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Faceless
P.J. Verfall’s debut novel Faceless marks the first Splatterpunk novel from Howling in the Dark Books. Rest assured no hostages were taken to get them to release it, which makes them a lot cooler than most publishers.
Did you ever notice that you really don’t notice most people. Just repetition of the same boring people over and over again. Bentley Thomas certainly has, and he has decided on a solution, to render them as faceless in reality as his memory renders them every day.
WARNING! THIS IS THE BOOK TRIGGER WARNINGS WERE INVENTED FOR! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK AND DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT IT LATER! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Howling in the Dark Books is proud to emerge from the shadows with Faceless as its maiden voyage into the stormy waters of extreme horror. PJ Verfall’s debut novel is as visceral an experience the most ardent gore hound and violence head could ever hope for but has a storytelling quality that puts it in league with the works of Jack Ketchum. Faceless is unrelenting in its pursuit of degloving the horror genre of its self-imposed limits.
Did you ever notice that you really don’t notice most people. Just repetition of the same boring people over and over again. Bentley Thomas certainly has, and he has decided on a solution, to render them as faceless in reality as his memory renders them every day.
WARNING! THIS IS THE BOOK TRIGGER WARNINGS WERE INVENTED FOR! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK AND DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT IT LATER! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Howling in the Dark Books is proud to emerge from the shadows with Faceless as its maiden voyage into the stormy waters of extreme horror. PJ Verfall’s debut novel is as visceral an experience the most ardent gore hound and violence head could ever hope for but has a storytelling quality that puts it in league with the works of Jack Ketchum. Faceless is unrelenting in its pursuit of degloving the horror genre of its self-imposed limits.
- GenresSplatterpunkHorror
222 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 18, 2024
63 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 21, 2024
Faceless is a brilliantly disturbing and darkly psychological twist on the serial killer theme, very cleverly done, making it completely gripping and beautifully fucked up. A must read for any horror fan, but especially those of us who like it a little more on the extreme side! I absolutely loved it, its thought provoking and brutal as hell!
It's really interestingly written too, I love the way the author draws you in and captivates you, his descriptions of every little detail, from characters, to scenes, to settings, to the kills and the thought processes behind them, even the way we look at people and situations before the story then goes more in depth, and quickly takes a dive into immorality and insanity. I was immediately hooked and intrigued, and curiously spellbound throughout! There are also a lot of very steamy moments too, all necessary and all equalling the horrific nature of the story.
Bentley is a man who knows exactly what he wants, and exactly how to get rid of it when he is done, however sick and twisted that might be. He is also a Mummy’s boy, he worshiped his Mother when she was alive, to a disturbing degree, and he still does now, she made him who he is today after all. He lives like a complete slob, but it's all a part of his alter ego and helps to hide his darker activities, at least it did until Patty was sent to investigate….
Patty is a social worker, she has a hunch about Bentley, she has for a while now, and she is determined to prove herself correct. But she isn't as cautious as she thinks she is when she decides to investigate him a little more closely. Her investigations quickly turn into a deadly game of cat and mouse for a while, until she is proven correct with her discovery and then she wants concrete proof! She wants to catalogue every detail, but little does she realise just how familiar she will become with it all.
Finding herself in a compromising and terrifying position, Patty offers Bentley a kind of deal, one that is beyond anything he could ever have expected. Could it work? Could they benefit each other? It turns out they make an incredible team, although Patty could never mean as much as his first love, that was far too special, but it might come a close second. Their relationship becomes so good that they even decide to get themselves a couple of pets, and then things just keep getting better…. these two have a very niche way of getting their kicks! With both of them encouraging each other, the things they do only continue to get more depraved and horrific. Their depravity is so in depth, so detailed, as are their reasons behind it. The lengths this pair will go to, is deliciously disturbing, and will blow your mind!
Detectives Burke and Hare (yep 😂) are determined to crack this unusual case, but they have nothing to go on, people are disappearing without a trace (or a face), until they meet John. No one had expected someone like John, or his dubious methods. And when a guy called Ezra appears in the mix after receiving a seemingly random email, encouraging him to indulge in something he has only dabbled in, in the past, things take a quick, barbaric and shocking turn, making the detectives’ job a whole lot more difficult.
Ezra feels that people need to be seen for what they are, or what they aren't, that they need their true faces to be exposed. To have their conforming masks ripped off and their true identities exposed. And when the cops arrive at Ezra’s door, he is more than ready for them. He knew this day would come, and he is very much prepared, as his mind finally snaps, the storyline explodes once again….
This is high octane story-telling that keeps the pages turning at speed. The story itself is well fleshed out, the characters are great fun, and the whole thing just oozes a bloody great time! Bentley’s character in particular is intriguing, likable, dislikeable, arrogant, tell it like it is, highly sexed, cannibalistic, sick and twisted. He feels that everyone is the same, sheep following sheep, faceless nothings, empty vessels, until he brings them to life in their last moments. They become something interesting and alive, mere seconds before they become extinct….
I loved the insanity of this book, the adrenaline rush it gave me and the way everything came together nicely throughout, all the lives, and all the deaths……
🖤
“The sloppy killer’s get the chair; the tidy ones get to laugh forever.”
It's really interestingly written too, I love the way the author draws you in and captivates you, his descriptions of every little detail, from characters, to scenes, to settings, to the kills and the thought processes behind them, even the way we look at people and situations before the story then goes more in depth, and quickly takes a dive into immorality and insanity. I was immediately hooked and intrigued, and curiously spellbound throughout! There are also a lot of very steamy moments too, all necessary and all equalling the horrific nature of the story.
Bentley is a man who knows exactly what he wants, and exactly how to get rid of it when he is done, however sick and twisted that might be. He is also a Mummy’s boy, he worshiped his Mother when she was alive, to a disturbing degree, and he still does now, she made him who he is today after all. He lives like a complete slob, but it's all a part of his alter ego and helps to hide his darker activities, at least it did until Patty was sent to investigate….
Patty is a social worker, she has a hunch about Bentley, she has for a while now, and she is determined to prove herself correct. But she isn't as cautious as she thinks she is when she decides to investigate him a little more closely. Her investigations quickly turn into a deadly game of cat and mouse for a while, until she is proven correct with her discovery and then she wants concrete proof! She wants to catalogue every detail, but little does she realise just how familiar she will become with it all.
Finding herself in a compromising and terrifying position, Patty offers Bentley a kind of deal, one that is beyond anything he could ever have expected. Could it work? Could they benefit each other? It turns out they make an incredible team, although Patty could never mean as much as his first love, that was far too special, but it might come a close second. Their relationship becomes so good that they even decide to get themselves a couple of pets, and then things just keep getting better…. these two have a very niche way of getting their kicks! With both of them encouraging each other, the things they do only continue to get more depraved and horrific. Their depravity is so in depth, so detailed, as are their reasons behind it. The lengths this pair will go to, is deliciously disturbing, and will blow your mind!
Detectives Burke and Hare (yep 😂) are determined to crack this unusual case, but they have nothing to go on, people are disappearing without a trace (or a face), until they meet John. No one had expected someone like John, or his dubious methods. And when a guy called Ezra appears in the mix after receiving a seemingly random email, encouraging him to indulge in something he has only dabbled in, in the past, things take a quick, barbaric and shocking turn, making the detectives’ job a whole lot more difficult.
Ezra feels that people need to be seen for what they are, or what they aren't, that they need their true faces to be exposed. To have their conforming masks ripped off and their true identities exposed. And when the cops arrive at Ezra’s door, he is more than ready for them. He knew this day would come, and he is very much prepared, as his mind finally snaps, the storyline explodes once again….
This is high octane story-telling that keeps the pages turning at speed. The story itself is well fleshed out, the characters are great fun, and the whole thing just oozes a bloody great time! Bentley’s character in particular is intriguing, likable, dislikeable, arrogant, tell it like it is, highly sexed, cannibalistic, sick and twisted. He feels that everyone is the same, sheep following sheep, faceless nothings, empty vessels, until he brings them to life in their last moments. They become something interesting and alive, mere seconds before they become extinct….
I loved the insanity of this book, the adrenaline rush it gave me and the way everything came together nicely throughout, all the lives, and all the deaths……
🖤
“The sloppy killer’s get the chair; the tidy ones get to laugh forever.”
June 23, 2025
Brilliant!
This is one I won't soon forget. FACELESS is violent, to be sure, but it's also extremely readable, as the writing is of an incredibly high order. I'm looking forward to reading more by Verfall. Highly recommended to fans of the extreme!
This is one I won't soon forget. FACELESS is violent, to be sure, but it's also extremely readable, as the writing is of an incredibly high order. I'm looking forward to reading more by Verfall. Highly recommended to fans of the extreme!
January 21, 2026
“The wages of everything are death asshole, no one gets out of here alive, but not everybody lives while they're here.”
This somehow managed to be a mixture of every type of book genre i’ve managed to read in the past couple years that i’ve picked reading back up, like the power puff girl of books (except it’s not sugar spice and everything nice), I quite enjoyed this book … when i first started it I absolutely did not expect it to take the turns it took I really thought Patty was going to spend this whole book trying to take down Bentley or being tortured by him…not turn into a sub genre dark romance type of book (without the predictability). Anyways, if you wanna read about a murderous couple with SEVERAL fucking twists turns and round a-bouts give this book a whirl…unless you’re a drone.
This somehow managed to be a mixture of every type of book genre i’ve managed to read in the past couple years that i’ve picked reading back up, like the power puff girl of books (except it’s not sugar spice and everything nice), I quite enjoyed this book … when i first started it I absolutely did not expect it to take the turns it took I really thought Patty was going to spend this whole book trying to take down Bentley or being tortured by him…not turn into a sub genre dark romance type of book (without the predictability). Anyways, if you wanna read about a murderous couple with SEVERAL fucking twists turns and round a-bouts give this book a whirl…unless you’re a drone.
November 28, 2024
A Horror Bookworm Recommendation
Faceless by P.J. Verfall
https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/
With nefarious intentions, Patricia O’Neill attempts a welfare check on Mr. Bentley Thomas. Suspicious that two of her clients have vanished and on a hunch, she further explores his domicile…little does he know she is yearning to be a serial killer. A match made in Hell, the two partner-up in laying the groundwork for their forthcoming satisfaction in extreme violations. You cannot prepare yourself enough for what goes on behind these closed doors.
Faceless by P.J. Verfall force feeds gore, death and pleasure in an all too close for comfort true-crime vibe. Using a well-stocked toolbox to disassemble human bodies to their bits, pieces and tasty treats, these bloody pages become a quick passageway to pain, screams and anguish. Within torture chambers that are well-stocked with knives, axes, handheld saws, meat hooks and let’s not forget the spoon for the eyes…cringe factor is high with this one, so reader beware. Verfall has created his own Toy-Box type murders within the pages of Faceless.
Faceless blindsiding me would be an understatement. The key elements are manipulation and torment as Verfall enters the mind of the sick and depraved. Don’t let that make you tap out, there’s much more to this story than meets the eyeball. It consists of viewing your fellow man, justifying morbid actions and disillusioned humanity, all seen through the eyes of a true monster. Faceless will no doubt stir some emotions within yourself.
P.J. Verfall has a unique way of storytelling, all stemming from a chaotic canvas of madness and gore. Beginning with a compelling narrative that has a gritty raw atmospheric development, the wealth of his storytelling is the unpleasant strange events that are often shocking and gruesome. Faceless is a perfect example of a book hitting all the marks: alluring, enjoyable and so unusual that you will think about it often.
Faceless asks that age old question…”so, who are we eating tonight?” Thus proving the theory…screams are the universal language of loathing. Try not to make the missing persons file with this five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Horror Bookworm Recommendation.
Faceless by P.J. Verfall
https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/
With nefarious intentions, Patricia O’Neill attempts a welfare check on Mr. Bentley Thomas. Suspicious that two of her clients have vanished and on a hunch, she further explores his domicile…little does he know she is yearning to be a serial killer. A match made in Hell, the two partner-up in laying the groundwork for their forthcoming satisfaction in extreme violations. You cannot prepare yourself enough for what goes on behind these closed doors.
Faceless by P.J. Verfall force feeds gore, death and pleasure in an all too close for comfort true-crime vibe. Using a well-stocked toolbox to disassemble human bodies to their bits, pieces and tasty treats, these bloody pages become a quick passageway to pain, screams and anguish. Within torture chambers that are well-stocked with knives, axes, handheld saws, meat hooks and let’s not forget the spoon for the eyes…cringe factor is high with this one, so reader beware. Verfall has created his own Toy-Box type murders within the pages of Faceless.
Faceless blindsiding me would be an understatement. The key elements are manipulation and torment as Verfall enters the mind of the sick and depraved. Don’t let that make you tap out, there’s much more to this story than meets the eyeball. It consists of viewing your fellow man, justifying morbid actions and disillusioned humanity, all seen through the eyes of a true monster. Faceless will no doubt stir some emotions within yourself.
P.J. Verfall has a unique way of storytelling, all stemming from a chaotic canvas of madness and gore. Beginning with a compelling narrative that has a gritty raw atmospheric development, the wealth of his storytelling is the unpleasant strange events that are often shocking and gruesome. Faceless is a perfect example of a book hitting all the marks: alluring, enjoyable and so unusual that you will think about it often.
Faceless asks that age old question…”so, who are we eating tonight?” Thus proving the theory…screams are the universal language of loathing. Try not to make the missing persons file with this five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Horror Bookworm Recommendation.
June 6, 2025
This is a very well written tale that blends the extreme horror and psychological thriller genres. The story is a dark serial killer thriller with fully realized characters engaged in a twisted love affair with extreme violence. The violence is gory, brutal, and heinous and is separated by engaging prose that keeps you hooked until the very end.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews