Reviews by ericarobyn | The StoryGraph

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ericarobyn

Sleeping In The Fire: A Collection of 9 Horrifying Tales

5.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Sleeping In The Fire by John Durgin is a collection of 9 short stories that are each terrifyingly brutal and so vivid.

It is absolutely impossible for me to choose favorites from this collection. I absolutely loved them all! John Durgin is really showing off his range as a horror writer here, and I’m so here for it!

The way each story is placed within the collection is also interesting. There’s such a fun mix of the absolutely brutal, the unsettling, the blood-boiling, and then even more of the brutal and gore-filled terrifying tales!

Here are my thoughts on each story:

The Bandit’s Son –

When playing hide and seek, this group of kids hears screaming and gunshots from their camp. Returning to find two dead and one dying, they learn what they’re up against and what they must do.

What a tale to kick off the collection! This story is brutal and so sad. But that doesn’t last long because the terror and anxiety kick in as soon as we learn there’s a ticking clock.

Bird’s Eye –

Brandon just wants to propose to his girlfriend on the Ferris wheel at sunset, just like the night of their first date. But when he comes across a man getting violently ill in the bathroom, and then later sees him serving food, he tries to warn his friends and girlfriend, but he’s too late. Little does he know, this man was more than just sick with the flu.

When all chaos breaks out, I was both disgusted and terrified! The writing is so vivid, it’s like you’re right there in the Ferris wheel cart, watching the events play out below.

The Candy Bar Killer –

Intrigued by the town legend of Mr. Keene, these kids can’t help but visit his house on Halloween as their last scare of the night. But when they hear a girl ask for help, they spring into action.

Short and sweet, and this one packs quite the punch! Perfect as a short story, I would also love to see this one expanded for all kinds of Halloween night terrors!

The Selected –

A man recounts his time in a cult, showing readers how easy it was to get pulled in, even with the red flags. There was also something darkly magical about this cult and once he learned what it was, he was stuck.

Poor Cole! This was such a cool story about a character we meet in Inside The Devil’s Nest! We knew bits, but this really showed us everything this poor man went through.

Companion –

While out looking for a Christmas tree, this father and son spot an injured animal. Not knowing what it is, just that it may die without help, they bring it back to their cabin. The grandfather immediately warns them of the danger.

If only they had listened… this story was so brutal! These creatures wasted no time!

Oneiric –

After her girlfriend dies in a supposed suicide, Samantha is ready to do anything it takes to see Morgan one more time. Luckily there is a pill that can help, though it comes with major risks.

A heartbreaking story of a love cut short by darkness. My goodness, the terror here was incredible! From the scratching noises to the smells of smoke, this one will have readers experiencing an array of senses.

Letters To Santa –

When a boy living in a very toxic and dangerous home writes a letter to Santa, his mom warns him that nothing will change. But a Christmas miracle happens! Unfortunately, the father doesn’t let this be a happy thing… As the years wear on, this boy writes a few more letters and gets his wishes.

I love this story so much. It’s horrible to see this poor boy going through life terrified of being home with his father. There are so many scenes that will make you cringe and rage at the horrible acts. But the magic of the holiday letters is a wonderful thing.

Thalassophobia –

Taking a trip to snorkel around reefs, when they get out to the area where they will leave the boat, the group learns one of them offered to pay more to go out deeper. But that’s not all… out there, sharks lurk. Of course, the one that was given this information didn’t share it. When picking up some sea-life ends with a cut hand, one shark zeros in on the group…

This story begins with an immense amount of anxiety and only gets worse and worse as it goes on! Playing out just like a film in readers’ minds, you’re going to be right there on the boat with this crew.

A Walk on the Beach –

Wandering away when his parents got drinking, this young boy finds a cave. His curiosity gets the best of him and he goes in… but he’s not alone in the cave.

My anxiety with this one! The darkness, the unknown, and the claustrophobia… phew. I 100% would have gone into the cave myself, so I felt for this poor kid! I kept hoping he’d turn around!

My Favorite Passages from Sleeping In The Fire

Her eyes looked like they might explode if they tried to fit another ounce of fear in them.
— The Bandit’s Son

We waited a few minutes, and the only noise we heard was the rustling of the dead autumn leaves blowing across the street to the neighbor’s yard. I couldn’t help but get the feeling even the leaves were trying to get away from the house.
— Candy Bar Killer

“What’s happening?” I yelled.
“Patience. Do not move…” Alister said calmly.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next. Multiple hands shot up out of the water, grabbing onto the dock.
— The Selected

The snap of a branch close by sent Billy’s heart into his throat. They focused their attention on the area the noise came from. The crunching of footsteps on the crusty surface of snow were getting closer. Even with the lack of leaves, long lost to the winter season, it was still a struggle to see too far into the woods. Large pine trees were scattered throughout the forest, still plush as can be, hiding whatever it was that watched them from a distance.
— Companion

She flailed around, digging her nails into his charred forearm, peeling away sections of skin like an overdone Thanksgiving turkey.
— Oneiric

Creeping past their bedroom, I peeked in to see them both still sound asleep, my dad’s face looking in the direction of the door with his eyes shut. Part of me wanted to walk in and punch him in the mouth for all the awful things he’d put us through. Another part of me wanted to soak in the rare moment of him at peace, unable to inflict any harm on us.
— Letters To Santa

One thing he could see perfectly clearly were the remaining pieces of Glenmore’s body dispersed across the waves like spare doll parts floating in a child’s bubble bath. An arm, ripped apart at the elbow, clanged off the side of the boat as they sped by.
— Thalassophobia

Slowly, Jack turned around. In the darkness he saw two glowing dots in the rock wall. To his right, another set of glowing dots appeared.
Then another.
And another.
When he realized what he was looking at, it was too late. He was staring at multiple sets of eyes, and they were staring back at him.
— A Walk on the Beach

My Final Thoughts on Sleeping In The Fire

This collection is so darn good! Perfect nightmare fuel that just adds more and more to the already building fire.

Horror fans, this is one you’re going to need! Keep an eye on the preorder options as they roll out!

Content Warnings

Neverest

T.L. Bodine

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Neverest by T.L. Bodine is a chilling survival story centered around grief, regret, and the search for answers in order to move on. Filled to the brim with quiet, unsettling moments, this book will have you nervously turning each page.

Mourning the loss of her husband, Carrie has made it through the horrible phone call, followed by the funeral and burial, but she can’t begin to move on until she has an understanding of what happened. Undeterred, even when begged by her late husband’s best friend, Carrie goes to Everest to climb and look for her husband’s body or any trace of information that may show her what happened to him.

Once on the mountain, mostly alone in the cold with her thoughts, we learn that grief isn’t the only weight Carrie is carrying up the mountain with her; she’s also carrying the weight of guilt and regret.

She’s not an experienced climber, but she has determination on her side. Will she get the answers she craves or will the mountain claim another victim?

There’s just something about this author’s writing style that sucks me right in every time. I absolutely devoured this book!

I was so invested in this character’s journey! Her emotional scenes were so spot on for how I have handled grief in the past, I couldn’t help but feel for her.

As the story progressed, I loved not knowing whether there was really something supernatural going on, or whether it was just altitude psychosis … and that ending! PHEW.

My Favorite Passages from Neverest

Outside, it had gone from evening to night to the earliest hours of morning, time stubbornly refusing to stand still for grief.

Uncertainty became a living creature that shared her body and drove her, against her better judgment, to fixate.

Otherwise, the path felt increasingly lonely as it wound its way up the mountain. Even when they passed other hikers on the trail, there was a sense of isolation that had not been present closer to the towns — like the whole area was holding its breath in anticipation of something.

She doesn’t know how to explain that she needs the distraction. Needs to feel busy, in control of something. That without something to keep her hands busy, she’ll be dragged down into an abyss in her thoughts — that focusing on the here and now is the only thing keeping her from falling into the limitless void of ‘what ifs’ and uncertainty.

The crowd has morphed, grotesquely, into an assembly of ghosts, and nobody else seems to have realized it.

Isn’t it funny how altitude and tiredness and grief all affect the body in the same way?

All the same, I felt an odd awareness that, even if I wished, I would not be able to raise my voice. Like when you’re in a dream and try to call out but can only whisper. I cannot explain it, but I was certain that the mountain itself had stolen my voice, suppressed it to maintain the level of ghostly hush that now filled the cold slope.

Behind her, the crevasse seems to grow narrower, as if the waiting mouth were starting to close in disappointment that it would have no fresh prey to swallow.

It is not true after all what people always say — that you can feel nothing in a dream. Dreams can be painful. Dreams can be more real than anything.

My Final Thoughts on Neverest

One of the very best slow-burn and suspenseful novels I have ever read, this one carries readers along step by step, taking everything in as we climb the mountain and break down the walls in the main character’s mind to see the full picture. Like the climb itself, things are only made clear at the top.

I loved every single second of this story. This is a must-read for fans of horror that has elements of survival, real-world horrors, and the supernatural.

Content Warnings

Homesick

Samantha Kolesnik

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Homesick by Samantha Kolesnik is a special edition chapbook that holds four absolutely gut-wrenching stories that will bring readers to tears as the author firmly places you in the character’s minds.

Going into this one, I had no idea what to expect other than knowing what True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik was like.

Prepare your tissues for this read!

Here are my thoughts on each story.

A Red Jacket in the Wind –

A tale of two friends coping with grief. One woman is searching for answers and one woman already has answers… but one thing they both keep asking is, “why not me?”

Starting this chapbook with a banger of a gut-punch horror story! My heart absolutely broke for these two women. What impossible things to live through. I could see bits of myself in both of these characters’ mindsets.

Pretty –

A young girl only wants to look pretty on her wedding day. We soon find out this isn’t a happy day at all.

This poor girl. There was no excitement on this day at all and things only got worse as the day progressed.

Into The Cold –

A heartbreaking story of a mother taking her daughter on a drive. This story will bring you to tears.

Pretty Good People –

A couple seems to float through life happy to have each other and enough money for alcohol. But soon, the cracks in the relationship can be seen.

Seemingly a bit off, this story took quite a dark turn! A killer tale about being stuck in a situation thinking things are “good enough.”

My Favorite Passages from Homesick

Nance is worried that if she’s not always looking, she might miss Julie.
— A Red Jacket in the Wind

The white dress laid crumpled on the floor, discarded as carelessly as my innocence. I quietly slipped out of his reach and sat next to it.
— Pretty

My Final Thoughts on Homesick

A must-read if you were lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of this limited run of only 125 copies! Samantha’s work is just SO powerful.

Content Warnings

The Horror Collection: Lost Edition

Kevin J. Kennedy

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

The Horror Collection: Lost Edition presented by KJK Publishing is the 14th chilling collection in this series. Per usual, I absolutely loved it!

With this lineup of authors, I knew we were in for a treat! This is another collection that covers a ton of ground.

My favorites from the collection include:

Eric’s Tune by Mark Towse
Encounter by Daemon Manx
The Maiden of Underbank by Lex H. Jones
From A Colder Place by Judith Sonnet
Shameless Sam Changes His Life by Steve Stred
The Association by Richard Chizmar
Frequencies by Candace Nola

Per usual, here are my thoughts on each tale!

A Perfect Match by Russell James –

When a fancy man arrives in town, the women at a brothel are curious to see if he will stop by their establishment. He does, and while he chooses one special lady, he takes her to his hotel rather than staying under the roof. That was just the frost red flag…

Ofh, what a story to kick things off with! The reveal toward the end regarding his cape was horrifying.

Eric’s Tune by Mark Towse –

Going into a jail cell while on a tour to play a prank, this man gets much more than he was anticipating.

What a terrifying tale! I was already nervous about the cell door being shut, but I couldn’t have guessed the horrors to come!

13 Hook Street by Tim Curran –

When moving into a house with a dark past, Marie could feel the pain immediately but she had no idea what secrets it held.

This poor woman. Watching her wither away and be constantly gaslit by her husband was terrible.

Encounter by Daemon Manx –

After being released from jail, this man only has one person in the world that he was looking forward to seeing; his old cellmate that had gotten out six months ago and promised to be at the jail when he was released too. But things start to change quickly…

This tale took so many unexpected turns! Just when I thought it was one type of story, that changed! This was darkly fun!

The Maiden of Underbank by Lex H. Jones –

When two men go out to have an afternoon of fishing, they talk about urban legends, ghost stories, and local legends. But then something from their past comes up, and the mood takes a sharp turn.

What an ending! My goodness. I should have guessed at this one based on the start, but I go so sucked into the normal everyday life storyline and hoped to see the big fish! What perfect revenge.

Excoriation by J.A. Sullivan –

Guilted to return to an island she had escaped for her ex-mother in laws dying wish, this woman regrets going before she has even left. But things are about to get much worse.

Yikes, the path this story took! I started having a little PTSD myself reading about being on the ferry and heading to an island. Definitely a lesson in not letting your people-pleasing win!

He by Konn Lavery –

While delivering food during a winter storm, this man takes an order with an amazing tip. But once he arrives to drop the food off, the specific drop-off request, one he must oblige, takes him into the basement of the home where he meets a strange man. Things only get stranger from there.

What a fun and super creepy tale! How easily this could really happen if the magic were there is alarming. The poor original.

Glass Weavers by C.M. Forest –

On a space shuttle headed on a specific job, Jonah is alone with various Service Units who were automated to take care of the ship. But one day, he finds a patch of wall that doesn’t match the rest and of course, his curiosity gets the best of him.

This was so eerie. Tales about being alone in space always freaks me out, but this took a path I wasn’t expecting at all.

All The Teeming Life with Wings by J.R. McConvey –

A man who keeps referring to himself as “Doctor” has been going out on the island he and his family live on to drink in private. His wife has spoken to him about his drinking, but he just keeps going. One day, he spots something in the trees…

This story was dark and unsettling. I loved not really being able to trust what was happening as we were seeing in through the lens of someone who was always drunk.

From A Colder Place by Judith Sonnet –

Traveling home from a holiday, this family runs into a human-shaped form in the roadway. It’s storming and the father just wants to get his family home safe, but he’s nervous about driving around the shape.

This is such a terrifying story! I loved the tension that is built in just a short amount of time. And that ending!!

Flaming Eros by Mark Allan Gunnells –

Taking a job caring for an old man in the evenings, this young man is shocked he got the job. Soon, he finds out this old man has other, darker needs…

I was so nervous about where this story would go when I first started it. Definitely couldn’t have guessed!

Transcendence by Edward Lee and John Pelan –

When a man transcends to another place with Her, he fears telling his partner as she would feel inadequate. Jumping back in time, we learn what the transcendence is all about.

Such an extremely brutal and sexual body horror tale!

Shameless Sam Changes His Life by Steve Stred –

Going off the grid to try to turn his life around, this man who has made a lot of money pranking people suddenly has one last prank he must complete.

I loved this one so much! The story starts off in a terrifying situation before jumping back to show readers how we got there as well as what happened next!

The Association by Richard Chizmar –

Moving into a new home, this couple learns their new homeowners’ association is very strict. When they start getting notices, they refuse to play along like the neighbors seem to. They soon regret that.

Gosh, homeowners associations are truly something of nightmares. I can’t imagine dealing with a regular one, let alone this group.

Heartless by Calvin Demmer –

Thinking something is up with his wife, he plans a terrible experiment. But what he finds doesn’t shock him.

This was so unsettling! I loved that we didn’t know what was going on until the end!

Frequencies by Candace Nola –

Obsessed with making a musical masterpiece, this man has a brutal and horrific plan.

Starting off with a bang, we slow down a bit to ground ourselves in what’s going on before seeing the big reveal. This one had me swallowing and rubbing my throat. Phew!

Voices From The Abyss by Brian G. Berry –

Stuck underwater, this man is convinced he’s hearing voices…

A super eerie tale where the narrator can’t be trusted. I was so nervous to see what would happen next!

Bad Ink by Matthew V. Brockmeyer –

After a terrible accident kills his daughter and leaves his wife in a coma, this man stumbles across a tattoo shop. Going in, he is almost in a trance and agrees to a very large tattoo. The ink isn’t just addictive as it, it also helps him dream of his daughter. Before ping, he’s covered in ink…

This tale is a perfect mix of gut-wrenching horror and unsettling horror. I was so nervous to see how this would progress. I need to know more about this tattoo artist! I’d love a book all about her and her clients!

My Favorite Passages from The Horror Collection: Lost Edition

He had dedicated his life to collection the perfect sound. This instrument would be his legacy. The perfect combination of life and death, beauty, and madness.
— Frequencies by Candace Nola

It made him feel complete in a way he couldn’t seem to fathom, as if he’d been given a new limb he didn’t know he’d been missing, or was suddenly able to see colors or hear sounds he couldn’t before. It felt like such a natural part of him.
— Bad Ink by Matthew V. Brockmeyer

My Final Thoughts on The Horror Collection: Lost Edition

So many of these tales really nestled their way into my brain! Days after finishing reading, they are still so fresh and pop into my head throughout the day.

This is a collection that I highly recommend picking up.

Blood and Smoke

Stephen King

3.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Blood and Smoke by Stephen King is a collection of three short stories; Lunch at the Gotham Cafe, 1408, and In the Death Room. This was a wild ride because, with each of the stories, I wasn’t totally sure I had a solid idea of what was actually going on.

While staying in the Omni Parker House for a work trip, I learned that my coworkers weren’t just pulling my leg about one of the rooms being the inspiration for a Stephen King short story. Whether it was about to be a brilliant idea, or a really, really terrible one, I immediately bought this audiobook so I could jump right to 1408.

Here are my thoughts on each story.

Lunch at the Gotham Cafe –

Finding a note from his wife announcing she is leaving, this man goes into a spiral. With plans to meet with her and her lawyer for lunch one day, the man’s lawyer was also supposed to be there, but had a family emergency. His lawyer did as much as he could to prepare this man to stay calm and handle the situation well… of course, he did not handle it well.

Being inside this man’s head and seeing everything play out was so eerie. This was also a wild ride! At times I wasn’t sure what was happening.

1408 –

Determine to stay in a very specific room while at a hotel, this writer has a bit of difficulty getting the staff to agree. Then he takes his time at the bar before entering the room. Immediately after entering, he begins to see things…

I read this one back in 2017 in the Everything’s Eventual collection, but I couldn’t remember much. The cigarette behind the ear sparked a memory, but the rest felt new!

In the Death Room –

What a violent and wild tale! I’m unfortunately not so sure I had a good grasp on what was going on in this one. I couldn’t even try to summarize.

My Favorite Passage from Blood and Smoke

I don’t know why someone laughing out of control should be more frightening than someone sobbing, but it is.
— 1408

My Final Thoughts on Blood and Smoke

Overall this was a fun listen. I loved that the author himself was the narrator!

Unfortunately, I had a really hard time listening as the other audio that was layered in was way too loud for me. The saxophone specifically had me fast-forwarding. I would be interested in giving this one another go with the physical text, but unfortunately, it’s audio-only.

Soft Targets

Carson Winter

5.0

dark funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Soft Targets by Carson Winter is a darkly hilarious tale about two coworkers with an unusual bromance.

With a lovely content warning at the start of the book, the publisher notes gun violence and refers to the back of the book for more information.

Stuck in a dead-end job, these two coworkers find joy in talking about the darkest thing they could imagine happening at work; having a shooter walk through the doors.

They fantasize about what it would be like and what they would do if it happened. Then they talk about what they would do if they were the shooter.

But it’s all just talk. At least, until the day it isn’t… Turns out, they’ve discovered a loophole where anything they do on certain off days doesn’t matter. But can this really not have any repercussions?

My gosh, the dark humor here! It made me uncomfortable and yet I couldn’t help but chuckle.

These two main characters are so charismatic and charming, even when they’re describing scenes from my nightmares. I loved seeing their antics and what they would discuss next.

As soon as the action in the story really ramps up, I got a nervous feeling. That feeling only got worse as they continued to spiral.

What a perfect story of taking things too far.

My Favorite Passages from Soft Targets

I often think about what would happen if a gunman entered our building and started blasting away. I think we all do, it’s like a horror movie that way.

Ollie was a mysterious guy, but I accepted his mystery just as I accepted that snakes went somewhere during the winter and it wasn’t my business to know where.

Ollie and I sat down and I think we both gulped at the same time. Like a fucking cartoon.

My Final Thoughts on Soft Targets

This was such a fun, dark read. I personally had a blast from start to finish, and the ending was super impactful.

Horror fans that enjoy stories set in the real world with horror and comedy mixed in, this will be a hit for you! Though as the content warnings caution, this is centered around guns, so please be careful if that’s not a topic you have the capacity to handle at the moment.

Content Warnings

The Auld Mither

William Meikle

5.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

The Auld Mither by William Meikle, narrated by A.D. Milne, is a tale of a brutal slaying that forces a man on a journey to let go of the past and find himself.

A man desperate to save his company just wants the attention and respect of the board. But then all chaos breaks out and blood spills…

Soon, the man’s daughter and son, Lucy and Dave, are forced to deal with the aftermath of their father’s sudden and gruesome death. Lucy is mourning but focused on what needs to be done, while Dave is bitter and drowns his feelings in alcohol.

Meanwhile, an investigator, named Roberts, is determined to solve the case, no matter what lengths he must go to.

Chapter one starts the story off on such a dark and intense note. Once I started the audiobook, I couldn’t turn it off! As it went on, I just got antsier and antsier to see what was going to happen. The whole story was tense, but those last two chapters specifically! Phew!

I absolutely loved the character development we saw from the main character, Dave, while on his quest toward healing and becoming his own man.

The brutal murders, the spooky folklore, and the fast-paced storyline made this a home run for me!

My Favorite Passages from The Auld Mither

He took a step inside, bracing himself for the possibility of an attack. Nothing moved.
“Hello?” he shouted, feeling self-conscious in the large open area. Suddenly it felt like he’d farted in church. Indeed this empty space with its echoes of blood and death did remind him of fire and brimstone in cold churches in his childhood.

She rubbed at her eyes. Hard. As if disgusted with herself and nodded, but something was gone from her eyes. Something that had made her Lucy. She might never be the same again.

My Final Thoughts on The Auld Mither

This was such a fun listen! The gore at the start really kicked things off on a brutal path, and things only got spookier from there!

The audiobook was an absolute blast to listen to! Narrator A.D. Milne did such an amazing job! This is definitely a tale that you can get totally immersed in and lose all track of time while listening along.

Go check it out today!

Content Warnings

Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing

Hailey Piper

3.0

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Your Mind Is A Terrible Thing by Hailey Piper is a space horror centered around the unreliability of the brain and doing whatever it takes to survive.

As a member of the skeleton crew on a corpse ship, Alto has suddenly found themselves alone with the exception of a wraith named Zelany that they’ve kept hidden.

Already struggling with the battles they play with their own mind, and what must be done to get to safety only adds to those battles. Fighting trauma, nightmarish scenes, and augmentation, every step is a fight.

This is one of those books that I went into knowing nothing other than the author’s name. As I went along, I was so excited to see that it was a space horror! And of course, the only thing more terrifying than being in space is being in space alone.

I started out believing everything that this story served up as truth, but the deeper into the story I got, the more I questioned everything that was happening.

My favorite element was Zelany. The dialogue this little thing had added a lovely bit of humor to the dark and tense story. And the space walk… my gosh, I was so nervous during that entire scene!

Hailey Piper certainly takes us on a journey here!

My Favorite Passages from Your Mind Is A Terrible Thing

“Can you scan for human life in the quarters rooms?” Alto asked. A white sheen flashed across Zelany’s interface. “I’m no casting director, but this audition’s a ghost town.”

Human minds came stuffed with glass shards; a little shaking, and they would wound themselves.

Time to see how they liked their nightmares thrown back at them.

“The dark does not die in the light; it only waits,”

My Final Thoughts on Your Mind Is A Terrible Thing

Reading a bit like a fever dream, one that totally carried me along for the ride! I could never have guessed what was going to happen next, nervous to see what would be around the next bend.

Fans of horror mixed with sci-fi, set in space, this is one for you!

Content Warnings

Tell Me I'm Worthless

Alison Rumfitt

2.0

dark tense slow-paced

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt is a horribly bleak story told from various perspectives that are all linked in the darkness of a past that won’t let them go.

Content Warning:
This is one of the darkest books, centered around fascism and trauma. The author has a wonderful warning at the start. For my full list of content warnings below.

Three years after a traumatic event in an old house, two individuals struggle with trying to overcome the past. Spirilng, rather than healing, they soon realize there’s only one way out of this… they have to go back to the house.

A slow, rambling tale told from various perspectives, we have:

Alice – Told in the first person. Alice struggles with finding a place to settle as the atmosphere of each place slowly starts to become too much. Alice tells one story after another, slowly revealing her traumas and struggles as she continues to recall the past and tries to outrun her ghosts.
Ila – Told in the third person. Ila is determined to get involved in anti-trans groups. She has a hard time moving forward trying to find herself as so much of her thoughts are stuck in the past.
Hannah – A friend of the first two who just wanted to be seen and respected by her friends. Unwaveringly loyal, even when she saw the red flags, she went along with her friends' plans anyway.
House – The house has a long history, but the house doesn’t care about the past like the two others, instead, the house just wants the two back inside it now.

Reading Part One, which spans the first half of the book, from Alice and Ila’s perspectives, felt like dealing with two friends that are fighting and each of them are trying to turn you against the other. Now you’ve seen the cracks in both of their stories and arguments, and you can’t believe either of them because of how unreliable they are.

Part Two gives us some much-needed backstory as we jump back in time to see the traumas each have been trying to live through within the first half of the book. And boy, are these traumas brutal.

Part Three brings the two friends back together, for better or for worse. But is what they’re about to do going to help or hurt?

There are so many dark elements that were woven into the text here. Terrible things like transphobia, homophobia, wicked violence, and much more. Just one very small element that was displayed was the toxicity of social media and the internet in general when used for harm.

An all-around dark, depressing, and brutal story that doesn’t hold back with the raw, real-world horrors.

My Favorite Passages from Tell Me I’m Worthless

There was a thick fog in the air. When cars and trucks shot passed, down the road, their headlights looked like the eyes of ghosts.

Haunted houses are rarely neat. If the House was truly haunted, then that haunting spilled out of its broken or boarded up windows, soaking into the fertile earth around it. The trees still grow, but the squirrels in their branches often feel the sudden need to bite each other in the eyes.

In the mirror lla can see that she is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her traumas sometimes come and peer out of the windows of her eyes and that is very frightening.

Now, if three girls enter a house and only two leave, who is to blame?
And if both girls tell a different story, but you read online that you have to BELIEVE WOMEN, what do you?

Memory is a difficult thing to navigate, especially traumatic memory. It splinters. You can cut yourself on the edges of it so easily.

My Final Thoughts on Tell Me I’m Worthless

Reading this felt a bit like walking in the dark house, complete with twisted hallways that suddenly split, sending you on a new path feeling bewildered, sad, and angry.

For readers of the extreme that don’t mind very, very dark, and upsetting tales, this one will be a good fit for you. However, I cannot stress this enough, this is a book to tread lightly with. If you are easily impacted by darkness, this may not be a good fit for you.

Content Warnings

MAGICK: an extreme horror novella

Judith Sonnet

3.0

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Magick by Judith Sonnet is a blood-soaked and absolutely brutal extreme horror tale of a haunted house that riles up anyone that nears the property.

A quick note-
This is one of the most extreme horror stories I’ve read. There are content warnings at the start for torture, gore, abuse, and rape. I would add many more. Check out the detail in the content warning section here for the full list. Also, to further the point that this one is intense, the book had a rating of X.

Drawn to a house by just hearing stories that it is a haunted hot spot, one group of people visit the town and feel a strong sexual urge to get to the house. But once there, the group meets a violent end.

Years later, after buying the property in order to make an adult film, Jace is ready for the action! When her crew arrives, they all feel the intense atmosphere as well. Jace lets them all know the plan but fails to tell them about the 23 ghosts that she had caught on film already. But little does she know, the darkness of the house isn’t the only thing to fear.

There were so many horrific scenes that had me ready to jump right out of my own skin! The super dark sexual scenes were very difficult to read, so be careful there if that’s not your thing.

My Favorite Passages from Magick

There were other such accounts of odd sightings, close encounters, and terrifying occurrences. The house was so active, it may as well have served dinner along with its constant shows!

The freak hooted behind him, laughing as if this was merely a game and not the most terrifying event in Geoff’s life. Geoff exited the graveyard and trundled through the woods. Branches clawed at him, and his leg brushed through a thorn bush. The pain couldn’t stop him. He had been ignited with adrenaline. All Geoff could think was: Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! It was his mantra. His prayer. Jesus Christ, RUN!

The rusty protrusions had been twisted, churning his gray brains up and forcing them out from his ears and his empty eye sockets. He sneezed, and Jace saw a cloud of pink mist jet out from his nostrils.

My Final Thoughts on Magick

Filled with depravity, violence, and sex, this was a wild ride!

This was so far out of my reading comfort zone. While I wasn’t a big fan of the brutal sexual elements, I loved the terror-filled moments with the ghosts! I can definitely say this isn’t a story I will be forgetting about any time soon.

Extreme horror fans that love the mix of brutality and sex, you’re gonna love this!

Content Warnings

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