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Time of Death: A collection of medical horror
What’s more terrifying than haunted hospital halls, the horrors of night shift, and being on-call during the zombie apocalypse? Is it working in the ER during a full moon? Twisted, gory medical procedures resulting in bouts of screaming? N.J. Gallegos, aka Dr. Spooky, explores the dark side of medicine in Time of Death, a collection of medical horror stories packed with parasites and pathogens, ghosts, bad humors, and foul miasmas. Don a plague doctor mask and pour a cup of your favorite poison before reading… Doctor’s Orders!
“From rogue lab rats to ravenous zombies, Time of Death offers a gloriously gory take on medical horror. Gallegos renders these tales of life and death with a surgical precision that will leave you fascinated and horrified!” — Angela Sylvaine, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Dead Stories of Lost Girls and Frost Bite
“This collection of medical-oriented tales darts from metamorphoses to outbreaks, revenge torture to paranormal hellscapes, sickness to…well…sickness. Fast-paced, character-driven, and despicably descriptive." — MJ Mars, author of The Suffering and The Fovea Experiments
“You don’t need a medical background to enjoy these stories. All you need is a love of horror fiction, and all its many subgenres because Gallegos serves them up wonderfully.” — S.E. Howard, author of The Vessel and What Lies Unseen
"N.J. Gallegos has given us a collection that hits like a compound piercing through the skin and laying bare the cracked and bleeding horror that you cannot look away from. These stories are primed to traumatize, leaving you burned, broken, bleeding and dragging yourself across the tile, gasping for more." — Bridget D. Brave, author in Welcome to Your Lessons in Evicersation
"Gallegos's collection will leave your heart bleeding and your guts writhing. Not for the faint or heart, these shorts will become part of you like a tattoo. This is a must-read for all fans of medical horror!" — Savannah R. Fischer, author of Incantations of Blood
“Time of Death by N.J. Gallegos offers a healthy dose of all your favorite classic horror monsters and kills, titrated to keep you turning pages with injections of anatomically correct gore only an experienced healthcare worker could provide.” — Grace Daly, author of Bram Stoker-nominated The Scald-Crow
"From the very first story in Time of Death, you know you're in the incredibly capable hands of a medical horror master. From Splatterpunk to grief to revenge and beyond, this collection will entertain, disgust, and intrigue you. N.J. Gallegos is an absolute powerhouse." — Viggy Parr Hampton, author of Much Too Vulgar and A Veritable Household Pet
“In this raucous collection of medical vignettes, Doctor Gallegos serves us a spoonful of poison, a pinch of plague, and a dash of madness. These stories bring the vaunted House of Horror into the medical ward—a sundowning nightmare of riotous laughs and grisly terror. Gallegos’ writing is medicine for my dark little soul.” — Matthew Trifan, M.D., author of The Fever Called Living
“From rogue lab rats to ravenous zombies, Time of Death offers a gloriously gory take on medical horror. Gallegos renders these tales of life and death with a surgical precision that will leave you fascinated and horrified!” — Angela Sylvaine, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Dead Stories of Lost Girls and Frost Bite
“This collection of medical-oriented tales darts from metamorphoses to outbreaks, revenge torture to paranormal hellscapes, sickness to…well…sickness. Fast-paced, character-driven, and despicably descriptive." — MJ Mars, author of The Suffering and The Fovea Experiments
“You don’t need a medical background to enjoy these stories. All you need is a love of horror fiction, and all its many subgenres because Gallegos serves them up wonderfully.” — S.E. Howard, author of The Vessel and What Lies Unseen
"N.J. Gallegos has given us a collection that hits like a compound piercing through the skin and laying bare the cracked and bleeding horror that you cannot look away from. These stories are primed to traumatize, leaving you burned, broken, bleeding and dragging yourself across the tile, gasping for more." — Bridget D. Brave, author in Welcome to Your Lessons in Evicersation
"Gallegos's collection will leave your heart bleeding and your guts writhing. Not for the faint or heart, these shorts will become part of you like a tattoo. This is a must-read for all fans of medical horror!" — Savannah R. Fischer, author of Incantations of Blood
“Time of Death by N.J. Gallegos offers a healthy dose of all your favorite classic horror monsters and kills, titrated to keep you turning pages with injections of anatomically correct gore only an experienced healthcare worker could provide.” — Grace Daly, author of Bram Stoker-nominated The Scald-Crow
"From the very first story in Time of Death, you know you're in the incredibly capable hands of a medical horror master. From Splatterpunk to grief to revenge and beyond, this collection will entertain, disgust, and intrigue you. N.J. Gallegos is an absolute powerhouse." — Viggy Parr Hampton, author of Much Too Vulgar and A Veritable Household Pet
“In this raucous collection of medical vignettes, Doctor Gallegos serves us a spoonful of poison, a pinch of plague, and a dash of madness. These stories bring the vaunted House of Horror into the medical ward—a sundowning nightmare of riotous laughs and grisly terror. Gallegos’ writing is medicine for my dark little soul.” — Matthew Trifan, M.D., author of The Fever Called Living
206 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 26, 2026
About the author
N.J. Gallegos
38 books111 followersN.J. Gallegos was born in Alamosa, Colorado (which coincidentally, is a hotbed for UFO activity). She attended college at UCCS in Colorado Springs and medical school in Missouri. After her Emergency Medicine residency, she settled in Illinois with her wife and two cats.
She loves Star Wars (especially Ahsoka), craft beers (IPAs and sours are her faves), drawing, EDM, and running.
She'll read almost anything but is drawn to horror, thrillers, sci-fi, and historical fiction.
She loves Star Wars (especially Ahsoka), craft beers (IPAs and sours are her faves), drawing, EDM, and running.
She'll read almost anything but is drawn to horror, thrillers, sci-fi, and historical fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 26, 2026
N.J. Gallegos is an ER doctor, but you don't have to have a medical background to enjoy her new short story collection. "Time of Death." She's a fantastic writer, and while if you do work in healthcare, you'll undoubtedly appreciate the industry Easter eggs she peppers into her stories, that foundational knowledge isn't critical to the any of the tales. All you need walking into "Time of Death" is a love of horror fiction, and all its many and varied subgenres, because Gallegos serves them up wonderfully.
The collection's opening salvo, "Full Code?" sets the mood and pace: it's business as usual late one night for an ER physician, right up until the moment when a little old lady recently declared dead turns out to be anything but.
Other personal favorites include:
"Home Visit" - Not all medical horror takes place in a hospital. Home health is a booming business in America, as insurance companies find ways to hustle patients home from the hospital sooner. Home health nurses face just as many challenges and crises as those in a more traditional clinical setting. You never know what's you're going to find when you walk through a patient's front door...as the unfortunate nurse at the center of this story discovers.
"Continuing Education" - A serial predator meets his match in a would-be victim who turns out to be more cunning and dangerous than expected.
"All is Fair Amongst Vermin and Germs" - A cautionary fable about how quickly the tables may turn, when the scientists become the specimens, and test subjects develop quick -- and terrifying -- learning curves.
"The Trouble with John Doe" - The crew of an emergency flight transport struggle to keep a patient alive en route to the hospital. They soon come to regret this.
"Death Knell" - A doctor's near-death experience gives a bird's-eye glimpse into the horrors awaiting in the afterlife.
"Primum Non Nocere" - Short, sweet, and giving The Bride! vibes.
"Close Encounters of the ER Kind" - A doctor encounters a most...unusual patient.
"The Call Shift" - Hope springs eternal, even during the zombie apocalypse.
Gallegos delivers the goods in this collection. You want zombies? Check. Werewolves? Check, check. Historical horror? Check, check, and check. Splatterpunk? You betcha! Biological horror? Yes, please!
Each of the stories in "Time of Death" were previously published in different outlets, but all fit together seamlessly as if Gallegos had this collection in mind for them the entire time. In addition to the horror elements, which she nails, Gallegos also captures not only the stress and fatigue all-too-often experienced by healthcare professionals, but also the underlying sense of optimism, compassion, and hope that keeps most motivated, even during the busiest shifts, even with the most complex or confrontational of patients. While you don't have to work in healthcare to appreciate this latter, hopefully you'll walk away with a deeper appreciation for the trials and tribulations healthcare workers face on an ongoing basis. Zombies, werewolves, and the vengeful dead might be a welcome reprieve in comparison.
The collection's opening salvo, "Full Code?" sets the mood and pace: it's business as usual late one night for an ER physician, right up until the moment when a little old lady recently declared dead turns out to be anything but.
Other personal favorites include:
"Home Visit" - Not all medical horror takes place in a hospital. Home health is a booming business in America, as insurance companies find ways to hustle patients home from the hospital sooner. Home health nurses face just as many challenges and crises as those in a more traditional clinical setting. You never know what's you're going to find when you walk through a patient's front door...as the unfortunate nurse at the center of this story discovers.
"Continuing Education" - A serial predator meets his match in a would-be victim who turns out to be more cunning and dangerous than expected.
"All is Fair Amongst Vermin and Germs" - A cautionary fable about how quickly the tables may turn, when the scientists become the specimens, and test subjects develop quick -- and terrifying -- learning curves.
"The Trouble with John Doe" - The crew of an emergency flight transport struggle to keep a patient alive en route to the hospital. They soon come to regret this.
"Death Knell" - A doctor's near-death experience gives a bird's-eye glimpse into the horrors awaiting in the afterlife.
"Primum Non Nocere" - Short, sweet, and giving The Bride! vibes.
"Close Encounters of the ER Kind" - A doctor encounters a most...unusual patient.
"The Call Shift" - Hope springs eternal, even during the zombie apocalypse.
Gallegos delivers the goods in this collection. You want zombies? Check. Werewolves? Check, check. Historical horror? Check, check, and check. Splatterpunk? You betcha! Biological horror? Yes, please!
Each of the stories in "Time of Death" were previously published in different outlets, but all fit together seamlessly as if Gallegos had this collection in mind for them the entire time. In addition to the horror elements, which she nails, Gallegos also captures not only the stress and fatigue all-too-often experienced by healthcare professionals, but also the underlying sense of optimism, compassion, and hope that keeps most motivated, even during the busiest shifts, even with the most complex or confrontational of patients. While you don't have to work in healthcare to appreciate this latter, hopefully you'll walk away with a deeper appreciation for the trials and tribulations healthcare workers face on an ongoing basis. Zombies, werewolves, and the vengeful dead might be a welcome reprieve in comparison.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Right off the bat, I will admit to some bias: NJ Gallegos is one of my favorite people. I've written with her and host a podcast with her. She's funny, insightful, and a great friend. She also is a very talented writer. So when she sent me this collection, I was stoked to read it. And it's even better than I expected, and I expected a lot.
Most short story collections are a grab bag of topics and genres, but this is not: it's medical horror all the way through. You get lots of flavors of it, from serial killers, to zombies, to revenge stories, to truly upsetting parasites. Some stories are gross, some are funny, some are very sincere, but all of them bring the goods. I usually like only about half the short stories in collections by my favorite writers, but the whole bunch here are worthwhile. Her writing prowess and her medical expertise as an ER doc come through with each story.
Most short story collections are a grab bag of topics and genres, but this is not: it's medical horror all the way through. You get lots of flavors of it, from serial killers, to zombies, to revenge stories, to truly upsetting parasites. Some stories are gross, some are funny, some are very sincere, but all of them bring the goods. I usually like only about half the short stories in collections by my favorite writers, but the whole bunch here are worthwhile. Her writing prowess and her medical expertise as an ER doc come through with each story.
Review of advance copy received from Author
From the very first story in Time of Death, you know you're in the incredibly capable hands of a medical horror master. From splatterpunk to grief to revenge and beyond, this collection will entertain, disgust, and intrigue you. N.J. Gallegos is an absolute powerhouse.
Review of advance copy received from Author
It's not often that I read a collection of short stories where every single one is a banger. When I find one, I have to sing its praises from the rooftops.
Time of Death is one of those books. It's medical horror at its finest. From at home nurse visits to trips to abandoned NICUs to a plague doctor making her daily rounds with the few people that are left, you see that no one is safe. The stories are a mix of paranormal and realistic, mostly leaning to the spooky and terrifying.
I was absolutely TRAUMATIZED by Chief Complaint: Other. It left my skin crawling even now, weeks after reading it, and will stick with me for even longer.
Something especially impressive was the quality of the single page stories. It's a difficult feat to put something meaningful out in such a small amount of words, and even more impressive to manage that for several in the same collection.
These stories will have you looking over your shoulder any time you find yourself involved in the medical field. Gallegos' descriptive writing will leave your stomach churning.
Time of Death is one of those books. It's medical horror at its finest. From at home nurse visits to trips to abandoned NICUs to a plague doctor making her daily rounds with the few people that are left, you see that no one is safe. The stories are a mix of paranormal and realistic, mostly leaning to the spooky and terrifying.
I was absolutely TRAUMATIZED by Chief Complaint: Other. It left my skin crawling even now, weeks after reading it, and will stick with me for even longer.
Something especially impressive was the quality of the single page stories. It's a difficult feat to put something meaningful out in such a small amount of words, and even more impressive to manage that for several in the same collection.
These stories will have you looking over your shoulder any time you find yourself involved in the medical field. Gallegos' descriptive writing will leave your stomach churning.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews