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Something's Gotta Kill You
Greg Sisco's first collection of short stories includes 18 dark tales ranging from scary to satirical and from hopeful to heartbreaking, but always from the darkest corridors of the human heart.
Here you'll find a haunted film in an old-timey movie house ("Summers with Annie"), a quaint Christmas village guarding a morbid secret ("The Morbs"), a brutal crime in an otherworldly hotel ("The 4th Floor"), smugly intellectual parasites possessing a college campus ("The Pest Nest"), a chef who treats bad reviews as personal affronts ("Everyone's a Critic"), and a society governed by an artificial being ("The God App"), as well as a dozen other sinister stories.
From spirits and monsters to real-world terrors, Something's Gotta Kill You pokes and prods at the subject of mortality with many styles and tones, but always circles back to one We are here. For now. And that will have to do.
Here you'll find a haunted film in an old-timey movie house ("Summers with Annie"), a quaint Christmas village guarding a morbid secret ("The Morbs"), a brutal crime in an otherworldly hotel ("The 4th Floor"), smugly intellectual parasites possessing a college campus ("The Pest Nest"), a chef who treats bad reviews as personal affronts ("Everyone's a Critic"), and a society governed by an artificial being ("The God App"), as well as a dozen other sinister stories.
From spirits and monsters to real-world terrors, Something's Gotta Kill You pokes and prods at the subject of mortality with many styles and tones, but always circles back to one We are here. For now. And that will have to do.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2026
About the author
Greg Sisco
50 books139 followersGreg Sisco is a novelist, screenwriter, and film director. His short fiction has appeared in anthologies such as Worst Laid Plans, Halldark Holidays, and Nox Pareidolia. Perpetually restless and habitually nomadic, he has lived in four countries and is most at home in the movie theater.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 29, 2026
From the wonderful cover (by Don Noble) to the riveting story notes by the author, Sisco's debut collection is a highly superior mix of the classic, the spooky, the uncanny, and the downright horrifying! In fact, the variety is truly extraordinary: each story differs so much from the rest in theme and type of resolution, it's easy to miss how similar they all are in their subtlety of humor, restrained optimism, brilliant writing, and love of "Twilight Zone"-sort of tales. Of the 18 stories within (8 published for the first time), there's a heart-wrenching post-apocalyptic story in epistolary format (the one that closes the volume, "Letters From Humanity"), a stunning ghost tale (set in China, "The 4Th Floor"), small town horror ("The Morbs"), university bugs ("The Pest Nest"), as well as Halloween horror ("Bloodlust Boulevard"), and a creepy alien abduction story (avoiding spoilers, I won't mention which)! As a writer of five novels already, Sisco sure knows his way around a good story - as any one of these tales thoroughly demonstrate.
I loved all the stories, however four of these are so incredibly good, so creepy, they alone are surely worth the price of admission: "Summers With Annie," the opening story, a dazzling tale about a haunted movie, exploring love, fate, and second chances; "Danny And The Demon," a phenomenal story of demonic possession, though the experience is meant in such a familiar, everyday sense, that in caling it "possession" I'm probably putting the cart before the horse; "The God App," a thought-provoking story of an AI supporting a life of abundance by rewarding everyone on the basis of their contribution to society; and "Everyone’s A Critic," essentialy a serial killer comedy story - with one major, delicious twist! Reviewers beware!
In sum, an absolutely fantastic collection! I highly recommend it.
I loved all the stories, however four of these are so incredibly good, so creepy, they alone are surely worth the price of admission: "Summers With Annie," the opening story, a dazzling tale about a haunted movie, exploring love, fate, and second chances; "Danny And The Demon," a phenomenal story of demonic possession, though the experience is meant in such a familiar, everyday sense, that in caling it "possession" I'm probably putting the cart before the horse; "The God App," a thought-provoking story of an AI supporting a life of abundance by rewarding everyone on the basis of their contribution to society; and "Everyone’s A Critic," essentialy a serial killer comedy story - with one major, delicious twist! Reviewers beware!
In sum, an absolutely fantastic collection! I highly recommend it.
June 19, 2026
"Something’s Gotta Kill You" by Greg Sisco is an anthology of 18 “dark tales”. I must say, I’ve never heard “directly” of someone being trapped in a car in a lake before. Just in entertainment. The author introduction sets the tone of the anthology.
The stories range in subgenres, with horror being dominant in different shades. It feels like each story comes from a writing prompt and far corners of the imagination, reminding me of the show “Freaky Stories”. Sometimes, you just don’t see something coming. At the end, the Author’s Notes go over the motivation behind each story. But I found it much more satisfying to guess at what Sisco tries to get it. Happy I got the scary part about A.I. right. He and I have many overlapping thoughts.
Due to the nature of the short stories, there isn’t much anchoring in most of them, so as a reader, I had to get on top of the worldbuilding immediately. A few spend more time on it and a hit and miss for me. First person POV is used to bring the reader closer to the character, which is always effective in short stories. The opening story, a low stakes story yet freaky one, narrated by an older version of the character, sets the tone for what’s to come.
To return to atmosphere like “Freaky Stories”, it truly feels like it. I can’t expect what I’m going to read next because the world differs so much despite the dark themes. It’s also prevalent that Sisco likes a certain character archetype, however, the plot matter more than the characters do.
Some worlds fascinated me, whereas some lost me. “End of the Fight“ comes across as too busy. Once I learned the history though, it makes sense, but not one I’d return to. On the other end of the spectrum, I love “The Morbs”, “On Borrowed Time”, and “Bloodlust Boulevard”. Different voices, different approaches, similar theme. “Everyone’s a Critic” made me giggle and nod, and among the ridiculous is “Attack of the Fuckin’ Hippo”. Obvious and so entertaining. The last story, “Letters from Humanity” is the perfect story to end the anthology. Those bittersweet feelings and thoughts hit deep and still stand as a slightly unexpected ending.
In consideration of range and creativity, I give “Something’s Gotta Kill You” 5 stars. The book cover on both the ARC copy and published land well, with the latter preferred. Something to be mindful of though, as racialized readers, is the ignorance from character perspective, even if minimal. If that’s not something you want to read, best to avoid “Attack of the Fuckin’ Hippo” and “End of the Fight”.
Despite the interiority in those stories, the anthology is a great read. It’s the first I’ve reviewed and glad I picked it up.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The stories range in subgenres, with horror being dominant in different shades. It feels like each story comes from a writing prompt and far corners of the imagination, reminding me of the show “Freaky Stories”. Sometimes, you just don’t see something coming. At the end, the Author’s Notes go over the motivation behind each story. But I found it much more satisfying to guess at what Sisco tries to get it. Happy I got the scary part about A.I. right. He and I have many overlapping thoughts.
Due to the nature of the short stories, there isn’t much anchoring in most of them, so as a reader, I had to get on top of the worldbuilding immediately. A few spend more time on it and a hit and miss for me. First person POV is used to bring the reader closer to the character, which is always effective in short stories. The opening story, a low stakes story yet freaky one, narrated by an older version of the character, sets the tone for what’s to come.
To return to atmosphere like “Freaky Stories”, it truly feels like it. I can’t expect what I’m going to read next because the world differs so much despite the dark themes. It’s also prevalent that Sisco likes a certain character archetype, however, the plot matter more than the characters do.
Some worlds fascinated me, whereas some lost me. “End of the Fight“ comes across as too busy. Once I learned the history though, it makes sense, but not one I’d return to. On the other end of the spectrum, I love “The Morbs”, “On Borrowed Time”, and “Bloodlust Boulevard”. Different voices, different approaches, similar theme. “Everyone’s a Critic” made me giggle and nod, and among the ridiculous is “Attack of the Fuckin’ Hippo”. Obvious and so entertaining. The last story, “Letters from Humanity” is the perfect story to end the anthology. Those bittersweet feelings and thoughts hit deep and still stand as a slightly unexpected ending.
In consideration of range and creativity, I give “Something’s Gotta Kill You” 5 stars. The book cover on both the ARC copy and published land well, with the latter preferred. Something to be mindful of though, as racialized readers, is the ignorance from character perspective, even if minimal. If that’s not something you want to read, best to avoid “Attack of the Fuckin’ Hippo” and “End of the Fight”.
Despite the interiority in those stories, the anthology is a great read. It’s the first I’ve reviewed and glad I picked it up.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 29, 2026
Every story in this collection is worthy of recognition, but I will highlight a few that stick with me:
“The Morbs” is an excellent entry in the Christmas horror subgenre. Not coal in the stocking, but a shiny, new, red (blood red) bicycle under the tree. A truly terrific tale, one where a small town’s holiday secret is anything but tiny. It’s monstrous.
Then, there’s “The 4th Floor,” which is full of interesting cultural insights as well as truly strange and creepy happenings. The reader experiences everything from the narrator’s first-person point-of-view, and it’s very effective, especially once the character pieces things together in the story’s inevitable conclusion.
As a father, I really connect to “The Car that Takes People to Heaven” and its parents’-worst-nightmare premise. I especially love its kids-say-the-darnedest-things reveal.
“Everyone’s a Critic” is perfect, pitch-black comedy. Everything here escalates beautifully, and its final moments feel like they’re ripped right from an EC Comics narrative. One of the highest compliments I can give.
Closing story, “Letters from Humanity,” at first feels like a bleak end to this collection (and all of mankind). But I appreciate the hope present in its darkness, as well as its epistolary format.
Overall, Something’s Gotta Kill You is an engrossing exploration of different genres. Haunting, poignant, and, also, pretty often hilarious. Sisco’s work cannot be classified as any one thing, other than “must-read.” These tales take surprising turns, but most revelatory are their characters—complicated and all-too-human. Plus, there’s a killer hippo!
“The Morbs” is an excellent entry in the Christmas horror subgenre. Not coal in the stocking, but a shiny, new, red (blood red) bicycle under the tree. A truly terrific tale, one where a small town’s holiday secret is anything but tiny. It’s monstrous.
Then, there’s “The 4th Floor,” which is full of interesting cultural insights as well as truly strange and creepy happenings. The reader experiences everything from the narrator’s first-person point-of-view, and it’s very effective, especially once the character pieces things together in the story’s inevitable conclusion.
As a father, I really connect to “The Car that Takes People to Heaven” and its parents’-worst-nightmare premise. I especially love its kids-say-the-darnedest-things reveal.
“Everyone’s a Critic” is perfect, pitch-black comedy. Everything here escalates beautifully, and its final moments feel like they’re ripped right from an EC Comics narrative. One of the highest compliments I can give.
Closing story, “Letters from Humanity,” at first feels like a bleak end to this collection (and all of mankind). But I appreciate the hope present in its darkness, as well as its epistolary format.
Overall, Something’s Gotta Kill You is an engrossing exploration of different genres. Haunting, poignant, and, also, pretty often hilarious. Sisco’s work cannot be classified as any one thing, other than “must-read.” These tales take surprising turns, but most revelatory are their characters—complicated and all-too-human. Plus, there’s a killer hippo!
June 12, 2026
This is such a great collection. The stories are all different, and one has a killer hippo on drugs - with the fantastic title "Attack of the Fuckin' Hippo".
My favorite one was the last story, "Letters from Humanity", which basically ripped my heart out and stomped on it. It's so well written, and hauntingly beautiful.
Highly recommend this one if you want stories that go from truly creepy, to bizarre, to heartbreaking and everything in between. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
My favorite one was the last story, "Letters from Humanity", which basically ripped my heart out and stomped on it. It's so well written, and hauntingly beautiful.
Highly recommend this one if you want stories that go from truly creepy, to bizarre, to heartbreaking and everything in between. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 26, 2026
18 stories that run the gamut about mortality. Greg gives us 18 tales that are short and dark. Each one brings a different aspect of the human mortality to the table. The stories range from creepy, satirical, dark, or heartbreaking. The characters immerse you these worlds and you feel the fear along with them. The notes at the end also added another touch to where Greg got his ideas and was going in the stories. Can't wait to read more of his work.
June 26, 2026
Greg is a fantastic writer with eclectic taste and this collection is a fantastic showcase of his abilities and sensibilities. GenreBlast Books is absolutely ecstatic to be publishing his debut collection.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews