We Had It Coming: And Other Fictions

by Luke O'Neil

A haunting yet darkly humorous exploration of a world teetering on the edge of collapse.

With stories that pulse with both the familiar and the uncanny, O'Neil’s characters struggle to survive in a reality rife with violence, climate catastrophe, and the crushing weight of modern life. From the threat of police brutality to the absurdity of predatory healthcare, his sharp observations of societal decay leave a lasting impact. Yet, in the midst of the turmoil, his signature wit emerges—offering moments of levity that deepen the poignancy of the human condition. Blending short stories, poetry, and micro-fiction, O'Neil’s stream-of-consciousness style and inventive sentence structures draw the reader into a mesmerizing rhythm, making this collection as thought-provoking as it is unforgettable. Fans of his previous work A Creature Wanting Form will find a continuation of his unique voice, while new readers will be captivated by his unflinching portrayal of survival in a world gone awry.

Genres: Fiction

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Cat Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I finished in 2026.

Frantic and equally mundane. Felt like a mirror you wanted to look away from. Comfortable like sitting in the car while your friend pumps gas.

I bought this on whim while trying to find a copy of Weak in Comparison to Dreams at Three Lives and Co in the village.

I have been and will be recommending it to everyone I know.

[Matthew Peck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even as an already-devoted fan of O'Neil's "Welcome to Hell World" newsletter, this book exceeded my expectations. These short stories, prose poems, and quasi-essays are written in such a singular voice - at once casual and oracular - that it will transform the sound of your thoughts for a few days. The closest thing to Denis Johnson, with that same effortless ability to give you full-body chills with every other sentence. A lot of very up-to-the-minute subject matter throughout, which risks becoming dated. But I don't think it will!

[Chris Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always feel like I'm in good hands when I read Luke O'Neil's stories. We Had It Coming is populated with vignettes that hurt and heal, usually at the same time. I enjoyed all of the pieces collected here, even the ones I really didn't want to read, which is about the highest praise I can pay it. Very well done.

[Rebekah Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Luke O’Neil is such a thoughtful, poignant wordsmith who manages to capture these tough, raw emotions we’re all dealing with in present day America.

Also, being from New England myself, I think he does such a phenomenal job imparting his Massachusetts lens within the work. I highly recommend this to all!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuck me, man. Maybe we will be ok?

I wish I could remember how I ran across this! Boy I'd like to buy them a beer. Unless it was an AI, and then I don't know.

I listen to Slayer so much these days because it makes me feel heard. Not, look, they have a lot of problematic lyrics, it's not about that. It's in the way that my inside voice is just screaming into the void all the time and I can go running and put on War Ensemble and at least try to get back to some kind of OK. To hear somebody else screaming for once, out loud. For example: the other day I was running down the sidewalk and passed by a hippie-looking older woman walking her dog and I waved and smiled at her, just as Tom Araya was screaming GOD HATES US ALL in my Beats Fit Pros. YEAH HE FUCKIN' HATES ME!

Luke O'Neil's writing connected hard with my lizard brain in a visceral way. Superficially, this stuff is talking about living in Massachusetts and going to camp in Maine. The writing is peppered with references to bands and scenes in movies. These are all "me" things?! There are no commas though. Maybe I need to give up using commas?

But more deeply, the writing is circling and poking at the insane mess of life RIGHT NOW. I don't think I've ever read a book that was more right now than this one. Like, in 10 years, it'll be interesting to revisit this, because I hope to hell this moment has passed. I'm hoping that it'll be more like looking back on it from a utopia, rather than, uh, from our bunkers and fallout shelters.

The chapters tend to run short, which is just fine by me. Sometimes, you get a paragraph, sometimes you get 12 pages. It's almost like a tear-away calendar, you can rip off your daily dose of void screaming. Sometimes you get a nice gut punch, sometimes you don't.

Anyway, I needed this, and I treasure it.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm an avid fan of his newsletter Welcome to Hell World, the title of which ought to give you a sense of the perspective, tone, and general outlook. I don't exactly know how I got into it but I've spent quite a lot of time reading him, it's become a part of my semi-weekly routine for a few years now. I even pay for it, cuz I'm all about supporting independent media-- now more than ever, kids!-- even it's a certain kind of left wing depressing which sometimes moves me and sometimes outrages me and sometimes just makes me sad in a "dust in the wind" kind of way.

More than a few of these were included in WTHW already so it was an unexpected pleasure to have that little click of realization that I've read them before. I like the lack of punctuation. The writing can be a little on the precious side, a little mannered and sort of self-consciously emo in a certain way, but it works. It sounds like a person talking, though I don't think I've heard his actual voice I still feel like I have.

The shit connects, man, I don't quite know how to explain it. There's a real vulnerability here which can easily be on the maudlin side not to say the nihilistic side-- I mean, nothing matters anyway and we're always one hour closer to death and the news is just carnage and atrocity 24/7 and we're all complicit in it in some way or another and there's no fucking hope because the bad guys always tend to be the ones in control and so on.

But he'd be insufferable if that was all there was. He's got a lovely way of implying the emotions, the conclusions, the insights. A New England terseness, rigorous self- checking, dry wit, and he isn't afraid to bust out lyrically when need be, even if it's in a lilting cry of pain at a world gone wrong which is drifting by as we watch it, like cigarette smoke on rickety old porch on a crisp autumn night carried off into nothingness from a tiny spark.

[John Mihelic · Rating 5 out of 5]

When this came, my wife was like "is that sad too?" because she knows the Hellworld posts.

And like yes, Luke has a common theme. It is sad. But it's also hopeful and ecstatic at the same time.

I was sitting here thinking about it, and I realized this book reminded me of Joyce, like Araby in the marketplace or Lily in the Dead - Snow was general all over Boston.

So yes, it is sad but also amazing. Luke O'Neil is James Joyce if James Joyce also posted his melancholy on Bluesky.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I show my wife excerpts of Luke’s writing so she’ll understand me better, but then I regret it because it’s usually a part I’m less impressed by or a part I imagine people feeling bad that people feel in the first place.

[lukeoneil47 · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had it coming

We had it coming
– Luke O’Neil

We had it coming.

Excerpted from We Had It Coming by Luke O’Neil (2025)

[Stuart Gordon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't have much respect for the short short short story form, and these often barely literate works did not elevate my estimation of the form.

Not worth the effort.

[Patti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who gave this book a 4.4 at Goodreads. I am loosing my believe in your reviews.

[Rachael McGovern · Rating 5 out of 5]

not as good as A Creature Wanting Form but i still dogeared 60 pages with insane quotes that i will force everyone to read whenever i can find an ebook copy of this at a library