Visceral: Collected Flesh by Christine Morgan and Patrick C. Harrison III- Book Review

Visceral: Collected Flesh                                                           
Christine Morgan and Patrick C. Harrison III
Death’s Head Press (July 22, 2020)
eBook/ Trade Paperback/ 128 pp

“Some tales are best told wet, dripping with blood and bowels, like a freshly slaughtered steer, its flesh and organs splayed across the butcher’s floor for all the world to see. Whether reading such stories or seeing such slaughters, the observer is witnessing two primal truths: fear can be measured in body parts and death is rarely heroic. These eight tales were run through the meat grinder and served-up raw. If you’re going in, bring plenty of napkins.”

Something exciting happened on July 22, 2020 of this year. Can you guess what it was? Of course, you can’t. But that’s right, folks. It was the release of a great little collection of Splatterpunk stories from two brilliant minds working out there in the Splatter Field of dreams. Somewhere out there colorfully splattered in the Splattersphere lurks a Visceral book of tales doused in bloody fragments of collected flesh. These two said brilliant minds are the crimson brain pieces of author and horror book reviewer extraordinaire, Christine Morgan (Spermjackers From Hell, Dawn of the Living Impaired, White Death), as well as author and publisher extraordinaire, Patrick C. Harrison III (Death’s Head Press, Five Tales That Will Land You in Hell). With an introduction by no stranger to the genre of Splatterpunk himself is Splatterpunk guru, Ryan Harding (Genital Grinder, Reincarnage, Header 3 co-authored with Splatterpunk’s notorious All-Time Master Daddy Edward Lee). So, let’s sit back and take a look at these brilliant stories found within the pages of this ever-so-brilliant collaborative beautifully and relevantly titled ‘Visceral: Collected Flesh’. Proceed with caution.

Going Green/ C.M. 

Future society reminiscent of Burgess’s ‘Clockwork Orange,’ Zea wants to erase her carbon footprint with the help of Earthstock, when we as the reader will see how much she is really willing to charge for the sake of the environment.

Placenta/ PC3

A group of medical professionals share personal war stories when one of them asks the group what the worst thing they’ve ever seen is. Sam Garfield takes that placenta cake to a whole new level here, when he recalls firsthand accounts of a patient who delivers a placenta demon whilst in bloody labor.

Vicarious/ C.M.

A first-person account of a donor addict who donates more than just blood after discovering that they’re able to see/feel the recipients’ personal journeys, so the donor is able to live a more fulfilling/adventurous life from the confines of their own home. A weekly visit to the library may be enough after all.

Full Moon Shindig/ PC3

A military man is back in town when his friends invite him over and throw a little local hometown party. Once at the party he discovers more than a Full moon going on that night when finding out that a young girl has been tied up to the pool table may not be what she may seem. Think Ketchum’s ‘The Girl Next Door’ meets Stephen King’s ‘Silver Bullet’ with the brutality and depravity knobs cranked to the max.

Little Fingers/ C.M.

Something much more sinister is going on behind the scenes here when a teacher creates an unforgettable Halloween game of reach your hand in the box and guess what it is inside there, folks? It feels like something lifeless and lifelike at the sametime, but you’ll never guess what it is…

Mildred’s Garden/ PC3

When a jealous neighbor tries to sabotage an award-winning garden nearby, things begin to get a little weird and messy before taking a turn for the worse, and by worse I mean DEATH.

Bad Taste/ C.M.

“Oh, hell to the fuck no…” Who needs therapy when you can heat up a metal torture device to near death temperatures, stick it in your mouth, and melt your effing face off?

Pigs/ PC3

In conclusion, we as the reader are pushed out the door with a tale of half human/pig hybrids in this pig pen reminiscent of Dr. Moreau’s ‘House of Pain.’

Often shocking, brutal, bloody, and always thought-provoking this collection was a great time and then some. The two author’s styles and skillset are very well accompanied by each other’s here, whilst making this collection an even more entertaining and enjoyable read overall. I would also like to note that this was a personal first for me reading anything by PC3, but it will definitely not be the last. With that being said, I would also like to point out that I am in by no means a stranger to the brilliant work of author Christine Morgan, who somehow manages to keep getting better and better with each and every release. These two give us as the reader an honest run for our money here in this bloody homerun of an unforgettable collaborative collection. For fans of Extreme Dark Fiction, Weird Fiction, Splatterpunk, Horror and Bizarro Fiction alike.

Do yourself a favor and check it out!

The Bad Box by Carlton Mellick III- Book Review

The Bad Box                                                                                
Carlton Mellick
Eraserhead Press (September 1, 2020)
eBook/ Trade Paperback/ 152 pp

I think we can all admit that the year 2020 has been a public display of one never-ending shit-show after another. But let’s try really hard to keep it positive here because the great godfather of Bizarro Fiction has dropped a new book on us back in September, and it’s quite honestly more than a lot of fun. It’s tons of fun and then some really if we’re going to be completely honest here. It’s a long walk in the park with hairy white goat legs. It’s x-ray vision. It’s kind of like shooting rainbows from out of your fingertips. It’s weird looming googly, ball-bearing eyes. It’s learning how to instantly speak Cantonese out of the deep blue. It’s also body moles, A.D.D., and wiggly wretched brown banana slug fingers. Like I said, TONS of fun and then some because it’s the bee’s $#@&!#% knees, folks.
 
“Little Benny isn’t very good at taking tests. It’s not that he’s a stupid kid or doesn’t pay attention in class. It’s just that he’s absolutely terrified of failure. It doesn’t matter how hard he studies. He gets so nervous that he freezes up and his mind goes blank, rarely even answering a single question before the time is up. This is especially difficult now that he’s in Mrs. Gustafson’s fifth grade class, where the punishment for failure is to draw a curse from the bad box—a magical device that permanently mutates children into horrific monsters.”

Benny Paulsen hates taking tests more than anything in the world and just can’t seem to pass any of them to save his life. He keeps having to reach his hands into that godforsaken bad box made of black steel, wrapped in barbed wire and chains, accompanied by a set of long drooling monstrous teeth. It hisses and growls in the Mrs. Gustafson’s hands, oozing a thick, dark fluid that smells like dead fish. It’s filled to the brim with dread and unease. It’s a very, very evil box. Benny just received his fifteenth punishment, and it might be worse than all the others, but, at this rate, only time will really tell. After hooking up with and becoming friends with Mika, a translucent blue slimeball (thanks to Mrs. Gustafson’s Bad Box) the two of them are now known as the Super Villains. So, what better time than now to team up and plot a devious bad box heist. But you will have to read the rest of the book to find out what really happens for yourself. This book is a lot of fun. The author manages to keep the reader heavily engaged in the storyline as the loveable (and well not-so-lovable) characters continue to keep getting weirder and weirder by the turn of every page, and the payoff in the end is exactly what we as the reader always wanted or needed. It’s also kinda/sorta like this overly cute, cuddly fun body horror story. Imagine a group of kids playing Candyland on the set of Hellraiser. Or, something like all hands on deck the Ouija planchette on a colorful playset with the Teletubbies.

Check it out!