Ooze: Little Bursts of Body Horror

by Bridgett Nelson (Foreword), Judith Sonnet (Contributor), Ruth Anna Evans (Editor)

Body horror is best when it comes in little bursts. In this novella-length collection full of gross, grimy, creepy, crawly, bubbling, bursting fun, what you'll be surprised by is how much heart and story can be packed into such small packages. With twenty up-and-coming authors putting forth their best short works of body horror, be prepared to be smacked in the face with a combination of the classic and the new. There's plenty that you hope for when you pick up a book of body horror---transformation, dissolution, decay---but there are also a delightful number of heartfelt and surprising twists on the idea. Every story is under 2,500 words and many are shorter.
The book contains weird and wonderful cover art for each story and has a foreword by Bridgett Nelson. It features stories by Judith Sonnet and Rowland Bercy Jr., along with eighteen other authors, some established in the horror world and others with totally fresh voices.
This book is revolting, ridiculous, touching, and terrifying. It's a little burst of fantastic new body horror.

168 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2023

About the author

Once an operating room registered nurse, Bridgett Nelson so enjoyed playing with human organs, she decided to turn her macabre interest into a horror writing career. She loves bubble baths (because nothing says spooooky writer like orange-scented bubbles), hates not knowing what’s swimming in the water with her, lives for Halloween season (but loathes chainsaw-wielding dudes in haunted houses), adores her West Virginia University Mountaineers, is very pro-Oxford comma, and thinks bananas are absolutely disgusting.

Her first collection, A Bouquet of Viscera, is a two-time Splatterpunk Award winner, recognized both for the collection itself and its standout story, "Jinx." Deadgirl, the novelization of the cult classic film, is now available from Encyclopocalypse Publications and includes forewords from the film's actors, Noah Segan and Shiloh Fernandez, a Q&A from screenwriter, Trent Haaga, and a fan fiction piece from noted horror author, Jeff Strand. Her latest collection, Embracing the Profane, includes fifteen extreme stories that play on Bridgett's dark humor and twisted brain. She is also the author of Poisoned Pink, What the Fuck Was That?, Sweet, Sour, & Spicy, and Red Inside, a finalist in the 2025 Books of Horror Indie Brawl.

Her work has appeared in multiple anthologies, including the iconic Deathrealm Spirits, Crystal Lake's Hotel Macabre, Edward Lee's Erotic Horror for Horny Housewives, The Rack, GhabaGhoul, To Hell and Back, Evil Little Fucks, Y'all Ain't Right, Splatterpunk's Basement of Horror, Dark Disasters, October Screams, American Cannibal, A Woman Unbecoming, and the legendary Splatterpunk Zine.

Bridgett is working on her first original novel, a sequel novel to her most popular short story, and a collaborative novel with a very funny writer.

When Edward Lee read her story "Giggly," available in the Poisoned Pink collection, he said to her:

"Giggly kicked my ass. Outstanding job! I need therapy now."

Bridgett is mom to Parker and Autumn, three pugs, a Saint Bernard, and a ball python. She is a 2022 Michael Knost WINGS award nominee, won second-place in the '22 Gross-Out contest at KillerCon in Austin, Texas, and third-place in the ’23 Gross-Out contest.

She's a freelance editor. Audiobook proofer. Bookworm. Dog lover. Tarantula whisperer. Bra avoider. ENJF. Amaretto Sour obsessor. She/her.

Bridgett currently lives in Duluth, Minnesota, with Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Jeff Strand, and their ball python, Indie Hellspawn McFangy Serenity Strand.

Visit her website at www.bridgettnelson.com.

Reviews

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A huge thanks to Ruth Anna Evans for giving me the chance to review an ARC of the anthology she edited, OOZE: Little Bursts of Body Horror. The gorgeous cover (Ruth Anna’s own) was incentive enough to go after this anthology and getting right into it! There are more than twenty stories here, some very short (just flash fiction), others not. Despite the common theme of extreme body horror, they greatly vary both in style and approach. There’s family horror, food horror, erotic horror, science fiction horror, and a lot of, well, human body horror (falling teeth, flowing skin, melting eyes, mutilated organs.) Compared to other body horror anthologies (and there have been a few in the last ten years, even non-fiction explorations of the theme), Ooze is genuinely extreme and pulls no punches when it comes to grossing you out! (You have been warned.) The short length of the stories is perfect; neither too short to leave you dissatisfied, nor too long to regret wasting time on them if you don’t like them (little chance of that!) So if you’re wondering what extreme body horror is all about, here’s the anthology you should pick up. What’s more, I was immensely pleased to read a story in this by Judith Sonnet: ‘The Last Hamburger Restaurant In The World’ made me squirm, and the utterly creepy ending satisfied my craving for more standard horror fare as well! The story that got under my skin, however (pun intended) was ‘Dr Parasite’ by Rowland Bercy Jr – unfortunately(?) it’s so graphic you can actually smell the nasty slush oozing from the page, as the writhing worms (yes, worms!) try to get free, exploding out of any orifice they can find. (Thanks for that imagery, Mr Bercy.) Three other stories I especially liked were Ruth Anna’s ‘Family Dinner’ (it will surely resonate with anyone who’s been in this situation), ‘Mommy Won’t Wake Up Right’ by Dan Scamell (the ending was at the same time sad and unsettling) and the single-page story, ‘Cavities’ by Monica Louzon – this brief story is unforgettable and must be experienced first-hand to get its full measure. Special mention, finally, should be made to Bridgett Nelson’s ‘Foreword’: the best foreword I’ve ever read! It’s a story in itself and deserves to have its own trigger warning!

[Lucille Bransfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oooh I loved this sad beginning to Jinx! It gave the background to what led up to her vigilante ways. We also find out a little more about why she does what she does. I loved the short story of hers from A Bouquet of Viscera and was excited for the chance to learn her story. Hoping Bridgett Nelson will give us more Jinx in the near future.
*Jinx