Volume 0: Issue 4

Volume 0

by Annie Hamilton, Victoria Dalpe, Eliza Clark

A lit mag for people who like stories.

Genres: Short Stories

86 pages, Paperback

Published January 11, 2024

Reviews

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite volume so far.

I didn't really enjoy these stories.

One dealt with I'm not even sure what, maybe a father's infatuation with his daughter.

2 stories were about guys who wank it constantly.

Another one was a woman obsessed with dating men with disabilities. She was creepy and the words used to describe the men were offensive.

[alto · Rating 3 out of 5]

christmas with papa: ⭐
rig rash: ⭐⭐⭐
goth gf: ⭐⭐⭐
the turkey rumble: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
lord deliver me from this awful hunger: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
this todd: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
save me, stranger: ⭐⭐

[Jk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas With Papa, Annie Hamilton = 1 star
Rig Rash, Victoria Dalpe = 5 stars
Goth GF, Eliza Clark = 2 stars
The Turkey Rumble, Kate Folk = 4 stars
Lord Deliver Me From This Awful Hunger, Chris Vanjonack = 2 stars
This Todd, Nafissa Thompson-Spires = 2 stars
Save Me, Stranger, Erika Krouse = 5 stars

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Abbie Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Issue 4 slayed. Especially Rig Rash.

Christmas with Papa - 2.5 stars, didn’t love but thought maybe someone with a pos dad could relate

Rig Rash - 5 stars, LOVE a sci fi

Goth GF - 4 stars, love a woman who’s mean to every man up front

The Turkey Rumble - 5 stars, lowkey felt like an snl skit?

Lord Deliver Me From This Awful Hunger - 3 stars, I think it’s trying to represent how awful men are? But gross

This Todd - 2 stars, okay…..

Save Me, Stranger - 4 stars, loved except when she straight up roasts herself

[Justin Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

These continue to be Book of the Month short story collections with off-beat, unexpected short stories.
This particular volume seemed to be drinking the horny juice a bit as sex and sexual references permeated the majority of tales.
Much like previous volumes, there wa a mix of stories that I liked and some that I will promptly forget. But, none were bad or offensive by any means.
Stand-outs for me in this volume:
Rig Rash, a dystopian-ish horror story about an oil boom town with a disgusting, menacing presence literally infecting the sad patrons of the town.
The Turkey Rumble, a very short little slice of story about a family with a very strange Thanksgiving custom with some dark humor sprinkled throughout.
Lord, Deliver Me from this Awful Hunger, an investigation into karma and lives that made me double think using food delivery apps in the future as well as the randomness of life.
Save Me, Stranger, a dark story about a random gang shooting that had surprising consequences and impact. This story made me wish for more from it. I think it would be a great full-length novel for sure.
All in all, these Volume 0s are fun, quirky reads I can pick up and knock out in-between other reading. If you're on BOTM they're reasonably priced and easy to add-on. Limited back issues are also available usually.

[Andy Kristensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a terrific collection of short stories. Other than Thompson-Spires’ strange and somewhat offensive short story, all of the stories in this issue are 5 stars. Everything from horror (Dalpe’s ‘Rig Rash’) to literary fiction (Krouse’s ‘Save Me, Stranger’) to seasonal shorts (Hamilton’s ‘Christmas With Papa’ and Folk’s ‘The Turkey Rumble’), with all of them well-written, dark, and filled with exceptionally original ideas.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fourth issue did not disappoint!

Christmas with Papa ⭐ - what did I just read

Rig Rash ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - kind of reminded me of something Stephen King would write

Goth GF - ⭐- idk. Kind of weird just a guy and his...

The turkey Rumble ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- I will think about this story every single thanksgiving for the rest of my life .. and that's not a bad thing

Lord deliver me from this awful hunger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- never look at takeout the same

This todd ⭐ - a little offensive and weird

Save me stranger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- heavy but good

[Kelsie Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was pretty enjoyable. Breakdown:

• Christmas with Papa: 2.5 Stars
• Big Rash: 3.5 Stars
• Goth GF: 3 Stars
• The Turkey Rumble: 4 Stars
• Lord Deliver Me From this Awful Hunger: 3.5 Stars
• This Todd: 4 Stars
• Save Me, Stranger: 4.5 Stars

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started and finished this on a flight today. And I'm glad cause if I wasn't trapped in a metal flying tube I would have chucked this book so hard.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short story about meeting your significant others family.

[Theresa Sivelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another short story compilation that I'm not really enjoying. Several of the stories really didn't seem to have much of a story or reason. Maybe I'm just expecting too much.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this selection of 7 stories was better than others. I thought most were interesting and engaging. There were 2 stories that I didn't care for out of this whole selection.

[Hailey Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this volume a LOT, the last story Save Me Stranger gave me a five star feeling, which is impressive to do as a short story.

Will again be checking out these authors!

[Emily Sokolowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just read the turkey rumble section of this book. It was just a shortened copy with just that chapter in it. It was a crazy and different read but I enjoyed reading this on Thanksgiving!

[Zach Freking-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story was genuinely terrible, but the rest got better and better. “Save Me, Stranger” is probably the best story I’ve read from Volume 0.

[Erica Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly love it because the short stories always stretch my brain some, but some are just too far fetched for me.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas With Papa 2
Resonated with dynamic but the last 3 paragraphs made zero sense. Read them 5 times over and still no idea

Rig Rash 4
Left enough money to buy a new car, damn how much are you charging down there. No wonder people are ignoring the signs

Goth GF 3
People are weird *shrug*

The Turkey Rumble 5
Honestly, pretty cool idea.

Lord Deliver Me From This Awful Hunger 5
Perfect short story, story

This Todd 4
Interesting but also why?

Save Me Stranger 3
I get what we're going for but just so unsatisfing