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This Is Splatterpunk: The John Skipp Primer
WHAT IS SPLATTERPUNK?If you want to understand what makes splatterpunk so different from the horror that came both before and after, your best bet is to read the authors who pioneered the form. It wasn’t just the visceral intensity of their literary assaults on convention. All the key writers – Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, David J. Schow, and John Skipp and Craig Spector – were ferocious stylists, with original voices that completely stood out from the crowd.
In THIS IS THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER, you’ll find 15 of Skipp’s most powerful, passionate, unbridled, and influential splatterpunkian short stories, from his early years in Twilight Zone magazine to the present day.
Skipp also includes a definitive essay on the history and core elements of the movement – which he defines more as a “spontaneous eruption of the arts” – with additional notes on each story, for context.
But mostly, it’s about Skipp’s unflinching empathy – his ability to put you inside the skins of his characters, make you feel what they feel every speck of the way – that makes THIS IS THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER an essential read for lovers of fearless fiction, and the perfect companion piece to his film.
In THIS IS THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER, you’ll find 15 of Skipp’s most powerful, passionate, unbridled, and influential splatterpunkian short stories, from his early years in Twilight Zone magazine to the present day.
Skipp also includes a definitive essay on the history and core elements of the movement – which he defines more as a “spontaneous eruption of the arts” – with additional notes on each story, for context.
But mostly, it’s about Skipp’s unflinching empathy – his ability to put you inside the skins of his characters, make you feel what they feel every speck of the way – that makes THIS IS THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER an essential read for lovers of fearless fiction, and the perfect companion piece to his film.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 8, 2025
6 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
John Skipp
108 books296 followersJohn Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on multiple novels, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 10, 2025
Firstly, what an honour this was to be asked to ARC read for a legend such as John Skipp. Thank you!
So this is a bit of an introduction into splatterpunk and what it means to John Skipp, as one of the pioneers of the genre. A little insight and history, and then 15 of his splatterpunk shorts from the early 80s, some of those published in Twilight Zone magazine, and right up until the present day.
Splatterpunk, (what I took away from this, personally), the ‘punk’ being the main emphasis, standing proud, pushing the boundaries, to make a point, to mean something, and then using a bucket load of gore and depravity to ice the proverbial, splattery cake.
I'm going to go through and say a few words for each entry into this book and then do a kind of little summary at the end….
All of these have deep dark depths to them, an underlying story to be told, and all are great, but, I do admit to having some favourites, which are, ‘The Spirit of Things’, ‘Film at Eleven’, ‘Food Fight’, ‘In the Winter of No Love’ and my #1 has to be ‘The Inward Eye!’ 🖤
THE LONG RIDE.... Harry is a New York cab driver, tonight's fare is testing his patience, but it's ok, Harry knows just how to deal with it, he's been in the game a long time and plans on sticking around even longer.
A true sense of foreboding surrounds this story, its chilling, and I loved the twist.
GO TO SLEEP.... Rick has a unique gift. A purpose. A duty almost.. It's a morbid gift but fulfilling too.
Beautifully serene and eerie.
THE SPIRIT OF THINGS.... This one flies out of the starting gates, kicking and screaming, and is full of tense anticipation.
Everything progresses and evolves, including Halloween traditions, some for the better, some much, much worse...
Terrifying!
A QUICKEE.... Exactly what is says on the tin, "A Quickee", but one packed with horror and uneasiness.
FILM AT ELEVEN....Dottie is a desperate woman, a victim of horrific abuse. But she's determined too, determined this will be the last time ever.
Mental anguish and last resorts lead to a shockingly sinister outcome..
Heartbreaking and emotional.
ROSE GOES SHOPPING.... What do you do when you're in the middle of a zombie outbreak? Well, you make sure to stock up on cheese right? 😂 I love Rose for this!
This was a lot of fun, fast paced and action packed.
ART IS THE DEVIL.... Drea and Kristy are invited to a Hell of an Art show, they're unsure at first but their curiosity soon wins out.
Nightmarish and unsettling with a garnish of bizarreness and hilarity..
DEPRESSO THE CLOWN... A clownnapping, prejudice against all clowns, a phobia driving someone to take desperate actions. If you hate clowns you'll probably love this..😉
I felt sorry for him, personally.
THE SHITTIEST GUY IN THE WORLD (A CHRISTMAS FABLE).... A tasty little dose of Christmas karma.
Chillingly delectable…
FOOD FIGHT.... All is not right at the Golden Canyon Behavioral Health Center, in fact, its chaos and mayhem at every turn. All Hell has broken loose, quite literally.
I loved how this was told from all the different povs, and they were all brought together brilliantly. The insanity is utterly chilling, this story unfolds FAST, and the realisation of what is going on hits you harder with every page. A kinda mass hysteria that you feel like you're a part of.
SKIPP'S SPLATTERPUNK ALPHABET SOUFFLE.... A cool, fun look into the whys and wherefores of extreme/hardcore/splatterpunk and what it means to Skipp personally. From abhorrent artefacts and actions, to the impressions they leave on us, the reactions given and received, the depths, the extremes, the influences and reasoning.
Heed the horror styles, I for one, found this very interesting and enlightening!
JIMMY JAY BAXTER'S LAST, BEST DAY ON EARTH.... When the end of the world arrives, all bets are off, all rules are out the window, and the freedom that brings is beautifully terrifying. Especially when the MC is armed to the eyeballs, prejudiced to the max and has a bucket list agenda that includes taking no prisoners. But the huge dose of Karma that gets dished up, more than makes up for it.
IN THE WINTER OF NO LOVE.... Dreams of a summer of free love turn into a new age nightmare, a bit like the changing of the seasons.
Disturbing, eerie, trippy.
THE INWARD EYE.... Discovery and awareness of all things around you, consciousness, subconsciousness, BEING, vibrations good and bad, past lives and visions, deep hallucinations and flashbacks all expressing horrors and insights into life and beyond.
Real life horror, the scariest of them all, alongside fictional horror, movie horror, and the progression of horror through the ages.
Powerful, deep, dark, stunning! 🖤
NAME YOUR POISON... Short, sharp, stunning and powerful.
I am absolutely in love with John Skipp's writing. It's brilliantly atmospheric, fun, visceral, gnarly, powerful, impactful, and darkly poetic.
I’m sad I have never read anything by him before, but so excited that I have his entire back catalogue to discover and enjoy from hereon in.
Skipp knows how to end a short story to leave you wowed and completely satisfied. My personal bugbear with shorts is when the story just seems to end abruptly, and you're left thinking, “Is that it?” But Skipp finishes them off perfectly.
I loved the added insights into each story at the end of the book too, I do love seeing these. And I too, wish Rose had been made into a movie, I loved her character! She's a total badass! 🖤.
So this is a bit of an introduction into splatterpunk and what it means to John Skipp, as one of the pioneers of the genre. A little insight and history, and then 15 of his splatterpunk shorts from the early 80s, some of those published in Twilight Zone magazine, and right up until the present day.
Splatterpunk, (what I took away from this, personally), the ‘punk’ being the main emphasis, standing proud, pushing the boundaries, to make a point, to mean something, and then using a bucket load of gore and depravity to ice the proverbial, splattery cake.
I'm going to go through and say a few words for each entry into this book and then do a kind of little summary at the end….
All of these have deep dark depths to them, an underlying story to be told, and all are great, but, I do admit to having some favourites, which are, ‘The Spirit of Things’, ‘Film at Eleven’, ‘Food Fight’, ‘In the Winter of No Love’ and my #1 has to be ‘The Inward Eye!’ 🖤
THE LONG RIDE.... Harry is a New York cab driver, tonight's fare is testing his patience, but it's ok, Harry knows just how to deal with it, he's been in the game a long time and plans on sticking around even longer.
A true sense of foreboding surrounds this story, its chilling, and I loved the twist.
GO TO SLEEP.... Rick has a unique gift. A purpose. A duty almost.. It's a morbid gift but fulfilling too.
Beautifully serene and eerie.
THE SPIRIT OF THINGS.... This one flies out of the starting gates, kicking and screaming, and is full of tense anticipation.
Everything progresses and evolves, including Halloween traditions, some for the better, some much, much worse...
Terrifying!
A QUICKEE.... Exactly what is says on the tin, "A Quickee", but one packed with horror and uneasiness.
FILM AT ELEVEN....Dottie is a desperate woman, a victim of horrific abuse. But she's determined too, determined this will be the last time ever.
Mental anguish and last resorts lead to a shockingly sinister outcome..
Heartbreaking and emotional.
ROSE GOES SHOPPING.... What do you do when you're in the middle of a zombie outbreak? Well, you make sure to stock up on cheese right? 😂 I love Rose for this!
This was a lot of fun, fast paced and action packed.
ART IS THE DEVIL.... Drea and Kristy are invited to a Hell of an Art show, they're unsure at first but their curiosity soon wins out.
Nightmarish and unsettling with a garnish of bizarreness and hilarity..
DEPRESSO THE CLOWN... A clownnapping, prejudice against all clowns, a phobia driving someone to take desperate actions. If you hate clowns you'll probably love this..😉
I felt sorry for him, personally.
THE SHITTIEST GUY IN THE WORLD (A CHRISTMAS FABLE).... A tasty little dose of Christmas karma.
Chillingly delectable…
FOOD FIGHT.... All is not right at the Golden Canyon Behavioral Health Center, in fact, its chaos and mayhem at every turn. All Hell has broken loose, quite literally.
I loved how this was told from all the different povs, and they were all brought together brilliantly. The insanity is utterly chilling, this story unfolds FAST, and the realisation of what is going on hits you harder with every page. A kinda mass hysteria that you feel like you're a part of.
SKIPP'S SPLATTERPUNK ALPHABET SOUFFLE.... A cool, fun look into the whys and wherefores of extreme/hardcore/splatterpunk and what it means to Skipp personally. From abhorrent artefacts and actions, to the impressions they leave on us, the reactions given and received, the depths, the extremes, the influences and reasoning.
Heed the horror styles, I for one, found this very interesting and enlightening!
JIMMY JAY BAXTER'S LAST, BEST DAY ON EARTH.... When the end of the world arrives, all bets are off, all rules are out the window, and the freedom that brings is beautifully terrifying. Especially when the MC is armed to the eyeballs, prejudiced to the max and has a bucket list agenda that includes taking no prisoners. But the huge dose of Karma that gets dished up, more than makes up for it.
IN THE WINTER OF NO LOVE.... Dreams of a summer of free love turn into a new age nightmare, a bit like the changing of the seasons.
Disturbing, eerie, trippy.
THE INWARD EYE.... Discovery and awareness of all things around you, consciousness, subconsciousness, BEING, vibrations good and bad, past lives and visions, deep hallucinations and flashbacks all expressing horrors and insights into life and beyond.
Real life horror, the scariest of them all, alongside fictional horror, movie horror, and the progression of horror through the ages.
Powerful, deep, dark, stunning! 🖤
NAME YOUR POISON... Short, sharp, stunning and powerful.
I am absolutely in love with John Skipp's writing. It's brilliantly atmospheric, fun, visceral, gnarly, powerful, impactful, and darkly poetic.
I’m sad I have never read anything by him before, but so excited that I have his entire back catalogue to discover and enjoy from hereon in.
Skipp knows how to end a short story to leave you wowed and completely satisfied. My personal bugbear with shorts is when the story just seems to end abruptly, and you're left thinking, “Is that it?” But Skipp finishes them off perfectly.
I loved the added insights into each story at the end of the book too, I do love seeing these. And I too, wish Rose had been made into a movie, I loved her character! She's a total badass! 🖤.
November 22, 2025
This is an awesome collection of short stories spanning the career of John Skipp. Each tale takes you on a twisted journey of blood and gore with a rock n roll attitude. Highly recommend to those interested in horror and the Splatterpunk genre specifically. Skipp is part of the original movement.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews