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All Triggers, No Warnings
The Unknown Lies Ahead.
In this collection of 18 tales of horror and the macabre, expect the unexpected. Inside you’ll find tales of gorgeous ghouls and seductive sirens, of hideous creatures that wear another’s face and tentworms that spin death into dessert. You’ll tour a factory of the living dead and walk through the blood rains of hell. From sexual encounters beyond the grave to a secret pinball club where the silver ball is deadly, Bram Stoker Award-winning author John Everson will take you to places you never imagined.
Inside, you’ll find the kind of fictional ride that is always most effective when you have no idea what is lurking around the next curve. The kind of horror that is always served best with plenty of toe-curling triggers and …
No Warnings.
In this collection of 18 tales of horror and the macabre, expect the unexpected. Inside you’ll find tales of gorgeous ghouls and seductive sirens, of hideous creatures that wear another’s face and tentworms that spin death into dessert. You’ll tour a factory of the living dead and walk through the blood rains of hell. From sexual encounters beyond the grave to a secret pinball club where the silver ball is deadly, Bram Stoker Award-winning author John Everson will take you to places you never imagined.
Inside, you’ll find the kind of fictional ride that is always most effective when you have no idea what is lurking around the next curve. The kind of horror that is always served best with plenty of toe-curling triggers and …
No Warnings.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
334 pages, Paperback
Published May 26, 2025
35 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
John Everson
111 books535 followersJohn Everson is a former newspaper reporter who writes thrillers filled with erotic horror and supernatural suspense. He is the author of the Bram Stoker Award winner Covenant, and finalist NightWhere, which reviewers called "50 Shades Meets Hellraiser!" He is also the creator of the characters Danika and Mila Dubov, seen in the Netflix series V-Wars, based on the books created by Jonathan Maberry. Booklist said his recent New Orleans novel, Voodoo Heart, "is a solid blend of supernatural horror and hard-boiled detective fiction, and should appeal to horror devotees as well as mystery buffs” while Living Dead Magazine called him "the master of dark and sexy."
Follow John on the BookBub: John Everson page for information on book sales and new releases as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For information on his fiction, art and music, visit John Everson: Dark Arts at www.johneverson.com.
Follow John on the BookBub: John Everson page for information on book sales and new releases as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For information on his fiction, art and music, visit John Everson: Dark Arts at www.johneverson.com.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 27, 2025
This will be long. Sorry. As the expression goes, opinions are like kittens and I'm giving them away. I have to say something before I talk about these stories. From the title, I didn't expect trigger warnings and that is fine since I don't need them. I don't even read the trigger warnings in a book until after I have read the book. I only read them to mention their existence for those who want to know. I did not expect a lecture on them. I was surprised at the author's loud, proud, and frankly tone deaf stance against them while showing a lack of understanding of what they are or what they are for. He states at the beginning of the book that he has seen an "increasing flurry of hand wringing about preparing readers with warnings to protect their delicate psyches from stumbling on something unpleasant and preemptively sanitizing fiction in case something in it appears to be insensitive to one group or another and thus might (gasp) offend someone." The description also says this book contains "plenty of toe curling triggers."
Well holy shit. Triggers are not toe-curling as if it is some sort of orgasmic experience. What a long winded way to tell me that you don't know what a trigger warning is, and that you think its purpose is to force you to sanitize your writing so as not to offend someone. Trigger warnings are not censorship, They are not to stop you from writing anything as "offensive" or insensitive or downright gory, vulgar, nauseating, and disgusting as you please. They do not take away your freedom of speech. No topic is off limits. I would think that would be obvious from the most popular horror books by indie authors, you are limited only by your own imagination.
As a horror reader, I expect a multitude of unpleasant scenarios in books. I want to laugh, and cry and be disgusted or terrified. That doesn't mean I am ignorant of the fact that trauma survivors may prefer to avoid topics that cause them to relive their trauma or at least have the option to steel themselves for its approach rather than be ambushed by it. It's ok not to need trigger warnings and it is even ok not to include them. It is not OK to belittle readers who do need them in order to protect their own mental well being.
Anyway!
As far as the stories in this collection, most have been previously published and I have read and enjoyed a few of them in the anthologies where they originally appeared.
I have previously read and loved the first story Driving Her Home, which is the author's take on a classic ghost story/urban legend that nearly everyone will have heard someone swear that a version of this has actually happened to a friend of a friend. Maybe even on a wooded stretch of road you have traveled.
I also remember The Cemetery Man, which appeared in one of my all-time favorite anthologies, Midnight In The Graveyard. This is a darkly comedic story about a man who is willing to put up with a lot of creepy situations just to have some sexy time with a woman who is turned on by graveyards.
Other stories I enjoyed were The Most Dangerous Game, about pinball aficionados and a collection of rare pinball machines that you will never have seen in your local arcade.
Friends discover that their deceased pal's resting place has been disturbed in another dark horror comedy, Arnie's Ashes.
A henpecked husband and his wife spend an unforgettable night at a country inn that sells a mysterious concoction known as Forest Butter.
Ghoul Friend In A Coma finds high schoolers plagued by a curfew because there may be a serial killer picking them off one by one.
Normally, for story collections, I will just touch briefly on the stories that I loved the most, but since the only brand new story here is one I did not care for, I will have to mention Triggered. This is a story of revenge against a book reviewer by someone who conflates trigger warnings with reviewers who mistakenly assume that authors who write about horrible happenings are horrible people and therefore attempt to get these writers "cancelled." If my eyes had rolled any harder reading this story, my ocular muscles would bulge like a champion weight lifter.
I'm getting sick of the sound of myself typing and I am sure to be over the character limit for social media so I will end here by saying I enjoyed most of the stories. Many are like the old 80s fun and freaky campy horror with gore, bouncing boobs and dark humor.
3.75 rounded up to 4 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the e-ARC.
Well holy shit. Triggers are not toe-curling as if it is some sort of orgasmic experience. What a long winded way to tell me that you don't know what a trigger warning is, and that you think its purpose is to force you to sanitize your writing so as not to offend someone. Trigger warnings are not censorship, They are not to stop you from writing anything as "offensive" or insensitive or downright gory, vulgar, nauseating, and disgusting as you please. They do not take away your freedom of speech. No topic is off limits. I would think that would be obvious from the most popular horror books by indie authors, you are limited only by your own imagination.
As a horror reader, I expect a multitude of unpleasant scenarios in books. I want to laugh, and cry and be disgusted or terrified. That doesn't mean I am ignorant of the fact that trauma survivors may prefer to avoid topics that cause them to relive their trauma or at least have the option to steel themselves for its approach rather than be ambushed by it. It's ok not to need trigger warnings and it is even ok not to include them. It is not OK to belittle readers who do need them in order to protect their own mental well being.
Anyway!
As far as the stories in this collection, most have been previously published and I have read and enjoyed a few of them in the anthologies where they originally appeared.
I have previously read and loved the first story Driving Her Home, which is the author's take on a classic ghost story/urban legend that nearly everyone will have heard someone swear that a version of this has actually happened to a friend of a friend. Maybe even on a wooded stretch of road you have traveled.
I also remember The Cemetery Man, which appeared in one of my all-time favorite anthologies, Midnight In The Graveyard. This is a darkly comedic story about a man who is willing to put up with a lot of creepy situations just to have some sexy time with a woman who is turned on by graveyards.
Other stories I enjoyed were The Most Dangerous Game, about pinball aficionados and a collection of rare pinball machines that you will never have seen in your local arcade.
Friends discover that their deceased pal's resting place has been disturbed in another dark horror comedy, Arnie's Ashes.
A henpecked husband and his wife spend an unforgettable night at a country inn that sells a mysterious concoction known as Forest Butter.
Ghoul Friend In A Coma finds high schoolers plagued by a curfew because there may be a serial killer picking them off one by one.
Normally, for story collections, I will just touch briefly on the stories that I loved the most, but since the only brand new story here is one I did not care for, I will have to mention Triggered. This is a story of revenge against a book reviewer by someone who conflates trigger warnings with reviewers who mistakenly assume that authors who write about horrible happenings are horrible people and therefore attempt to get these writers "cancelled." If my eyes had rolled any harder reading this story, my ocular muscles would bulge like a champion weight lifter.
I'm getting sick of the sound of myself typing and I am sure to be over the character limit for social media so I will end here by saying I enjoyed most of the stories. Many are like the old 80s fun and freaky campy horror with gore, bouncing boobs and dark humor.
3.75 rounded up to 4 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the e-ARC.
May 25, 2025
John Everson explains the title of his collection first thing in his preface ("Maybe a Little Warning..."): he does not believe in trigger warnings - he does not believe in "pre-emptively sanitizing fiction in case something in it appears to be 'insensitive' to one group or another and thus, might (gasp) offend someone"! I agree wholeheartedly: perhaps because I don't have triggers myself, I've never been able to make sense of the need of trigger warnings in horror. So I'm 100% in this with Everson. But the whole affair wouldn't even be worth mentioning unless the author could actually write, and come up with some good ideas, around which the issue of "trigger warnings" might arise.
Thankfully, "All Triggers, No Warnings" is a hard-hitting collection of 18 stories of all kinds of horror - supernatural, erotic, sci-fi, aquatic, etc.- every take providing the occasion for readers to experience Everson's amazing storytelling.
From the opening story, "Driving Her Home," a beautifully told ghost tale full of sadness, regret, and non-judgemental honesty, to the darkly comedic "Triggered" closing the collection, a revenge story about, well, triggers and the cancel culture, a wide assortment of horrors parades through the book, often confronting and occasionally demolishing current priorities dominating the telling of a story. To put it bluntly, a lot of the tales (if not all) are about men, masculinity, male priorities (almost always: sex - the male protagonists willingly sticking to the most absurd situations always on account of ...sex), and typify women accordingly. This should not be taken to mean that Everson glorifies "toxic masculinity" - far from it: he just exploits common tropes about it to tell an entertaining, and enjoyably horrific, horror story.
Case in point: the futuristic "Amnion," a fantastic story of adultery, figuring an old, stereotypical professor running clinical trials on a new kind of body treatment, experimenting on women; it's a matter of time till his wife catches on what's happening, and then the spotlight belongs to her. Another story, "The Most Dangerous Game," has a fan of collectible pinball machines discovering a place which might be his personal heaven: a basement full of rare machines, where weekend tournaments are occasionally set up. The champion is a lusty woman of 'free morals,' and acts accordingly throughout the story (she's the only woman there as well). The tale's the whole package: female objectification, frat jokes, and so on. But it's a terrific horror story, with a very satisfying ending.
My personal favorites were "Sing Blue Silver," with nods to Everson's own NightWhere and Gerard Houarner’s Painfreak, an extreme horrotica tale, I really enjoyed every minute of it; "We Take Care of Our Own," a bizarre zombie tale; "The Cemetery Man," an original, very weird, and very sexy, ghost story; and "The House at the Top of the Hill," a haunted house story of two kids visiting an abandoned house on a dare.
Everson's collection often reveals the raw fears and the insistent desires beneath socially precious, glamorous surfaces. (The sexual scenes are also quite nice lol.) If you can handle the author's cruel honesty and direct, easy manner of addressing his readers, you'll have a hell of a time! Recommended.
June 16, 2025
Immediately in the preface of this book, the author explains how he doesn’t believe in trigger warnings.. which is something I couldn’t agree with more, while they can be helpful for some..I believe that expanding your horizons or ways of thinking in life is a necessity. Living in a box of things and never expanding your horizon is no way to live at all, we grow and change everyday, why stay stuck in one box?
All of these stories were beautifully written and well executed.
One of my favorites was Forest Butter..
when a couple on a road trip decide to take temporary domicile in a cabin like hotel they find on the way. When his wife complains of the poor room conditions they were showed ,the owners decide to take them to the suite. The gorgeous room comes at a cost ( one that is not disclosed at first). When they lay in bed for the night they do not wake up the same..
The next story that really stood out to me was Cemetery Man…
A guy and girl start going on a dates, she’s very reserved and doesn’t have much to say other than her love for black and white film, while she is quiet and reserved the way he found a personal outlet of hers that makes her genuinely light up.. is getting fucked in the cemetery.. while she has a good time.. her partner starts seeing things that he can’t shake and starts to have doubts about the cemetery time with her.. until she takes her shirt off of course.
I can’t of course forget about another favorite which is The Most Dangerous Game..
A man makes a new friend who is just as,if not more into pinball as he is.. But when he’s invited to one of their tournaments, he finds that the exclusive club he found his way into is exclusive for a pretty good and high stake reason…
This was such a fantastic and beautiful collection of stories. Not one of them lacked in plot or personality, short story collections can get lost in themselves often in my opinion, But each and every one of these stories had me hooked and non stop reading. John Everson made a wonderful collection that everyone with a long list of triggers should pick up :))
All of these stories were beautifully written and well executed.
One of my favorites was Forest Butter..
when a couple on a road trip decide to take temporary domicile in a cabin like hotel they find on the way. When his wife complains of the poor room conditions they were showed ,the owners decide to take them to the suite. The gorgeous room comes at a cost ( one that is not disclosed at first). When they lay in bed for the night they do not wake up the same..
The next story that really stood out to me was Cemetery Man…
A guy and girl start going on a dates, she’s very reserved and doesn’t have much to say other than her love for black and white film, while she is quiet and reserved the way he found a personal outlet of hers that makes her genuinely light up.. is getting fucked in the cemetery.. while she has a good time.. her partner starts seeing things that he can’t shake and starts to have doubts about the cemetery time with her.. until she takes her shirt off of course.
I can’t of course forget about another favorite which is The Most Dangerous Game..
A man makes a new friend who is just as,if not more into pinball as he is.. But when he’s invited to one of their tournaments, he finds that the exclusive club he found his way into is exclusive for a pretty good and high stake reason…
This was such a fantastic and beautiful collection of stories. Not one of them lacked in plot or personality, short story collections can get lost in themselves often in my opinion, But each and every one of these stories had me hooked and non stop reading. John Everson made a wonderful collection that everyone with a long list of triggers should pick up :))
June 10, 2025
This is my 2nd book by the author. I wasn't very fond of the first. I am glad that this one worked better for me. I love short story collections. A good short story must make a powerful impact in a short amount of time. Trigger warnings leave the reader numb to those impacts and work against the basic premise of a short story. I dislike trigger warnings in general but especially when it comes to short stories. I enjoyed the preface of the book and tbh it was the title that had me purchasing the book on a whim.
Overall, the stories are good, They are written well. It could have used a better editor because in two of the stories, the author mixes up the names in the midst of conversations. In The Most Dangerous Game, Everson mixes up Brad and Chris towards the end when Brad is being "outfitted" for the game. He does it again in Triggered. As I mentioned, a short story has to sucker punch the reader. It builds up momentum in a brief amount of time and then hits the reader with that impact. When such a mistake occurs, it throws the reader out of the story and ends that trajectory. Does it ruin the story? No but it does lessen the impact needed to make the story good? Yes.
I thought the stories flowed well (aside from the above errors) and most did not follow the direction I thought they were taking. There weren't any actual triggers for me but I don't know that I have any. There is some mild eroticism but it is pretty tame. Most of the stories were quite original. I suppose that the few that I wasn't fond of were those that followed a more generic arc.
I enjoyed this book and recommend it to all story lovers.
My favorite stories were The Most Dangerous Game and Forest Butter.
Overall, the stories are good, They are written well. It could have used a better editor because in two of the stories, the author mixes up the names in the midst of conversations. In The Most Dangerous Game, Everson mixes up Brad and Chris towards the end when Brad is being "outfitted" for the game. He does it again in Triggered. As I mentioned, a short story has to sucker punch the reader. It builds up momentum in a brief amount of time and then hits the reader with that impact. When such a mistake occurs, it throws the reader out of the story and ends that trajectory. Does it ruin the story? No but it does lessen the impact needed to make the story good? Yes.
I thought the stories flowed well (aside from the above errors) and most did not follow the direction I thought they were taking. There weren't any actual triggers for me but I don't know that I have any. There is some mild eroticism but it is pretty tame. Most of the stories were quite original. I suppose that the few that I wasn't fond of were those that followed a more generic arc.
I enjoyed this book and recommend it to all story lovers.
My favorite stories were The Most Dangerous Game and Forest Butter.
May 31, 2025
While I enjoyed the stories as a whole, they weren't all that horrifying or macabre. Though, as an avid horror & splatterpunk reader, I am desensitized to what most would consider sick or disgusting. Whether you're new to the horror genre or simply looking for a light read, All Triggers No Warnings is a worthy checkout. Despite the title suggesting otherwise, the only triggers to look out for are body horror & the erotic aspects. That's not to say they were poor or lacking, but what is not triggering to me may not be the same to others. It's a great mix of different types of horror—supernatural, paranormal, sci-fi, erotic, comedy (at least to me), etc.
My top favorite stories from this collection are
Ghoul Friend in a Coma
Watering
The Cemetery Man
Then Shall The Reign Of Lucifer End...
When She Was Ready
My top favorite stories from this collection are
Ghoul Friend in a Coma
Watering
The Cemetery Man
Then Shall The Reign Of Lucifer End...
When She Was Ready
June 6, 2025
Thought provoking
Starting at the introduction, I found myself agreeing with the sentiment of the author as he commented on the extra sensitivities of our world today.
Under the guise of shielding and protecting readers from unpleasant situations in stories, authors have been pen-tied in what they write.
I've been an avid reader my entire life, and I will post reviews when I feel compelled to do so, however, I won't leave a negative or hurtful review because while a story isn't my cup of tea, it doesn't mean someone else won't enjoy it.
I applaud each person who devotes the time and energy and imagination and sacrifice to publish. Who am I to pee on their donut?
The joy of reading is the plot twist and going on the ride of an author's imagination.
The last story is sheer perfection!
Starting at the introduction, I found myself agreeing with the sentiment of the author as he commented on the extra sensitivities of our world today.
Under the guise of shielding and protecting readers from unpleasant situations in stories, authors have been pen-tied in what they write.
I've been an avid reader my entire life, and I will post reviews when I feel compelled to do so, however, I won't leave a negative or hurtful review because while a story isn't my cup of tea, it doesn't mean someone else won't enjoy it.
I applaud each person who devotes the time and energy and imagination and sacrifice to publish. Who am I to pee on their donut?
The joy of reading is the plot twist and going on the ride of an author's imagination.
The last story is sheer perfection!
June 8, 2025
This is one this is one of the authors. I’ve always been meaning to check out. Whenever I find an author that I want to read, I will often read their short stories first. I feel like the short stories give you a good look into the author and you could tell if you’ll like them or not. this collection was amazing. I love the mix of horror and sex together in a story. I would be reading the stories and get lulled into a false sense of security by what’s happening. Then the horror would smack me right in the face. I really enjoyed the stories and now I have a lot from this author to catch up on. I know I’m late to him, but I will catch up..
July 28, 2025
Really good!
For me, compilations are often just a couple good ones and then lots of filler, but this particular one is Really Good! I read almost every story all the way through and enjoyed doing so! The characters are relatable and the atmosphere of each one is palpable. I definitely recommend for anyone into horror with a little extra punch! I'm a first time reader of Mr Everson and I Will be reading more!
For me, compilations are often just a couple good ones and then lots of filler, but this particular one is Really Good! I read almost every story all the way through and enjoyed doing so! The characters are relatable and the atmosphere of each one is palpable. I definitely recommend for anyone into horror with a little extra punch! I'm a first time reader of Mr Everson and I Will be reading more!
June 6, 2025
Everson really draws you in to every story! This is a collection of his previously written short stories. Much like a train wreck, trigger or not, you can't look away.
I was going to write a review about every story but I think it's better to give you no spoilers with your no trigger warnings. Enjoy! I know I did. 🖤
I was going to write a review about every story but I think it's better to give you no spoilers with your no trigger warnings. Enjoy! I know I did. 🖤
June 10, 2025
From the title alone, I knew I had to read this collection and I was not disappointed. Right from the start, John dives into trigger warnings are generally not a good trend - horror is supposed to be horrific and people should be prepared for that which I totally agree with. Being brought up on 80's and 90's horror, trigger warnings just weren't a thing and I'm personally with John on this.
Anyway, the stories within are brilliant and it would be an injustice to the others to name a favourite. Each tale of the eighteen included does a great job of bringing discomfort to the reader, but though they may initially start off with some heaviness, they almost always twist into something else. John's prose is addicting and always has been and this collection is no exception. I lost count of the number of times I told myself just one more page and ended up reading several stories instead.
There are some truly unique stories in this collection and they are quite varied. Some come from previous anthologies but other's are included for the first time here. This is definitely one of the best collections I've had the pleasure of reading. Highly recommended if you are after some potentially triggering stories that shouldn't and don't have a trigger warning.
Anyway, the stories within are brilliant and it would be an injustice to the others to name a favourite. Each tale of the eighteen included does a great job of bringing discomfort to the reader, but though they may initially start off with some heaviness, they almost always twist into something else. John's prose is addicting and always has been and this collection is no exception. I lost count of the number of times I told myself just one more page and ended up reading several stories instead.
There are some truly unique stories in this collection and they are quite varied. Some come from previous anthologies but other's are included for the first time here. This is definitely one of the best collections I've had the pleasure of reading. Highly recommended if you are after some potentially triggering stories that shouldn't and don't have a trigger warning.
July 2, 2025
Awesome! I really enjoyed all stories. It was great going back into some of the "Universes" of John's books and some from other authors. Great collection of short stories!
Want to read
May 28, 2025The title made me buy it…
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews