Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.

This is a short horror story following an elderly couple after the wife's terminal cancer diagnosis. The husband, wanting to make her last months more pleasurable, has planted a wonderful garden for her to enjoy. But after the husband accidentally waters a red cabbage with his wife's blood a miracle happens and after that, things will change.
This is a really interesting horror story, with a lush garden fed by blood and desire, exploring the interplay between curse and miracle, love and hatred, life and death. My absolute highlight were the vibrant and wonderful descriptions of the vegetables and flowers growing the in the garden. It all felt lush and delicious and made me feel as if I could sink my teeth into a ripe tomatoe in just a second. It definitely made my visualisations of everything going on so much more vivid and unsettling and horrifyingly beautiful!
The pacing is also very well done with just enough set up to understand what's going on before the horrors begin and things start to unravel. It also works very well as a short story and explores many unsettling themes, but if the author ever decided to extend it into a longer story I would love to check that out as well! In general some parts could have been extended a bit, increasing immersion without making this feel bogged down in any way, which is my only complaint.
Finally, I really enjoyed that the author includes quotes at the beginning of each chapter that fit the vibes of the story perfectly without giving too much away and led to me making guesses about the direction the chapter could take all the time and still finding myself surprised when it didn't go the way I thought it would. But when I then looked back at the quotes I found they still fit perfectly, just not the way I had thought they would.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.

This book is a collection of short comic strips centered around the author's life and her experience with mental health, neurodivergence, burn out, trauma, healing and more in that field.
I have made it a goal of mine this year to read more books by and for disabled authors and audiences and in that regard this is definitely a very interesting book. I often found myself nodding along in understanding to some parts and relating the experiences of friends and loved ones to others.
And while I definitely don't think any memoir about mental health needs to be constantly upbeat and positive, I found this anthology a bit... taxing at times in its repetition of the negative aspects without any real strategies shown to deal with it. I had expected a bit more in the field of resilience and explorations of how exactly the fields of being an artist overlap with the authors experience of neurodivergence (there is some, but it doesn't really delve as deep as I had hoped it would). I unfortunately have to also say that my enjoyment of this book suffered since I a have been reading quite a few books in the field of neurodivergence and mental health this year and maybe that led to me just expecting a bit too much of this one.
The art style is very interesting and easy to follow and I particularly enjoyed the way art was used to portray various emotional states, I enjoyed that a lot! And despite my issues, this is a book I will be recommending to my neurodivergent artist friends, who might enjoy it more than I did!

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.

This book explores the complexities of queer life post a break-up as well as the horrors of a zombie apocalypse and I really quite enjoyed that! Wendy, a bisexual woman is struggling to figure out how to stay inside the community after her breakup with Leah, who introduced her to the local queer scene, when all her friends were Leah's friends first. And if that wasn't enough to deal with after a house party to kick of pride people start acting weird and violent, culminating in a gorey, violent riot during a drag performance.
I really quite enjoyed this book, the chapters are short and you're able to fly through them quickly. I also really liked the characters, especially Wendy, a bisexual barista, Logan, a bisexual drag queen, Sunshine, a nonbinary pizza delivery person and Aurelia (a trans woman) and Sam (a lesbian), Leah's new flings. The story deals with heartbreak, community, feelings of (not) belonging, mental health (particularly depression and anxiety), drag, sex, the horrors of rainbow capitalism and shitty coperations, which were all things I loved! I also enjoyed the gorey, gruesome violence, which was truly flinch-worthy sometimes <3. It also works really well as a zombie apocalypse, hitting many of the familiar beats, while staying fresh and interesting by focusing on a small location and a limited number of events. Sometimes the story moves too quickly for me and there's never really the opportunity to take a breather or for any of the terror to fully sink in, which was my only complaint. I do think the horror of your entire community kind of imploding could have been shown in a bit more terrifying detail. But if you are interested in a less dark zombie apocalypse, while still exploring horrifying concepts this will probably work really well for you :)

TW: graphic violence, death, police brutality, murder, homophobia, cheating, alcoholism, pregnancy scare, past suicide attempt

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.

This upcoming anthology collects 25 stories of queer horror erotica featuring a diverse range of queer identities and horror genres, which was fun. From pirate fantasy horror over urban fantasy vampire horror to eldritch gloryhole horror there's definitely something here for everyone. However as is often the case with anthologies, this one was a mixed back for sure. Some of the stories I loved, some were actually terrifying, some were pretty hot, some were both (the best type tbh), some I hated and some I had no feelings about whatsoever. A few of them are even fuck and die, which is always a nice erotic horror trope to me personally. However, horror and erotica are both very personal topics and so your milage of enjoyment may vary. I also really, really enjoy that this anthology features most forms of LGBT representation and I absolutely adored that there's multiple trans characters of all identities in the stories! There's even multiple trans women and transfeminine people in this collection! (Small sidenote: There's no ace or aro rep (there is a cult that preaches abstaining from sex, erasing sexual desire and asexual reproduction which was fun, but that's not the same thing as asexual identity). I know some asexual fiction combining horror and erotica could have definitely added to my enjoyment and feels an obvious choice in retrospect.)
If there's not an even horror/erotica split in a story, they tend to verge more towards erotica (sometimes dark and kinky erotica, sometimes fantasy erotica) and so for some stories I found myself wondering what the horror aspect was supposed to be, which was a bit disappointing. In general - and this may have to do with my own forays into stories marketed as erogurowave, extreme horror and the darker side of queer indie publishing - I found myself wishing some of the stories had gone darker and treaded newer, more fucked up waters. However there were still more than enough stories in here that I liked. My favorites were Graphite by Amanda M. Blake, Write my Eulogy on the Gloryhole Bathroom Stall by Rae Knowles, Alphabet City Anactoria by Rain Corbyn, A Kiss With Thorns by K. M. Carmien and Motel Pozitive by j ambrose and they are definitely stories and authors I will be remembering!
I am also pushing my vote up from my individual ratings of 3.25 stars to a round 4 due to the interesting choice of anthology and the wide diversity of horror and queer identity and because of how much I enjoyed my favorites. It is definitely an anthology I can recommend, especially if you (like me) decide to enjoy it a story at a time (+ maybe a poem) instead of gulping it all down in one sitting, because I feel like taking my time greatly increased my enjoyment of many of the stories here. I will now be concluding my review with some short thoughts on each piece, including some trigger warnings when necessary.

A Gift so Sweet by Zach Rosenberg - quite hot, there's monster fucking, jewish mythology, dominance struggle and a nonbinary top! Also pirates and booty. I like a good fuck and die. TW: death, gore

Regina di Santana by Grace R. Reynolds - biblical, filled with death and gore and classical music, rather short and filled with metaphors, unfortunately not really my style, TW: gore

Caught in the Moment by Sapphire Lazuli - very lyrical, follows the creation of erotic art with a grisly ending, unfortunately not my style, TW: death, gore, body horror

Franklin & Jackson by JB Corso - an erotic encounter with the goal to summon the dead, interesting and dark but I wish character motivations had been explored more, it was definitely fun though, I love evil gays. TW: cheating, murder, slight boundary pushing

Graphite by Amanda M. Blake - a collection of erotic art that gains life in a dream soon turned nightmare, kinky, messy and fun! TW: dubcon. One of my favs!

where to draw the dotted lines by M. Lopes de Silva - short kinky poem, fun but unfortunately veeeery, very short

Write my Eulogy on the Gloryhole Bathroom Stall by Rae Knowles - An otherworldy encounter in the men's bathroom. Very, very fun. Who doesn't love a cosmic horror gloryhole? Gorey af and really hot. TW: gore, self harm, drugs, death. One of my favs!

I wander the Earth longing to taste your beating Heart by Minh-Anh Vo Dinh - A flesh eating serial killer attracts a vampire stalker, dark fantasy, which can be fun, but is generally not really my style and unfortunately did not really rouse my interest this time either, TW: murder, self sacrifice

This Living Hand by Aleksandra Ugelstad Elnaes - tfw somebody lends you a hand from beyond. Short, but a fun erotic encounter.

Mantis by Dori Lumpkin - A person cursed to kill anyone they kiss. But is it really a curse? Fun and depraved, I quite liked it, TW: animal cruelty, murder, suicide attempt, incestous kiss (for murder purposes)

Bite by Arthur DeHart- t4t rave sex, what if the stranger you picked up is not just trans like you, but also some kind of creature? Could have been scarier tbh, but I liked the atmosphere. TW: drug use

Alphabet City Anactoria by Rain Corbyn - Trans woman MC experiences a supernatural glory hole experience, very interesting world building, fun, hot and gorey. TW: body horror, death. One of my favs!

Silicone Toys by Violet Mourningstarr - What if your sex toy had feelings and felt betrayed when you bring a new partner home? Also what if it was poetry? I liked the story (even if it is a biiiit cliche), but unfortunately did not enjoy the poetry. TW: Murder

By a Thread by Caitlin Marceau - A lesbian relationship faces a lot of strain because of one partner's need for rougher sex and cheating when her wife doesn't provide it, until the wife decides to deliver her gruesome revenge, gorey, kinky and sooo messy (like emotionally), but sooooo good. TW: manipulation, cheating, sexual boundary pushing, unsafe bdsm, murder, blood and gore

Hunger, the Sea by Charibdys - A cook renowed for his seafood cuisine and the mermaid that visits him at night to feast, veeery gory, very hot. TW: gore

The Roses of Heliogabalus by Sofia Ajram- A poet renowed for his sexual prowess, an emporer with unusual tastes, a bacchanal they plan together. Also many, many roses and lovely gore. Unfortunately too lyrical for my enjoyment and the end did not work for me. TW: murder, gore, mentions of child sexual abuse

The Leatherman by Darren Black - A short and interesting poem about bdsm, stylistically fun but I wish it had been longer.

Little Saddleslut Grows Up by Avra Margariti- dark Fairytale, after eating her sisters a woman craves her girlfriend's flesh but dares not touch her for fear of hurting her, kinky and quite sweet but I wish it had been a biiit scarier. TW: cannibalism, cheating

White & Wolf by Marisca Pichette - Another dark Fairytale, this time Snow White & Red Riding Hood inspired, features a dual POV which due to the short lenght of the story did not really work for me, it is still interesting and lyrical and it was fun. TW: murder, attempted sexual assault (implied)

A Kiss with Thorns by K. M. Carmien - Another rose horror, epic dark fantasy inspired this time, very fun, I loved the rot, the body horror sex, the weird, sexy, scary dreams and that we got a nonbinary MC with a cock, it was horrifying and gross and fun and sexy, or as I liked to call it hornyfying. TW: gore, murder, body horror. One of my favs!

What They Don't Tell You About The Mummy's Curse by Anton Cancre - A man that gets his rocks off with rocks sometimes (he likes ancient things) discovers a new obsession when a Mummy rises from his sarcophagus, quite gorey, fun, I enjoyed the character's voice, the sex made me cringe in pain (there's mummy nails involved), but it's part of the pleasure. TW: gore, unsave sex, unsanitarity, consensual necrophilia (in a way?)

MOTEL POZITIVE by j ambrose - This short story has it all: biohazard symbol tattood above the cock, mushroom spores, glittering sperm, an incredibly powerful aphrodisiac that kind of turns you into these ants that just keep climbing! Fun, sexy, there's a spooky motel and soft body horror (literally quite mushy), this one's a fuck and don't die but instead become part of the mycelium network and live forever - TW: death, suicidality, bad mental health. One of my favs!

The Taste of Ash & Blackberry by Clar Hart- an interesting story where growing fruit from your chest is normal, sweet and somewhat spicy but otherwise not my style, one of the least scary stories in here unfortunately

We're All Family Here by Shelley Lavigne - A fitness cult that preaches perfection and asexual reproduction. I think the horror could have been darker, but the body horror was quite fun. Eroticism through it's denial makes for good horrorotica as well, TW: mindcontrol, cults

Invitation by Jessica Swanson - A very short country horror poem. It was fine, but very short and I wish the horror of it had been explored in deeper detail. One of the stories where I failed to find any real eroticism.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.

I had just finished The Spirit Bares Its Teeth when the ARCs for this new book by Andrew Joseph White were released and I am so glad I got approved for it!
This novel takes the horror from White's previous books and narrows it down to a generation long blood feud in a small southern town and the life of a young trans teen, whose life is upended when he's attacked and beaten savagely. Unable and unwilling to back down like his parents did after facing a similar attack to force them into compliance, he finds himself drawn into finding a way to stop this. And we all know what violence begets, right?
The gore is gruesome in this one, somehow even more personal and unsettling due to it being so human as well. In general I really enjoyed the way injury and violence was written, it was graphic and uncompromising and uncomfortable and I loved it.
The story starts with Miles coming out as a trans guy to his family and throughout the course of the story Miles uncovers two other aspects of his identity, both of which are heavily hinted at throughout the story and made me really excited to see represented (obviously there's the autism, for which Miles finally finds a word through meeting another autistic person and

Spoiler

he discovers he's aromantic, which I absolutely adored to see!

). So if you want a gruesome thriller with some great representation and figuring yourself out this is definitely a great book to check out. I also really enjoy seeing the

Spoiler

T4T autism4adhd commie4socialist queerplatonic relationship

, which was just lovely to see!
Other topics that are being dealt with are family, community, hauntings, socialism, classism, poverty, unions, mining, disability, ableism (internal and external), intergenerational violence, class violence, police violence, transphobia and homophobia and fighting back against those in power. So pretty much what I was hoping for in this appalachian thriller.
Besides Miles, whose character I obviously enjoyed, particularly the way his brain works and his burning rage and hatred and the fact that he gets to do something about it, I really liked Dallas and Miles' family, but most importantly Lady, the dog. She is such a good dog!
At points I wish the villains and Cooper had been given a bit more character, as I think that could have made the story even more interesting and realistic. Despite this I had a great time and sometimes what you need is a book that just screams in rage and I definitely found that here.

I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.

This collection features 4 novellas exploring the midwestern gothic theme once through a rather typical cult in the corn, once through a haunting of the land brought over through early settlers, once through a tragic experience at a summer camp and once through a haunted painting. While the first two stories are a lot more "typical" midwestern gothic (with their focus on the nature of the place and a focus on Cosmic/Folk horror), I also adored the last story, which is a bit more removed from these typical tropes.
I haven't read any of Scott Thomas' other work and did not struggle with finding my place in these stories. I do think there might be some fun easter eggs to discover if you have read them, but it is not at all necessary to understand what's going on (but it did make me want to check out Kill Creek, as I enjoy the way the author builds tension). In general I can say that if you like modern Gothic horror (such as the works by T. Kingfisher and Silvia Moreno-Garcia, check this anthology out, I can assure you you'll have a great time!

The Door in the Field: This novella starts with a fight at a construction side and an formerly amnesiac man struggling with his very short temper, who is then kidnapped by his project manager for nefarous purposes - interesting and fun, I liked the writing style and the dread it built, it does take a while to get going, but once it's going, it's really good! 4 stars
Wear your Secret like a Stone: A bookstore worker investigates why a concerned mother harassed her bookstore into removing the horror book she selected for her display of favorite books, at the same time, she has to face her dark past and deal with her wish to get out of this small town - very interesting and charming with a great protagonist, I also loved all the horror book shout outs (especially the T. Kingfisher one :)), it felt incredibly immersive and was a lot of fun even if I knew the mythology behind the story here and so was able to guess the "twist" sooner than probably intended, but even with that the main character and her own struggles were more than enough to really draw me into the story and kept me enjoying it immensely, 5 stars
The Boy in the Woods: a twist on what starts as a rather typical summer camp slasher when the protagonist has to stay another day as his parents can't pick him up due to a delayed flight - I did like the protagonist (a young boy who is disfigured after a dogbite during early infancy) and how it explored ableist tropes in horror and particularly the slasher genre, but I feel like the story could have dug a bit deeper into that, it was okay but nothing groundbreaking and so it is my least favorite of these stories as I felt the others did a lot more interesting things with the tropes they were using, 3 stars
One Half of a Child's Face: A mother, who can't stop watching her ex-husband's house during her daughter's weekend visit with him, soon discovers that something really weird is going on - haunting and really good and I love the female characters in here a lot, 5 stars

A really interesting collection of speculative fiction short stories often focussed on grief, science, climate change, hierarchies and community (or lack thereof). Often queer, often anti-facist, often weird in the best way! I've read two books by Izzy Wasserstein now (this one and These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart) and she has definitely catapulted herself to the spot of "Looking forward to her next work and pre-ordering asap" immediately!

My favorite short stories where:
"All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away From" - A sci fi story about travelling to different universes and about returning to the home you were kicked out of as a kid, dealing with grief and loss. An incredible start to this short story collection and a really good intro into what to expect.
"Unplaces: An Atlas of Non-Existence" - A book about fantastical places interspersed with notes by an unknown author living through a facist regime and dealing with grief. Really beautiful and heartbreaking.
"The Good Mothers' Home for Wayward Girls" - A cosmic horror about an world ravaged by monsters and the girls trying to survive in it, really scary and I really enjoyed it!
"Requiem Without Sound" - An AI awakens in a lonely spaceship only to find that the pilot that coded her has died in an accident, very interesting exploration of consciousness
"The Case of the Soane Museum Thefts" - Ghosts heists! Taking back what British colonizers stole to put in museums and returning it to the communities it belongs to! Ghosts that steal stuff! Really good and fun!
"Hopper in the Frying Pan" - In a futuristic world where everything is plastered full with targeted ads, the only way to be free is to become a body hopper. When one of those hoppers finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, she needs to find a way to fight back! I love a good cyberpunk murder mystery.
"The Grass Bows Down, the Pilgrims Walk Lightly" - A scientist has to figure out the reason why the grass bows down during a Pilgrimage in order to receive help from a more advanced alien species for humanity, during her walk she thinks about her past, really, really beautiful and reminded me a bit of LeGuins sci-fi.
"Five Reasons for the Sign Above Her Door, One of Them Unspoken" - A young man walks into an Inn. An Inn that's run and frequented by Chimeras, people who developed animal traits during their teenage years and are often shunned or fetishized by society. The trans metaphor is only thinly veiled, but I enjoyed it a lot! A heartbreaking (although very short) story, where I especially adored the end!
"Everything the Sea Takes, It Returns" - A woman wanders a post-apocalyptic world after the death of her wife, mostly sticking to the beach. When she sees another woman taking samples of the ocean, she joins her. Heartbreaking and beautiful.
"Shadows of the Hungry, the Broken, the Transformed." - A woman who finds herself unable to keep up with her university assignments of heartweaving after a loss leaves her untethered from her shadow. Very, very dense worldbuilding and a place I would absolutely adore to read more of.