Spiteful, Sinister, Violent

by Aiden E. Messer, Pastèk (Illustrator)

This book contains improper use of body parts, cruel and unusual punishments, queer friendships, and general mayhem.
Read at your own risk

Genres: Ebooks

137 pages, Paperback

Published February 29, 2024

About the author

Aiden E. Messer does not exist. Are they an illusion, a ghost, a mere thought? No one knows. If we are to believe one of the children they seem to work with, if they were a teacher, they would be as tall as a human. They are not a teacher. According to various sources, they have studied psychology, and have always had a penchant for horror and the macabre. They like to combine these subjects in their books.

Reviews

[Lady MacDeath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella, which is the second one I’ve read from this author, definitely lives up to it’s title. Full of blood, gore, torture, there are parts in this story which definitely make your eyes water, nevertheless, I’ve never been one to shy away from an extreme horror, as you know.

This book is set in a kind of dystopian world, somewhat like the world in Pet, which is also by this author. Any crime committed, big or small, the “culprit”, is crucified and tortured publicly for days, by the evil, power hungry guards, until they are eventually being killed. A small group of people, decide to leave the town of De Laus, and head for the Nef, a safe haven, to start a new life…with the guards hot on their heels.

I devoured this novella in one sitting, and definitely look forward to more from this author.

Thanks to Aiden. E. Messer, and BookSirens for providing me with this free ARC, of which I leave a voluntary review.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is deffo Aiden's most brutal work! It's gore after gore, and at one point, it made me gag! It's an interesting world weaved through this extreme horror though, and I was keen to find out how the characters were going to escape this awful society they lived in. The guards of their city showed no mercy. No mercy at all! Not to adults, the vulnerable, or even children.

Pretty much every character is for themselves in this tale, but can you blame them? It seemed the guards were strong and somewhat difficult to escape if you were caught by them. I'd say my favourite character was Sarh, she had the most emotion written into her and was clearly very brave despite her obvious anxiety. There were four other characters I liked too and let me tell you, it's not a good idea to get attached to any characters in an extreme horror novel!

I recommend this to people who enjoy the extreme horror world. It's very brutal and can be distressing (one scene in particular was extra shocking!) so be warned about that, but if you like your horror as brutal as it can get, while also getting an interesting plot and some good character development, this is for you!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Spiteful, Sinister, Violent - this so surely was!'

This is a brutally, extreme dystopian 'escape to freedom' story whereby a band of individuals are chased from the city towards safe sanctuary by a group of blood-thirsty, sadistic guards who will stop at absolutely nothing in order to eliminate their prey.

Lots of good, creative and highly imaginative features depicted using explicit sex scenes and and gross and gruesome gory violence, torture and death that runs right throughout the narrative, making it a really gripping read for those who enjoy tales of extreme horror. Isn't that the purpose of a good horror story - to actually genuinely try to shock and horrify the reader? On this occasion Mr Messer certainly crossed the bounds of mainstream acceptability, but strangely in a good way that worked well for me. Very entertaining.

A little disappointed in the straight forward, quick demise of some of the main characters near the end which could have been given more depraved detail as given in earlier parts of the adult adventure, but the ending did finish nicely should a sequel be given consideration in future by the author. If this ever comes to light, then definitely sign me up!

Overall, a good, hard-hitting futuristic, sado-fantasy story that certainly lived up to its extreme horror billing, but most definitely not for everyone. Personally, I hope to read much more from this highly talented writer in this specialised genre of fictional escapism.

Rating:4.2 stars.

Thank you to the author and BookSirens for the ARC - this review was given free of charge and without bias.

[Rachel M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great extreme! Full of torture and imaginative death scenes! If you piss the guards off or break the rules you end up strung up, humiliated and tortured publicly and then eventually executed! A small group plan an escape from De Laus in hope of a better life without fear of being next. But can you really escape the guards?

[Bookaholic__Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Novella appears to take place in the same world as Pet. If you read Pet, you already know things were pretty damn bad, but things have gotten a whole hell of a lot worse. For such a short book, it's packed from cover to cover with some of the most brutal scenes. Honestly, Messer is a genius when it comes to crafting unique and horrifying torture scenes. Definitely not for the weak of heart or stomach.

We don't get to know the characters in too much depth, and yet Messer still managed to make me feel sympathy for and root for the survivors. I'd love to see this world and it's characters fleshed out a bit more and truly hope that they continue to write and expand the storyline.

[elli ⛧ yourspookymom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spiteful, Sinister, Violent lives up to its name in Aiden E. Messer’s newest book. We are immediately thrown into the public corporal punishment of a main character. Tied to a pillory and publicly denounced sets the scene to how visceral this story will be. Theres a lot packed into its ~130 pages and is fast paced and intense from start to finish. Set in a post apocalyptic world with many original and unique elements.

The last few chapters were BRUTAL. A lot of very unique and new concepts were conjured up in Messer’s storytelling that wasn’t like anything I’ve read thus far. Which says a lot in the splatter scene!

The only components of Spiteful, Sinister, Violent I would have liked to see more of were world building and pacing. A lot of mentions of an earth changing event occurring, but not enough explanation on what happened and clarification as to why there were these various new terminologies/ways of life. In a lot of great ways it reminded me of The Last of Us, highlighting upon the ways that humans can be the biggest monsters of all, but also showing the tenderness of companionship in extremely high stress environments. More world building and slowing the story way down could have strengthened an already sound foundation.

Thank you to Aiden for this ARC and trusting me with your work! I look forward to seeing what else Messer’s mind can conjure up next!

3.5/5

[Elton Skelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brutal extreme horror book that is not for the faint of heart. There are moments that are so brutal they rank high up on my most disturbing and favorite extreme plot points.
The plot was never sacrificed for the sake of the gore and Messer is an author who turns out quality work with every release. I'm a big fan and will be reading more in the future.

[Yvonne (the putrid Shelf) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novella that packs a lot of punch. Spiteful, sinister, violent is all it says it is. I personally needed more character development to get me fully invested.

Oh and the scene with the teeth and the ear drums....sheez!

[Milt Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second read from Messer and the writing and the editing have definitely improved. But some reviewers think that having profanity, violence, blood and gore in a book makes it automatically extreme horror or "splatterpunk" or whatever else they deem as extreme and depraved. This is not so. Case in point: this novella. First of all, I thought it was a standalone; it isn't. Although it's nowhere mentioned, it's some sort of continuation or elaboration of the author's "Pet," so it presupposes (nay, demands!) some previous investment in that book. Secondly, there are so many characters in this short book, it's no wonder that there's practically no room for characterization or properly prepared plot twists; the characters do not have time to grow on you; not to mention the fact that the author has devoted so much energy to the torture scenes, instead of simplifying the plot and showcasing the characters, that I suspect the novella favors brutality for its own sake, rather than plot development. This is disappointing.

[Shannon Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about this book other than this is why I love Aiden’s Work!!! It’s a beautiful mix of dystopian meets extreme horror. And the artwork that was in the book added an extra special touch to the horror of this wonderfully horrific novella.

[Nelli Lakatos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spiteful, Sinister, Violent was a brilliant and gory read!

Following a group of friends escaping De Laus to find a better future but their journey definitely wasn’t an easy one…

I devoured this book, it was brutally stunning containing all the beautiful and captivating illustrations. The characters were amazing, it was so easy to like them from the very beginning.

I highly recommend this novella to lovers of extreme horror!

[Jamie Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting and unexpected read! Aiden has been on my radar for so long and I’m glad I got to check out their world.

Lovable characters always worry me because in the genres I like to read, usually means everyone is going to die. I won’t spoil if that happens in this book or not but I had to mention the importance of books with characters that are easy to love or easy to hate. The torture scenes are brutal and yet I found myself realizing how creative they are and how I haven’t heard much like them in other books. The one scene that I’ll refer to as the arm skin fruit roll up - yikes! Made me shudder a bit.

I was left wanting a bit more out of the ending, felt it was a bit abrupt. Not necessarily any loose ends, just was hoping to know a bit more about life at The Nef.

Happy reading! ❌⭕️❌⭕️

[Sunny · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was not worth my time.

[Lylith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this is another gut punch of a novel from Aiden. From the start, you are thrown into a sinister and violent world that pulls no punches. Full of blood, gore, and torture, this is definitely one for the extreme and splatter horror lovers. For me, the lack of character development and world building dropped this to a three star, as I found I didn't feel much for the characters, so I would have liked a few more chapters solidifying why I should care about the awful things that are happening. However, if you like your horror dark, twisted, and shocking, then this is the novella for you.

[Toni L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many trigger warnings - absolutely not for the faint hearted! Great world building and interesting characters with gore and torture that is impressively written.

[Chris Carelse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gah! Why did you lie to me, Julie Andrews?!!
There’s hill aren’t alive with the sound of music.
Unless of course, the tortuous screams of the dying are music to one’s ears…

Holy hell, this is a heart wrenching read.
There seems to be a bit of a theme I’ve noticed, just by chance, across more of the dark fiction reads I’ve picked up of late. They’re more dystopian near future speculative fiction, set in a reality that is far too plausible if today’s current geopolitical climate isn’t course corrected immediately. Art is all about social commentary, and splatterpunk is far less a style of writing or storytelling, but more a countercultural medium to highlight the fallacies in accepting the status quo.
It’s the literary equivalent of slam poetry, intended to draw attention to the unspoken and socially acceptable hypocrisy and injustice that people would happily just turn a blind eye to rather avoid entirely, because ignorance is bliss. It’s punk.

I just realised I’ve said absolutely usual in this review thus far…

This book is a love story. (Kinda)
It’s a story about hope. (Kinda)
It’s a story about unjust persecution, and Aiden beautifully explores the extents of how absolute power absolutely corrupts, and depravity knows no bounds when you see those “beneath” you as being less than human.

(Featuring one of the single most impressively creative and degrading kills I’ve encounter encountered to date. Ten billion points for thinking outside the box!)

All I can say is that if you think you can stomach it, you should absolutely consider giving it a read.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spiteful, Sinister, Violent is definitely not for the faint of heart. If you can't handle graphic violence, gore, or drawn out torture, this one won't be for you, so please watch your triggers!

This was a very quick read, but it kept me interested in the story. I both didn't want to read what atrocities were still going to happen and did want to read to know if any of the characters would make it to Nef. This was a train wreck in the best possible way, and I couldn't look away.

However, I did feel like there were a lot of characters for how short this story was. Some of them weren't really developed much, and I could tell they were just going to be essentially canon fodder. Rather than all these cardboard cutout characters, I'd have preferred a smaller set of developed characters so I would be more emotionally invested in them. There was one thing about a character that I thought was fairly obvious as well, so I didn't get the surprise that I think the author was looking for.

I loved the illustrations in the book, though! They really brought the scenes to life and helped me visualize certain things that were happening. There was one that I felt wasn't as clear as the others, and some of the formatting was a little wonky with the pictures, but it was definitely a fun addition to the story!

Thank you to Aiden for letting me get an early look at this!

[Paige Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spiteful, Sinister, Violent is a short story set in a dystopian world ruled by a tyrannical government. Xavier is punished for killing a guard and is publicly put on display to be tortured and branded as a murderer. Sarh is Xavier’s best friend and seeing this happen is destroying her. She wants so desperately to rescue her friend from these cruel people. She’s being beaten and ridiculed by people in the community for being friends with him. Behind closed doors at night Lassen one of the guards sexually assaults Xavier. Meanwhile, Sarh is gathering people nearby who aren’t against her or Xavier to help her break him free and band together to leave the city of De Laus for good.

I would have liked to see this novella being a tad longer so there was more room to develop all of the characters in the story. It did get confusing at times because of the brief mentions of one character to the next.

I really enjoyed all of the illustrations through the story it really helped paint an overall picture of what was happening at times.

Thank you to Book Sirens and Aiden E. Messer for this ARC.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aiden E. Messer’s Spiteful, Sinister, Violent is a relentless plunge into the depths of splatterpunk horror, a genre known for its unflinching depiction of gore and psychological terror. Messer’s latest novel is a testament to the visceral and often shocking storytelling that defines this niche.

Messer’s writing is unapologetically graphic and visceral, employing vivid descriptions that bring the horrific elements of the plot to life. The emphasis is on shock value and the grotesque, with scenes designed to provoke a visceral reaction rather than offer a subtle commentary.

I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of the Splatterpunk Genre. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and the detail in which Messer uses to paint the exact picture of the horrors the characters faced.

(I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!)

[DA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutally good

Just like the title says, this is one sinister, violent and spiteful book. Extreme scenes of torture with such imaginative kills made it an interesting read. The author was very knowledgeable about anatomy making me wonder if they have medical training. If not, their research was top notch. I loved how dystopian fiction was seamlessly combined with extreme horror.
One of the best things about this book is the diversity of the characters. Different races, sexual orientations, genders and ages made up the cast and each was believable. The author really took care with their representations.
I do have to say the ending was a bit abrupt for me and kind of left me feeling flat when I was done reading, but I still found it worthy of a four star rating.
Fans of extreme horror will enjoy this book and now I have to read as much from this author that I can!

[David John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not for the squeamish !!

I want to thank the author for giving me a digital ARC to read and review. I am a big fan of Splatterpunk and extreme horror and this book definitely fits very well into that category. I thoroughly enjoyed it 🖤

[aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

from the first page, i was sucked into this story. the characters are all so different & unique in their own ways and that draws the want to learn more about them.
there are twists & turns throughout the book that break your heart then mend it then break it again.
the ending left me wanting more, in a good way, but i am overall happy with the way it ended.

[Indiana Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was truly a wild ride! Anyone that's a fan of splatterpunk is going to enjoy this book. It's a quick read and quite the page turner. The only drawback to the story is that I felt far too many characters were introduced for the length of the book. Otherwise it was a very fun read!

[Shayna Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. The ideas in this book were really good and definitely horrifying but I feel like it should’ve been longer. The beginning was so promising but I felt disappointed by the end

[Miranda Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever thought you needed something truly depraved in your life, this one's for you. As an avid reader of both spice and horror, I found this delightfully grotesque. Very rarely does it take me quite such a long time to finish a book, not due to the writing, but due to my own squeamish hesitation to continue turning those pages. Dark. Darker than you could ever imagine, and then some.

[Michael Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely 4 out of 5 books. The gore is chief kiss extreme horror lovers must read this

[Phoenix Mendoza · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free PDF of this story in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for sharing it Aiden!

S,S,V is a brutal, bleak dystopian horror novella featuring a group of characters attempting to escape from a totalitarian society where capitol punishment is committed over the course of several days in a very pubic dining hall. Conceptually, this is a great setup and I thought the world-building was immersive and well done. However, there were a few elements in its execution that didn't work for me and overall weakened the impact of an otherwise horrifying premise. First off, there was a large cast of characters who were introduced quickly and not very developed, undermining the power of the subsequent torture scenes. It was hard to care when characters died because I had just met them. This novella could have stood to be longer, giving the reader the opportunity to know or even differentiate between characters before they were killed off.

Similarly, there was a lot of very clever and wildly creative violence in this book that I wish had been given more time and care. I never felt like I got to truly soak up and languish in the body horror scenes because everything went by so quickly. I suppose nearly every element of the book just felt rushed to me.

Part of this rushed feeling I think can be attributed to the prose itself. This might be a personal preference quibble more than actual criticism but I think it's worth mentioning for people curious about reading this novella: but I am a splatterpunk/extreme horror fan who greatly prefers some poetry and stylistic flair to my torture, ala Poppy Z Brite's Exquisite Corpse. The torture scenes in S,S,V are plentiful and graphic but are written in a very clinical, almost medical textbook manner. I think this method can be effective in desensitizing the reader to their shock, ie, describing the violence with the same matter of fact language the author uses to describe everything else, and this is largely a book about desensitization to a corrupt society and abuse of power, so although it didn't work for ME it very well might work for a different reader. I just found it a little disappointing to see such theoretically beautiful body horror written in a bland style, only to turn the page and see a lovely illustration leaning into the poetic visual, doing the work instead of the prose itself. The goal of language doesn't NEED to be painting a lush, vivid picture, but because that's what I enjoy in splatterpunk, scenes that should have been shocking or really cool fell flat for me. Props for creativity, though! I absolutely loved some of the torture, conceptually.

All in all, I mostly wish this book had been longer and less underwritten. It had some GREAT ideas I felt were never fleshed out and didn't really get the opportunity to flourish.

[Dan Scamell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC i exchange for an honest review.

Spiteful. Sinister, Violent by Aiden E Messer (with illustrations by Pastek) lives up to its title in many ways. This one is not for the faint of heart by any stretch of the imagination, and has trigger warnings for torture, SA, and gore.

The novella drops us into a dystopian world with areas ruled by tyrannical governments following the “Burning Skies” incident, a widespread disaster that sent humanity into a dark age. We primarily follow two characters, Xavier, who has been arrested for the murder of a “guard” a sort of state police sentry for the city of De Laus, and his best friend Sahr. Xavier is being publicly displayed and tortured leading up to his imminent public execution. Sahr does her best to accept the impending death of her friend, but eventually makes contact with a group of other discontented citizens who decide to help her free Xavier and escape to The Nef, a nearby community outside the stranglehold of the evil leaders of De Laus.

This was a story of two sides for me. There was the overall narrative, which had an almost YA feel to it in terms of content and execution, and there were the depraved, hyperviolent setpieces injected here and there. I’m not always a fan of extreme content, and some of the instances of gory, lurid stuff here felt a little at odds with the tone I got from the narrative sometimes. The scenarios of violent, sexual depravity were creatively constructed, and will turn stomachs and elicit grins from gorehounds, but at times they felt a little disconnected, and pushed to the point of being almost cartoonish in their perversion, especially as they related to characters with whom we didn't get to spend much time.

The pacing was brisk and kept me going here. At times, I had trouble keeping track of all the characters in this one, which is probably just on account of my dry-rotted brain since Messer does give physical descriptions when they are introduced. Some of them felt like fodder, and after the herd began to thin following instances of creative torture, I became more aware of who was who. The illustrations by Pastek were also helpful at times.

This one, in terms of title and cover, presents itself as a dark, twisted and licentious read, and I think it will satisfy those looking to squirm at creative depictions of torture and degradation, but the parts I connected more with were the tone and setting. There were characters here that I liked being around and there were a lot of sweet interactions. I thought Messer did a great job of painting a dank and gray, post-apocalyptic world where hope is hard to come by. That coupled with some of the expository text had me thinking this one could make for a decent young-adult story… though maybe with less uh, fornication with lacerations…

[Rogomelec · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know why I do this to myself.
Truly.
I could read cozy mysteries. I could read queer romances. I could read literally anything else. But no. I see the words “post-apocalyptic” and “execution by torture” and my brain goes: Yes. This will soothe me.

It did not soothe me.

Set in the fascist hellscape of De Laus (which sounds like a perfume brand but is actually a government that tortures people in dining halls), we follow Xavier—a goth with orange hair—who kills a guard after a sexual assault attempt and is swiftly sentenced to be very publicly, very slowly murdered. His best friend Sarh rallies a crew of war-torn misfits to save him and flee to the Nef, a nearby community that is apparently not a fascist nightmare. Too bad the guards follow them and kill almost everyone one by one in increasingly depraved ways.

Now listen. I knew what I was getting into. But I did not anticipate the part where a four-year-old gets strangled by her mother’s intestines. Or the part where an old woman gets raped to death by her own femur.

But graphic horror isn’t the issue.
The problem is I wasn’t horrified—I was bored.

The writing is sparse to the point of skeletal. Whole scenes that should carry tension—like the escape planning or emotional goodbyes—are reduced to two sentences and a shrug. The dialogue feels like placeholder text. And the characters? About as deep as a bloody puddle. Xavier gets development, sure, but Sarh might as well be named TraumaFriend™. The others are just “sad mom,” “dead husband,” and “horny for pain.”

So when the deaths start stacking up, I didn’t feel grief. I felt revulsion, sure. But mostly I just wondered how much more shock value the author could wring from these corpses.

Ultimately, Spiteful, Sinister, Violent is… spiteful, sinister, and violent. But not in a way that made me feel anything meaningful.

[Isirla · Rating 2 out of 5]

TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR:

Child death, Torture, sexual assault, death, rape, injury details, kidnapping, body horror, gore, violence, bullying, alcoholism, fire injury!!!!

Thank you to Booksirens for the free eARC of this book. The opinions stated below are my own.

"Spiteful, Sinister, Violent" is an intense and extremely graphic story, with disturbing scenes of torture that were particularly hard to digest for me. The tragic and unsettling deaths were so graphic that I had to skip over certain parts.

In addition to the intense graphic content, I was confused by the state of the world in this narrative. Despite the storyline offering explanations along the way, I found the description of how the world became a dystopian landscape to still be confusing, even after the reveal of events that had occurred a century prior to the book's setting. Perhaps “the how” was not the point of the story but I believe that painting a more vivid picture of how the world became what it was could have balanced the graphic content a bit better.

In conclusion, the book "Spiteful, Sinister, Violent" was not to my taste at all. I can appreciate graphic horror, but I need a more flushed out world and characters I can care about to give me a reason to want to continue reading. I enjoyed the friendship between Sarh and Xav but I would have needed to know more about them to truly be committed to their need to survive. Therefore, the combination of intense graphic content and a storyline that did not resonate with me, is why I'm rating this book a low 2-star rating.