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The Abuse of Ashley Collins
Ashley Collins, a sixteen-year-old girl, has severe behavior issues. She regularly fights with her parents, Logan and Jane. When the fights become personal and physical, Logan and Jane decide to take matters into their own hands. They chain their daughter in the basement and abuse her in an attempt to rescue her from her bad behavior... while delving into their own deviance and depravity. This is a story of family and abuse. This is a story of violence and discipline. This is the abuse of Ashley Collins. Jon Athan, author of A Family of Violence, brings you an uncompromising vision of human horror. Can the cycle of abuse be broken? This book contains scenes of graphic violence, including violence towards children. This book is about abuse—verbal, physical, and emotional. This book does not feature any explicit sex scenes, but it does discuss sexual abuse. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 8, 2017
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May 20, 2025
As I’ve gushed about Athan’s Grandfather’s House, I was recommended this book as a comparable story. And in many ways it was. Extremely gory, mean-spirited, and grisly. However, there were more misses than hits for me here. Basically, the premise is a teenage girl, Ashley, has an overbearing father, Logan, who disapproves of her lifestyle, and concocts a plan to torture her into submission. Her mother, Jane, is somehow on board and her little brother, Calvin, is just a typical curious, clueless preteen. Now Ashley smokes, bangs her boyfriend (Using profilactics), has a smart mouth, bad attitude, etc. Pretty standard teenager stuff. So that’s what made all this very hard to comprehend. Logan suddenly wants to be more strict, but there is zero background on his daughter. If she had a history of some really, really bad stuff, and this story picked up after those events, that would have made much more sense. Like catching her with her boyfriend would then be like the last step for Logan and Jane, sending them over the edge. Then Logan devises this horrible idea to beat her for however long, keeping her prisoner in their basement, until she’s reformed. He explains how he doesn’t want to harm her, but just teach her some tough love. He also wanted to be sure he left no marks that could be traced back to him or Jane. So once he and Jane began doing such despicable acts to Ashley, ie burning her breasts and genitals, whipping her bare chest with electrical cords, breaking her nose, starving her, etc, the story fell apart. You typically don’t go from a regular, somewhat troubled family to vicious killers. And then Calvin gets involved and is taking pictures Ashley’s mutilated body and showing to his friends, smelling her underwear, asking her for sexual favors, etc. Again, I remember being a mindless, horned up preteen once, but if my sister was being tortured in front of me, my mind wouldn’t be focused on masturbating to her. And he was written as a fragile and timid character. Once again, the character transition had no logic. Calvin should have been written as a creepy kid who spied on his sister showering, played with roadkill, etc and had this double life, which would have made his experience with his parents and sister make some sense. I apologize if this review is much more pointed and graphic then my usual fare, but this all just came across as just a reason to write body horror. As far as the violence and ugliness, this can be rivaled by very few other stories, but the plot and characters were completely unbelievable and nonsensical. And worst of all, we never get a first person view of what Ashley was thinking and feeling through all this, which should have been the centerpiece. I love horror with every ounce of my being. And I love when I find a great story that makes me uncomfortable, anxious, and has loads of gore. But that gore needs to make sense and have some sort of purpose, which was not the case here. I would highly recommend Grandfather’s House for a much more refined execution of a similar concept.
February 17, 2021
This is a completely brutal story about parents who try to take control of their unruly teenage daughter. Imprisoned in her home by her vindictive parents, Ashley is tortured and beaten unrelentlessly. The story brought to mind Jack Ketchum's novel The Girl Next Door in its plethora of violent and unfair behavior against a helpless victim. Can Ashley somehow redeem herself? You will have to learn some horrendous lessons by her side before her fate is savagely revealed.
November 7, 2017
4.5 Stars...
This story is exactly what you can expect from the title. It is difficult to read at times because of the brutality and, even though I'm not a sensitive reader, it turned my stomach in places.
The writer's approach to the story was clever.
Something niggled at the back of my mind throughout the story, though...something just didn't feel right. I had to take a step back and re-evaluate what I had read.
Was it the idea that family could do something so vile and evil to another?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Sharing blood has not been a protection from the evil humans can do to one another, and a few cases that were in the news popped into my head:
* Karla Homolka (Canada) drugged her 16 year old sister to give her husband a chance to rape her. Her sister became sick and choked on her own vomit.
* Josef Fitzl (Austria) held his own daughter captive in his basement for 24 years, raping her repeatedly and fathering 7 children in that time.
* Ronald Gene Simmons (America) killed 14 family members, the youngest his 21 month old grandson, in 1987.
* Fred and Rose West (England), arguably the sickest serial killer team the world has ever known, raped, tortured and mutilated at least 12 victims, one of them their own daughter and another Fred's stepdaughter.
These are just some of the examples I could think of without doing more research, about how sick and evil the world is...and I included the countries because it is an international disease.
The point I'm trying to make is that the cruelty described in this story is not only possible, but to some extent even probable. It is sad but horribly true.
The only thing I couldn't quite bring myself to believe was that the parents could go from "caring" to "sadistic sociopath" overnight. There must have been some warning signs, in my opinion, prior to the abuse.
I can respect that the author was making a social statement with this story and I'm looking forward to reading more of what he has to offer.
This story is exactly what you can expect from the title. It is difficult to read at times because of the brutality and, even though I'm not a sensitive reader, it turned my stomach in places.
The writer's approach to the story was clever.
Something niggled at the back of my mind throughout the story, though...something just didn't feel right. I had to take a step back and re-evaluate what I had read.
Was it the idea that family could do something so vile and evil to another?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Sharing blood has not been a protection from the evil humans can do to one another, and a few cases that were in the news popped into my head:
* Karla Homolka (Canada) drugged her 16 year old sister to give her husband a chance to rape her. Her sister became sick and choked on her own vomit.
* Josef Fitzl (Austria) held his own daughter captive in his basement for 24 years, raping her repeatedly and fathering 7 children in that time.
* Ronald Gene Simmons (America) killed 14 family members, the youngest his 21 month old grandson, in 1987.
* Fred and Rose West (England), arguably the sickest serial killer team the world has ever known, raped, tortured and mutilated at least 12 victims, one of them their own daughter and another Fred's stepdaughter.
These are just some of the examples I could think of without doing more research, about how sick and evil the world is...and I included the countries because it is an international disease.
The point I'm trying to make is that the cruelty described in this story is not only possible, but to some extent even probable. It is sad but horribly true.
The only thing I couldn't quite bring myself to believe was that the parents could go from "caring" to "sadistic sociopath" overnight. There must have been some warning signs, in my opinion, prior to the abuse.
I can respect that the author was making a social statement with this story and I'm looking forward to reading more of what he has to offer.
September 25, 2020
Note: I do not, as a general rule, write reviews laden with spoilers, but I'm making an exception to my rule with this one as it's essential to understanding why I gave it the rating I did.
As an avid horror reader, I feel there are no subjects that should be immediately "off-limits" for writers to pick from. I've let authors take me down some truly dark pathways over my years, and wouldn't have it any other way. That said, there are some topics where writers need to tread with more care than others. 'Child Abuse' is definitely on that list.
I don't think it's inappropriate to write about child abuse, or use it as the backdrop for the story you're telling, but it's a topic where it's very easy for an author to cross the line; where, instead of writing about something shocking to make a point, one writes about something shocking purely to shock. You need serious writing chops to tackle these issues -- my go-to example is Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door. Ketchum didn't write his book because he wanted to revel in the depravity, he wrote it because it was the only way he could exorcise the demons after learning about the murder of Sylvia Likens, a real-life case of almost impossible to understand cruelty, abuse, and neglect.
If his author note is to be believed, Athan didn't set out to write a novel meant to titillate, be remembered fondly, or even be enjoyed, and knew what an uphill trek he faced. That said, I re-iterate: if your writing chops aren't up to the task, 'child abuse' is a piss-poor subject to pick for your horror novel, and I don't think Athan has what it takes to play in this particular league. If you select 'girl tied up for debasement and abuse' as a trope for your novel, you're automatically going up against the likes of the aforementioned Ketchum and Mendal W. Johnson (Let's Go Play at the Adams') with regards to fiction, any number of famous True Crime authors with regards to non-fiction, and Dave Pelzer who seemingly straddled the fence with A Child Called 'It'. That's one hell of a hurdle you're aiming to jump, and you're found confident, over-confident, or stupid depending on how it works out.
I believe Athan understood what he was going up against tackling this one, so I can't lay 'stupid' on him. 'Over-confident' though? Yeah, that feels right.
Most books of this type cast the victim as an innocent in need of rescue. Ashley Collins, on the other hand, is set up as the sort of bitchy, can't-be-controlled sixteen year old who lives in every parent's nightmares. Teenagers have flaws and like to stretch the boundaries imposed upon them by well-meaning parents, but Ashley is hell-bent on heaping as much shame on her family's name as it's possible for a daughter to heap: she's sneaking her boyfriend into her room at night to have sex, she smokes, she's procured a fake ID so she can pick up booze for her friends at parties, she sasses back to her parents, refuses to listen to any adults about anything, and in general seems to be biding her time until she can run off and make nothing from her life. She's the sort of person you find yourself wanting to smack, and she's driving her parents to the breaking point.
So it's not surprising, really, to find ourselves initially siding with Jane and Logan, Ashley's mom and dad, when they decide enough is enough and something needs to be done. Of course with the title of the book, it doesn't take a seer to predict they're going to take things too far. Athan didn't call it "The Stern Talking-To of Ashley Collins", after all.
The problem with Logan and Jane's response to their daughter's antics is that it's far too explosive far too fast. This is a short novella, just over 100 pages on my eReader, so Athan can't muck around with a lot of background or personal development. He's got to get right to the action, and so, after finding Ashley and her boyfriend grinding away in bed, we see the seeds of what's to come planted in Logan's head.
We also get some really uncomfortable incest themes rearing their head on page one as Ashley's 12-year old brother Calvin listens excitedly to his sister's moans of ecstasy. This continues throughout the book, with Calvin stealing a pair of Ashley's underwear to "experiment" with, and later sneaking into the basement to ogle his sister, snap a couple pictures, and even cop a feel while she's tied up and helpless. Calvin's one messed up kid to be sure, and though he's clearly got some screws loose up there, it was also pretty much a given he'd ultimately be the one to let Ashley go in the end, since her parents sure as hell weren't going to. That would be admitting defeat, after all.
Calvin's ultimately the worst character in the novella--not for anything he does or doesn't do, but simply because he's a weak, flat, uninteresting portrayal of a twelve-year old who contributes next to nothing to the story. Erasing Calvin or developing him further would go a long way towards making the book more 'enjoyable' (not the right word for a tale involving child abuse, but you know what I mean). Calvin exists to give the story titillation factor through his horny, adolescent eyes, but this is absolutely the last thing a book like this needs or deserves. Ketchum's thinking-back-to-his-teenage-years narrator goes through a phase of this in The Girl Next Door, but his character isn't a raging asshole, he's writing a confessional and trying to make sense of everything he saw and heard decades ago. He's recording how he felt, not trying to justify it in any way. Calvin, on the other hand, tries to negotiate a blow job from Ashley in exchange for untying her, because, you know, every twelve year old boy fantasizes about his sister's lips wrapped around his dick, I guess?
"But Michael, this is Extreme fiction. Anything can happen, and anything goes!"
Of course. But here's the rub: 'Extreme' writers still must play by the rules of good story craft. In cooking, there are certain spices you never combine, certain foods that do not pair well, certain universal truths, if you will, that when disregarded will completely wreck a meal. Just because you have a fully-loaded spice rack doesn't mean you add everything from Adobo to Zaatar into every dish you prepare. If it's not needed, leave it in the jar. If you toss it in anyway, don't be surprised when people say your food is hideous, and don't kid yourself that your technique is just too forward-thinking or incredible to be appreciated by your critics. 'Incest' is exactly this sort of spice, and when its used improperly you can taste it a mile off because it instantly ruins the dish.
What's so irritating to me is that Athan uses the exact same ingredient to turn Ashley into the sympathetic protagonist she needs to be in order for this story to be effective. She was victimized, molested by her own uncle, when she was younger, and when she told her mother about it, her mother's response was basically, "I don't believe you, now don't bring it up again." Yeah, I'd say Ashley's got a plenty good reason for hating her parents the way she does, and now so does the reader. By contrast, Calvin's depravity adds nothing to the story, nor does it force us to re-examine our feelings about the characters, it's just titillation that runs the story off the rails at the worst possible times.
But the final way I can tell Athan doesn't have the chops for this is the way he depicts the abuse Ashley undergoes. He can't decide if he wants to simply document it, the way many true crime writers describe the laundry list of horrors which befell the victim, or if he wants us to try and live through it with Ashley. He's good at the former, describing in a dispassionate, telling format how many times Ashley is hit, on which part of the body, with what kind of instrument (wire hanger, electric cord, etc...), and what her skin looks like afterwards. He's not so good at the latter, with the sole exception being the description of Ashley struggling to chew up and swallow a condom. This, by the way, should have resulted in her death from an excruciating abdominal or intestinal rupture, since her father makes her swallow a total of three. The chance of one not getting stuck and causing issues I could put down to blind luck, but three, one right after another? There's no way she doesn't end up with a severe blockage somewhere in the digestive tract within 24-48 hours which would require surgery to remove, but she's still going weeks later with no sign of problems.
There are just certain points where a writer describing things can no longer do them justice, and Athan's not figured this out yet. The single most memorable passage from Ketchum's The Girl Next Door involves the narrator refusing to relate the absolute worst of the abuse he witnessed. You know what's coming, he's set the stage, but he doesn't need to tell you what happened, because your imagination works it out. It's the single most terrifying chapter in the book because of the author's faith in his reader.
Athan has none of this confidence in his audience, so when Jane gets out the matches for a little fire play and Ashley later returns the favor with a curling iron, we watch it unfold before our eyes...or rather, we read the omniscient narrator telling us all about what's happening instead of showing us or, as might be more appropriate, not showing us.
Finally, for all the physical abuse and agony she's undergone combined with the lack of medical care and good food she's given to eat over the weeks-long course of her duress, when she finally does get free, Ashley should barely have the energy to crawl up the stairs. Instead she gets a surge of adrenaline that turns her into a cross between The Incredible Hulk and a Terminator, allowing her to stomp through the house and take savage revenge on the people who wronged her. For God's sake, Jennifer Hills from I Spit on Your Grave takes a few days to recuperate and put herself back together again before beginning her revenge-fueled attack on her rapists, and she didn't suffer anywhere near the trauma Ashley does at the hands of her parents. I don't demand a slavish adherence to reality, especially in my horror fiction, but I do expect authors to understand at what point crossing the line will ruin a reader's willing suspension of disbelief.
The Abuse of Ashley Collins is not a bad book, it's just a story in search of a much better writer to tell it. Hats off to Athan for attempting something so far above his pay grade, but by the end of the story, the best I can say is he didn't turn in something completely devoid of merit. He executes his emotional swap well enough (we begin the book hating Ashley and rooting for her parents, then end the book rooting for Ashley and hoping her parents die in a post-hole-digger mishap), but there's more a book like this needs than a sympathetic victim. It's not difficult to make a reader root for the young woman having cigarettes extinguished on her nipples, regardless of what she's done. I'll probably give Athan another try in the future, but this piece isn't a contender.
Two blood-crusted bruises out of five.
As an avid horror reader, I feel there are no subjects that should be immediately "off-limits" for writers to pick from. I've let authors take me down some truly dark pathways over my years, and wouldn't have it any other way. That said, there are some topics where writers need to tread with more care than others. 'Child Abuse' is definitely on that list.
I don't think it's inappropriate to write about child abuse, or use it as the backdrop for the story you're telling, but it's a topic where it's very easy for an author to cross the line; where, instead of writing about something shocking to make a point, one writes about something shocking purely to shock. You need serious writing chops to tackle these issues -- my go-to example is Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door. Ketchum didn't write his book because he wanted to revel in the depravity, he wrote it because it was the only way he could exorcise the demons after learning about the murder of Sylvia Likens, a real-life case of almost impossible to understand cruelty, abuse, and neglect.
If his author note is to be believed, Athan didn't set out to write a novel meant to titillate, be remembered fondly, or even be enjoyed, and knew what an uphill trek he faced. That said, I re-iterate: if your writing chops aren't up to the task, 'child abuse' is a piss-poor subject to pick for your horror novel, and I don't think Athan has what it takes to play in this particular league. If you select 'girl tied up for debasement and abuse' as a trope for your novel, you're automatically going up against the likes of the aforementioned Ketchum and Mendal W. Johnson (Let's Go Play at the Adams') with regards to fiction, any number of famous True Crime authors with regards to non-fiction, and Dave Pelzer who seemingly straddled the fence with A Child Called 'It'. That's one hell of a hurdle you're aiming to jump, and you're found confident, over-confident, or stupid depending on how it works out.
I believe Athan understood what he was going up against tackling this one, so I can't lay 'stupid' on him. 'Over-confident' though? Yeah, that feels right.
Most books of this type cast the victim as an innocent in need of rescue. Ashley Collins, on the other hand, is set up as the sort of bitchy, can't-be-controlled sixteen year old who lives in every parent's nightmares. Teenagers have flaws and like to stretch the boundaries imposed upon them by well-meaning parents, but Ashley is hell-bent on heaping as much shame on her family's name as it's possible for a daughter to heap: she's sneaking her boyfriend into her room at night to have sex, she smokes, she's procured a fake ID so she can pick up booze for her friends at parties, she sasses back to her parents, refuses to listen to any adults about anything, and in general seems to be biding her time until she can run off and make nothing from her life. She's the sort of person you find yourself wanting to smack, and she's driving her parents to the breaking point.
So it's not surprising, really, to find ourselves initially siding with Jane and Logan, Ashley's mom and dad, when they decide enough is enough and something needs to be done. Of course with the title of the book, it doesn't take a seer to predict they're going to take things too far. Athan didn't call it "The Stern Talking-To of Ashley Collins", after all.
The problem with Logan and Jane's response to their daughter's antics is that it's far too explosive far too fast. This is a short novella, just over 100 pages on my eReader, so Athan can't muck around with a lot of background or personal development. He's got to get right to the action, and so, after finding Ashley and her boyfriend grinding away in bed, we see the seeds of what's to come planted in Logan's head.
We also get some really uncomfortable incest themes rearing their head on page one as Ashley's 12-year old brother Calvin listens excitedly to his sister's moans of ecstasy. This continues throughout the book, with Calvin stealing a pair of Ashley's underwear to "experiment" with, and later sneaking into the basement to ogle his sister, snap a couple pictures, and even cop a feel while she's tied up and helpless. Calvin's one messed up kid to be sure, and though he's clearly got some screws loose up there, it was also pretty much a given he'd ultimately be the one to let Ashley go in the end, since her parents sure as hell weren't going to. That would be admitting defeat, after all.
Calvin's ultimately the worst character in the novella--not for anything he does or doesn't do, but simply because he's a weak, flat, uninteresting portrayal of a twelve-year old who contributes next to nothing to the story. Erasing Calvin or developing him further would go a long way towards making the book more 'enjoyable' (not the right word for a tale involving child abuse, but you know what I mean). Calvin exists to give the story titillation factor through his horny, adolescent eyes, but this is absolutely the last thing a book like this needs or deserves. Ketchum's thinking-back-to-his-teenage-years narrator goes through a phase of this in The Girl Next Door, but his character isn't a raging asshole, he's writing a confessional and trying to make sense of everything he saw and heard decades ago. He's recording how he felt, not trying to justify it in any way. Calvin, on the other hand, tries to negotiate a blow job from Ashley in exchange for untying her, because, you know, every twelve year old boy fantasizes about his sister's lips wrapped around his dick, I guess?
"But Michael, this is Extreme fiction. Anything can happen, and anything goes!"
Of course. But here's the rub: 'Extreme' writers still must play by the rules of good story craft. In cooking, there are certain spices you never combine, certain foods that do not pair well, certain universal truths, if you will, that when disregarded will completely wreck a meal. Just because you have a fully-loaded spice rack doesn't mean you add everything from Adobo to Zaatar into every dish you prepare. If it's not needed, leave it in the jar. If you toss it in anyway, don't be surprised when people say your food is hideous, and don't kid yourself that your technique is just too forward-thinking or incredible to be appreciated by your critics. 'Incest' is exactly this sort of spice, and when its used improperly you can taste it a mile off because it instantly ruins the dish.
What's so irritating to me is that Athan uses the exact same ingredient to turn Ashley into the sympathetic protagonist she needs to be in order for this story to be effective. She was victimized, molested by her own uncle, when she was younger, and when she told her mother about it, her mother's response was basically, "I don't believe you, now don't bring it up again." Yeah, I'd say Ashley's got a plenty good reason for hating her parents the way she does, and now so does the reader. By contrast, Calvin's depravity adds nothing to the story, nor does it force us to re-examine our feelings about the characters, it's just titillation that runs the story off the rails at the worst possible times.
But the final way I can tell Athan doesn't have the chops for this is the way he depicts the abuse Ashley undergoes. He can't decide if he wants to simply document it, the way many true crime writers describe the laundry list of horrors which befell the victim, or if he wants us to try and live through it with Ashley. He's good at the former, describing in a dispassionate, telling format how many times Ashley is hit, on which part of the body, with what kind of instrument (wire hanger, electric cord, etc...), and what her skin looks like afterwards. He's not so good at the latter, with the sole exception being the description of Ashley struggling to chew up and swallow a condom. This, by the way, should have resulted in her death from an excruciating abdominal or intestinal rupture, since her father makes her swallow a total of three. The chance of one not getting stuck and causing issues I could put down to blind luck, but three, one right after another? There's no way she doesn't end up with a severe blockage somewhere in the digestive tract within 24-48 hours which would require surgery to remove, but she's still going weeks later with no sign of problems.
There are just certain points where a writer describing things can no longer do them justice, and Athan's not figured this out yet. The single most memorable passage from Ketchum's The Girl Next Door involves the narrator refusing to relate the absolute worst of the abuse he witnessed. You know what's coming, he's set the stage, but he doesn't need to tell you what happened, because your imagination works it out. It's the single most terrifying chapter in the book because of the author's faith in his reader.
Athan has none of this confidence in his audience, so when Jane gets out the matches for a little fire play and Ashley later returns the favor with a curling iron, we watch it unfold before our eyes...or rather, we read the omniscient narrator telling us all about what's happening instead of showing us or, as might be more appropriate, not showing us.
Finally, for all the physical abuse and agony she's undergone combined with the lack of medical care and good food she's given to eat over the weeks-long course of her duress, when she finally does get free, Ashley should barely have the energy to crawl up the stairs. Instead she gets a surge of adrenaline that turns her into a cross between The Incredible Hulk and a Terminator, allowing her to stomp through the house and take savage revenge on the people who wronged her. For God's sake, Jennifer Hills from I Spit on Your Grave takes a few days to recuperate and put herself back together again before beginning her revenge-fueled attack on her rapists, and she didn't suffer anywhere near the trauma Ashley does at the hands of her parents. I don't demand a slavish adherence to reality, especially in my horror fiction, but I do expect authors to understand at what point crossing the line will ruin a reader's willing suspension of disbelief.
The Abuse of Ashley Collins is not a bad book, it's just a story in search of a much better writer to tell it. Hats off to Athan for attempting something so far above his pay grade, but by the end of the story, the best I can say is he didn't turn in something completely devoid of merit. He executes his emotional swap well enough (we begin the book hating Ashley and rooting for her parents, then end the book rooting for Ashley and hoping her parents die in a post-hole-digger mishap), but there's more a book like this needs than a sympathetic victim. It's not difficult to make a reader root for the young woman having cigarettes extinguished on her nipples, regardless of what she's done. I'll probably give Athan another try in the future, but this piece isn't a contender.
Two blood-crusted bruises out of five.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2024
She sniffled and said, “I'm ready to go home.”
The wailing sirens grew louder as the police rapidly approached, rushing to a gruesome American crime. Ashley gazed into the sky and waited for the authorities to arrive, welcoming her imminent arrest with open arms. Her neighbors watched from the safety of their homes, too, eager to watch the show.
Teary-eyed, Ashley smiled and repeated, “I'm ready to go home...”
The wailing sirens grew louder as the police rapidly approached, rushing to a gruesome American crime. Ashley gazed into the sky and waited for the authorities to arrive, welcoming her imminent arrest with open arms. Her neighbors watched from the safety of their homes, too, eager to watch the show.
Teary-eyed, Ashley smiled and repeated, “I'm ready to go home...”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2018
Holy crap what a deeply disturbing book!
This is a quick read and once you start you won't want to stop. There'll be plenty of times you'll want to throw your book, or tablet, down in disgust....but then you'll pick it right back up and keep going cause you won't be able to help yourself. Simply cause you need to know how it all ends.
2 particular scenes between Ashley and her mom involving a lighter and a curling iron......wow. Just wow.
This book certainly isn't for the faint of heart.
Rating low because of several things that just weren't believable.
Not bad but could've been so much better.
This is a quick read and once you start you won't want to stop. There'll be plenty of times you'll want to throw your book, or tablet, down in disgust....but then you'll pick it right back up and keep going cause you won't be able to help yourself. Simply cause you need to know how it all ends.
2 particular scenes between Ashley and her mom involving a lighter and a curling iron......wow. Just wow.
This book certainly isn't for the faint of heart.
Rating low because of several things that just weren't believable.
Not bad but could've been so much better.
December 3, 2022
BRB, scrubbing my brain out with some bleach. Definitely one of the most disturbing and FUCKED extreme horror books I’ve ever read. Also, this is my new favorite Jon Athan book.
November 30, 2021
Ashley Collins is a 16 year old teenager that has a serious problem with authority. She doesn't listen to her parents, acts out at school, and in general a giant turd. Her parents, Logan and Jane, has had enough of her shenanigans. They decide to chain her up in the basement to teach her a lesson. Unfortunately the lessons turn ugly and sadistic. How far will they go to make sure their daughter learns to be obedient? As you will find out, they will stretch the limits of their imagination.
🐱🐱🐱
🐱🐱🐱
January 7, 2025
"We're here to help Ashley"
The Abuse of Ashley Collins is absolutely PITCH BLACK. A mom and dad who get more depraved every chapter and a brother who's pretty much almost brainwashed. This one is brutal, it's sad. This gave me massive The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum vibes. Jon Athan states that this one was inspired by it. You can truly tell, this one's sad, dark and absolutely depraved. A Mom, Dad, Sister and Brothers dive into absolute madness. Absolute masterpiece by Jon Athan. 5/5 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ if I could give more I absolutely would. Is there a sequel to this one? If there is please let me know. Absolutely fantastic story, worth every minute.
The Abuse of Ashley Collins is absolutely PITCH BLACK. A mom and dad who get more depraved every chapter and a brother who's pretty much almost brainwashed. This one is brutal, it's sad. This gave me massive The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum vibes. Jon Athan states that this one was inspired by it. You can truly tell, this one's sad, dark and absolutely depraved. A Mom, Dad, Sister and Brothers dive into absolute madness. Absolute masterpiece by Jon Athan. 5/5 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ if I could give more I absolutely would. Is there a sequel to this one? If there is please let me know. Absolutely fantastic story, worth every minute.
Read
August 8, 2023Yeah…I don’t know what to say.
Sick and twisted 💀
Sick and twisted 💀
January 1, 2023
This book made me short of breath. I’ve been reading a lot of Jon Athans books since getting Kindle Unlimited and this one is probably the darkest of them all.
When your teen is being awful and disrespectful to you, what do you do? Teach them a lesson of course.
Check all trigger warnings.
When your teen is being awful and disrespectful to you, what do you do? Teach them a lesson of course.
Check all trigger warnings.
August 17, 2024
Was the ending worth it? Maybe.
I was shock,sicken and disturbed.I almost vomit. This reminds me of the girl next door, but it's way more gruesome. However, this book still had a happier ending than the girl next door. Weird, right?
The ending made me kind of enjoy this book.
I still don't understand how the parents became so evil in three weeks. And for some reason, I felt sorry for the son even though he was also a horrible little boy.
Ashley is a bada**. How is she still able to move around with those horrific injuries.
I was shock,sicken and disturbed.I almost vomit. This reminds me of the girl next door, but it's way more gruesome. However, this book still had a happier ending than the girl next door. Weird, right?
The ending made me kind of enjoy this book.
I still don't understand how the parents became so evil in three weeks. And for some reason, I felt sorry for the son even though he was also a horrible little boy.
Ashley is a bada**. How is she still able to move around with those horrific injuries.
June 30, 2023
Ashley's parents are pushed to the breaking point with their out of control teenager. When a friend puts an idea into her father's head, Ashley could never begin to imagine the extent of horror heading her way.
Disturbing, brutal, gory. It packs a punch, which is what Jon Athan does well. He is the author to go to, for all the must read extreme horrors!
Disturbing, brutal, gory. It packs a punch, which is what Jon Athan does well. He is the author to go to, for all the must read extreme horrors!
January 16, 2020
Ashley, quite frankly, is a bitch from hell and when she hits her dad Logan during the fight, most readers are on his side. When her parents decide to lock her in the basement to start teaching her a few lessons on behaviour, you don't have any sympathy for her at all. However, her parents quickly start on physical abuse to cause her pain and humiliation and it becomes clear that it is now about abusing her because they want to and are enjoying it, rather than attempting to teach her to behave. Ashley is left alone and in pain constantly and none of her family are interested in helping her, even her little brother who is initially uncomfortable with the idea of his sister being punished.
As the book progresses, we find out why Ashley behaves the way she does and then I started to have real sympathy for her. Her parents reason that a few weeks of lessons will change her attitude and make them a happy family but their torture of their daughter is vile and it quickly becomes clear that they are doing this because they enjoy it. Jane goes from timid and unsure to become a total monster like her husband and Ashley's brother starts to develop an unhealthy interest in what is going on. The book has brutal torture and acts of violence in it. I would say that the book is interesting for horror fans who read dark plots and aren't squeamish about the torture scenes. For me it is a much better written abuse story than 'The Girl Next Door' but has similar content issues. I like the author's work and I have a ton more of his books to read!
As the book progresses, we find out why Ashley behaves the way she does and then I started to have real sympathy for her. Her parents reason that a few weeks of lessons will change her attitude and make them a happy family but their torture of their daughter is vile and it quickly becomes clear that they are doing this because they enjoy it. Jane goes from timid and unsure to become a total monster like her husband and Ashley's brother starts to develop an unhealthy interest in what is going on. The book has brutal torture and acts of violence in it. I would say that the book is interesting for horror fans who read dark plots and aren't squeamish about the torture scenes. For me it is a much better written abuse story than 'The Girl Next Door' but has similar content issues. I like the author's work and I have a ton more of his books to read!
August 4, 2021
Do not read this review unless you don't mind spoilers. The story is decent, but I can't review it without giving storyline away
At first, I felt bad for Dad. His teen daughter was drinking, smoking, sexing, etc.... He and Mom tire of it. They tie up daughter and teach her. Lessons turn into torture,until they consider killing her to keep their lives peaceful. That sums up the story.
Now onto the details.
The abuse is realistic (translation : beatings : boring Mommy Dearest wire hangers) until it isn't. Swallowing multiple condoms was fun to listen to,but unrealistic. I don't mind unrealistic, just staying.
Daughters revenge was best part of the book.
And a sidenote: do teen boys really jerk it to their older sister's panties? Do teen boys want to suckle their sister's breasts? I don't have a penis, so I don't know. It just sounds horrible.
I listened to this book and liked the voice, but Dad's voice was too stiff. Not enough to take away from the story.... Overall, this book is still a solid 4 stars
At first, I felt bad for Dad. His teen daughter was drinking, smoking, sexing, etc.... He and Mom tire of it. They tie up daughter and teach her. Lessons turn into torture,until they consider killing her to keep their lives peaceful. That sums up the story.
Now onto the details.
The abuse is realistic (translation : beatings : boring Mommy Dearest wire hangers) until it isn't. Swallowing multiple condoms was fun to listen to,but unrealistic. I don't mind unrealistic, just staying.
Daughters revenge was best part of the book.
And a sidenote: do teen boys really jerk it to their older sister's panties? Do teen boys want to suckle their sister's breasts? I don't have a penis, so I don't know. It just sounds horrible.
I listened to this book and liked the voice, but Dad's voice was too stiff. Not enough to take away from the story.... Overall, this book is still a solid 4 stars
January 27, 2023
Quickly realising that Jon Athan's books are disturbing as they could happen. It could be based on a true story for all I know. That made it a more challenging read. It made it horrific and hard to get through.
Absolutely amazing writing with characters that are relateable to the extent it's disturbing. He has a way of putting you in their shoes, seeing it all from their perspective.
Only bad point in this book was how fast the characters changed. I wouldn't have minded a longer book to see what caused the mum and dad to think the way they did. Their history and trauma. But overall a great story.
Absolutely amazing writing with characters that are relateable to the extent it's disturbing. He has a way of putting you in their shoes, seeing it all from their perspective.
Only bad point in this book was how fast the characters changed. I wouldn't have minded a longer book to see what caused the mum and dad to think the way they did. Their history and trauma. But overall a great story.
June 24, 2018
Gruesome and emotional
Wow what a book. I would say I loved this book but maybe that is the wrong word to use. Love was definitely not a part of this family's life. It was twisted and gruesome but a fantastic read and a very good portrayal of abuse through generations. It's was such a read I felt so angry towards the end and felt myself feeling so much sympathy for Ashley at the end. And to think this happens all over the world. Great book. Great author. Just be glad this is fiction.
Wow what a book. I would say I loved this book but maybe that is the wrong word to use. Love was definitely not a part of this family's life. It was twisted and gruesome but a fantastic read and a very good portrayal of abuse through generations. It's was such a read I felt so angry towards the end and felt myself feeling so much sympathy for Ashley at the end. And to think this happens all over the world. Great book. Great author. Just be glad this is fiction.
April 23, 2021
2.5 rounded up to 3.
I feel like these short horror novellas can be really fun and entertaining, but a subject matter like this really needs more than 208 pages for me to get fully immersed. The descent of Ashley's parents from slightly over-strict weirdos to full-blown depraved lunatics just wasn't believable for me, and the character development wasn't there.
I'm sating that, I did enjoy the writing and have really enjoyed other books by this author. I just think it's rare for a story such as this (which should be extremely distressing) to be truly affecting with such a low page count.
I feel like these short horror novellas can be really fun and entertaining, but a subject matter like this really needs more than 208 pages for me to get fully immersed. The descent of Ashley's parents from slightly over-strict weirdos to full-blown depraved lunatics just wasn't believable for me, and the character development wasn't there.
I'm sating that, I did enjoy the writing and have really enjoyed other books by this author. I just think it's rare for a story such as this (which should be extremely distressing) to be truly affecting with such a low page count.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2023
This was hard for me to get through and I've read over a dozen of this guys books by now. Definitely one of his best though.
August 1, 2025
This book was written for the sole purpose of shocking people, and there's few things worse than getting that feeling while reading (or in my case, listening to) a book. The author can't have any experience with real abuse, because this book is so insensitive, nonsensical, unbelievable and badly written.
I know that abusers often don't follow a logical protocol, but should I really believe that a whole family, which didn't even so much as give their daughter a slight slap on the face before, goes from 0 to 100 on the abuse scala? They all just start one day and there's no spiraling up into really violent stuff, they start there. All of them in unison. Even the younger brother is totally unfazed by Ashley's mutilation?
The author also couldn't find enough reasons for the parent to abuse their daughter (except for the mother - her, I found surprisingly well written in a twisted kind of way). I mean, the book starts with the father walking in on Ashley and her boyfriend having passionate intercourse. They fight after that, but it's not that big of a deal, just a situation to get things rolling. A little bit later, when Ashley is already locked up in the cellar, her father finds condoms in her bedroom. Big deal, right? He literally saw with his own eyes that his daughter is sexually active. But ooooh, it IS a big deal. For some reason, the father is out of his mind about the existance of these condoms, and the author even describes how utterly shocked and disgusted he is. Because, apparently, his daughter has sex. Wait, what? Spontanious forgetfulness or maybe a forced reason for more abuse?
Also, this happens after Ashely was already locked up, beaten and cut for at least a day and a night, and when SHE hears about the discovery of the condoms of evil, her biggest issue is that her father, and I quote, "invaded her privacy". I mean, alright girl, that's a bummer and all, but don't you probably have bigger problems right now? "I can't believe you invaded my privacy!", she shouts. Uhm, and locking you up and physically and mentally hurting you is what, just a minor inconvenience and not intrusive at all?
Even if there were not so many content-related issues, the writing is just so annoying. I had to roll my eyes constantly, I almost couldn't drive while listening to the audiobook. Every important word only has one synonym. If you have a name, lucky you, you get two synonyms! Ashley, as the protagonist even gets three, she is either "his/her daughter", "his sister" or - very striking - "the teenager". Calvin is "her brother" or "the boy". Logan is "his/her father" or "her husband". You get it, right?
Things don't look so well if you're an object, though. The filthy cigarette got called, unironically, the "cancerstick". The real losers are the verbs, though. I have heard the word "aroused" more times in these 4 hours 30 minutes than in my whole 39 years on this earth. Apparently, abusers are aroused 24/7, and all of them simultanously.
Ah well, let's just forget about this and please, especially if you're one of my friends, don't read it.
I know that abusers often don't follow a logical protocol, but should I really believe that a whole family, which didn't even so much as give their daughter a slight slap on the face before, goes from 0 to 100 on the abuse scala? They all just start one day and there's no spiraling up into really violent stuff, they start there. All of them in unison. Even the younger brother is totally unfazed by Ashley's mutilation?
The author also couldn't find enough reasons for the parent to abuse their daughter (except for the mother - her, I found surprisingly well written in a twisted kind of way). I mean, the book starts with the father walking in on Ashley and her boyfriend having passionate intercourse. They fight after that, but it's not that big of a deal, just a situation to get things rolling. A little bit later, when Ashley is already locked up in the cellar, her father finds condoms in her bedroom. Big deal, right? He literally saw with his own eyes that his daughter is sexually active. But ooooh, it IS a big deal. For some reason, the father is out of his mind about the existance of these condoms, and the author even describes how utterly shocked and disgusted he is. Because, apparently, his daughter has sex. Wait, what? Spontanious forgetfulness or maybe a forced reason for more abuse?
Also, this happens after Ashely was already locked up, beaten and cut for at least a day and a night, and when SHE hears about the discovery of the condoms of evil, her biggest issue is that her father, and I quote, "invaded her privacy". I mean, alright girl, that's a bummer and all, but don't you probably have bigger problems right now? "I can't believe you invaded my privacy!", she shouts. Uhm, and locking you up and physically and mentally hurting you is what, just a minor inconvenience and not intrusive at all?
Even if there were not so many content-related issues, the writing is just so annoying. I had to roll my eyes constantly, I almost couldn't drive while listening to the audiobook. Every important word only has one synonym. If you have a name, lucky you, you get two synonyms! Ashley, as the protagonist even gets three, she is either "his/her daughter", "his sister" or - very striking - "the teenager". Calvin is "her brother" or "the boy". Logan is "his/her father" or "her husband". You get it, right?
Things don't look so well if you're an object, though. The filthy cigarette got called, unironically, the "cancerstick". The real losers are the verbs, though. I have heard the word "aroused" more times in these 4 hours 30 minutes than in my whole 39 years on this earth. Apparently, abusers are aroused 24/7, and all of them simultanously.
Ah well, let's just forget about this and please, especially if you're one of my friends, don't read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2022
Damn this was good. This is a fast paced book for all you that are wondering.. So what's this about, this is about a dysfunctional family and this deals with the new parenting wave where parents have to.. parent without any threat of phyisical violence or even psychological - btw, when I am talking this, I am not saying stuff like in this novel, I am talking about that well place smack in the ass.
Nowadays, in most civilized world, if you get a smart kid you are fucked. You all know of situations that a parent gave the child a smack or a more harsh talk and then the child was taken from him/her. You all know cases of children posting on social media giving rise to shaming to the parents and so on. Is a ugly world if you get a smart kid.
But that's besides the point. The vast majority of people over 30 or 40 got a smack or small beating with belt and that's our main protagonist viewpoint. It made him and her on what it is and alas, why not do the same to Ashley since she is being a "bitch" and even hitting her own father. Unfortunately those two parents, go a bit further and start abusing her (Thus the title). Not going to give more on this but it's interesting to see several points of view..
I am going to say something that is a bit of a spoiler since it talks a bit of the title but as I read the synopsis well I am not giving anything away:
One of the most interesting thing is that within the first 6 or 7 chapters you hate Ashley and compreheend her parents; and you even start feeling that the abuse is of Ashley to her parents, afterwards you get his parents doing some some 180 change and you start hating the parents and rooting for the girl. Well played.
Overall; I loved te novel, I read like 150 pages in one sitting under a hour and a half - which is amazing for me. This author has like 40 novels and I am going to start purchasing them all.
Beware that this book deals with violence, well you already know that. I didn't felt disgusted or something like that but to some people you may find yourselves disgusted because some violence is toward children (althought I don't know if you can consider Ashley a child even if she is 16).
Nowadays, in most civilized world, if you get a smart kid you are fucked. You all know of situations that a parent gave the child a smack or a more harsh talk and then the child was taken from him/her. You all know cases of children posting on social media giving rise to shaming to the parents and so on. Is a ugly world if you get a smart kid.
But that's besides the point. The vast majority of people over 30 or 40 got a smack or small beating with belt and that's our main protagonist viewpoint. It made him and her on what it is and alas, why not do the same to Ashley since she is being a "bitch" and even hitting her own father. Unfortunately those two parents, go a bit further and start abusing her (Thus the title). Not going to give more on this but it's interesting to see several points of view..
I am going to say something that is a bit of a spoiler since it talks a bit of the title but as I read the synopsis well I am not giving anything away:
One of the most interesting thing is that within the first 6 or 7 chapters you hate Ashley and compreheend her parents; and you even start feeling that the abuse is of Ashley to her parents, afterwards you get his parents doing some some 180 change and you start hating the parents and rooting for the girl. Well played.
Overall; I loved te novel, I read like 150 pages in one sitting under a hour and a half - which is amazing for me. This author has like 40 novels and I am going to start purchasing them all.
Beware that this book deals with violence, well you already know that. I didn't felt disgusted or something like that but to some people you may find yourselves disgusted because some violence is toward children (althought I don't know if you can consider Ashley a child even if she is 16).
March 23, 2017
The Abuse of Ashley Collins is not a true story – but it very well could be. Watching the decreasing sanity, and the elevating brutality of Ashley’s parents demonstrates just how fast situations can escalate. One little poke at the wrong moment, and all control is lost – you can’t come back from certain things.
Full review posted HERE
I don’t know why I ever chose to torture myself and willingly read A A Child Called "It", but Dave Pelzer broke something inside me – I haven’t been right since. Knowing that, you’d think I’d have learned a lesson, (yeah, I know… I’m audibly laughing right now, too). Nope. Years after ‘ACCI’ I decided that I wanted to read The Girl Next Door, and I let Jack Ketchum walk right in and start poking at the wound that David Pelzer left with a big, pointy stick. I think it was the masochist in me who invited Mendal W. Johnson to drop by and sucker-punch my PTSD in the back of the head. As far as the Let's Go Play At The Adams' fiction/non-fiction debate’ goes – I’m sticking with IT’S FICTION, but I’m sure all the atrocities have been committed, many times, and on many different Barbaras.
*´¯`*.¸¸.*´¯`* Dear Author *´¯`*.¸¸.*´¯`*
Jon Athan,
You knocked another one out of the park!!
I want to touch on a few things from your author notes, and Dear Reader section. I’m adding a ‘SPOILER ALERT’ in case people who haven’t read the story yet don’t scroll through this and see something they shouldn’t.
Full review posted HERE
I don’t know why I ever chose to torture myself and willingly read A A Child Called "It", but Dave Pelzer broke something inside me – I haven’t been right since. Knowing that, you’d think I’d have learned a lesson, (yeah, I know… I’m audibly laughing right now, too). Nope. Years after ‘ACCI’ I decided that I wanted to read The Girl Next Door, and I let Jack Ketchum walk right in and start poking at the wound that David Pelzer left with a big, pointy stick. I think it was the masochist in me who invited Mendal W. Johnson to drop by and sucker-punch my PTSD in the back of the head. As far as the Let's Go Play At The Adams' fiction/non-fiction debate’ goes – I’m sticking with IT’S FICTION, but I’m sure all the atrocities have been committed, many times, and on many different Barbaras.
*´¯`*.¸¸.*´¯`* Dear Author *´¯`*.¸¸.*´¯`*
Jon Athan,
You knocked another one out of the park!!
I want to touch on a few things from your author notes, and Dear Reader section. I’m adding a ‘SPOILER ALERT’ in case people who haven’t read the story yet don’t scroll through this and see something they shouldn’t.
October 8, 2018
This book was alright, I guess. It was written well and the plot was okay. This reminded me a lot of the Girl Next Door story (I think that was the book? It's based on a real story where a lady and children tortured a girl in a basement). Only in this I think we were supposed to sympathize with her parents? She's a jerk teenager who is "out of control" and they are just regular people.
Except..she isn't that bad? I knew way worse teens. So I didn't sympathize with the psycho parents. At all.
So was I supposed to sympathize with Ashley? Because I didn't. I think the idea was for me to sort of relate to all of them...but I just ended up hating them all. Including the psycho brother.
The gore was alright tho...and while I thought the plot was predictable, it was done well. I just wish that any of the characters had been likeable. Tyler, the boyfriend...he was alright, I guess.
I'm kinda curious about the aftermath tho...I would totally read a sequel.
Except..she isn't that bad? I knew way worse teens. So I didn't sympathize with the psycho parents. At all.
So was I supposed to sympathize with Ashley? Because I didn't. I think the idea was for me to sort of relate to all of them...but I just ended up hating them all. Including the psycho brother.
The gore was alright tho...and while I thought the plot was predictable, it was done well. I just wish that any of the characters had been likeable. Tyler, the boyfriend...he was alright, I guess.
I'm kinda curious about the aftermath tho...I would totally read a sequel.
July 18, 2024
This book was disturbing. I acknowledge the authors note at the end of the book. However most of the story telling was poorly executed. In addition the abuse became worse and worse to a point that was difficult to stomach, also there appeared to be a lack of genuine connection with the story. Parts of the book I feel I would have appreciated if I had never read. It just seemed to attempting to grab points for being graphic. I think the author showed he had not much understanding of how a victim feels and furthermore used the violence becomes violent concept to end what was a truly disturbing book.
May 11, 2023
jon athan has a way with picking uniquely despicable topics for his short, extreme horror novels. he also has a way with making his characters cartoonishly evil in ways that kind of ruin the impact of how awful everything going on in the story is. i hated Lovesick because i found the main character so unlikeable, but his constant crysturbating was better written than the paragraphs of maniacal evil exposition coming from ashley's parents in this one.
November 23, 2024
Brutality? 5/5. Plot? Horrifically unrealistic. Parents became monsters out of NO WHERE. No progression from caring about their daughter to being absolute psychopaths. And also I could have done without the little brother being a perverted incestual sicko. Besides being the idiot to save the day, he was so unnecessary. 3 stars MERELY because it did its job in the torture and disgust me department. But SO unrealistic in how Ashley handled the pain. The depravity of her losing her mind at the end though, respectable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2022
Can't really write a spoiler free review. But I think the title gives away some of the content, lol. Really enjoyed this book, from beginning to end. The end wasn't too predictable.
November 2, 2023
A Girl Next Door rip-off without Ketchum's writing skills.
May 7, 2024
Another hard to stomach, couldn’t stand the author’s word choice. “To no avail” had to have been in there at least 50 times.
March 8, 2025
I read this book in 4 hours!!!!!? Insane
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