Join Jamie as he faces his fear in an abandoned mill. Fly the not-so-friendly skies with Lee on Halloween night as he yearns to satisfy a demonic hunger. Dubious delicacies stoke Marylin and Derrick’s unbridled lust while initiating the end of humanity. Explore an afterlife run like a global corporation where quality was long ago forsaken for quantity. Discover the horrors hidden deep in Locust Forest National Park when a prostitute goes camping with a questionable John, and her pimp follows.
This collection offers a devilish array of splatterpunk, bizarro, and extreme horror, sure to satisfy discerning fans of hard-edge horror.
“SUGAR-COATED MAYHEM!” – R.J. Daly, author of Run Red
Sidney Shiv is one of my favorite people in this community. No matter what hat he’s wearing around here, he nails it every single time; so being able to read and review this collection of short stories is truly MY honor. All of these stories bring the reader on one hell of a horrific and unique ride so without further ado, let’s get into it. 😈
Margate:
“His brains sloshed from the open bowl of his skull as the atrocity enveloped him.”
What do you get when you’re heading to space in an AI controlled vessel?! Don’t worry, Sidney will scare the shit out of you with his tale of the above question. 🤪 I’m not typically a cosmic/space horror person, but with or even without the extreme elements, I actually read this one through twice. 😅 This had a couple of those moments where you really went back a page and re read because it was like “what the f*ck just happened?!” 😭 It had me in a chokehold from start to finish and will definitely be a fan favorite. 🪐
Samhain Plane:
“LIVE TO EAT! EAT TO LIVE!”
This story will live rent free in my head for the rest of time. It was insanely unique, absolutely depraved and a total standout for me. 😵 How Sidney managed to use the elements he did and produce a crazy fking story is beyond me, but again, that’s why I love his writing so much. This story has a chaotic plane ✈️, demons 👹, Halloween ghost 👻, and some solid cannibalism. 🤭 I could easily have read a full length novel of this one because damn, my heart was pounding. 😅
Sinkhole:
“You can be eaten by monsters, or you can be a monster. Given the option, the choice was a no brainer.”
Okay this is gonna sound crazy lol, but this story gave me Beetlejuice meets The NeverEnding Story… but make it Splatterpunk-ish. 😳 This story went in a direction I did NOT see coming! You’ve got urban legends, cult vibes and a snake, alongside an abandon mill a few teenage boys. What the hell could possibly go wrong?! 🫣 This was a really fun story to read and again, had a lot of twists I didn’t see coming! 🙌🏼
Casu Marzu:
“It smelled like a corpse’s feet and used tampons baking in a crab-house dumpster in August.”
Okay, if you’re a fan of cheese… good luck. 🧀🤮 If you’ve never heard of casu marzu, I highly suggest you don’t google it. 😭 Or do, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. 🫢 This story was freaking foul. I remember reading this story a while back in another anthology and yeah, I was quickly reminded how disgusting and depraved this tale was. 🫠😩 I’m actually surprised I put myself through the stomach torture of reading it again, but damnit, Sidney can tell a damn good story so I had to. 🤌🏼
Fulfillment:
“Wakey, wakey. Suck my snakey.”
Sidney delivers a supernatural tale that is beyond unique. (What else is new? 😜) I have never read anything even close to this, and I was hooked from the start. The writing style is that of which I would be bold enough to say is one of my favorites. I found it so easy to follow along and the flow was perfection. 👏🏼 I found myself having a full range of emotions throughout the story, one of which was a couple chuckles, and that’s really something I love sprinkled into these types of stories. 🤭
Turduckin’:
“…word circulated that if you f*cked around, you’d find out.”
Haha. As soon as I saw the name of this one I was swiftly reminded of this story from the Splatology 2.0 anthology and how fking foul it was. 😭😂 This was some back woods depravity. I actually said “what in the Kentucky Fried F*ck am I getting myself into” by the second page. 💀 Then by the third page I was gagging. 🤢 I love this type of writing and these types of plots. They’re so sickening and suck me write in from the beginning. This was one of my favorites in the first anthology I read it in and is definitely a stand out for me in this short story collection. Chefs freaking kiss. 🤌🏼
It's no secret that I'm a fan of Sidney's art and the illustrations he has included in this collection are no exception. My fave is for Samhain Plane, and Fulfillment is pretty damn eye-catching too! 😲😂
I also adore Sidney's story-telling and in this book we are treated to some very different stories all with one thing in common, they suck you in and creep or weird you out, brilliantly. With so much gory detail packed into each short story, this is a fantastic collection! But that was never in question! 🤷♀️ My fave story was Samhain Plane, with Casu Marzu a close second.
The images he invokes are vivid and all too real, they play out like a movie across the screen of your soul!
You'll laugh, cry, be shocked and horrified, maybe a little turned on, weirdo, and definitely nauseous, so damn nauseous 🤢
As always, I will write a few words for each title…
MARGATE…. Completely chilling! A terrifying take on what could happen if AI took control of humans.
SAMHAIN PLANE…. LIVE TO EAT! EAT TO LIVE! A motto I can get behind! 😉 Claustrophobic and utterly terrifying.
SINKHOLE…. A creepy good COA tale, with added goosebumps.
CASU MARZU…. This one had my stomach doing somersaults. Hell, it had my stomach doing a full Olympic gymnastics routine! 🤢 (Oh, and this shit exists if anyone's tempted…)
FULFILLMENT…. A fun and interesting take on death and the afterlife. Bub and Al need their own story!
TURDUCKIN'.... A promise of pleasure and fun, but there was no way any of them could've known what awaited them….
I got an ARC of this one and my god I can’t explain the emotions I felt when I saw it in my inbox! Briefly explain what this collection entails. Cannibalism, old legends, ghosts, demons, space and of course the standard gross out with a sprinkle of humour that Sidney always seems to provide. Yet another belter of a collection alongside his beautiful illustrations to really bring that story to life! Not a single thing I won’t read from this man as every single time he pulls it off! Coming 1st October this is one you don’t want to miss for your Halloween TBR!
This collection was a lot of fun. Some stories more brutal than others. I don’t know where he comes up with this stuff, but I love it. I have my favorites, but I’m not telling. You have to read this collection for yourself. You should also read his first collection, Where Demons Dine. Well I’m off to eat some fancy cheese.
Sidney Shiv does it once again, I'm not a fan of paranormal but this one was fantastic, funny and an all around fun read, Sid always delivers, highly recommend this one. There are elements of splatterpunk and extreme horror so pick this one up. 5/5 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ go read this one!