Firecracker Kings

PC3's Splat Life #2

by Patrick C. Harrison III

On a hot day in late June, four boys head out into the pasture with a bag a firecrackers. If and when they return, their innocence will be left behind amongst a flurry of exploded Black Cats . . . and blood.

Genres: Splatterpunk, Fiction

47 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2023

About the author

Patrick C. Harrison III (PC3, if you prefer) is an author of horror, splatterpunk, and all forms of speculative fiction. His current publications include GRANDPAPPY, A SAVAGE BREED, VAMPIRE NUNS BEHIND BARS, 5 TALES THAT WILL LAND YOU IN HELL, among others, and his works can be found in numerous anthologies, including AND HELL FOLLOWED and ROAD KILL: TEXAS HORROR BY TEXAS AUTHORS VOL. 4.

PC3 is the Splatterpunk Award-winning editor (with Jarod Barbee) of AND HELL FOLLOWED, and has edited several other anthologies. He is a freelance editor, having done work for notable authors like Aron Beauregard, Daniel J. Volpe, Mark Towse, Rebecca Rowland, and many others.

PC3 also has a FREE substack, in which he frequently does movie reviews and updates readers on his fiction. Check out pc3horror.substack.com.

Reviews

[The_5ft_reader]

was thinking this was a 3 star read at best.... and then came the final chapter WTF!

[Cody Walters]

Firecrackers in the ass? WHAT?!
Patrick C. Harrison III delivers once again (as always) with this short nasty story. Kids will do anything to entertain themselves, however the kids taste in fun might need to be questioned. This was a funny story and a gory one. PC3 always delivers! Let's just say the kids found a way to place their fireworks, and it wasn't on the ground. 4.5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ PC3 delivers with every release the man can not make a bad story. This was solid and I enjoyed it!

[Sarah Stevens]

WTF did I just read?!?!?!
🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀

[Rowan Stucky]

Girl….. 0 stars

[Anirudh Kukreja]

This was easily one of the most vile, disgusting novellas I've ever read. While the overall premise was quite basic, the in-depth detailing of the debauchery was insane.

[Madisson Robertson]

Idk why I keep reading these nasty books but I also can’t look away….

[Natalie H 🧛‍♀️ 🎃 🧛‍♀️]

“For the wacko who invented fireworks in China during the Han dynasty. You knew bad things would happen, dude” 🧨

The 3rd instalment of Pocket Nasties was only 50 pages long and again i’m gagging at every page. Patrick C Harrison iii is a crazy bastard and although these books are enjoyable they are certainly not for the faint hearted. I’m tired of reading the words ‘TikTok’ in books made after 2017 but I guess it’s just the way the world has changed. I’ll certainly be reading more books written by Patrick, a guilty pleasure author of all things messed up.

2.5/5 ⭐️

[Courtney]

Tbh I'm glad it wasnt worse than it was - because it definitely could've been. Asshole kids with fireworks & small animals doesnt usually bode well in this genre. I was waiting to see what the "twist" would be for this one & I'll be honest, i didnt see it coming.

[Alisa Saiko]

4.5 rounded up because I am that girl.

Ok ok. I want to preface this by saying that PCH3 is my favourite extreme horror/splatterpunk author. His prose just works for me and I have loved everything I have read from him thus far. He is my go-to for when I want a light and silly story. In saying that, that is not to say there aren’t deeper messaging behind what he writes.

I had a lot of fun with this book. I enjoyed the messaging – that violence and evil is not a natural thing. People are not born evil. It’s a learned behaviour. I found it quite fun that through the entirety of the book, we are led to believe that these are just nasty kids, especially Danny at the end there. Before the reveal in the final chapter. Although there are clues throughout the book that the parents are no better than the kids. Case and point, Matt’s uncle the police officer. And how he talks about sex workers as if they aren’t real people. Like the body of this person is an object, not supposed to be respected. And then Charlie who abuses animals and has no remorse because his grandmother said that animals don’t have souls.

During the book, the story is sort of set up as boys at that age just fuck around and find out because of curiosity. However, it subverts that and makes a pretty decent point at the end. But that wasn’t all, also discussed in this short story is the connection between power and sexual desire, the idea of peer pressure and wanting to belong to appease someone else, and even the dehumanisation of sex workers.

All in all, a solid short story that has only cemented my position as a PCH3 stan.

[Jamie]

Firecracker Kings is a coming of age horror short about a group of boys that head off into fields to shoot off some fireworks. Unsupervised preteens and fireworks are already a recipe for disaster. Despite the book being set in the modern age of video games and TikTok, the story maintained an old school feel with boys being boys getting up to no good.

I thought I knew what I was getting into with Firecracker Kings based on the cover but boy was I underestimated where this story would go. The story takes an unexpected turn that I didn’t seem coming that made my jaw drop. I enjoyed the story up until the epilogue, which left me feeling mixed, but I can see it being the cherry on top for some readers. The story delivers on the premise in spades and definitely earns the pocket nasty title.

[Kaneisha Perry]

Oh look I decided to go back for more written by Patrick C Harrison.
Am I drunk? Nope. I just seem to enjoy the level of demented and disturbing this is lol. Off the bat this gave me Stand by Me vibes but thennnnnnn we took a drastic turn. First off…WHY THE TURTLE?! That part hurt me more than all the other transgressions that occurred. Did i know what was going to happen? Slightly. Boys will be boys am i right? But then he said SIKE LOOK LEFT, that ending threw me and I’m still like UMMMMM.
Yeah i might be back for more.

[Anthony Gregorey]

Ok so this book I can say threw me for a loop at the end. I did not expect that, although it does explain a lot. I think these type of books legit give us info on people who really see life this way. It opens the mind to see what has shifted the mind into certain conditional yet permanent choices. The way that this book gave me the icks just means it was on the right track. I won’t be eating fast food ever again and I will alwayss try my best to be nice to everyone. You just never know what someone’s internal battles are. This was a good little mini series.

[Andrew Wilkes]

This is one of the top Patrick C. Harrison III books I have read, so far! I absolutely loved this story, the visuals I got while reading, and, the pure depravity of it all. It reminded me of my friends, and, I, minus some very gruesome details. This book did everything an extreme horror should do. It made me gasp in shock, cringe in pain, laugh my ass off, and, just sit, and, stare at the pages, at times. I highly, highly recommend this to everyone, fans, or, not! One of my absolute favorites!

[Cheyenne]

This book is probably the grossest to me out of all three of the books in this series.It is centered around these three preteen boys and their experiences with coming into adulthood.Is dark and fucked up the things these boys do.Check TW’s Definitely I would say very typical plot twist and is probably the shortest novella I have read.

[Davide Pappalardo]

OK, with this one the writer didn't even try a coherent plot. This is a messed-up, nauseating, sequence of vile acts, aiming to disgust the reader. Minors, violence against animals, necrophilia, and a final plot twist that comes out of nowhere. Probably this is just not the kind of extreme horror that really interests me.

[Jolene]

Four boys + a bag of firecrackers = summer plans that go boom. Innocence? Gone faster than a lit Black Cat in a pasture. Dark, messy, and way more explosive than your average childhood story. Boom goes the plot!

[Klaus Kinion]

An extremely graphic and brilliantly unpleasant little pocketbook, like Stephen King's 'Stand by Me' combined with the scene with the turtle in Cannibal Holocaust. PC3 never disappoints!

[Adrian Grant]

Okay, I thought I had this worked out by page 2. You fucker, you fucked with me, a great little story, did not see the ending coming at all. i've loved all 3 of the pocket nasty series and will be checking out all your other books. I'm a fan, most definitely!

[Matt]

Quick and crazy

You know you’re going to get something crazy with PC3 and this book is no different. In just under 50 pages, the book takes a very twisted turn that will stick with you past the final sentence.

[Hunter]

This is one of the weaker works of PC3. It has all the unsettling nastiness you have come to expect, but it just doesn't pack the lunch the rest of his stories do. This is definitely the weakest entry in the Pocket Nasties and completely skippable in my opinion.

[Toby Skaggs]

Great short story

Four young boys are given some fireworks and somehow manage to lose any innocence they had. Wasn't extremely gory to me but there are trigger warnings and a nice little twist at the end

[Traysee]

Bro wtf did I actually just read. It started out innocently enough, which should've been a warning sign. The ants I can agree with, as I've done the same. The turtle death was vicious and cruel. But for the final act? Absolutely disgusting. Could not believe someone felt the need to write this.

[Sheebs]

This was fast and nasty. Lol I just wanted to bump up my "read" count. I can't recommend at all. Just gross.

3.0/10

[LADY BUGG]

Took a minute to get there but whoa. Didnt expect that.

[Louise Pennington]

Fireworks and necrophilia what's not to like

I'm still undecided on splatterpunk but the shorter story's are definitely better. Short little twisted tale for those that like it

[Kelli Hancock]

This was my least favorite of the “Pocket Nasties”.. Asshole kids with fireworks terrorizing small animals and something else 👀 The ending shocked me speechless

[Andrew Jarvis]

Pretty Good

A gross and nasty little tale with the required extreme horror twist ending. I liked this one better than 100% Match, personally. This one was more unsettling.

[Lieutenant Gustl]

Sick and cruel with a perverted twist.

[Lizzy L]

What the F- Did i just read?????

[Becki Louise]

The 3rd book I’ve read from this author. I’m concerned.