What do you think?
Rate this book
Fuck the Rules
The Man may mean different things to different people: society, the government, a parent, a boss, a significant other, a shady organization that only controls a subset of a group or society, men in general, women in general. The Man makes the rules, and those rules exist to keep us in line. To make society run smooth and stop us from regressing back to the wild animals that lurk within us. But what happens when we break the rules? What happens when we buck against The Man and his machine that we’re slaves to?
F*ck the Rules features rule-bending stories from writing masters such as Guy N. Smith, Richard Chizmar, Adam Millard, Antonio Simon, Jr., Suzanne Fox, and more. Find out what happens when you throw your middle fingers up and defy those who hold you down.
F*ck the Rules features rule-bending stories from writing masters such as Guy N. Smith, Richard Chizmar, Adam Millard, Antonio Simon, Jr., Suzanne Fox, and more. Find out what happens when you throw your middle fingers up and defy those who hold you down.
203 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 14, 2017
36 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
David Owain Hughes
106 books106 followersDavid Owain Hughes is a word-slinger of horror and crime fiction, who grew up on trashy b-movies from the age of five which helped rapidly instil in him a vivid imagination. He’s had multiple short stories published in various online magazines and anthologies, along with articles, reviews and interviews. He’s written for This Is Horror, Blood Magazine, and Horror Geeks Magazine.
Hughes is the author of six horror novels, four short story collections and a plethora of novellas. Although he predominately writes within the bracket of horror and its multiple sub-genres, he’s recently branched out into crime fiction and is slowly carving out a superb series of crime/noir thrillers under the umbrella title of South Wales.
Hughes is the author of six horror novels, four short story collections and a plethora of novellas. Although he predominately writes within the bracket of horror and its multiple sub-genres, he’s recently branched out into crime fiction and is slowly carving out a superb series of crime/noir thrillers under the umbrella title of South Wales.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 1, 2017
Reviewed by Demetrius Svette
*This book was provided for an honest review
The foreword by R. Perez de Pereda will make you understand the basis of it all, and I quote “Reflect for a moment on all the times you were told not to do something: no dessert before supper; no talking in class; no time off work to attend your best friend’s wedding.” I reflected on this within the foreword and yes, it makes total sense. Why do we follow rules? Why must we ever follow the rules? Well, according to this challenge by David Owain Hughes and Johnathan Edward Ondrashek, they sought out eleven talented authors to break some simple rules. Oh my, did they destroy them. Have you- like many others and myself- ever thought to yourself fuck you and fuck your rules? Sure you have… at least if you lived a normal teenage life or went to a public high school. Many times, I was the main culprit to bend and mend the rules in place to make my own path- as these writers have done themselves.
I was a bit nervous to open this one, then I began to read. It started out with a bit of a softness- not too bad- then started to increase with more rule breaking as you go past author by author. I could not just choose one as my favorite as many of them are great in every way. You will learn a creative way of saying “No Thanks” and you will no longer look at a Japanese Flag the same (thank you for that by the way, Crystal Jeans.) That is probably the one that will stick with me forever, that and the story of a prostitute by Ty Schwamberger. You will experience a world of no rules within these pages that are mixed with the disturbed minds wisely chosen to fit the best the ultimate rule breakers. It will make you cringe and make you think what just happened… hold on what did I just read? Risk takers for sure, throughout the creativity of them all in their own personal art form of writing, these authors are all very talented and keep you interested through the entirety of the entire book in a whole sitting. That is, if you are not a pansy and have to take a break from being too weak to continue.
Collectively both Hughes and Ondrashek provided the temptation to test and alter the mind processing of the eleven authors- which therefore brought you the most twisted, confusing, and yet powerfully disturbing short stories I have read in a little while; even though they did not go completely overboard in disgust ratio, the disturbing element is fully on at all times. The question for many is where is the mad lab of Hughes and Ondrashek to sit and scrutinize with epic proportions, a place they have required to bring the society together in madness as they watch the readers scream and squirm to a simple task such as breaking the rules. Hands down, this is a great collection and I’m very proud to have this on my book shelf; looking at the very artistic cover art done by Kevin Enhart, who got my eyes fully interested in wondering how dark and twisted this book could really be. I will be looking forward to more from these talented authors and editors, in the future.
*This book was provided for an honest review
The foreword by R. Perez de Pereda will make you understand the basis of it all, and I quote “Reflect for a moment on all the times you were told not to do something: no dessert before supper; no talking in class; no time off work to attend your best friend’s wedding.” I reflected on this within the foreword and yes, it makes total sense. Why do we follow rules? Why must we ever follow the rules? Well, according to this challenge by David Owain Hughes and Johnathan Edward Ondrashek, they sought out eleven talented authors to break some simple rules. Oh my, did they destroy them. Have you- like many others and myself- ever thought to yourself fuck you and fuck your rules? Sure you have… at least if you lived a normal teenage life or went to a public high school. Many times, I was the main culprit to bend and mend the rules in place to make my own path- as these writers have done themselves.
I was a bit nervous to open this one, then I began to read. It started out with a bit of a softness- not too bad- then started to increase with more rule breaking as you go past author by author. I could not just choose one as my favorite as many of them are great in every way. You will learn a creative way of saying “No Thanks” and you will no longer look at a Japanese Flag the same (thank you for that by the way, Crystal Jeans.) That is probably the one that will stick with me forever, that and the story of a prostitute by Ty Schwamberger. You will experience a world of no rules within these pages that are mixed with the disturbed minds wisely chosen to fit the best the ultimate rule breakers. It will make you cringe and make you think what just happened… hold on what did I just read? Risk takers for sure, throughout the creativity of them all in their own personal art form of writing, these authors are all very talented and keep you interested through the entirety of the entire book in a whole sitting. That is, if you are not a pansy and have to take a break from being too weak to continue.
Collectively both Hughes and Ondrashek provided the temptation to test and alter the mind processing of the eleven authors- which therefore brought you the most twisted, confusing, and yet powerfully disturbing short stories I have read in a little while; even though they did not go completely overboard in disgust ratio, the disturbing element is fully on at all times. The question for many is where is the mad lab of Hughes and Ondrashek to sit and scrutinize with epic proportions, a place they have required to bring the society together in madness as they watch the readers scream and squirm to a simple task such as breaking the rules. Hands down, this is a great collection and I’m very proud to have this on my book shelf; looking at the very artistic cover art done by Kevin Enhart, who got my eyes fully interested in wondering how dark and twisted this book could really be. I will be looking forward to more from these talented authors and editors, in the future.
September 5, 2017
Review: F*** THE RULES (Multiple Authors), Anthology (editors Jonathan Edward Ondrashek, David Owain Hughes)
Contradicting the Establishment and its rules, regulations, laws, and unspoken codes of conduct, has come a long way since the 1960's chants of "Fight the Power" and the upraised fist, since "Take This Job and Shove It" era of the 1970's. Nowadays disgruntled employees are too often likely to shoot up the workplace. In this anthology, 11 authors were tasked with rule-breaking, with fighting back against the perceived "Establishment," in whatever form that entailed.
The 11 results range from acceptable to super, from mild gore to splatterpunk, from quiet hauntings to wildly creative "who would have thought it" tales. As always, I found my personal favorites:
The Association
No Thanks
The Punishment Room
Birth of a Valkyrie
Carnage
Lex Non Scripta
I chose these not for the author, but based on how each impressed me.
Contradicting the Establishment and its rules, regulations, laws, and unspoken codes of conduct, has come a long way since the 1960's chants of "Fight the Power" and the upraised fist, since "Take This Job and Shove It" era of the 1970's. Nowadays disgruntled employees are too often likely to shoot up the workplace. In this anthology, 11 authors were tasked with rule-breaking, with fighting back against the perceived "Establishment," in whatever form that entailed.
The 11 results range from acceptable to super, from mild gore to splatterpunk, from quiet hauntings to wildly creative "who would have thought it" tales. As always, I found my personal favorites:
The Association
No Thanks
The Punishment Room
Birth of a Valkyrie
Carnage
Lex Non Scripta
I chose these not for the author, but based on how each impressed me.
November 26, 2017
This collection delivers exactly what the title advertises ... perfectly selected offerings for those who know how to break the rules ... and for those who fantasize about it.
February 12, 2020
Some stories were great, others simply vulgar
Unfortunately, the story contributed by the author I wanted to read was one I had already read. Many of the other contributions were reworked old themes and/or simply vulgar and depraved without much literary merit.
Unfortunately, the story contributed by the author I wanted to read was one I had already read. Many of the other contributions were reworked old themes and/or simply vulgar and depraved without much literary merit.
February 21, 2021
F*** the quality
The Association and Japanese Flag are extremely good stories - worth five stars on their own. But the collection is let down by a lot of adolescent garbage that seems to have been written by children. Carnage made no sense at all.
The Association and Japanese Flag are extremely good stories - worth five stars on their own. But the collection is let down by a lot of adolescent garbage that seems to have been written by children. Carnage made no sense at all.
January 18, 2022
Fu#k this book
I recommend keeping your money in your purse or pocket. I was truly disappointed with these stories...all of them. I wish I could get A refund not only of money but my wasted time.
I recommend keeping your money in your purse or pocket. I was truly disappointed with these stories...all of them. I wish I could get A refund not only of money but my wasted time.
September 15, 2022
Fuck this book.
September 1, 2023
Loved it
This takes an interesting concept and the authors each twist it like NYC pretzels. I have just recently started to enjoy short stories and This is one I recommend highly.
This takes an interesting concept and the authors each twist it like NYC pretzels. I have just recently started to enjoy short stories and This is one I recommend highly.
September 15, 2022
Fuck the rules? With some exceptions fuck this book.
So so, a lot of the stories try too hard to appear badass with names like ‘suck on this bitch’ and ‘Don’t be a *unt’ and also with the content with violence for the sake of it.
Most of them are pretty pointless, and end either with the (usually) anti-hero’s rampage being curtailed or achieved and that’s the end. The best stories are The Association by Richard Chizmar and Japanese flag by Toneye Eyenot. The rest are average to crap.
So so, a lot of the stories try too hard to appear badass with names like ‘suck on this bitch’ and ‘Don’t be a *unt’ and also with the content with violence for the sake of it.
Most of them are pretty pointless, and end either with the (usually) anti-hero’s rampage being curtailed or achieved and that’s the end. The best stories are The Association by Richard Chizmar and Japanese flag by Toneye Eyenot. The rest are average to crap.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews