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TEN-4-FACESp
Not yet published
Expected 7 Jul 26Maren Blackwood is a forensic social worker documenting suspected abuse cases involving children under four using standardized injury body maps. When she records injuries, they begin appearing on her own body hours later. Has suffering itself become a form of administrative currency within systems designed to process it?
80 pages
Expected publication July 1, 2026
About the author
Sierra Waff
3 books60 followersSierra Waff is a Pacific Northwest writer whose work is fueled by her obsession with extreme horror in both film and fiction. When not writing, she practices traditional witchcraft, unravels folklore, and deep-dives into the unknown.
Favorite films include: Martyrs(2008), Coven(2020), and Nosferatu(2024).
You can connect with Sierra on socials at @SierraSorcery
Favorite films include: Martyrs(2008), Coven(2020), and Nosferatu(2024).
You can connect with Sierra on socials at @SierraSorcery
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 24, 2026
5/5 🍒
Maren is a woman who works as a forensic social worker. She is one of the first faces children see when they get taken out of an abusive situation. She is there to document every single wound and put it on a body map to be used in court proceedings, hopefully to convict the perpetrator/s.
Maren is also becoming burnt out. She can’t afford to allow herself to feel anymore when it comes to the children and what they go through. Whether she likes it or not her body still has a visceral reaction to the tragic things these sweet children go through.
She will feel the pain the children go through whether she likes it or not. What she maps ends up appearing on her body to a tee. Every single bruise, burn, tear and wound ends up on her body exactly where it was on the child she examined. She panics and tries to figure out what is happening. Will Maren be able to decipher what is happening and stop it? Or will she take on enough damage that her body will give up?
Sierra knocked it out of the park here. I will devour every book she writes. Every terrible scene in this book was done tastefully and methodically. This book is something every grown adult should read. The world is not daises and rainbows like some naive adults believe. There are children who never get to smell those daises or see those rainbows and everyone should know about them. Their stories are important.
Maren is a woman who works as a forensic social worker. She is one of the first faces children see when they get taken out of an abusive situation. She is there to document every single wound and put it on a body map to be used in court proceedings, hopefully to convict the perpetrator/s.
Maren is also becoming burnt out. She can’t afford to allow herself to feel anymore when it comes to the children and what they go through. Whether she likes it or not her body still has a visceral reaction to the tragic things these sweet children go through.
She will feel the pain the children go through whether she likes it or not. What she maps ends up appearing on her body to a tee. Every single bruise, burn, tear and wound ends up on her body exactly where it was on the child she examined. She panics and tries to figure out what is happening. Will Maren be able to decipher what is happening and stop it? Or will she take on enough damage that her body will give up?
Sierra knocked it out of the park here. I will devour every book she writes. Every terrible scene in this book was done tastefully and methodically. This book is something every grown adult should read. The world is not daises and rainbows like some naive adults believe. There are children who never get to smell those daises or see those rainbows and everyone should know about them. Their stories are important.
June 24, 2026
People so easily interchange extreme horror and splatterpunk, but they are two TOTALLY DIFFERENT things. Extreme horror pushes all sorts of boundaries, as does splatterpunk, but splatterpunk sends a MESSAGE, whereas extreme horror does not. Excessive gore does not equal splatterpunk.
THIS, TEN-4-FACESp, is easily one of my top five favorite splatterpunk books I’ve read.
It’s a novella that mixes reality (think medical documentary) with a bit of a supernatural element. The feelings it brought on? Despondency. Anguish. Melancholy. Despair.
The brutality is written in a painfully poetic way that, though horrific, is given respect with careful consideration to the sensitivity of the subject matter.
It’s a grim, bleak look at the absolute reality of the nature of child abuse cases, systematic unjustness across all fields, and the effects they have as a whole on everyone involved.
This won’t be for those looking for a quick, shocking fix. It will be a novella for those who are looking for serious subject matter that will make them uncomfortable and truly reflect. It will undoubtedly be for mature readers who understand the correct concept of splatterpunk.
Sierra has come back with a vengeance to drop a novella with power, demonstrating her talent as a writer in this genre, showcasing her knowledge of true splatterpunk.
THIS, TEN-4-FACESp, is easily one of my top five favorite splatterpunk books I’ve read.
It’s a novella that mixes reality (think medical documentary) with a bit of a supernatural element. The feelings it brought on? Despondency. Anguish. Melancholy. Despair.
The brutality is written in a painfully poetic way that, though horrific, is given respect with careful consideration to the sensitivity of the subject matter.
It’s a grim, bleak look at the absolute reality of the nature of child abuse cases, systematic unjustness across all fields, and the effects they have as a whole on everyone involved.
This won’t be for those looking for a quick, shocking fix. It will be a novella for those who are looking for serious subject matter that will make them uncomfortable and truly reflect. It will undoubtedly be for mature readers who understand the correct concept of splatterpunk.
Sierra has come back with a vengeance to drop a novella with power, demonstrating her talent as a writer in this genre, showcasing her knowledge of true splatterpunk.
June 24, 2026
This story follows Maren. She’s a forensic examiner and her current subject matter is heavy, emotional and downright heartbreaking. The world building is rich and I really liked the descriptive writing style. You know how they say don’t take your work home with you… well Maren can’t help it. I flew through this book. Yes it is extreme, yes it has a bunch of triggers but the writing and story are sensitively done, wholly believable and well executed. An easy five star read.
Review of advance copy received from Author
“I am the archive now. I will carry them until I die.”
Maren is a medical social worker. Her entire job is to analyze and properly document injuries to children. But Maren is tired…beat down…and one day decides to cut corners. Through her professional detachment to her “cases”- her “cases” have now attached to her. She is living with the physical wounds she documents on these young children. When Maren draws the injuries on her TEN-4-FACESP form, they materialize on her body for her to now suffer. When she realizes the less she documents the less she endures, she chooses the latter. Will she continue to cut corners and knowingly send these children back to their dangerous homes to save herself from the suffering they have already been put through or will she do the right thing and bear the pain so that she can get them justice?
Sierra puts you there. She lets you feel the weight of the power you hold in the trenches of being a social worker- straight down to sights, smells, and the helpless, dreadful feeling of seeing child after child come in abused and assaulted only to be shuffled on through into the system like a piece of paper-not a human being let alone a child who needs and deserves care and protection.
As if a smack in the face for a reality check, Maren is getting a reminder that these kids are suffering but in her eyes after 4 years they have become just a job to her…just another form to fill out.
This is a sad, bleak book that is the utter epitome of what splatterpunk is meant to be.
Maren is a medical social worker. Her entire job is to analyze and properly document injuries to children. But Maren is tired…beat down…and one day decides to cut corners. Through her professional detachment to her “cases”- her “cases” have now attached to her. She is living with the physical wounds she documents on these young children. When Maren draws the injuries on her TEN-4-FACESP form, they materialize on her body for her to now suffer. When she realizes the less she documents the less she endures, she chooses the latter. Will she continue to cut corners and knowingly send these children back to their dangerous homes to save herself from the suffering they have already been put through or will she do the right thing and bear the pain so that she can get them justice?
Sierra puts you there. She lets you feel the weight of the power you hold in the trenches of being a social worker- straight down to sights, smells, and the helpless, dreadful feeling of seeing child after child come in abused and assaulted only to be shuffled on through into the system like a piece of paper-not a human being let alone a child who needs and deserves care and protection.
As if a smack in the face for a reality check, Maren is getting a reminder that these kids are suffering but in her eyes after 4 years they have become just a job to her…just another form to fill out.
This is a sad, bleak book that is the utter epitome of what splatterpunk is meant to be.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book has emotionally fu*ked me up. I cried so much, and my mind is just spinning. I'm feeling completely out of sorts. Sierra has done an incredible job writing a novella that will linger in your thoughts long after you finish it. The system has checks and balances, and everyone is held accountable. But what happens when one person fails? Or when several people do? This book takes a hard look at what occurs when the very system designed to protect children from abuse lets them down in a big way.
Maren is a forensic examiner who specializes in working with abused children. She carries the heavy emotional burden that comes with her job, witnessing daily how the system is letting these kids down, many of whom are under four years old. Then, one day, the injuries she documents start appearing on her own body. How much can one person endure?
This book brought me to tears. I know horror can be intense, but what about those who are completely defenseless? The children left in the care of their parents or those who are supposed to keep them safe? I love the origin of this story! It carries such a powerful message. This was my first read by Sierra, and if her other books are anything like this one, I’m definitely a fan for life.
Thank you Sierra, for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Maren is a forensic examiner who specializes in working with abused children. She carries the heavy emotional burden that comes with her job, witnessing daily how the system is letting these kids down, many of whom are under four years old. Then, one day, the injuries she documents start appearing on her own body. How much can one person endure?
This book brought me to tears. I know horror can be intense, but what about those who are completely defenseless? The children left in the care of their parents or those who are supposed to keep them safe? I love the origin of this story! It carries such a powerful message. This was my first read by Sierra, and if her other books are anything like this one, I’m definitely a fan for life.
Thank you Sierra, for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This novella is bleak in the best way possible. From the surroundings described to Maren hitting that point of burnout, the way it is written down makes you envision it. A colorless, grey world, with real-life horrors, day in, day out.
I could feel Maren's misery through the pages. The way she coped, by dissociating, because there's no other way. Getting attached will only burn you out faster, and you want to help as many children as possible.
This novella shows what happens when you slip up, when you fail in such an important job, and the grotesque consequences.
Great book, highly recommend.
I could feel Maren's misery through the pages. The way she coped, by dissociating, because there's no other way. Getting attached will only burn you out faster, and you want to help as many children as possible.
This novella shows what happens when you slip up, when you fail in such an important job, and the grotesque consequences.
Great book, highly recommend.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I am not even sure where to start this review. I have never come across something so factual in splatter punk/ extreme horror before. Having been a foster parent in the past, she had to have done a lot of research for this book. It did not go in the direction I thought it would, and I feel like there should be a part two. It was a short story, with a huge impact. I’m a huge fan of Sierra Waff, having found her through I’ll prey for you, which was brutal. Solid gold score 5/5
Review of advance copy received from Author
This was my first book by Sierra Waff and I'm glad it was. Even with it's heartbreaking and horrific context. It had healing moments for as a survivor of abuse. It’s also heartbreaking as it shows how broken our cps system is if you didn’t already know that It’s broken. Overall great story and I can’t wait to read Sierra’s books.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews