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Fierce as the Grave: A Quartet of Horror Stories
These four tales deal with the unquiet dead in all its various forms. From ghosts to vampires, zombies to vengeful spirits, these stories take you from a soft-apocalyptic future where computers are symbiotic creatures burrowing into your skin, to a post-apocalyptic world where cowboys round-up zombies for slaughter. You'll witness vampires hosting the birthday party of the century in an antebellum mansion in the old south and a young boy beginning to understand that the evil he does will come back to haunt him.
Includes the stories "Verrata," "Heaven of Animals," "Bone China," and "Sneaking In."
Word Count: 25,000 words
Includes the stories "Verrata," "Heaven of Animals," "Bone China," and "Sneaking In."
Word Count: 25,000 words
91 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 11, 2011
2 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
John Hornor Jacobs
24 books758 followersJohn Hornor Jacobs, is an award-winning author of genre bending adult and YA fiction and a partner and senior art director at a Little Rock, Arkansas advertising agency, Cranford Co. His first novel, Southern Gods, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Excellence in a First Novel and won the Darrel Award. The Onion AV said of the book, “A sumptuous Southern Gothic thriller steeped in the distinct American mythologies of Cthulhu and the blues . . . Southern Gods beautifully probes the eerie, horror-infested underbelly of the South.”His second novel, This Dark Earth, Brian Keene described as “…quite simply, the best zombie novel I’ve read in years” and was published by Simon & Schuster’s Gallery imprint. Jacobs’s acclaimed series of novels for young adults beginning with The Twelve-Fingered Boy, continuing with The Shibboleth, and ending with The Conformity has been hailed by Cory Doctorow on BoingBoing as “amazing” and “mesmerizing.”Jacobs’s first fantasy novel, The Incorruptibles, was nominated for the Morningstar and Gemmell Awards in the UK. Pat Rothfuss has said of this book, “One part ancient Rome, two parts wild west, one part Faust. A pinch of Tolkien, of Lovecraft, of Dante. This is strange alchemy, a recipe I’ve never seen before. I wish more books were as fresh and brave as this.”His fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Apex Magazine and his essay have been featured on CBS Weekly and Huffington Post.Books:Southern Gods – (Night Shade Books, 2011)
This Dark Earth – (Simon & Schuster, 2012)
The Twelve-Fingered Boy – (Lerner, 2013)
The Shibboleth – (Lerner, 2013)
The Conformity – (Lerner, 2014)
The Incorruptibles – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2014)
Foreign Devils – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2015)
Infernal Machines – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2017)
The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky – (HarperCollins / Harper Voyager, October 2018)
A Lush and Seething Hell – (HarperCollins / Harper Voyager, October 2019)
Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales – (JournalStone, 2020)
This Dark Earth – (Simon & Schuster, 2012)
The Twelve-Fingered Boy – (Lerner, 2013)
The Shibboleth – (Lerner, 2013)
The Conformity – (Lerner, 2014)
The Incorruptibles – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2014)
Foreign Devils – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2015)
Infernal Machines – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2017)
The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky – (HarperCollins / Harper Voyager, October 2018)
A Lush and Seething Hell – (HarperCollins / Harper Voyager, October 2019)
Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales – (JournalStone, 2020)
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 14, 2017
Not a bad quartet of stories, but I really enjoyed only one story, Bone China. And usually I don`t like the vampire stories, so this says a lot about it`s quality.
May 29, 2012
I came across this collection while looking for “Southern Gods” on Amazon. At 99 cents it didn’t look as if I had anything to lose by giving it a try and what would you know? That little investment turned into a couple of hours well spent. The stories in “Fierce as the Grave” are short, twisted, and greatly increased my desire to read some of Hornor’s longer work.
“Verrata”, the first tale, takes place in futuristic New Orleans that is far from being ideal. Hornor takes ghosts to the next level here, and introduces lots of elements that were confusing at first but made “Verrata” memorable in the end.
“Heaven of Animals” is a mix between zombies and the Wild West. It was my least favorite, perhaps because I needed a few more pages to really feel something for the characters. If you happen to like zombies, however, this one is definitely for you.
“Bone China” is the story of two women, a birthday celebration and a family reunion. It’s by far my favorite tale from this book; it’s set in the South and the atmosphere really shines through the text, which just makes it all that much creepier.
In “Sneaking in” a small town kid learns that every action has a consequence. This tale marks the end of the collection and it left me wanting more, which I guess was Hornor’s intent from the beginning. The creepiness here, to me, lies not in the supernatural element, but in the protagonist’s system of beliefs, that justifies abuse as long as you can get away with it.
Overall, “Fierce as the Grave” is one solid collection, and if you have the time to spare, a great read.
“Verrata”, the first tale, takes place in futuristic New Orleans that is far from being ideal. Hornor takes ghosts to the next level here, and introduces lots of elements that were confusing at first but made “Verrata” memorable in the end.
“Heaven of Animals” is a mix between zombies and the Wild West. It was my least favorite, perhaps because I needed a few more pages to really feel something for the characters. If you happen to like zombies, however, this one is definitely for you.
“Bone China” is the story of two women, a birthday celebration and a family reunion. It’s by far my favorite tale from this book; it’s set in the South and the atmosphere really shines through the text, which just makes it all that much creepier.
In “Sneaking in” a small town kid learns that every action has a consequence. This tale marks the end of the collection and it left me wanting more, which I guess was Hornor’s intent from the beginning. The creepiness here, to me, lies not in the supernatural element, but in the protagonist’s system of beliefs, that justifies abuse as long as you can get away with it.
Overall, “Fierce as the Grave” is one solid collection, and if you have the time to spare, a great read.
June 10, 2014
This review appeared at The Confabulator Cafe, www.confabulatorcafe.com
I first read John Hornor Jacobs after seeing him at ConQuest last year in Kansas City. After listening to him talk about writing in a panel, I had a feeling that I would enjoy his work. The way he spoke about writing, and about the horror genre, made me think he would be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come. It didn’t hurt that he was a cool guy and said very supportive things about my own writing. As far as first novels go, Southern Gods is hard to beat. It’s a great blend of classical literary writing and horror.
Jacobs’s Fierce as the Grave: A Quartet of Horror Stories continues the sort of writing that made me love Southern Gods. The regional flavor permeates everything. This is a guy that knows his setting. The South and the rural world, in general, flows through the work.
The plots are all simple. If you were to name them off, they wouldn’t come as much of a surprise. There is a story about vampires, another about zombies, a couple about ghosts. They are the same basic tropes that we have been writing about since the late 19th century. However, Jacobs tackles them with a style and flavor that make them his own.
The magic of John Hornor Jacobs is that he is able to see past the trappings of our genre to find the universal themes that transcend horror. The stories of the characters themselves become more interesting than the fact that there are monsters of any kind. In fact, life might just be the worst of the monstrosities described in these stories. Concepts like sanity, guilt, and identity are themes addressed throughout literature. Unfortunately, we can sometimes get so hung up on writing what is scary that we forget to write about the larger things. It is possible to do both.
I saw a Reddit interview with Peter Straub recently in which he said that while putting together his spectacular collection American Fantastic Tales, he was struck by how little the modern genre stories differed from modern literary writing. He saw this as a very good thing, as do I. It’s the thing that allows writing to transcend genre expectations, and allows our genre to infect every other aisle of the bookstore.
John Hornor Jacobs’s horror writing falls into the genre of modern literary horror, and provides good evidence of our genre’s potential for solid writing, great characters, and universal themes. His writing has a nostalgic feel and takes its time establishing the norms of the story world. Only when those norms have been established can we transgress against them. Only then can we truly have horror.
Overall, the collection was a very fast read and confirmed to me that Jacobs is the type of writer that the horror genre should be proud to have. For .99 cents as an e-book, it is a definite bargain. I am glad to have read it.
I first read John Hornor Jacobs after seeing him at ConQuest last year in Kansas City. After listening to him talk about writing in a panel, I had a feeling that I would enjoy his work. The way he spoke about writing, and about the horror genre, made me think he would be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come. It didn’t hurt that he was a cool guy and said very supportive things about my own writing. As far as first novels go, Southern Gods is hard to beat. It’s a great blend of classical literary writing and horror.
Jacobs’s Fierce as the Grave: A Quartet of Horror Stories continues the sort of writing that made me love Southern Gods. The regional flavor permeates everything. This is a guy that knows his setting. The South and the rural world, in general, flows through the work.
The plots are all simple. If you were to name them off, they wouldn’t come as much of a surprise. There is a story about vampires, another about zombies, a couple about ghosts. They are the same basic tropes that we have been writing about since the late 19th century. However, Jacobs tackles them with a style and flavor that make them his own.
The magic of John Hornor Jacobs is that he is able to see past the trappings of our genre to find the universal themes that transcend horror. The stories of the characters themselves become more interesting than the fact that there are monsters of any kind. In fact, life might just be the worst of the monstrosities described in these stories. Concepts like sanity, guilt, and identity are themes addressed throughout literature. Unfortunately, we can sometimes get so hung up on writing what is scary that we forget to write about the larger things. It is possible to do both.
I saw a Reddit interview with Peter Straub recently in which he said that while putting together his spectacular collection American Fantastic Tales, he was struck by how little the modern genre stories differed from modern literary writing. He saw this as a very good thing, as do I. It’s the thing that allows writing to transcend genre expectations, and allows our genre to infect every other aisle of the bookstore.
John Hornor Jacobs’s horror writing falls into the genre of modern literary horror, and provides good evidence of our genre’s potential for solid writing, great characters, and universal themes. His writing has a nostalgic feel and takes its time establishing the norms of the story world. Only when those norms have been established can we transgress against them. Only then can we truly have horror.
Overall, the collection was a very fast read and confirmed to me that Jacobs is the type of writer that the horror genre should be proud to have. For .99 cents as an e-book, it is a definite bargain. I am glad to have read it.
July 2, 2019
Really feel like Jacobs should have thrown a werewolf story in there somewhere to complete this lovely little royal horror flush. It is a neat collection that serves as a showcase that runs through a number of horror tropes, and it served as a neat short break between longer beach reads. The only issue I have is that some of the stories (particularly “Heaven of Animals”) are in need of a more careful editor and/or proofreader.
June 3, 2014
This is an anthology of four short stories from the author. They are a quick and easy read for fans of the horror genre. The theme of love is prevalent in all the stories.
The first and to me most striking story is "Verrata", mainly because having read all previous novels from John Hornor Jacobs, I was not expecting a science fiction tale set in the future. Here we follow a man who is having trouble with what I can only call a biological implant that lets him interface with the internet. When things go wrong with it, said implant unleashes some of the primal nature in the mind of its users.
"Heaven of animals" tells the story of the joys and worries of the daily routine of a couple of men in a zombie apocalypse. Somehow it feels like it belongs to Hornor's novel "This dark earth".
In "Bone china" we meet a mysterious woman whose 100th birthday is approaching and the love her servant feels for her while preparing the corresponding celebration. Things don't go as planned and the true nature of the woman and her visitors is revealed.
"Sneaking in" is about a boy who crosses into forbidden places to find a dark version of love.
All said, the stories are not bad but are not great either. I did enjoy them but cannot wholeheartedly recommend them to everyone. I see them as a treat, being able to peek into the narrative excercises from a promising author.
The first and to me most striking story is "Verrata", mainly because having read all previous novels from John Hornor Jacobs, I was not expecting a science fiction tale set in the future. Here we follow a man who is having trouble with what I can only call a biological implant that lets him interface with the internet. When things go wrong with it, said implant unleashes some of the primal nature in the mind of its users.
"Heaven of animals" tells the story of the joys and worries of the daily routine of a couple of men in a zombie apocalypse. Somehow it feels like it belongs to Hornor's novel "This dark earth".
In "Bone china" we meet a mysterious woman whose 100th birthday is approaching and the love her servant feels for her while preparing the corresponding celebration. Things don't go as planned and the true nature of the woman and her visitors is revealed.
"Sneaking in" is about a boy who crosses into forbidden places to find a dark version of love.
All said, the stories are not bad but are not great either. I did enjoy them but cannot wholeheartedly recommend them to everyone. I see them as a treat, being able to peek into the narrative excercises from a promising author.
January 14, 2012
I really enjoyed John Hornor Jacobs' debut novel Southern Gods last year. It was a very good, original mix of crime and horror that riffed on Lovecraft and the blues. Fierce As The Grave concentrates on the horror aspect of his writing which is a genre I rarely visit nowadays. As rusty as I am with the genre and its current trends this was a joy to read. From future-shock in a ravaged, sunken New Orleans to a young boys midnight tryst that ends badly (to say the least) the range here was fantastic.
Heaven of Animals has cowboys herding zombies & felt like part of a larger work. Bone China features a vampire hosting her own hundredth birthday party. All the stories on offer here were substantial & provide a great showcase for this writers talents. If you give this a try & enjoy it, and there's no reason why you shouldn't, then give Southern Gods a try too
Heaven of Animals has cowboys herding zombies & felt like part of a larger work. Bone China features a vampire hosting her own hundredth birthday party. All the stories on offer here were substantial & provide a great showcase for this writers talents. If you give this a try & enjoy it, and there's no reason why you shouldn't, then give Southern Gods a try too
March 11, 2015
4 neat little stories. 'Verrata' is by far the most original with its Strossian Neuromancer style haunting. Bone China has shades of Fevre Dream, & Heaven of Animals is clearly an outtake of 'Dark Earth'. 'Sneaking in' is the only real disappointment.
So all in all, a light but satisfying volume which avoids the problems I've found with Jacobs' novels - that they tend to fall to pieces after a while. Could be he's better suited to the short story format.
2/1/2 stars bumped to three for 'Verrata'.
So all in all, a light but satisfying volume which avoids the problems I've found with Jacobs' novels - that they tend to fall to pieces after a while. Could be he's better suited to the short story format.
2/1/2 stars bumped to three for 'Verrata'.
January 31, 2014
Nothing terribly original but decent enough to indicate the good reviews of his novels aren't BS.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews