What do you think?
Rate this book
The Big Bad Anthology #1
The Big Bad: An Anthology of Evil
Everybody loves bad guys, and these are some of the baddest of them all. Forget the rules. There aren't any heroes. No one is going to save you from the wickedness in the darkness. Monster hunters can easily become the hunted. Twisted perverts can find themselves on the receiving end of their own deviant desires. No matter how big and bad someone or something may be, there is always something bigger and badder just waiting. Even the classics like a dragon, werewolf, or supernatural being can fall victim to something even more evil. Take a peek, if you dare, inside the malevolent world of super-villains, monsters, demons and just plain evil folk. Be careful, what you see there might be disturbingly familiar ...
contains:
A Girl’s Gotta Eat by Sara Taylor Woods
Hell Has the Best Times by Brad Carter
The Wicked Witch and the White Knight by Emily Lavin Everett
Identity Crisis by David Blalock
Solomon by Darin Kennedy
The Coyote’s Word by Milo James Fowler
Sovereign by James R. Turk
Bargains by Ken Lizzi
The Chase by Jay Requard
Das Siebenundzwanzigstes Untier by Jim Bernheimer
Anne of a Thousand Years by Manny Frishberg
The Seventh Trap by Adam Knight
God of Gods by Sarah Joy Adams
Drifter by Nico Serene
Anabiosis by James Isaac
Watchtower by Matthew Oelkers
Fair Play by John G. Hartness
The Last Time You Were Here by Terry Sanville
Any Other Way by J. Matthew Saunders
Lowlife by Bobby Nash
The Con by Kelli A. Wilkins
Wolfy by S.H. Roddey
Forever Lost by Matthew Hance
The Death Bringer by Eden Royce
A Demon’s Guide to Getting into Heaven by Cassandra Mortimer
The Way Gregory Tasted by Angela Bodine
Human by Hunter Lambright
An Essay for Ms. Krimson by Val Muller
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday by Sean Taylor
Real Wild Childe by Selah Janel
contains:
A Girl’s Gotta Eat by Sara Taylor Woods
Hell Has the Best Times by Brad Carter
The Wicked Witch and the White Knight by Emily Lavin Everett
Identity Crisis by David Blalock
Solomon by Darin Kennedy
The Coyote’s Word by Milo James Fowler
Sovereign by James R. Turk
Bargains by Ken Lizzi
The Chase by Jay Requard
Das Siebenundzwanzigstes Untier by Jim Bernheimer
Anne of a Thousand Years by Manny Frishberg
The Seventh Trap by Adam Knight
God of Gods by Sarah Joy Adams
Drifter by Nico Serene
Anabiosis by James Isaac
Watchtower by Matthew Oelkers
Fair Play by John G. Hartness
The Last Time You Were Here by Terry Sanville
Any Other Way by J. Matthew Saunders
Lowlife by Bobby Nash
The Con by Kelli A. Wilkins
Wolfy by S.H. Roddey
Forever Lost by Matthew Hance
The Death Bringer by Eden Royce
A Demon’s Guide to Getting into Heaven by Cassandra Mortimer
The Way Gregory Tasted by Angela Bodine
Human by Hunter Lambright
An Essay for Ms. Krimson by Val Muller
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday by Sean Taylor
Real Wild Childe by Selah Janel
346 pages, Paperback
First published May 22, 2013
1 person is currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
John G. Hartness
192 books592 followersJohn G. Hartness is a teller of tales, a righter of wrong, defender of ladies’ virtues, and some people call him Maurice, for he speaks of the pompatus of love.
He is also the award-winning author of the urban fantasy series The Black Knight Chronicles (Bell Bridge Books), the Bubba the Monster Hunter comedic horror series, the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter dark fantasy series, and many other projects.
In 2016, John teamed up with a pair of other publishing industry ne’er-do-wells and founded Falstaff Books, a small press dedicated to publishing the best of genre fictions “misfit toys.”
In his copious free time John enjoys long walks on the beach, rescuing kittens from trees and playing Magic: the Gathering.
For free short stories and to follow his activities and appearances on his newsletter, follow this link - http://eepurl.com/fV4In
He is also the award-winning author of the urban fantasy series The Black Knight Chronicles (Bell Bridge Books), the Bubba the Monster Hunter comedic horror series, the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter dark fantasy series, and many other projects.
In 2016, John teamed up with a pair of other publishing industry ne’er-do-wells and founded Falstaff Books, a small press dedicated to publishing the best of genre fictions “misfit toys.”
In his copious free time John enjoys long walks on the beach, rescuing kittens from trees and playing Magic: the Gathering.
For free short stories and to follow his activities and appearances on his newsletter, follow this link - http://eepurl.com/fV4In
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 12, 2019
A handful of stories were good or had potential, but as with most short story anthologies, I was vastly underwhelmed. So often I feel like I’m missing the “so what?” and the point of whatever random slice of meandering is featured over a few pages. I realize this is a horror anthology, but several stories contained gruesome elements that seemed to exist more for the shock or “edgy” factor than any storytelling purpose. The collection really could have used a proofreader to catch missing words, spacing and punctuation issues, consistency between hyphenated compound adjectives (mostly missing hyphens when they shouldn’t be), etc.
A Girl's Gotta Eat - Sara Taylor Woods: 3.5 stars. Well written and compelling while it lasted, but no “so what?”
Hell Has the Best Tunes - Brad Carter: 1 star. Gross and gruesome and misogynistic for the sake of it. Flat, uninspired take on the devil.
The Wicked Witch and the White Knight - Emily Lavin Leverett: 4.5 stars. Good. Clear references to other fairy tale stories/villains worked in nicely. I liked the way it tackled good vs. evil.
Identity Crisis - H. David Blalock: 3 stars. Interesting but not great.
Solomon - Darin Kennedy: 4.5 stars. Excellent tension throughout with the reader wondering who will conquer and how. The characters played with each other as much as with the reader. Great dialogue, great example of the proper way for a short story to worldbuild with off-screen characters.
The Coyote's Word - Milo James Fowler: 2 stars. Just a slice of the moment, no “so what?” story. Some intriguing dialogue, but not enough to satisfy.
Sovereign - James R. Tuck: 1.5 stars. So what? Too much going on for the short story format to do justice, so it was confusing and unfocused.
Bargains - Ken Lizzi: 2 stars. Well written mini adventure of immoral protagonist, but not really satisfying.
The Chase - Jay Requard: 2.5 stars. Well written and paced, but I didn’t understand the magic or the ending.
Das Siebenundzwanzigstes Untier - Jim Bernheimer: 1.5 stars. So what? Alt-WWII battle of zombies and vampires.
Anne of a Thousand Years - Manny Frishberg: 1 star. So what? Annoyingly flippant voice, really disliked.
The Seventh Trap - Adam Knight: 4 stars. Nice construction. I wanted more of the world.
God of Gods - Sarah Adams: 1.5 stars. So what? But well written prose. Captured the Greek myth style nicely.
Drifter - Nico Serene: 3.5 stars. Well written, intense action, gore descriptions well executed. I kind of rooted for the protagonist despite her villainy.
Anabiosis - James Isaac: 1.5 stars. Can’t really take a story seriously with the line “Her breasts lurched visibly behind her trench coat.” It definitely seemed to be a prologue more than a complete story in itself.
Watchtower - Matthew Oelkers: 1 star. I’m always up for calling out religious violence, but I had to skim to get through this poorly written story with clumsy, repetitive, dry lines.
Fair Play - John G. Hartness: 1 star. Gross and not in a good way.
The Last Time You Were Here - Terry Sanville: 1 star. Way too brief to fully grasp.
Any Other Way - J. Matthew Saunders: 1 star. Needs to be more.
Lowlife - Bobby Nash: 2 stars. Semi-decent dialogue but pacing a hint too slow. The ending held no promise that the plot had led to.
The Con - Kelli A. Wilkins: 1 star. Immediate nonsense with unrealistic behavior for police and illogical character choices. There is no way a criminal would be sent as a representative of the entire species to the first human/alien contact. It also didn’t make sense for the alien to make contact at all when it could have just refueled and been on its way.
Wolfy - S.H. Roddey: 1 star. Terrible voice. It made no sense that the deaths of 3 cops all on the same case interviewing the same witness would not raise major red flags.
Forever Lost - Matthew Hance: 1 star. Not a fan of reimagining real terrible people as demons or something similar. I do agree with the story’s point that God doesn’t care.
The Death Bringer - Eden Royce: 1.5 stars. Just a meander of a story. Nothing remarkable, meaningful, or entertaining.
A Demon's Guide to Getting into Heaven - Cassandra Mortimer: 3 stars. I really liked the concept of demons gathering blessings to get into heaven. I didn’t like the angel interfering and wanted more of this world.
The Way Gregory Tasted - Angela Bodine: 1 star. So what? Unexciting.
Human - Hunter Lambright: 3 stars. Good concept of a villain wins scenario, lackluster ending. It’s not an “enjoyable” story in a proper sense of the word, but mostly well executed with good worldbuilding.
An Essay for Ms. Krimson - Val Muller: 3 stars. Properly creepy.
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday - Sean Taylor: 1.5 stars. Nothing to it except a nice descriptive contrast of normal life to villainy.
Real Wild Childe - Selah Janel: 1.5 stars. Insta-love, whiny teenage characters. It seemed like a longer story was forced and compressed into a shorter one.
A Girl's Gotta Eat - Sara Taylor Woods: 3.5 stars. Well written and compelling while it lasted, but no “so what?”
Hell Has the Best Tunes - Brad Carter: 1 star. Gross and gruesome and misogynistic for the sake of it. Flat, uninspired take on the devil.
The Wicked Witch and the White Knight - Emily Lavin Leverett: 4.5 stars. Good. Clear references to other fairy tale stories/villains worked in nicely. I liked the way it tackled good vs. evil.
Identity Crisis - H. David Blalock: 3 stars. Interesting but not great.
Solomon - Darin Kennedy: 4.5 stars. Excellent tension throughout with the reader wondering who will conquer and how. The characters played with each other as much as with the reader. Great dialogue, great example of the proper way for a short story to worldbuild with off-screen characters.
The Coyote's Word - Milo James Fowler: 2 stars. Just a slice of the moment, no “so what?” story. Some intriguing dialogue, but not enough to satisfy.
Sovereign - James R. Tuck: 1.5 stars. So what? Too much going on for the short story format to do justice, so it was confusing and unfocused.
Bargains - Ken Lizzi: 2 stars. Well written mini adventure of immoral protagonist, but not really satisfying.
The Chase - Jay Requard: 2.5 stars. Well written and paced, but I didn’t understand the magic or the ending.
Das Siebenundzwanzigstes Untier - Jim Bernheimer: 1.5 stars. So what? Alt-WWII battle of zombies and vampires.
Anne of a Thousand Years - Manny Frishberg: 1 star. So what? Annoyingly flippant voice, really disliked.
The Seventh Trap - Adam Knight: 4 stars. Nice construction. I wanted more of the world.
God of Gods - Sarah Adams: 1.5 stars. So what? But well written prose. Captured the Greek myth style nicely.
Drifter - Nico Serene: 3.5 stars. Well written, intense action, gore descriptions well executed. I kind of rooted for the protagonist despite her villainy.
Anabiosis - James Isaac: 1.5 stars. Can’t really take a story seriously with the line “Her breasts lurched visibly behind her trench coat.” It definitely seemed to be a prologue more than a complete story in itself.
Watchtower - Matthew Oelkers: 1 star. I’m always up for calling out religious violence, but I had to skim to get through this poorly written story with clumsy, repetitive, dry lines.
Fair Play - John G. Hartness: 1 star. Gross and not in a good way.
The Last Time You Were Here - Terry Sanville: 1 star. Way too brief to fully grasp.
Any Other Way - J. Matthew Saunders: 1 star. Needs to be more.
Lowlife - Bobby Nash: 2 stars. Semi-decent dialogue but pacing a hint too slow. The ending held no promise that the plot had led to.
The Con - Kelli A. Wilkins: 1 star. Immediate nonsense with unrealistic behavior for police and illogical character choices. There is no way a criminal would be sent as a representative of the entire species to the first human/alien contact. It also didn’t make sense for the alien to make contact at all when it could have just refueled and been on its way.
Wolfy - S.H. Roddey: 1 star. Terrible voice. It made no sense that the deaths of 3 cops all on the same case interviewing the same witness would not raise major red flags.
Forever Lost - Matthew Hance: 1 star. Not a fan of reimagining real terrible people as demons or something similar. I do agree with the story’s point that God doesn’t care.
The Death Bringer - Eden Royce: 1.5 stars. Just a meander of a story. Nothing remarkable, meaningful, or entertaining.
A Demon's Guide to Getting into Heaven - Cassandra Mortimer: 3 stars. I really liked the concept of demons gathering blessings to get into heaven. I didn’t like the angel interfering and wanted more of this world.
The Way Gregory Tasted - Angela Bodine: 1 star. So what? Unexciting.
Human - Hunter Lambright: 3 stars. Good concept of a villain wins scenario, lackluster ending. It’s not an “enjoyable” story in a proper sense of the word, but mostly well executed with good worldbuilding.
An Essay for Ms. Krimson - Val Muller: 3 stars. Properly creepy.
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday - Sean Taylor: 1.5 stars. Nothing to it except a nice descriptive contrast of normal life to villainy.
Real Wild Childe - Selah Janel: 1.5 stars. Insta-love, whiny teenage characters. It seemed like a longer story was forced and compressed into a shorter one.
August 25, 2013
I'm mixed in regards to this work, "The Big Bad: An Anthology of Evil." It feels like most of these writers are just starting out, so I can't be too mean about it, can I? I suppose I could be super mean, but I'll forgo that and keep my review pleasant.
For starters: the evil is pretty light. From zero to Sade, the anthology measures about a two on the evil scale. Pretty lighthearted. There are vampires, werewolves, zombies, Christian brotherhoods, super heroes, super villains, a dragon, goddesses, Angels, and a god or two. Settings range from the desert wasteland to busy metropolis. Point-of-view is usually from a seemingly good guy going bad, but it turns out he was bad all along, or it's a bad guy turning out to be a real jerk instead of a big bad getting his due. Some protagonists are quite poignant, in light of their fairy tale/mythical backgrounds.
Structure-wise, a story might start off with two pages of plot, then some character development, and then the rest of the story might just be a lengthy fight scene. Real descriptive, too drawn out, most of it. Just not my thing. Might be yours though, Iunno.
Content-wise, some stories feel like eighty pounds of stuff stuffed into a little pocket. Those same stories I can see as bigger works.
Overall, most of the stories share the same tone: snarky. Like, an "O did you see what I did there? I just stole... some gum!" type of snarky, rather than a "O man, I shot Marvin in the face," type of snarky. Does that make sense? Maybe? Whatever.
I suppose one word sums up "The Big Bad" easily enough: comic. It's fun and haphazard like a comic book.
There is something in "The Big Bad" for everyone, but I wasn't mega impressed, which was a bummer. But I say that now. Some of these authors might be real cool later on, if they kill what they have and conjure up something more. So I hope they get better as writers. Or more evil. Whichever comes first.
To sum up: If you're expecting something super amazing, move on to something else. Most of these stories read like writing projects fresh from an undergraduate fiction workshop.
But if you want to read something that's clever, maybe give "The Big Bad" a go. Not all the stories are spectacular, not all of them are trite, but the stories are entertaining, not unlike the SyFy channel on a lazy Sunday.
But seriously, I really do recommend the anthology for the following:
The Wicked Witch and the White Knight, by Emily Lavin Leverett
Anne of a Thousand Years, by Manny Frishberg
God of Gods, by Sarah Adams
Drifter, by Nico Serene
Anabiosis, by James Isaac
Fair Play, by John G. Hartness
The Last Time You Were Here, by Terry Sanville
Lowlife, by Bobby Nash
The Con, by Kelli A. Wilkins
A Demon's Guide to Getting into Heaven, by Cassandra Mortimer
The Way Gregory Tasted, by Angela Bodine
An Essay for Mrs. Krimson, by Val Muller
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday, by Sean Taylor
Huh... I suppose I appreciated "The Big Bad" more than I thought. Yeah, it was worth three bucks. And that's what's up.
For starters: the evil is pretty light. From zero to Sade, the anthology measures about a two on the evil scale. Pretty lighthearted. There are vampires, werewolves, zombies, Christian brotherhoods, super heroes, super villains, a dragon, goddesses, Angels, and a god or two. Settings range from the desert wasteland to busy metropolis. Point-of-view is usually from a seemingly good guy going bad, but it turns out he was bad all along, or it's a bad guy turning out to be a real jerk instead of a big bad getting his due. Some protagonists are quite poignant, in light of their fairy tale/mythical backgrounds.
Structure-wise, a story might start off with two pages of plot, then some character development, and then the rest of the story might just be a lengthy fight scene. Real descriptive, too drawn out, most of it. Just not my thing. Might be yours though, Iunno.
Content-wise, some stories feel like eighty pounds of stuff stuffed into a little pocket. Those same stories I can see as bigger works.
Overall, most of the stories share the same tone: snarky. Like, an "O did you see what I did there? I just stole... some gum!" type of snarky, rather than a "O man, I shot Marvin in the face," type of snarky. Does that make sense? Maybe? Whatever.
I suppose one word sums up "The Big Bad" easily enough: comic. It's fun and haphazard like a comic book.
There is something in "The Big Bad" for everyone, but I wasn't mega impressed, which was a bummer. But I say that now. Some of these authors might be real cool later on, if they kill what they have and conjure up something more. So I hope they get better as writers. Or more evil. Whichever comes first.
To sum up: If you're expecting something super amazing, move on to something else. Most of these stories read like writing projects fresh from an undergraduate fiction workshop.
But if you want to read something that's clever, maybe give "The Big Bad" a go. Not all the stories are spectacular, not all of them are trite, but the stories are entertaining, not unlike the SyFy channel on a lazy Sunday.
But seriously, I really do recommend the anthology for the following:
The Wicked Witch and the White Knight, by Emily Lavin Leverett
Anne of a Thousand Years, by Manny Frishberg
God of Gods, by Sarah Adams
Drifter, by Nico Serene
Anabiosis, by James Isaac
Fair Play, by John G. Hartness
The Last Time You Were Here, by Terry Sanville
Lowlife, by Bobby Nash
The Con, by Kelli A. Wilkins
A Demon's Guide to Getting into Heaven, by Cassandra Mortimer
The Way Gregory Tasted, by Angela Bodine
An Essay for Mrs. Krimson, by Val Muller
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday, by Sean Taylor
Huh... I suppose I appreciated "The Big Bad" more than I thought. Yeah, it was worth three bucks. And that's what's up.
January 4, 2014
I liked the premise. Just think of it, a collection of short stories where the bad guy is the central character. There was a lot of goodness to be found here (despite the name) and I hear that they're coming out with a book 2. Sign me right up.
June 24, 2013
4.5 stars. Loved the stories from the points of view of the villains! I wanted a full book out of several of the stories!
June 13, 2013
This is a great collection of monster stories, some with a twist on the whole "good vs. evil" theme. If you are a fan of the genre, buy this book: you won't be disappointed. I highly recommend it.
October 16, 2017
This is a great concept. Stories from the point of view of the bad guys.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews