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reads_vicariously 's review for:
Milk Teeth
by Andrew Post
**Review originally published in SCREAM Magazine**
The Breathlands are like any other family from the backwoods. You know, like those in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and Wrong Turn. Sephorina has her hands full trying to take care of everyone. Her mama is nine years pregnant with twins and about to burst. Her daddy lives in a bathtub trying to regrow all four recently lost limbs. Her grandma consorts with the supernatural and brews regenerating blood potions. And her brother Hughie is a jerk. It’s up to Sephorina to seduce and kill young men so their “milk” can be drained for her daddy’s restoration.
This is one of those books I will never forget. It reads at a blistering pace with jaw-dropping moments around every corner. It’s bizarre, hilarious, and repulsive in the best way possible. In other words, pure entertainment. So many scenes - such as the disgusting birthing of the twins or their terrifying transformations later on - are seared into my brain forever. In addition to the overall strangeness and vulgarity, I love the world that author Andrew Post built: the cult-like nature of the family, the various rituals and folk horror deities, and so on.
With a story like this, Post could easily have stayed in the extreme horror territory and relied on shock value alone, but he’s smarter than that. Yes it’s campy, gory, shocking, and gross. But, it’s also a story about family dynamics and misfortune that is very well written. Apart from all the murder and pacts with demons, the Breathlands could be any old family trying to make their way in life. You find yourself rooting for the big sister who murders men to protect her family, and that tension between sinister audacity and sympathetic authenticity is part of what makes this novella so great.
Milk Teeth is a nonstop thrillride of unnatural oddities and quirky characters; a horrifying story that also has a lot of heart. It’s equal parts redneck Lovecraft and Rob Zombie, but it also feels like its own unique entry in the hillbilly/cosmic/folk horror genre. There is much left to be explored in the world of the Breathlands, and I sincerely hope the author will grace us with a sequel in the near future!
The Breathlands are like any other family from the backwoods. You know, like those in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and Wrong Turn. Sephorina has her hands full trying to take care of everyone. Her mama is nine years pregnant with twins and about to burst. Her daddy lives in a bathtub trying to regrow all four recently lost limbs. Her grandma consorts with the supernatural and brews regenerating blood potions. And her brother Hughie is a jerk. It’s up to Sephorina to seduce and kill young men so their “milk” can be drained for her daddy’s restoration.
This is one of those books I will never forget. It reads at a blistering pace with jaw-dropping moments around every corner. It’s bizarre, hilarious, and repulsive in the best way possible. In other words, pure entertainment. So many scenes - such as the disgusting birthing of the twins or their terrifying transformations later on - are seared into my brain forever. In addition to the overall strangeness and vulgarity, I love the world that author Andrew Post built: the cult-like nature of the family, the various rituals and folk horror deities, and so on.
With a story like this, Post could easily have stayed in the extreme horror territory and relied on shock value alone, but he’s smarter than that. Yes it’s campy, gory, shocking, and gross. But, it’s also a story about family dynamics and misfortune that is very well written. Apart from all the murder and pacts with demons, the Breathlands could be any old family trying to make their way in life. You find yourself rooting for the big sister who murders men to protect her family, and that tension between sinister audacity and sympathetic authenticity is part of what makes this novella so great.
Milk Teeth is a nonstop thrillride of unnatural oddities and quirky characters; a horrifying story that also has a lot of heart. It’s equal parts redneck Lovecraft and Rob Zombie, but it also feels like its own unique entry in the hillbilly/cosmic/folk horror genre. There is much left to be explored in the world of the Breathlands, and I sincerely hope the author will grace us with a sequel in the near future!