohesive – you get the picture. Dollhouse delivered with demons, a mystery, and nods to Alice in Wonderland, while still maintaining its own identity. In Alice, we have a character who takes no guff and delivers as a solid protagonist. I genuinely liked this story and would recommend it for Sandman fans. There are parts of this story that made me think of the Gaiman classic quite a few times.

Thanks to The Dollhouse Family, my faith has not been completely lost in Hill House Comics. I will be continuing on next with Basketful of Heads.

Junji Ito: Master of Horror Manga, Part III

Here we are again, revisiting my favorite horror manga creator, Junji Ito. Click here for Part I and Part II. This time around we’re taking a look at four volumes – Deserter, Remina, Sensor, and The Liminal Zone.

Let’s start first with my favorite of the bunch, The Liminal Zone. This volume is made up of four stories – Weeping Woman Way, Madonna, The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara, and Slumber. Weeping Woman Way is the story of a young couple who stop in a small country town and encounter a weeping woman, a hired woman who cries and mourns the dead at funerals. The young girl is so saddened that she is unable to stop crying, even after they leave the town. They decide to return and uncover the truth of these weeping women. Madonna tells the story of a corrupt priest who falls in love with beautiful, young women and convinces them that they are the blessed virgin herself. A plan that works for him until he can no longer keep his affairs a secret from his jealous wife and she goes on a rampage. The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara follows a young couple into the suicide forest. Norio has been stricken with a fatal disease and his girlfriend, Mika, decides to join him in death. Their first night, they see a faint glow and decide to follow it the next day. They discover the mystical spirit flow of the forest and Norio becomes obsessed with riding it every night. The final story, Slumber, is about a man who falls asleep at night and wakes up each morning convinced he’s killed the night before. This was a 5/5 Star read for me. Ito excels in short story form and these are some of his best.

Deserter was another 5/5 Star collection. This bind-up contains twelve short stories – standouts for me included: Deserter, about a WWII soldier who went AWOL and hid away at a friend’s farmhouse; Where the Sandman Lives, a story about a man who can’t fall asleep for fear of his dream self coming out and taking over his daytime body; A Father’s Love, a story about a father who can possess his entire family; and The Long Hair in the Attic, a cautionary tale about being a playboy.

Sensor is the story of Kyoko Byakuya who is drawn into the mysterious village of Kiyokami, a town covered in volcanic hair. The shining golden fibers form a protective shell around her when a nearby volcano erupts. When she emerges, all of her hair has been replaced by the beautiful golden hair. What follows is a strange tale of cults and cosmic horror. Another 5/5 Star read.

The final volume was my least favorite of the lot, but it’s still worth a read at 4/5 Stars. Remina tells the story of a scientist and his daughter. Dr. Oguro discovers a new planet that’s emerged from a wormhole. He names the planet Remina, after his only daughter. His discovery is met with great fanfare and his daughter rises to popularity because of it. Everything is going great until they discover the planet is approaching earth and devouring everything in its wake. The population begins to fear Dr. Oguro and his daughter and become obsessed with the idea that by destroying them, they can save their planet.

If you haven’t caught on by now, you should absolutely be reading Junji Ito if you like horror.

You’re Mine

A novel of the occult and teenage love gone horribly wrong by Somer Canon

“The story, to those who knew it, was just fucking sad.”

5/5 Star Review

High-schooler Ioni Davis is a misfit in her small West Virginia hometown. She has a tight-knit group of friends, but no one to call her own. One day, handsome senior Raber Belliveau transfers into her school and they begin a whirlwind love affair. Raber begins to pull Ioni out of her shell, not only sexually, but encourages her interest in Wicca – an interest that Raber also shares. All is not as it seems and before long Ioni starts to realize that Raber’s words and actions are manipulative and possessive. When college starts and Raber goes to university an hour away, their relationship worsens as Raber’s behavior changes even more and Ioni discovers that he is dabbling in dark magicks.

This book, guys. This book… First of all, don’t let the romance fool you – this is most assuredly a horror novel. Secondly, this book packs a gut-punch. I would caution possible trigger warnings for abuse. Having had my own Raber in real-life, the red flags are there and anxiety inducing as you realize what he is doing to Ioni and the kind of guy he truly is. I had to set the book down a few times and walk away. Ms. Canon writes Raber with a real understanding of how abusers work.

Being nearly forty years old, I loved the sense of time and place where this novel is set. It has a real late 90s feel with refences to the early days of the internet and ICQ and message boards. You’re Mine definitely took me back to my high school days.

You’re Mine is full of well-developed characters, emotions, and treats Wicca with respect. There’s not much more that I can say about the book without giving anything away so I will end on this – go out and buy this book!

Sexually Charged Haunts: A Look at Hell House and The Long Shadows of October

Reviews of Hell House by Richard Matheson and The Long Shadows of October by Kristopher Triana

Perhaps it’s because I recently read the book and watched the film version of Hell House that I drew so many comparisons to The Long Shadows of October, but nevertheless, here we are.

The premise of Hell House is simple – Rolf Rudolph Deutsch wants proof that there is life after death and sends a small group of experts into the Mount Everest of haunted houses – the Belasco House. They are given unlimited funds and a week in which to prove that ghosts do, in fact, exist. Dr. Barrett, a physicist, and his wife, Edith, are joined by two mediums, Florence Tanner and Benjamin Fischer. Benjamin is the only living, sane survivor from a past investigation of the Belasco House. The book follows them on their week through hell as they attempt to communicate with Belasco.

Hell House has it all – ghosts, possessions, a weird sex cult, a “Bastard Bog” where unwanted children of the sex cult were drowned, a chapel – complete with one giant-sized Jesus with an erection, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

For the most part, I enjoyed Hell House up until the very end. The great reveal felt extraordinarily weak and didn’t make a whole lot of sense; Especially given all of the history and deviance of the Belasco house that we were privy to. It brought the overall enjoyment of the book down a bit for me.

Likewise, the premise of The Long Shadows of October is simple – Joe Grant and Danny Knox are looking for some quick cash so that they can get Joe’s little brother, Robbie, laid. When the opportunity to housesit Snowden Manor for $500 a week falls into their laps, they jump at the chance. Old Mrs. Snowden even tells them they can have friends over, just so long as they stay at the house as much as possible over the two weeks that she’ll be gone. Things start getting weird the first night the guys invite girls over – Maxine, Danny’s girlfriend, and Kayla, Joe’s new girl. It’s almost as if the house wants the girls out of it.

While The Long Shadows of October has some similar elements to Hell House – ghosts, possessions, and sex; It also brings a host of well-formed elements that make sense to the story – wraiths, witchcraft, sex magic, and a succubus. All of which build a cohesive story that leads to a thrilling conclusion.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Long Shadows of October. It’s a solid haunted house story with enough of an edge to separate it and elevate it over others in the genre. I’ve seen it faulted for its lack of character development, but here’s the thing – it’s not really a story about the characters, it’s a story about the house and what’s in it. The one character who needs to be strong and well-rounded is and the others are exactly what they need to be.

If you’re looking for a sexually charged haunted house novel or looking for a little ghost-on-human sex, look no further than these two novels. While both are strong contenders, The Long Shadows of October comes out ahead for me.

Master of Horror: Poppy Z. Brite

Revisiting Lost Souls, Drawing Blood, and Wormwood

Some books feel like coming home again – if home is a ramshackle house out on Violin Road in Missing Mile, North Carolina.

I recently decided it was time to revisit some old favorites and it’s been more than twenty years since I’ve picked up these novels and short story collection from Poppy Z. Brite. These books got me through high school. I was a goth kid in a surfer town and it brought me unbelievable comfort knowing there were other kids like me out there in the world – even if they were fiction.

First up was Drawing Blood. This was my favorite when I was younger and I found it to still be my favorite even now. Trevor’s father is a struggling artist whose inability to draw has turned him onto the bottle. One night, when Trevor is just five years old, his dad takes a hammer and kills his mother, brother, and then hangs himself – leaving Trevor alive. Fast forward twenty years and Trevor has returned to Missing Mile, to the house where it happened, looking for answers. Zach, a hacker on the run from the cops, is also newly arrived in town. The two meet and have an immediate bond. As Trevor tries to get to the bottom of the mystery as to why he was left alive, Zach keeps him grounded with one foot still in our world while the other swings wildly into the supernatural. I love how untraditional this haunted house novel is and I’m not sure that I have yet read its equal.

Next up was Lost Souls. Technically a prequel to Drawing Blood, this novel takes place predominately in Missing Mile and New Orleans. They do not have to be read in order, but there are nods to events and such in Drawing Blood that happen in Lost Souls. Nothing is a baby left on a doorstep and by the time he is fifteen he realizes that he just doesn’t belong where he is. He steals a $100 from his parents and buys a bus ticket as far south as he can go. His favorite band is a group call Lost Souls? and he decides to head to where they’re from, hoping to meet them. Once the bus money runs out, Nothing starts hitching and fate brings him to the van carrying Zillah, Molochai, and Twig – three vampires. What Poppy Z. Brite did for the haunted house trope in Drawing Blood, he does for the vampires in this novel.

Finally, I took a dive into Wormwood (formerly titled Swamp Foetus). This is a short story collection that contains twelve short stories. Including two that feature Steve and Ghost of the band Lost Souls? They are two of my favorite characters so it was a pleasure to see them again here. Other standouts for me are The Sixth Sentinel about the ghost of Jean Lafitte; A Georgia Story about the lives of four boys who once lived in an abandoned church; The Elder about a man’s love for his son; and His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood, about two men who can never be satisfied. There is truly not a bad story in this collection.

What’s the takeaway, you may ask? Reading these books again, at almost forty, I found that they still held up extremely well. Some horror dates itself, and not in a good way. Poppy’s books are cloaked in nostalgia and are so character-driven that they could almost happen at any place, during at any time. Poppy knows the south and it flows through these books like very few others. Long story short, I hope it’s not another twenty years before I pick these books up again and I hope you’ll pick them up with me.

Blood Bank: A Charitable Anthology

Spreading Hope Through Dark Fiction – Edited by Blood Bound Books

5/5 Stars

The good folks at Blood Bound Books have put together a truly stellar anthology featuring fourteen authors who are some of the biggest names in horror right now – Livia Llewellyn,  Neil Gaiman, Jo Kaplan, Kristopher Triana, Kealan Patrick Burke, Mona Kabbani, Max Booth III, Joseph Sale, Jay Wilburn, Jeremy Robert Johnson, Rena Mason, Lucy Leitner, Patrick Freivald, & Jeff Strand.

Click the link to get a signed copy for only $20 USD

My favorite thing about this anthology, which you might guess if you’re familiar with any of these authors, is the wide variety of horror sub-genres contained within. Looking for horror comedy? Jeff Strand and Neil Gaiman have you covered. Looking for something a little more extreme? Kristopher Triana has your back. Body horror your bag? Jeremy Robert Johnson can scratch that itch. There are monsters, grief, revenge, magical realism – you get the idea. There is something for everybody in this collection.

While there wasn’t a story in this anthology that I didn’t like, a few stood out as favorites – They Say the Sky is Full of Snakewolves by Lucy Leitner, about the power of fear; Laws of Virulrnce by Jeremy Robert Johnson, about the spreading of a new virus; Every Breath is a Choice by Max Booth III, about a desperate father’s quest for revenge; and New Fox Smell by Livia Llewellyn, about a new kind of fox hunt.

The best part about purchasing this anthology? A portion of the proceeds from every copy of Blood Bank will be donated to Read Better Be Better and Hagar’s House, quarterly, over the next five years! What’s not to love about this? You get a stellar collection of stories AND you get to help out two worthy charities –

Read Better Be Better – Read Better Be Better’s mission is to connect young readers and youth leaders to inspire a love of literacy and learning. Click the link to read their full mission statement and to take a look at the good work that they do.

Hagar’s House – Hagar’s House is a sanctuary for women, children, and gender non-conforming folks that provides an open and empowering residential community, resource coordination, and a safe space to transition into sustainable housing. Click the link to read their full mission statement and to take a look at the good work that they do.

What are you waiting for? Click the link above to get a signed paperback for only $15! You can also pick up a version for your Kindle here.

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The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories Volumes 1 and 2

Edited by James D. Jenkins and Ryan Cagle

5/5 Star Review

I recently had the displeasure of suffering through a horrid cold and sinus infection. The one positive from the whole ordeal is that I had a few days of nearly uninterrupted reading time. During this time, I blew through both volumes of The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories.

The good folks at Valancourt Books recognize the lack of translated horror fiction in the U.S. market and are seeking to bring more to light. Nearly every story in both volumes is appearing for the first time in English. The stories range from over five continents and a multitude of languages, including the endanged Romansh in volume two.

Volume One features twenty-one contemporary horror stories published in thirteen different languages. Favorite stories in this collection for me were Uironda, from Italy, about an exit off the highway that sometimes appears to truckers; The Angle of Horror, from Spain, about seeing people from a new angle – fans of Junji Ito will see this as a stand-out story; Señor Ligotti, from Mexico, about a real estate deal that is just too good to be true; Pale Toes, from Finland, folk horror about cave dwelling creatures; and The House of Leuk Dawour, from Senegal, about the evil spirit, or rab, Leuk Dawour. Other standout stories were The Time Remaining, from Hungary; Menopause, from the Ivory Coast; The Bones in her Eyes, from the Netherlands; and Backstairs, from Sweden.

Volume Two features twenty contemporary stories published in sixteen different languages. Valancourt tried not to repeat stories from any of the countries previously published in Volume One and succeeded with the exception of Denmark. While I thoroughly enjoyed Volume One in this new series, Volume Two was my favorite. I felt Valancourt extended their reach a bit further and pulled in some extremely varied and different stories. Where the stories in Volume One felt safe and relatable for foreign readers, Volume Two felt edgier and not afraid to take risks.

It’s incredibly difficult to narrow down my favorites from Volume Two, as I flagged nearly every story for one reason or another. However, a few standouts for me were Whitebone Harp, from China, about a woman who gives herself entirely to her husband; The War, from Poland, about the truth of never-ending war; The Old Wound and the Sun, from Japan, about an interesting portal; The Bell, from Iceland, about a plague in a small town; The Grain Dryer of Tammõküla, from Estonia, about a ghost and family secrets; and Firstborn, from Greece, about the truth behind a family’s wealth.

If you’re a fan of short stories and a wide variety of horror, these are two collections that you don’t want to miss!

The Thirteenth Koyote

A werewolf splatter western by Kristopher Triana

5/5 Stars

Leave it to Triana to remind us that werewolves are monsters. In The Thirteenth Koyote, the eight installment in the Death’s Head Press Splatter Western series, we get a brutal tale of werewolves and redemption set against the backdrop of the old west.

Our story begins with Vern, a disreputable undertaker, come grave robber, who unwittingly unearths the body of Jasper Thurston, the first Koyote. Thurston’s undead heart still beats and calls upon those who can hear it to the small town of Hope’s Hill. Unbeknownst to many, the church in Hope’s Hill harbors an ancient secret, a powerful piece of evil that can open up the very gates of Hell if it falls into the wrong hands. Ultimately, the fate of the town, and the world, lies with a small ragtag group of men and women who are willing to stand up and fight again the Koyotes and the very evil they represent.

At just under 500 pages, The Thirteenth Koyote weaves a taut tale of good vs. evil vs. what we often question to be good. It is full of richly developed characters – who, spoiler alert, often die. No joke, this was like reading Game of Thrones – do not get attached to any characters because you just don’t know who is going to make it out alive. The Koyotes are a ruthless gang of killers and if you are looking for sympathy, you won’t find it here. What you will find are monsters, ancient magic, evil, brutality, and a few good folks willing to stand up against all of it.

I loved this book. It was a lot of fun and paid homage to the splatter western theme perfectly! Do yourselves a favor and pick this one up. The sequel, Ballad of the Werevixens will be releasing soon from Death’s Head Press.