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Overwhelm
Science. Serial killers. Liberation. Alien planets. Trauma. Zen koans. Amorous vampires. Gay stuff. Tentacle beasts. In these five short stories ( with ten full-page illustrations! ), you'll find all this and more!
Horror is transformational. Overwhelm is the dissolution of the ego within the knowledge that what you are is a fleeting instant in an incomprehensibly vast universe. But will this understanding lead to destruction, or will it grant liberation? Open yourself to strange new worlds, and worlds eerily familiar in this debut anthology from author and illustrator Simon Shadows!
Horror is transformational. Overwhelm is the dissolution of the ego within the knowledge that what you are is a fleeting instant in an incomprehensibly vast universe. But will this understanding lead to destruction, or will it grant liberation? Open yourself to strange new worlds, and worlds eerily familiar in this debut anthology from author and illustrator Simon Shadows!
- GenresHorrorAnthologies
144 pages, Paperback
Published September 13, 2025
2 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
Simon Shadows
1 book2 followersHi, I'm Simon!
Find everything you could possibly want to know about me at my website: https://www.simonshado.ws/
Find everything you could possibly want to know about me at my website: https://www.simonshado.ws/
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 11, 2023
The characters that Simon creates exist just far enough from our reality to be captivating, but just close enough to be palpable. They are damaged, clever, fools that would follow the angler's light for beauty's sake or would cut out their own heart to ease the ache.
The worlds are varied and alien-but-familiar. We've seen their likes before, but never so competently expressing such complex ideas.
And finally, and most impressively, Simon is an excellent author. Author's in the science fiction genre are often idiot-savants - savants for the ideas they explore and idiots for how they are written. Simon writes well. The writing is gripping enough to pull you in despite the story.
What Overwhelm lacks are endings. The endings felt abrupt, incongruous, and poorly foreshadowed (except Killer and Symmetry, both perfectly perfect).
Regardless, Overwhelm was more of a joy to read than other science fiction greats and I can't wait for Simon's next book!
The worlds are varied and alien-but-familiar. We've seen their likes before, but never so competently expressing such complex ideas.
And finally, and most impressively, Simon is an excellent author. Author's in the science fiction genre are often idiot-savants - savants for the ideas they explore and idiots for how they are written. Simon writes well. The writing is gripping enough to pull you in despite the story.
What Overwhelm lacks are endings. The endings felt abrupt, incongruous, and poorly foreshadowed (except Killer and Symmetry, both perfectly perfect).
Regardless, Overwhelm was more of a joy to read than other science fiction greats and I can't wait for Simon's next book!
August 3, 2024
I’m so happy I got the chance to buy a physical copy of this book in the Woodstock neighborhood of Portland! I adored the combination of horror and sci-fi that are imbued in this anthology, and the influence that SCPs had on the second story in particular. Even though it was incredibly short, I think the first story, “Killer”, was my favorite, but all of the stories earned my rapt attention, and I’m always a sucker (pun unintended) for a good vampire tale :)
February 5, 2024
I scanned a QR code at a restaurant in Portland OR which gave me a copy of this book. I read the first 3 pages, then promptly put it down and didn't pick it back up for 6 months.
It's a shame, because there are a couple real gems in here, but the opening is just... bad? Of all the stories in this collection, the first one is by far the worst, the goriest, and the least interesting. It's almost as though Simon Shadows was trying to set the tone and be edgy, which is a real shame, because "Conjugation" (the last one) especially really had me hooked!
I think Shadows has plenty of juice for a full-length novel, and I would much rather read that to be honest. The short form doesn't quite give the writing enough runway to build up steam (again, with the exception of "Conjugation"). The dialogue is occasionally clunky. Some of the characters are 3D while others are comically flat. These are the kinds of things that tend to iron themselves out in 300 pages when sticking to the same story, but can get lost in 30.
Big points for good, authentic queer relationships and a fun whirlwind of settings and genres. 3/5
It's a shame, because there are a couple real gems in here, but the opening is just... bad? Of all the stories in this collection, the first one is by far the worst, the goriest, and the least interesting. It's almost as though Simon Shadows was trying to set the tone and be edgy, which is a real shame, because "Conjugation" (the last one) especially really had me hooked!
I think Shadows has plenty of juice for a full-length novel, and I would much rather read that to be honest. The short form doesn't quite give the writing enough runway to build up steam (again, with the exception of "Conjugation"). The dialogue is occasionally clunky. Some of the characters are 3D while others are comically flat. These are the kinds of things that tend to iron themselves out in 300 pages when sticking to the same story, but can get lost in 30.
Big points for good, authentic queer relationships and a fun whirlwind of settings and genres. 3/5
June 23, 2024
A fabulous assortment of short stories, mostly horror. I can’t wait to see more from this author. 💜
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews