Darktrees : Worthless Eaters

by D.Z. Hollow

Double Creature Feature
[2 Novellas + 1 Short Story + 4 Dark Poems]

Kieran O'Reilly is not like most children. He's mute, disabled, wheelchair-bound, and lives deep in the Redwood Forest. At just eight years old, his parents loathe his existence and abuse their special needs child. Kieran's only hope is a cryptid named Hex, an elongated creature that comes in the night to watch over him. Darktrees is a 1970s inspired, cryptid, alien folktale.

Worthless Eaters: The year is 1940, and Adolf Hitler has ordered the mass extermination of over a hundred thousand disabled children. Ulrich and Frida are unique, special needs children who are the only hope against Hitler’s Nazi regime. The two children are mutated by the poison, becoming powerful beings incapable of being destroyed. Adolf Hitler and his fascist team are forced to resort to their secret alien technology to defeat the duo. Can Ulrich and Frida save the world from fascism? Worthless Eaters is based on history and dives into Hitler’s obsession with the occult and extraterrestrials.
Also Hawk - A Bizarro Short Story.

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2025

About the author

D.Z. Hollow is an author and musician who lives in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia with his wife and a slew of rescue animals. When not writing, he enjoys watching horror movies and television shows. He also loves playing music and hiking with his wife and fellow author, Juliet.

Reviews

[Ali O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darktrees : Worthless Eaters by D.Z. Hollow
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4.5 rounded up)
This book contains 2 intense novellas, an entertaining short story and 4 fantastic poems.
These stories contain different forms of darkness and supernatural type horrors.
Darktrees is my favorite story of the bunch. It’s very original and descriptive. What an intense story!
D.Z. Hollow is an amazing storyteller and his books are must reads for me!!

*This is a fast and deep read, and I recommend checking it out!*

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great double feature novella, short story, and poem collection. The first novella, Darktrees, was creepy and atmospheric but well-paced. I love descriptive writing and I think the author did really well with this. The second one, Worthless Eaters, had some parallels to Darktrees, but it was very different at the same time. Worthless Eaters was had more action and it wasn't predictable in any way.

They were both very well written. Worthless Eaters, especially, was a tough read because of what's going on in the United States right now. I'm not sure how long it took the author to write it, but things have certainly gotten worse even since it's publication.

Parts of the book were very sad as they deal with the abuse of disabled children. I really liked the story at the end, Hawk, and the included poems. I highly recommend checking this collection out if you like cryptids, aliens, nature, alternate histories, and birds especially with disability representation of all kinds.

[Desiree L · Rating 4 out of 5]

truly unique read!

The first story, Darktrees, is gory and a heck of a lot of fun! Lovely descriptions of the woods starkly contrasting the gruesome and creative deaths in this book. Almost like a splatterpunk fairy tale. There are spots of truly beautiful prose and I will enjoy seeing how this author develops and puts out more in the future.
Second story is alien/mutant horror mixed with the beginning of the nazi regime, and totally hitting on current events. Definitely a scary read. Over the top and tongue in cheek, this book plays like Quentin Tarantino had a crack at directing a marvel movie.
Both stories have a race of Alien beings tying them together, super unique read!
My favorite part was the poems at the end, they were wonderfully written and haunting.

[Kati Chastain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A double feature novella with aliens, cryptids, disability fiction, and throw in some alternate reality history. That's what D.Z. Hollow gives readers, a hell of a ride.

Darktrees follows Kiernan, a disabled child, living a horrific life with abusive neglectful parents. Until an unlikely presence comes along. I enjoyed this one and disability with children hits close to home.
Worthless Eaters is an alternate reality of horrific events that actually happened in our world. This one hits different seeing how our country is going today, thats what's terrifying. Both stories tie in and I suggest giving this one a read.
Thanks to DZ Hollow for the advanced copy.

[Trisha Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author sucks schweaty balls.

No, I'm kidding. This is a surprisingly sensitive book written by a strong emerging voice in horror. The usual tropes of gore and monster horror are beautifully, lavishly layered with a story of isolation. Trauma. True pain and the possibility of redemption.

I won't give spoilers here, but a while ago, I was putting together a list of books that I want my godchildren to read when they're a little older. Horror fiction always puts the 'other' perspective in the foreground, and the inimitable DZ is a master of the art.

[Juliet Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay so this books is REALLY out there. It touches on alternative history, disability fiction, horror, supernatural, and everything in between. It's a collection of two connected novellas, poems and a short story. The second story Worthless Eaters is trippy and gets into a sort of alt history with Hitler and the Nazi's drawing on some realistic dark realities. It's twisty and quirky, demented and powerful.

[Angel Medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a double creature feature read with two stories that feature killer creatures. However, these aren't your regular reads. Instead these focus on alternative history and touches upon hot button issues in today's world. No worries, there's plenty of gore and good old scares in both these stories.

Be sure to check your triggers as these stories don't hold back on the gruesome nature. These stories will get you thinking as well. Overall, I enjoyed both of these stories and look forward to checking out more of DZs work.

[Emily Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy has a unlikely friend in the woods. This friend will protect him no matter what. A bad man does experiments on unsuspecting people. Will they get revenge. Delightful alien and creature feature.

[LADY BUGG · Rating 5 out of 5]

" Oh, the cuckoo, shes a pretty bird..."


This book blew my expectations out of the water.
I'm a sucker for a good plot... along with the horror, guts, cryptids, aliens, and the insanely hated and loved characters added, it was better than expected.

Absolutely loved this!!!

[James Donaldson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great idea and loved the horror and creature features. I feel like at parts of the first story got a little lost with it jumping around and being a little wordy. The second story was great till the end then seemed like it got off track.

[Stephanie Rumbarger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't the type I normally read. I am not an alien/humanoid story type person but after reading Broken Window I knew it would be good. I would definitely recommend this if you're into this type of book.

[Shaina Renae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aliens, cryptid and roaches - oh my! This has it all! I definitely enjoyed the trip! DZ is bringing disability horror to the forefront, and I'm here for it!

[A:) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book that I had gotten off, Kindle was only the worthless eaters portion. I didn’t hate it, but once I took off into the alien stuff, I kind of lost it.