Creeping Waves

by Matthew M. Bartlett, Nathan Ballingrud (Introduction)

Where is the real Leeds? How does one get there? Is it floating on the air—words and music you can almost reach out and grab like wriggling worms of sound and ether? Is it in the carnival that seethes under the corrupted church, drawing the lost along shadowy corridors and through the strangely angled Funhouse doors to the place where the city fathers perform secret rites with the goat-headed masters of the dark? Do you seek the Real Leeds? Venture out to a secluded spot, turn on your radio, and spin that dial down to the murky low numbers, somewhere just around 87.9... That music, that voice calling on the edge of static and distortion—it might lead you to that blasted and damned path toward the Real and Truest heart of Leeds, Massachusetts. This is WXXT. It's the witching hour, when shadows take wing and nightmares stalk. Turn your radio up. Point your antennas to the infinite sky. And stay tuned for Weather on the Sixes. WXXT. The bubbling blisters on the tongue of the Pioneer Valley.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Weird Fiction, Fiction, Collections, Lovecraftian, Bizarro Fiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2016

About the author

Matthew M. Bartlett was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1970. He writes dark and strange fiction at his home in Western Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife Katie and an unknown number of cats.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

To my way of thinking I have read pretty much all of Matthew M. Bartlett's to this point that I have been able to get my hands on, and all of it these last couple of months.

With "Creeping Waves" subtitled "Broadcasts and Blasphemies" the author has given us an amazing amount of reading, containing much of his previous output, such as the much sought after "Rangle" and portions of the impossible to find self published chapbook "Anne Gar's Rare Book and Ephemera Catalog #945493-H".

Mr. Bartlett has in a relatively short span of time created a mythology rivaling authors who have spent a lifetime creating their work. Of all the work by Mr. Bartlett that I have read, there has not been a single letdown or inferior fragment of work.

In his introduction to this collection Nathan Ballingrud states "You've come here for a horror story and what you get is one of the purest and most audacious expressions of horror in the modern day.". The writing here is truly transgressive literature.

Everything that has been written by Mr. Bartlett manages to tie together in one solid picture of the evil possible in the town of Leeds or in its most subtle voice WXXT broadcasts. Within the stories you will encounter missing children and lost souls, cult leaders reaping their vile rewards, bloody and evil events that take the reader just a step too far.

This is an astounding accomplishment.

This copy is signed and inscribed by Matthew M. Bartlett.

[Michael Wehunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Creeping Waves came out, I noticed two things: it is a substantially longer collection than Bartlett’s debut, Gateways to Abomination, and the New England town of Leeds, with its evil radio station WXXT and black-magic occult were once again the focus. I wondered if there was still enough of Leeds to explore in a whole new book. About 20 pages in, I decided that, yes, indeed there was. Creeping Waves is as disturbing, darkly humorous, and under-your-skin-getting as its predecessor. And it’s still as unique and unlike most other stuff being published as ever.

There are differences. Bartlett uses a wider range at times, as seen in “Rangel,” one of a handful of stories that are much longer and explore an emotional arc with a poignant grace that’s touching amidst all the blackened satanic dread. Another longer story is cleverly cut up and interspersed throughout the book, in which a former cult leader enlists help in ridding Leeds of a vast evil. I found myself looking forward to the next mini-episode of this story as I continued through the book.

Taken with the impressive number of extremely entertaining vignettes in this book, there’s still that Gateways flavor of madness. But Bartlett shows more of his skills here, and further earns his status as an inventive, clever, and very talented writer who always has something up his sleeve that’s worth keeping tabs on. I’m already looking forward to more.

[Orrin Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a rare treat indeed when a book comes along that manages to not only live up to the hype, but also still take me by surprise in a dark alley. Yet that's exactly what Matthew M. Bartlett's Creeping Waves does. Weird so weird that it rubs its hunched shoulders up against Bizarro fiction, while still maintaining a constant tone of writhing horror, Creeping Waves spits occult blasphemies like a curb-stomped man spits blood. Less a short story collection than a grotesque, frenzied fever dream of a mosaic novel, filled to the bloody brim with carnality and the charnel house. Bartlett writes like a man in the grip of a vision, when he writes like a man at all, and not just a pile of worms in a man-shaped suit.

So spin your dial all the way down to the left, and settle in for Creeping Waves. You're listening to WXXT, the razor blade in the apple of the Pioneer Valley...

[Adam Nevill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell on this collection of short stories after reading 'Gateways to Abomination'. This is the equivalent, to me, of punk in horror, and a middle finger, in the most respectful sense, raised to, well ... almost everything. I admire the energy and the absence of a safety catch. I think more of George Battaille and William Burroughs than I do of most horror writers that I have read, though with a dusting of Ligotti and Samuels. Funny and ghastly by turns. Not weird for the sake of it, but compulsively grotesque because of something that matters to the writer (where the good stuff comes from).

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was ok. Just ok. The preceding book, Gateways to Abomination, was a home run that was delicious in its portrayal of cosmic evil. In this book, the author seemed way more interested in funny horror—so it’s much more Welcome to Night Vale than Lovecraft.

Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic: comic horror is neither comical nor horrifying. Discuss.

Some of the stories were ok, but the “shocking” imagery became extremely repetitive after awhile. Couple that with the fact that nearly every story ended with some open-ended variant of, “Then I saw something bewildering and scary. It opened its mouth and began to speak,” and you have a sequel that does not live up to the promise of its predecessor. Doubtful I’ll read this again (or any subsequent books in this series, for that matter). Disappointing. I wish I had my $3.99 back.

[Félix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this second collection/novel from Mr. Bartlett feels a lot like watching one of that old kaiju japanese things rising from the bottom of the ocean, the rise of a true master of horror (and rather from the back of his Massachussets forest than from any abyss).

In its wake, that Bartlett beast loses everything that weights contemporary horror fiction, useless trinkets like plot twists and the construction and development of "likable" characters, retaining machine-gun fire characterization and a taste for the grotesque rivalled only by Books of Blood's Clive Barker.

I have seen the future of horror and it reads like the violent fantasies of a deranged five year old, like creepypasta written by Thomas Ligotti, like fucking hell.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well hell. Matthew M. Bartlett went and managed to top Gateways to Abomination: Collected Short Fiction, my favorite book of 2014. I liked it so much that I published a limited edition chapbook from Bartlett in 2015; Rangel sold out quickly, and the story was selected for inclusion in Year's Best Weird Fiction Vol. 3. 'Rangel' is also reprinted in Creeping Waves, and I'm very pleased more people will get to read and be creeped out by it.

Creeping Waves has many of the 1-3 page vignettes that made Gateways to Abomination so surreal and affecting, and it also has some longer stories. (I was going to say "meatier stories" but felt a little sick when that phrase came to mind in connection with this book. Trust me, you'll see.) The longer stories are just as squirmy and creepy as the vignettes. Time periods and characters shift and intertwine, with a cohesive narrative developing as it goes. Taken together, it all fills in some of the sinister past -- and present -- of devil-haunted Leeds, MA and its unnervingly horrid radio station WXXT.

Everything builds up to a trip to Real Leeds, and oh the sights you will see there.

Bartlett's style is a unique blend, at times almost darkly whimsical while still making your skin crawl and your guts churn. He has a gift for descriptive prose that is on par with Thomas Ligotti in being beautiful and repulsive and absolutely enthralling all at once, and Creeping Waves is an exemplar of that particular emotional space. Witch cults, body horror, bizarre history, desecrations, goats, doom - if these words catch your interest, read this book NOW.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una gran secuela a "Portales a la abobinación", en este libro Bartlett sigue incidiendo en su particular universo de Leeds y sus grotescas y violentas historias. Los libros de Bartlett sobre Leeds siguen un patrón parecido donde entre noticias truculentas narradas por la radio local WXXT., análisis de libros malditos,artículos periodísticos, micro historias y anuncios clasificados del pueblo se nos van narrando cuentos sobre del tétrico paraje. El estilo de Bartlett sigue combinando la creación de grandes imágenes grotescas con el humor negro de una manera perfecta.
Entre los cuentos más largos destaco:

Señor de los gusanos(****): Una familia desentierra a un pariente para deshonrar su cadaver de diversas maneras. El cadáver también se cobrará su venganza. Festival de gore.

Rangel(****): El protagonista vuelve a Leeds, el pueblo de su infancia donde su hermana pequeña desapareció en los bosques durante un Halloween. Un bosque donde otros muchos niños se han perdido. Buena ambientación y final por todo lo alto.

El huevo(****): Una família empieza a crear pollos y gallinas en su granja. Un dia una gallina pone un huevo muy extraño que todos los animales parecen adorar. El huevo tendrá consecuencias fatales para esa gente.

La purga de la casa de mi tio(****): Un chaval es llevado a un rito iniciático en unas tiendas negras en el bosque de Leeds. Allí descubrirá el verdadero Leeds, con personas que se convierten en cabaras, extraños grimorios y personajes de pesadilla.

Las calles de Leeds(****): Empieza con una historia sobre una mujer que trabaja como guia de rutas del misterio en Leeds y termina en un festival donde un chaval termina en el Leeds de pesadilla y se mete en una feria llena de imágenes alucinantes. Las descripciones de este relato son geniales.

[Brian O'Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Originally appeared on my website, the Conqueror Weird.)

Gateways to Abomination floored me, but…Creeping Waves. WOW. I knew it was going to be good, but I never expected something like this.

First, you’ve got that Nick Gucker cover. Nick Gucker! Illustrator of gross and drippy phenomena! He doesn’t disappoint here. Look at all of the disgusting, Bartlettian phenomena – a ossuary WXXT booth, dancing embryos playing with a hanged man (this one is out of view, as its cut off by the spine), a man wrangling worms, a black Satanic snake, Ben Stockton beckoning a child whose mouth is crammed with tiny teeth…all under the landscape of a distorted fair, clownish monoliths rearing up to the sky. Holy hell.

Nathan Ballingrud provides a beautiful introduction, describing how Bartlett burst onto the scene and how he’s back with a vengeance in Creeping Waves. But, as wonderful as it is, it doesn’t even begin to cover the contents.

The book opens with an eerie prologue narrated by Ben Stockton, reminiscing on the genesis of WXXT and covering some ground for those who haven’t read Gateways to Abomination. It is followed by “Spring Thaw”, a short, creepy piece that hints at the horror to come. But the real fun begins with “Rampage”. It’s a dark story. A really, really dark story – one that seems to take some concepts from “path” (a story in Gateways) and warps them into a much more morbid idea. After “Rampage”, you’re doomed.

The book is much more intertwined than Gateways. The whole WXXT gang is back, and the FCC is still after them. What silly shenanigans will they get up to this time? Thematic elements from “Spring Thaw” are woven through the contents. A certain narrative – one about a faded cult leader named Vernon Golden – is serialized throughout the book, along with Anne Gare’s Rare Book and Ephemera Catalogue. There are sequels, prequels, references and opening chapters. Old ideas are elaborated upon, and new ideas rise along with them.

The book is considerably longer than Gateways, so I’ll focus on the more traditional narratives, the first of which is “Master of Worms”. A dark story about a twisted family patriarch, Bartlett starts off restrained before delving into unbridled surrealism. The opening scene is one of the most shocking things I have ever read.

Next up is “Night Dog”. Wow. This has to be one of the scariest stories in the book. A man named Wendell, working at the ominous Annelid Industries International, has his world turned upside down – no – has his world puréed in a goddamn blender by a strange man who proclaims horrifying revelations as the company meeting approaches. There were times during this story when I was thinking “No, no, NO” as things went from bad to worse to hopeless. Probably my favorite of the longer narratives.

Then “Rangel”, the next longer narrative, comes along. I think it’s safe to assume that this is Bartlett’s most successful story – it’s in the contents of the Year’s Best Weird Fiction Volume Three (ed. Simon Strantzas, series ed. Michael Kelly) and was considered by Ellen Datlow for her latest volume of the Best Horror of the Year. Not only that – originally published as a chapbook by Dim Shores (with creepy illustrations by Aeron Alfrey), it sold out of not one but two limited editions. Reading it, one can certainly see why. I’m not going to talk too much about the plot, but instead I’ll just say this: Halloween parade in Leeds. Something to see! This was my introduction to Bartlett, and look where I am now – reviewing all of his work…

“The Egg” is a deliciously nasty tale, probably one of Bartlett’s most brutal compositions to date. A family is raising chickens – they wanted pets, and chickens were just the best fit for them – and decides to leave the radio on for their comfort. Life lesson: chickens + WXXT = bad news. My description makes it sound almost comical, but trust me, “The Egg” is anything but – and it features one of the cruelest endings in literature.

“Little Leeds” isn’t that long, but I wanted to pause on it because…well, you’ll see. Bartlett has a story coming out soon that ties very smoothly into this, and…well, I don’t want to spoil the fun. A rebellious girl joins a group of teens in the woods. Needless to say, things get very strange very fast.

“The Purging of My Uncle’s House (The Time of the Black Tents)” is a continuation of “the sons of ben” from Gateways to Abomination. This tells of a grim family reunion in an old, secluded house, while some sort of dark ritual takes place outside in the woods. Dripping with mystery and terror, this is a highlight story in the book – and it also brings up more questions about the “Real Leeds”, a ominous location referred to throughout the book.

The exploits of Vernon Golden creep through the book. A bygone leader of a forgotten cult, he contacts the son of a couple who once were amongst his followers, telling him that he needs help fighting the devil in Massachusetts. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and the plot takes frantic twists and turns in a delightfully dark form.

The real climax to the book is “Baal Protects the King” (parts one and two). I honestly cannot bring myself to describe this story, and, to be honest, I don’t know if I even really could. It’s a onyx goblet brimming with blood, a raging hurricane of nightmarish imagery and haunting ideas. Its intensely disturbing scenery will stay with you for days after you read it.

Creeping Waves is, as of this date, Bartlett’s masterpiece. It’s…it’s…it’s the best thing ever. It’s the most distressing reading experience I’ve ever had. It’s dark, it’s devilish, and it’s disturbing.

I really can’t describe it better than that.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bartlett’s short collection “Gateways to Abomination” offered tantalizing, sanguinary glimpses of Leeds, Massachusetts, under the diabolical sway of flagitious radio broadcasts from WXXT. I devoured “Gateways” in a single sitting, marveling at Bartlett’s supple, vivid prose. In thrall, but my bloodthirst unslaked, I desperately wanted to know more of Leeds, its denizens, and its occulted history.

“Creeping Waves” delivers on the promise of “Gateways”- in fact, it exceeded my expectations and raised the bar for the entire genre. Bartlett here expands and deepens his vision of Leeds: a kaleidoscopic paroxysm of tales and anecdotes and gory bits of Leeds lore, gradually resolving, but not quite snapping into focus. It’s clear that there is much, much more of Leeds to explore- and, once again, I am left yearning to return.

Bartlett’s readers are in the hands of a true master of his craft. He’s working real magic here.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swift To Chase on crack. My MA town is pretty shitty but nowhere near as bad as Leeds, MA.

2023 REREAD UPDATE: You're sick with fever. Maybe covid, maybe not, too sick to go buy a test. Stumble to mailbox, fish into mouth. Find a book. Creeping Waves, by Matthew M Bartlett. A great book, one you've read before, but you definitely didn't order it. Signed copy, too. So sure, you'll reread it. The fever intensifies. So does the intake of cold meds. Stories bleed together. You become convinced the book is cursed, made you sick, cause and effect reversed so its illness arrived before it did. Did Matthew Bartlett hex you? He lives in the same state. Could he be that guy you've been mistaking for a hobo around the apartment complex lately? Are you being watched from afar, the effects of the latest WXXT curse being studied and documented for the next Bartlett tale? Maybe you'll go outside and ask him. This is WXXT, don't change that dial.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leeds is a fictional area that has been under the spell of pure evil in many forms for centuries, where horror descends on inhabitants via a radio station operated by dead men that drives people insane or opens a portal to Hell, essentially. Short tales of these horrific tragedies are broken up by grim monologues from the DJs, police reports of shockingly disturbing incidents, and even a gossip column that playfully hints at smaller incidents. For a while there I was feeling rather let down by modern horror novels. Not anymore. This book sets up a wild premise then proceeds to execute it to perfection, plunging the reader right into the intricately written prose of nightmares. It on the whole reminds me of Junji Ito's works, needing no explanation and sparing even a hint of one.

Perfect reading for an annoyingly sunny August afternoon.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book before, in fact it's among my favourites and when I saw that this was available on audible I snapped it up straight away!
This works just as well as an audio book as it does written, the narrator Dexter Harron does a brilliant job with a multitude of voices and a compelling style.
The writing itself is simply amazing, Bartlett's Leeds is a place of depravity and horrors and the various short stories, flash fiction, vignettes and transcripts come together to form something truly unique. The book is a surreal nightmare with some beautifully hideous imagery and masterful prose, I give this book my highest recommendation!

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Across his books Matthew Bartlett has crafted an intricate mythology of the town of Leeds and its strange inhabitants and Creeping Waves really ties some of the dismembered parts together wonderfully. I’ve never read anything like Matthew’s work before; a grotesque patchwork composed of the surreal, unnerving, violent and with splatters of exceedingly dark humour.
It's a brilliant example of his talent and imagination and I can say with certainty that I will be reading this again and again!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, my words from my first status update are still appropriate. Like a blend of Dead Alive, Night Vale, and the Nic Cage Wicker Man, and now that I think of it also Cronenberg's best works, in all the best ways, but unique and all its own as well. It's dark. It's weird. It's depraved, sometimes disgusting, often funny (darkly, of course), and all around an improvement over the first collection of WXXT-related stories, Gateways to Abomination. This still has many, many 1-2 page long stories and vignettes, but there are a couple stand-out longer pieces as well. One, Night Dog, feels to me like a very different voice than much of the rest, and I loved the story it told. Rangel has more emotion than anything else here, and the Golden-related story interspersed throughout was fun. Glad I gave Bartlett another chance.

[James Krstulovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A Ragged Masterpiece of Hallucination"

In the follow-up to his debut collection 'Gateways to Abomination,' Bartlett gives readers nearly twice as much Leeds, MA -- quite literally in a way, showing us the Real Leeds, a hidden, otherworldly place even more surreally grotesque than the bizarre, devilry-plagued Leeds with a zip code. I think that nearly everything of significance introduced in Gateways is expanded upon here: WXXT (that hallucinatory, murderous insanity-inducing radio station), Ben Stockton (that Devil-in-the-flesh), the Woods (where we all thought the worst of it thrived, until we heard whispers of the Real Leeds), et al. and etc...

All that and more. More of Bartlett's prose, prose poetry, vignettes, character sketches; all of it, no matter how brief each item, so potently rendered, so assured. Bartlett can write, and no matter how foul or depraved the events or the characters, no matter how strange and unsettling the atmosphere and setting, it is beautiful writing -- the impeccable word choice, the rhythm, all of it -- beautiful.

I want to say more about: how MAD Magazine cartoonist Will Elder's "chicken fat" concept maybe applies, how Warren Ellis's quote about Alejandro Jodorowsky's Metabarons epic probably does too, how good and on-point is Nathan Ballingrud's introduction to this collection, how important is Bartlett's approach to weird horror fiction and how that and his quiet, unassuming mastery of craft is critical to maintaining the Weird Renaissance's vitality... I want to say more, but there is an overwhelming quality to Bartlett's work that makes this reader weak and addlebrained.

[With regards to my review's title, it is a quote from one of the 'Anne Gare's Rare Book & Ephemera Catalogue' entries found within. And with regards to my rating: I find myself vacillating between 4 and 5 stars. On the one hand, there is so much great writing here; while on the other, there is, I think, quite a bit more humor than was present in Gateways. However, on that point, I'm not completely confident; I know there was some in Gateways, but the humor in 'Creeping Waves' seems somehow less sinister, less conducive to the insidious, borderline apocalyptic atmosphere to which I respond so strongly. But by no means is this a failing on Bartlett's part; the humor is indeed funny -- maybe it'd be best if I thought of it as a palate cleanser. As they say, your mileage may vary; maybe this would be a better entry point for some readers. Regardless, I will be revisiting both collections, dipping in and out of them together to savor the overall picture of Leeds they paint, for it is exquisite.]

[Tom Breen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that bursts with new ideas and novel approaches to horror in practically every paragraph, "Creeping Waves" is the product of a writer at the height of his powers, redefining the form as casually as the rest of us order lunch.

A collection of short pieces - bibliographic entries, excerpts from newspaper columns, want ads, homilies, radio station identifications, and the kind of unsettling first-person monologues you might hear while drifting between sleep and wakefulness on a cross-country bus ride with recently-pardoned convicts - that all add up to a greater, totalizing horror, this book extends the territory Bartlett created in his debut, "Gateways to Abomination" without ever rehashing or revisiting. There is a sense, reading this book, of someone who has waited a very long time to say all these terrifying things, and has seized his chance at last.

There is no one in contemporary horror fiction or weird literature who writes like Matthew M. Bartlett. This book is his greatest work to date, and the best news I can think of for the field is that he's barely gotten started.

[S.E. Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Atmosphere jumps off the page in Creeping Waves.  There is a great dedication to the setting, mood, and voice. While the book may appear a gathered collection of short stories, flash fiction, vignettes, discarded newspaper articles, and transcripts of Satanic radio broadcasts, there is a devoted world building here. Bartlett mindfully constructs a grotesque, maggot teeming memory-town from all angles which he transposes over the banal modern-day.  It is a rotting past versus a prophylactic present: a battle silently waged in many rustic New England towns with a foot in two eras.

Bartlett's wicked imagination and calamitous prose make for a deliciously deep dive into this stygian playground. Over and above the individual story narratives, I found myself craving more description, background, and history of this degenerate world, its denizens, and its shy morbid capital of Leeds.

Creeping Waves is an ode to the consequence of rot. Bartlett offers a ballistic theory of stagnation in which we see a putrefying past sprouting its degenerate tentacles to choke the present and future. It is cautionary story of a town in full spoil. It is systems failing miserably from neglect and indifference. Bartlett's protagonists: the Dithers, the Sloughtons, the Shinefaces, and the Goldens scrabble and cling to a stagnant kingdom. So too, the anarchic business enterprises of Radio WXXT and Annelid Industries International radiate a mad nihilism as a consequence of being unchecked and uncurbed for too long. Reality erodes in the town of Leeds, even time becoming a casualty.  The only winners are the leeches and maggots. In Leeds, only the conqueror worms thrive.

Creeping Waves gets my enthusiastic recommendation. For those who crave atmosphere (especially the dark and sinister), this is essential reading, one of the most fascinating, fully fleshed out literary worlds I have had the pleasure to visit in a long while. It is not for the faint of heart; however, it should be read in the same spirit as Carl Jung's Red Book—an unexpurgated exploration into the unconscious. This is an artist dedicated to a vision, not a promulgation of any ideologies. Creeping Waves is a work done in the phantasmagoric borderlands of the rational and the psyche's symbolic weirdness. It is an open-ended work to be individually interpreted, considered, and daydreamed about, more questions than answers inside, nothing black and white. In Leeds, of course, all goats are grey.

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew M. Bartlett made a major impression with many readers (including this one) with his debut collection, Gateways to Abomination, a rare self-published book that left a huge impact. Creeping Waves plays off of the ideas incorporated in Gateways, primarily the thread of the insidious WXXT radio station, as well as his two other chapbooks published in the interim, The Witch-Cult in Western Massachusetts and Anne Gare’s Rare Book and Ephemera Catalogue, and combines, expands, and refines it all. I think of the GtA and CW much as I think of Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. Like the original Evil Dead, GtA is raw, but sets a striking foundation upon which the second book uses as a springboard, and furthermore, Bartlett’s writing has grown into a real force. Much like the second movie, Creeping Waves plays up the gruesome, the horror…and the humor. The meatier tales (though often laced with worms—just…just read the book) have real weight, but one cannot discount the slighter in-between tales, as they add character and depth to the all-around reading experience. “Night Dog” is corporate horror that pushes latter-stage Ligotti, or perhaps Mark Samuel, right off the page. It’s harrowing and unflinching, especially when our narrator witnesses the transformation of CEO Wren Black into…something truly nightmarish. (I may have said too much, yet the ride is full of witty writing, so you’ll want to take it anyway.) “Rangel,” which I reviewed before, messes with memory and loss before it stumbles into a bizarre celebration of Boschian proportions. “The Egg” is absurd and shocking and contains “chickens and eggs and flesh and love” and a whole lot of crazy shit!

I didn’t read this “collection” as a straightforward collection. It’s more like a mosaic novel, where all of the pieces, the shorter and often humorous and/or curious pieces, help to create an overall atmosphere upon which the longer pieces reach in and drag you through the abattoir of horror. The tone, the setting, it is all woven together with the skill of a spider, and the mind of a diabolical mad scientist. Wicked, brilliant, and always entertaining, Bartlett brings the goods and then some with this phenomenal…collection? Mosaic novel? Satanic songbook? er…whatever the hell it is, it works!

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and completely unique. Between this and Gateways to Abomination, Bartlett has swiftly become one of my favorite writers in the genre. The brevity of the individual stories keeps the book moving at a fast pace, but the portrait they collectively paint feels slow and ancient and utterly indifferent. This is a wonderful, terrifying, and darkly hilarious book. I hope that when the time is right Bartlett releases another collection of this same mythos, but at this point anything he writes is a must-read.

[David Oehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite mixture of weirdness, grotesquery, and dark humor. A tapestry of stories and images so imaginative and compelling I wanted to take my time. Every time I pick it up, it's a treat.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often read to escape from this bland, flattened, gridded, regimented, domesticated and militarized society we live in. In that regard, this is what the doctor ordered.

You’re listening to WXXT. The hand reaching out from the barrel of blood. The call from the sewer pipe.

Join us this Tuesday and every Tuesday for the Audiotaped Torture Hour, with your host Typhus R. Brickbat.

And don’t forget to join us at midnight for Chants and Rants, our latest field recordings of monks gone hopelessly and irretrievably mad.

Stay tuned after the break for a half hour of uninterrupted wailing.

This book just overflows with ideas, every chapter and page of it. There's lots of body horror here, some weird fiction and bizarro influence. But what's delightful is that it feels like anything is possible, it feels transgressive, and you want to keep reading.

"The Purging of My Uncle's House (The Time of the Black Tents)" is probably my favorite piece, it's a deeply disturbing, surreal story about a boy and what he encounters while cleaning out the cellar of his recently deceased uncle. "Night Dogs," is a corporate horror tale, tinged with a gloomy, nocturnal atmosphere. "The Telephone Call," is a very short story, about a woman attempting to report WXXT to the FCC for obsenity. "Rangle" is the most emotionally moving story in the book, about a man who returns to Leeds decades after his young sister mysteriously disappeared there. "The Egg" and "The Weird House" were also quite good.

There is some humor scattered throughout, occasionally from a culmination of sheer bizarro absurdity, but also in the gossip column "The Leeds Word Around Town" for example, which is quite funny.

I really enjoy the "flash fiction" chapters -- they're so weird, unexplained and always leave you wanting more. And even if you don't like some stories, as long as you like Bartlett's style you'll soon move on to something else which you probably do enjoy.

[GD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously I bought Matthew Bartlett's book Gateways to Abomination JUST for the cover, and I bought the ebook, which means, authors, you should still make sure your book has an awesome cover, because sometimes people do judge books by their covers. I read it twice and it's one of the freakiest books I've ever read.

If anything, this book is even freakier. More psychotic, more unsettling, more psychedelic, but also more scattered, more inaccessible, and harder to understand.

As far as I can see, it's a continuation of Gateways to Abomination, and if you had a rubric measuring everything you can think of to make a category in Gateways, Creeping Waves is more of that. Almost plotless, meandering, full of absolutely horrific imagery. Sometimes there are real stories, and those are great, but there are also news reports, wanted ads, even bookstore-type book descriptions. I've got to quote some killer stuff from this book here.

"I walked tonight. I broke the neck of a bird. I ruined the heart of a child. I drank beer after beer in The Dirty Truth and took a bar girl to the woods and built a birdcage from her ribs. I locked a frightened squirrel in the cage and shot it with a pistol from 10 yards away."

"I stomp these woods at night like God gone mad. I singe the leaves with a stare of fire. I dismantle hikers like toys and ruin the minds of campers in diaphanous tents."

"The priest was naked, and he was weeping. From a wooden bowl in his lap he pulled out and ate communion wafers like they were popcorn, licking his fingers with avid thoroughness. 'Body of Christ?' he called out to Alex, as he clambered to rise, reachout with a fist full of wafers. 'Body of Christ?'"

"Across the road, howling teenagers stood hurling darts into an azure wading pool full of miniature boats on which diapered pink infants sat, looking all about them like little lost captains or staring confusedly over the edges of their crafts. The surface of the water was filthy, and here and there floated expansive tangles of hair. One of the teens, a pudgy, pale kid in nylon shorts and a t-shirt with the number 8 on the back, held up his arms in victory as a stricken baby slid off its boat and into the water, blood billowing to the surface like an oil slick."

His ideas are fucking crazy and his imagery awesome. I just wish he'd turn his hand towards a longer, less disintegrated story, then throw all this kind of stuff into it. His books are like Mr Bungle albums: full of awesome, awesome ideas, just not what could traditionally be called "songs." I think if Matthew Bartlett ever sat down to write a novel, it would probably take him years (his mind doesn't seem to work in long-form cohesiveness), but holy fuck I bet it would be INCREDIBLE.

[Michael Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant fragmentary novel / interrelated short story collection by Matthew M. Bartlett. We are treated once again to the twisted town of Leeds, MA and the increasingly dark activities of its population, both living and dead. The sinister occult radio station WXXT features heavily in the stories again, as well as books from the catalogue of resident bookseller Anne Gare. The depth and breadth of twisted imagination on display here is quite remarkable. Unique to this collection, mixed in with the flash fiction pieces; the occult book synopses, disturbing radio announcements, and bizarre personal ads, are a few longer short stories which are all exceptional in style and delivery. We already knew Bartlett could really dream up those weird things that give us the creeps, but now we know our boy can really *WRITE* There are some truly strange and compelling tales on parade here. So get to know the real Leeds and read this book, but fair warning, it gets dark.

[Lisa Frankenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes the signal is clear, other times there’s too much interference. When you get the dial just right, Bartlett broadcasts in short bursts of lurid madness.

However, the general format of “introduce characters, things quickly go off the rails and end abruptly” didn’t often hit for me, as I couldn’t tell if these would be recurring characters to keep track of to build the WXXT mythos. Differentiating between recurring characters was tough, as they’re mostly cadaverous old men with similarly vile personas. Sometimes the details go too far—not in a “oh no that’s too gross” way, but in a way that muddles the tone of a scene or doesn’t add anything to it.

When it shines, it’s searing, but I struggled to navigate through the static. The novella “If It Bleeds” captured the interconnected stories of Leeds with more focus, and I was hoping for a similar contiguous thread in this collection.

[David Piwinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically a sequel to “Gateways to Abomination” - or maybe more like an expanded and improved iteration of the same concept. Like that book, it’s a collection of short fiction, but not in the usual sense - it contains fragments of stories, radio broadcasts, personal ads, catalog listings, and various other bits and pieces of writing all centered on the town of Leeds, Massachusetts and the blasphemous coven that permeates every aspect of life there. Most segments are only 1-2 pages long, although there are some longer ones here and there. There isn’t really an overarching narrative, but there are some story threads woven throughout and characters that pop up over and over.

I loved this. It’s genuinely horrifying and disturbing. It crosses lines that many authors wouldn’t dare approach. Humans in this book - whether adults or children, men or women, clergy or laymen - are just meat, and are violated in every way and in every sense of the word. The “blasphemies” part of the subtitle is no joke - Bartlett makes Ken Russell seem like an altar boy. That probably makes it sound like some edgelord shit trying to gross the reader out, but it isn’t that at all - it’s just horror that doesn’t pull any punches, speaks the unspeakable. Bartlett’s prose is often beautiful, even while describing the hideous (and maybe especially then).

Original, transgressive, and brilliant.

[Ex-Priest Tobin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like its predecessor 'Gateways to Abomination', 'Creeping Waves' is mostly a collection of horror vignettes along with a handful of short stories set in the haunted town of Leeds, Massachusetts.

Although Mr. Bartlett is talented at conjuring horrific imagery, his style isn't sufficient to sustain interest in a work of Creeping Waves length. As I read I hoped a stronger narrative thread would emerge to bind the work together - but this happens only very obliquely. By the end, the succession of vignettes becomes tiresome and Creeping Waves ends up as too much of a good thing. Gateways was more enjoyable due to its relative brevity.

In addition, despite some hype around this author, he is far from the ranks of Ligotti/Lovecraft/Machen, because he focuses mostly on imagery which fails to communicate any underlying world view. With respect to those authors, it was the underlying message of their work which was most horrific, while Mr. Bartlett provides only comparatively shallow shudder-raising.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creeping Waves oozes with atmosphere. And also quite a bit of blood, but it's the consistent atmosphere throughout the book that really makes it work, the same sense of something sinister lurking just beneath the surface which (naturally) bursts forth in fountains of gore and depraved imagery at points. All the pieces -- short stories, descriptive interludes, character studies, news and weather reports -- manage to feel like part of a cohesive and unsettling whole, nothing seeming out of place or tacked on.

As to whether it's an accurate portrayal of Western Massachusetts, ehhhhh, there are probably eldritch forces that won't let me comment on that in public forums. But it's definitely easier to pick up a copy of this to get a feel for the area than it is to travel there.

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Creeping Waves, Matthew Bartlett further cements himself as one of the most imaginative contemporary horror writers. WXXT, cursed radio station of Leeds will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most iconic contributions to the genre we have seen in the early 21st century.
Readers of more common or mundane fiction may find Leeds too much for their sensibilities, but those who seek out the strange corners of literature will find the town to be home. The madness, desperation, and utter stangeness of the interconnected vignettes holds the reader with an unholy gravity of its own.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say this is an unusual read would be an understatement, but creepy-odd is the only descriptive term I can use to describe this brilliant and entertaining collection. Using the theme of strange waves from a radio station, this cabinet of curiosities is really worth buying. If you enjoy bizarre stories salted with humor, you will dig Creeping Waves. I did not intend to read my copy until I had purchased its prior adventures, Gateways to Abomination, but it called out to me in a way I could not ignore, and I found I could not resist, because it would not leave me alone.