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The Half-Freaks
Harry Meyers is ill-equipped to handle funeral planning of any sort. If he had a goldfish and that goldfish died, he would probably find a way to bungle the flushing. But when Harry’s mother passes away without having made any arrangements, and he’s the only surviving next of kin, Harry is called on to navigate a grimly hilarious, half-real world of morgues, morticians, fetishes, and cosmic disaster. Transgressive and bleakly funny, terrifying but surprisingly humane, The Half-Freaks showcases Nicole Cushing’s ever-evolving take on the Weird.
122 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2019
7 people are currently reading
1314 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Cushing
41 books347 followersNicole Cushing is the Bram Stoker Award® winning author of Mr. Suicide and a two-time nominee for the Shirley Jackson Award.
Various reviewers have described her work as “brutal”, “cerebral”, “transgressive”, "wickedly funny", “taboo”, “groundbreaking” and “mind-bending”.
Rue Morgue magazine included Nicole in its list of 13 Wicked Women to Watch, praising her as an “an intense and uncompromising literary voice”. She has also garnered praise from Jack Ketchum, Thomas Ligotti, and Poppy Z. Brite (aka, Billy Martin).
Her second novel, A Sick Gray Laugh (2019) was named to LitReactor’s Best Horror Novels of the Last Decade list and the Locus Recommended Reading List. She has recently completed and polished her third novel.
She lives in Indiana.
Various reviewers have described her work as “brutal”, “cerebral”, “transgressive”, "wickedly funny", “taboo”, “groundbreaking” and “mind-bending”.
Rue Morgue magazine included Nicole in its list of 13 Wicked Women to Watch, praising her as an “an intense and uncompromising literary voice”. She has also garnered praise from Jack Ketchum, Thomas Ligotti, and Poppy Z. Brite (aka, Billy Martin).
Her second novel, A Sick Gray Laugh (2019) was named to LitReactor’s Best Horror Novels of the Last Decade list and the Locus Recommended Reading List. She has recently completed and polished her third novel.
She lives in Indiana.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 21, 2019
Harry keeps coming to visit Nicole so often, she had to write a book about him, and here it is. A twisted tale like NO other!
THE HALF-FREAKS defies neat genre labels; part character study, part weird tale, part awkwardly funny, it's hard to describe. Despite Harry vehemently stating often that he's no psycho like Norman Bates, (Nah! Nah!) he is still living with his mother, but he isn't a murderer. Or is he?
When his mother dies, Harry is forced to take part in the world, dealing with the hospital morgue and a less than savory funeral director. It's all way over his head..but not far enough so that he's going to let himself be ripped off.
Despite many disgusting traits, (this book delves deeply into them), there was something about Harry I found compelling. Even during his most repulsive actions, my eyes were glued to the page to see how it would all end up. I've been a fan of Nicole's work for a while now, and if this was any other author, I might have put this book down during an especially revolting moment Harry was having...with himself. But I trusted the author to bring it all home, which she did, just not in the way I expected.
Overall, THE HALF-FREAKS is guaranteed to be like nothing you've ever read before. Take that as a dare, if you will. I did!
Highly recommended!
Find out more and pre-order a copy, here: https://vastarien-journal.com/the-hal...
*Thanks to Grimscribe Press for the paperback ARC of this novella in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
THE HALF-FREAKS defies neat genre labels; part character study, part weird tale, part awkwardly funny, it's hard to describe. Despite Harry vehemently stating often that he's no psycho like Norman Bates, (Nah! Nah!) he is still living with his mother, but he isn't a murderer. Or is he?
When his mother dies, Harry is forced to take part in the world, dealing with the hospital morgue and a less than savory funeral director. It's all way over his head..but not far enough so that he's going to let himself be ripped off.
Despite many disgusting traits, (this book delves deeply into them), there was something about Harry I found compelling. Even during his most repulsive actions, my eyes were glued to the page to see how it would all end up. I've been a fan of Nicole's work for a while now, and if this was any other author, I might have put this book down during an especially revolting moment Harry was having...with himself. But I trusted the author to bring it all home, which she did, just not in the way I expected.
Overall, THE HALF-FREAKS is guaranteed to be like nothing you've ever read before. Take that as a dare, if you will. I did!
Highly recommended!
Find out more and pre-order a copy, here: https://vastarien-journal.com/the-hal...
*Thanks to Grimscribe Press for the paperback ARC of this novella in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
October 1, 2023
When Mother Died, Reality Died...
THE HALF-FREAKS by Nicole Cushing
No spoilers. 3 1/2 stars. Harry Meyers is a man with natural human desires, frustrated by a pseudo-human world...
Harry is a character in Nicole's (the author's) story. Nicole is just a human (or something darker)...
Nicole believes Harry's brain is moldy... if you cut into his skull, you might see furry green mold in his brainpan...
But was his brain always moldy?...
Harry's facial structure made him look like Lon Chaney as Quasimodo. He was very uncomfortable to look at...
Harry visits Nicole often as she writes...
... He's sweaty all over, has man boobs, and dresses to show off his chest hairs. If he gets close to you, you'll smell body odor, tooth decay, and pomade...
Harry is antisocial, never married, and later in life was the subject of practical jokes and ridicule on the job...
Harry's story begins...
... as he visits his dying mother in the hospital. After she passes away, Harry must see to her funeral arrangements...
But there were half-freaks everywhere...
... People who wandered the grocery aisles and other places who looked human but weren't. Their movements created half-cracks in reality...
Two half-cracks made a whole crack in the universe...
To Harry...
A half-freak's body didn't add up. They may have had nerve damage or were an amputee, but to Harry...
They were half-freaks...
The hospital where Harry's mother died referred him to a half-freak mortician who tried to sell Harry a traditional Christian burial for his mother...
But...
Harry wanted Mom cremated, and that's where Harry's troubles dealing with half-freaks came to a head...
When Mother died, Harry's reality had died...
This story started out a little confusing, but once past the first three chapters, it unfolded quite nicely and was bizarre, but very good, and very humorous.
THE HALF-FREAKS by Nicole Cushing
No spoilers. 3 1/2 stars. Harry Meyers is a man with natural human desires, frustrated by a pseudo-human world...
Harry is a character in Nicole's (the author's) story. Nicole is just a human (or something darker)...
Nicole believes Harry's brain is moldy... if you cut into his skull, you might see furry green mold in his brainpan...
But was his brain always moldy?...
Harry's facial structure made him look like Lon Chaney as Quasimodo. He was very uncomfortable to look at...
Harry visits Nicole often as she writes...
... He's sweaty all over, has man boobs, and dresses to show off his chest hairs. If he gets close to you, you'll smell body odor, tooth decay, and pomade...
Harry is antisocial, never married, and later in life was the subject of practical jokes and ridicule on the job...
Harry's story begins...
... as he visits his dying mother in the hospital. After she passes away, Harry must see to her funeral arrangements...
But there were half-freaks everywhere...
... People who wandered the grocery aisles and other places who looked human but weren't. Their movements created half-cracks in reality...
Two half-cracks made a whole crack in the universe...
To Harry...
A half-freak's body didn't add up. They may have had nerve damage or were an amputee, but to Harry...
They were half-freaks...
The hospital where Harry's mother died referred him to a half-freak mortician who tried to sell Harry a traditional Christian burial for his mother...
But...
Harry wanted Mom cremated, and that's where Harry's troubles dealing with half-freaks came to a head...
When Mother died, Harry's reality had died...
This story started out a little confusing, but once past the first three chapters, it unfolded quite nicely and was bizarre, but very good, and very humorous.
September 21, 2019
The author herself releases a character into the fictional world. His breathing down her neck, tooth decay, and raunchiness is something our world needs to inhale; says the author.
Meeting Harry you learn his theories in “Half-freaks” and their attempt to crack reality. You also learn that day dreams lead to angered people yelling, or duh! Maybe we already know this... anyways
Nicole Cushing single-handedly opens a window to the Weird with an exuberance of her own.
Meeting Harry you learn his theories in “Half-freaks” and their attempt to crack reality. You also learn that day dreams lead to angered people yelling, or duh! Maybe we already know this... anyways
Nicole Cushing single-handedly opens a window to the Weird with an exuberance of her own.
October 26, 2019
My review of THE HALF-FREAKS can be found at High Fever Books.
Nicole Cushing is an author I’ve been meaning to read for a while now, and despite owning nearly all, if not everything, of what she’s published I just never quite got around to reading her stuff. She’s a writer that has come highly recommended to me by various other readers and reviewers, including my Staring Into The Abyss co-host, Scott Kemper. So, when Grimscribe editor and publisher Jon Padgett announced that ARCs were available for The Half-Freaks, I leapt at the chance to finally dig into one of Cushing’s titles. Now I’m sitting here, proverbially kicking myself in the ass for only just now discovering what a talent this author really is.
Harry is a working class guy, and a largely unexceptional one at that. He’s lived at home with his mother his entire life, rejected by the world at large. He’s a rube, a sad sack, a bit slow but not, as he calls it, “special knees,” and is wholly unprepared to deal with life after his mother’s passing. The world comes crashing down around Harry, even as he seems to be the only one aware of the half-freaks, those strange people with unusual physical characteristics who disguise themselves as normal human beings. What Harry doesn’t seem to know is that he is entirely fictional.
The Half-Freaks is a darkly humorous work of weird transgressive meta-fiction. The author regularly inserts herself into the narrative, beginning with an introduction explaining the mysterious ways in which Harry began to insert himself into her life and compelled her to write about him. We are not allowed to forget that Harry is a wholly imaginary character, yet that does little to interfere with our sympathies for him, even as Cushing deliberately tells us that which we already know: she’s just making this all up as she goes along! What we get, though, is a startlingly complete picture of Harry as a human being. There’s a warts-and-all realness to his existence, even if it is confined solely to the page, and Cushing does a brilliant job giving this character life. Harry may just be a working man, but his world view, his limitations and struggles, and his paranoia make him interesting enough that we’re compelled to stick with him, even when certain sexual proclivities take a turn toward the nasty, dark side. He’s not exactly broken but, as Cushing describes, he’s not exactly whole, either. His brain may not be broken, but it certainly is moldy, “exactly like long-expired lunch meat. … greasy, covered with tiny black splotches and thick green fuzz.” With a description like that, why wouldn’t you want to read about Harry? He’s a weak and inept man, the world’s punching bag, uncultured and uncertain of the ways in which the world operates, but his minor victories are worth rooting for, even as they take some odd comedic turns.
There’s a black vein of comedy worming its way through The Half-Freaks, not least of which is due to Harry and the situations he finds himself in, and his efforts to try and one-up himself over those who seek to take advantage of him. His stubborn refusal to be swindled by the half-freak funeral director takes some amusing turns, progressively plunging Harry deeper out of his element, and there’s some supremely wry commentary on gun sales late in the book that had me chuckling. Cushing, for her part, directly inserts her own brand of humor upon the proceedings. We’re told that the movements of the half-freaks break reality with a “sound like the soft tinkle of breaking glass crossed with the rumble of far-away thunder. For the sake of brevity,” Cushing writes, “I propose that we shorten this description to: softtinkle, rumblethunder.” Later, another noise is reduced, again for brevity’s sake, to “starsputter-grind, 1,000 noobab skeirhs.” There’s such a wide streak of ludicrousness throughout the book that it’s hard not laugh, and the levity is not only well-timed but completely welcome.
The Half-Freaks may have a measure of strange darkness about it, but it’s also a surprisingly jaunty sprint through a brief period of Harry’s life. It’s weird, but also highly engaging and compulsively readable, and it left me wanting more, not just of Harry, but of Cushing and the way she explores our world with her particular insights and eye toward the human condition. Luckily, I’ve got several more of her titles already on hand, and I’m eager to explore those soon.
(Note: I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher.)
Nicole Cushing is an author I’ve been meaning to read for a while now, and despite owning nearly all, if not everything, of what she’s published I just never quite got around to reading her stuff. She’s a writer that has come highly recommended to me by various other readers and reviewers, including my Staring Into The Abyss co-host, Scott Kemper. So, when Grimscribe editor and publisher Jon Padgett announced that ARCs were available for The Half-Freaks, I leapt at the chance to finally dig into one of Cushing’s titles. Now I’m sitting here, proverbially kicking myself in the ass for only just now discovering what a talent this author really is.
Harry is a working class guy, and a largely unexceptional one at that. He’s lived at home with his mother his entire life, rejected by the world at large. He’s a rube, a sad sack, a bit slow but not, as he calls it, “special knees,” and is wholly unprepared to deal with life after his mother’s passing. The world comes crashing down around Harry, even as he seems to be the only one aware of the half-freaks, those strange people with unusual physical characteristics who disguise themselves as normal human beings. What Harry doesn’t seem to know is that he is entirely fictional.
The Half-Freaks is a darkly humorous work of weird transgressive meta-fiction. The author regularly inserts herself into the narrative, beginning with an introduction explaining the mysterious ways in which Harry began to insert himself into her life and compelled her to write about him. We are not allowed to forget that Harry is a wholly imaginary character, yet that does little to interfere with our sympathies for him, even as Cushing deliberately tells us that which we already know: she’s just making this all up as she goes along! What we get, though, is a startlingly complete picture of Harry as a human being. There’s a warts-and-all realness to his existence, even if it is confined solely to the page, and Cushing does a brilliant job giving this character life. Harry may just be a working man, but his world view, his limitations and struggles, and his paranoia make him interesting enough that we’re compelled to stick with him, even when certain sexual proclivities take a turn toward the nasty, dark side. He’s not exactly broken but, as Cushing describes, he’s not exactly whole, either. His brain may not be broken, but it certainly is moldy, “exactly like long-expired lunch meat. … greasy, covered with tiny black splotches and thick green fuzz.” With a description like that, why wouldn’t you want to read about Harry? He’s a weak and inept man, the world’s punching bag, uncultured and uncertain of the ways in which the world operates, but his minor victories are worth rooting for, even as they take some odd comedic turns.
There’s a black vein of comedy worming its way through The Half-Freaks, not least of which is due to Harry and the situations he finds himself in, and his efforts to try and one-up himself over those who seek to take advantage of him. His stubborn refusal to be swindled by the half-freak funeral director takes some amusing turns, progressively plunging Harry deeper out of his element, and there’s some supremely wry commentary on gun sales late in the book that had me chuckling. Cushing, for her part, directly inserts her own brand of humor upon the proceedings. We’re told that the movements of the half-freaks break reality with a “sound like the soft tinkle of breaking glass crossed with the rumble of far-away thunder. For the sake of brevity,” Cushing writes, “I propose that we shorten this description to: softtinkle, rumblethunder.” Later, another noise is reduced, again for brevity’s sake, to “starsputter-grind, 1,000 noobab skeirhs.” There’s such a wide streak of ludicrousness throughout the book that it’s hard not laugh, and the levity is not only well-timed but completely welcome.
The Half-Freaks may have a measure of strange darkness about it, but it’s also a surprisingly jaunty sprint through a brief period of Harry’s life. It’s weird, but also highly engaging and compulsively readable, and it left me wanting more, not just of Harry, but of Cushing and the way she explores our world with her particular insights and eye toward the human condition. Luckily, I’ve got several more of her titles already on hand, and I’m eager to explore those soon.
(Note: I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher.)
September 17, 2019
Nicole Cushing is no stranger to writing about people that polite society would prefer to only exist behind locked doors and obscured by drapes. Her fiction is littered with them. From the unfortunately relatable character in Mr.Suicide, to any number of broken people existing within her stories, demanding to be seen and heard.
Not that the protagonist of The Half-Freaks is broken. Nah. Nah. What is he some kind of Norman Bates? Some kinda foamin’ at the mouth mama’s boy? Nah, he’s a workin’ man!
And it’s Nicole Cushing’s rare talent to make the struggles and the utter absurdity of this man’s existence your own struggles. Maybe your life isn’t quite as bleak and sexually bizarre as Harry’s, but you will inhabit and identify with some of this man’s thoughts whether you want to or not. You may feel pity for him, you may be disgusted by him, but you never hate or fear him. Ultimately, like many “special knees” people, he is more of a harm to himself, and harmed by the people around him, than he is a harm to others.
Cushing is extremely adept at painting a picture of decaying towns and broken, marginalized people but, just like Ligotti and Vonnegut, two authors her fiction reminds me of for vastly different reasons, she understands that there is such a thing as too much bleakness, so she offsets it with delightfully pitch-black humor. The sheer over-the-top nature of how overbearing the mortician is in Harry’s time of need, the chapter titles, the sardonic comments by the author, it’s all so delightful. There’s a glee and fun that really should not work with such a dark story, but it fits in perfectly, making you wonder why so much fiction is so self-serious. Don’t we all laugh at things that confuse or scare us? Isn’t humour a built in defense mechanism against insanity?
This novella understands this and wants you to, as well. The fourth wall can’t protect you here, and neither can the fact that this is fiction. Cushing invites you to realize that those things are beside the point. She entreats you to realize a lot of things with her jovial, conversational tone. This tone, this utter control of voice is what still lingers with me more than anything else after reading this sordid tale.
It might not be the best thing Cushing has written, which is no knock against it since Mr. Suicide is one of my favourite books of all time, but it is one of the most vital and masterful things to be published this year. She’s only getting better. As such, one of the first things I did when I finished it was order “A Sick, Grey Laugh.” If it’s anything like this, I’m in for a hell of a time.
If this kind of transgressive, confrontational fiction isn’t your bag, there’s no need to bite my head off. What am I? Some kind of fancy critic? Nah, nah.
I’m just a guy who likes good writing.
Not that the protagonist of The Half-Freaks is broken. Nah. Nah. What is he some kind of Norman Bates? Some kinda foamin’ at the mouth mama’s boy? Nah, he’s a workin’ man!
And it’s Nicole Cushing’s rare talent to make the struggles and the utter absurdity of this man’s existence your own struggles. Maybe your life isn’t quite as bleak and sexually bizarre as Harry’s, but you will inhabit and identify with some of this man’s thoughts whether you want to or not. You may feel pity for him, you may be disgusted by him, but you never hate or fear him. Ultimately, like many “special knees” people, he is more of a harm to himself, and harmed by the people around him, than he is a harm to others.
Cushing is extremely adept at painting a picture of decaying towns and broken, marginalized people but, just like Ligotti and Vonnegut, two authors her fiction reminds me of for vastly different reasons, she understands that there is such a thing as too much bleakness, so she offsets it with delightfully pitch-black humor. The sheer over-the-top nature of how overbearing the mortician is in Harry’s time of need, the chapter titles, the sardonic comments by the author, it’s all so delightful. There’s a glee and fun that really should not work with such a dark story, but it fits in perfectly, making you wonder why so much fiction is so self-serious. Don’t we all laugh at things that confuse or scare us? Isn’t humour a built in defense mechanism against insanity?
This novella understands this and wants you to, as well. The fourth wall can’t protect you here, and neither can the fact that this is fiction. Cushing invites you to realize that those things are beside the point. She entreats you to realize a lot of things with her jovial, conversational tone. This tone, this utter control of voice is what still lingers with me more than anything else after reading this sordid tale.
It might not be the best thing Cushing has written, which is no knock against it since Mr. Suicide is one of my favourite books of all time, but it is one of the most vital and masterful things to be published this year. She’s only getting better. As such, one of the first things I did when I finished it was order “A Sick, Grey Laugh.” If it’s anything like this, I’m in for a hell of a time.
If this kind of transgressive, confrontational fiction isn’t your bag, there’s no need to bite my head off. What am I? Some kind of fancy critic? Nah, nah.
I’m just a guy who likes good writing.
October 4, 2019
I am so excited about what the Vastarien/Grimscribe folks are up to and hope this is the first in a very long line of publications to be released in the coming years. Given the quality of their publications to date, adding this volume to my library was a no-brainer despite having never read anything by Nicole Cushing (although I suppose it was only a matter of time). This being the case, I really had no idea what to expect in terms of content or style but the story blurb and creepy cover art certainly didn't hurt.
I'm not sure I would call this a short novel or novella....or even a story; Nor would I call it a character study, but there are aspects of both present here and it's an intriguing read to be sure. As an unpublished author, I have never done studies beforehand for the characters that appear in my fiction, but after reading The Half-Freaks, I am reconsidering this. Not only was it fun to read, but defining a character down to the finest creepy detail in such a fashion as Cushing does allows for character development to flourish and to extrapolate, if used in a larger context, provide plenty of motivation for the character to do what they are going to do in an even bigger over-arcing story. Now I'm not saying that Harry is destined for anything bigger than what happens in The Half-Freaks, but stranger things have happened.
Sorry for digressing, but I'm now interested to read Cushing's Mr. Suicide and see her skills in action in a longer work.
All that being said about the fantastic devotion to depicting the main character.... The Half-Freaks DOES tell a snippet of a tale, a small part out of the main character's screwball existence. For me however, what happened in the story was actually secondary in importance as I was primarily busy being creeped out by some of the behavior exhibited by the main character in the story, Harry Meyers. I don't scare or get the heebie-jeebies very easily, but some of Harry's 'rituals' were just downright disturbing in all of the worst ways....which of course made me smile as I was being creeped out, because it just doesn't happen all that often. Congrats, Nicole, haha ;). Also, you're messed up.
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes off-kilter tales and superb characterization in their reading (and doesn't mind being creeped out while it's happening). I think the last time I remember being disturbed by a fictional character in a book in this way was probably Rex Miller's 'Slob' (though the two characters are alike in only the subtlest of nasty ways).
I'm not sure I would call this a short novel or novella....or even a story; Nor would I call it a character study, but there are aspects of both present here and it's an intriguing read to be sure. As an unpublished author, I have never done studies beforehand for the characters that appear in my fiction, but after reading The Half-Freaks, I am reconsidering this. Not only was it fun to read, but defining a character down to the finest creepy detail in such a fashion as Cushing does allows for character development to flourish and to extrapolate, if used in a larger context, provide plenty of motivation for the character to do what they are going to do in an even bigger over-arcing story. Now I'm not saying that Harry is destined for anything bigger than what happens in The Half-Freaks, but stranger things have happened.
Sorry for digressing, but I'm now interested to read Cushing's Mr. Suicide and see her skills in action in a longer work.
All that being said about the fantastic devotion to depicting the main character.... The Half-Freaks DOES tell a snippet of a tale, a small part out of the main character's screwball existence. For me however, what happened in the story was actually secondary in importance as I was primarily busy being creeped out by some of the behavior exhibited by the main character in the story, Harry Meyers. I don't scare or get the heebie-jeebies very easily, but some of Harry's 'rituals' were just downright disturbing in all of the worst ways....which of course made me smile as I was being creeped out, because it just doesn't happen all that often. Congrats, Nicole, haha ;). Also, you're messed up.
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes off-kilter tales and superb characterization in their reading (and doesn't mind being creeped out while it's happening). I think the last time I remember being disturbed by a fictional character in a book in this way was probably Rex Miller's 'Slob' (though the two characters are alike in only the subtlest of nasty ways).
December 1, 2019
Nicole Cushing's blend of dark metafiction, transgression, and Ligottian horror has made her one of my favorite authors. A Sick Gray Laugh and Mr. Suicide both ended up being huge discoveries of mine and The Half-Freaks is no different, exploring Cushing's pet subjects with a slightly more subdued and grounded take on the weird.
This one is as much about its main character as it is about Cushing herself, making it a good companion piece to A Sick Gray Laugh, which had broader aims, if only due to its size. The Half-Freaks is a novella and zeros in on the relationship between author and character, while also building a strange, strange world around them.
Highly recommended to fans of weird horror. Cushing is poised to be recognized as one of the genres top talents.
This one is as much about its main character as it is about Cushing herself, making it a good companion piece to A Sick Gray Laugh, which had broader aims, if only due to its size. The Half-Freaks is a novella and zeros in on the relationship between author and character, while also building a strange, strange world around them.
Highly recommended to fans of weird horror. Cushing is poised to be recognized as one of the genres top talents.
February 10, 2020
Delightfully weird and surreal. Review soon on CD Online.
July 23, 2020
Clearly the author was going for something dark and twisted here, but far too frequently overdoes it; and I don’t even mean with the subject matter which involves everything from self-immolation to bukkake paper mache.
No, in the sense that the author, herself a first-person omniscient character in the story, indulges in elements meant to be seen as inventive but just come off as clumsy, like naming a chapter with a one-sentence summary of what happens in that chapter. Or by making a point of straying off on a tangent, pausing, breaking the fourth wall – not as the main character mind you, as herself – and practically shaking the reader when something happens as if to say “Hey, you’re supposed to find this disturbing and see me as a horrible person for putting the character through this” which isn’t far off from actual written text in the book. Well, it’s disturbing alright but not in the way intended since all it does is shake the reader out of the story time and again. Too bad, because had it been used with some measure of moderation, it may have allowed the reader to invest fully in the story of a tragic, dysfunctional, unreliable narrator being told between each nudge of the elbow from his unreliable author.
No, in the sense that the author, herself a first-person omniscient character in the story, indulges in elements meant to be seen as inventive but just come off as clumsy, like naming a chapter with a one-sentence summary of what happens in that chapter. Or by making a point of straying off on a tangent, pausing, breaking the fourth wall – not as the main character mind you, as herself – and practically shaking the reader when something happens as if to say “Hey, you’re supposed to find this disturbing and see me as a horrible person for putting the character through this” which isn’t far off from actual written text in the book. Well, it’s disturbing alright but not in the way intended since all it does is shake the reader out of the story time and again. Too bad, because had it been used with some measure of moderation, it may have allowed the reader to invest fully in the story of a tragic, dysfunctional, unreliable narrator being told between each nudge of the elbow from his unreliable author.
July 30, 2024
I wanted to live this book, but I just didn’t. There were parts that would draw you back in but for the most part I just didn’t enjoy it. If this book were in like a collection about ghosts who visit the author and she makes up stories about them, this would be more palatable. As it is, it’s just a weird book, trying to shock you with weird masturbation and a weird character.
January 18, 2021
The more I read this, the more it reads me, with half plus half making a whole in real-time. Listen to what I say. Or am I adding two plus two and making five? I am convinced the concepts here of half-freaks, half-cracks, “post-mortem care”, pie charts for small mouths, its slant on Christian burial versus Cremation &c &c. are highly original concepts and will stick with me as I factor them into my life of reality as well as the special kind of literature I experience on a daily basis.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
November 22, 2019
The Half-Freaks is the story of Harry Meyers, a man being pulled apart by three different but equally uncontrollable forces.
The first is society at large. After his mother passes away somewhat suddenly, Harry finds himself in the position of having to make all her funeral arrangements, a task he is in no way prepared to deal with in any practical or theoretical sense. His social ineptitud in a bureocratic society he does not understand makes for some amusing happenstances, and it’s here that the book finds a really weird comedy I can only describe as if Daniel Clowes wrote an episode of Curb of Your Enthusiasm.
The second force tugging at Harry is the titular Half-Freaks, humanoid-looking beings lurking around town, and that only Harry can see—or, possibly, that only Harry dares acknowledge (and in this regard it brings to mind Thomas Ligotti’s story “the small people”). It’s here that the books finds its main source of horror to complement the comical.
The third and final force (and, perhaps, the worst of them all!), is Harry’s own author, Nicole Cushing. From the beginning there is a somewhat meta-fictional aspect with Cushing herself introducing us to Harry the character, who seems to be haunting her somehow. The books plays with the idea of whether authors invent or create characters, or if they are out there somewhere, lurking around as they wait for their stories to be told. Cushing does not seem to have the power to dictate what happens to Harry or affect its outcome, only narrate to us. It is an interesting concept that at first kinda took me out, like a movie somehow breaking the illusion and reminding you it is a movie, but it ends up being part of what made this book an interesting, funny read.
The first is society at large. After his mother passes away somewhat suddenly, Harry finds himself in the position of having to make all her funeral arrangements, a task he is in no way prepared to deal with in any practical or theoretical sense. His social ineptitud in a bureocratic society he does not understand makes for some amusing happenstances, and it’s here that the book finds a really weird comedy I can only describe as if Daniel Clowes wrote an episode of Curb of Your Enthusiasm.
The second force tugging at Harry is the titular Half-Freaks, humanoid-looking beings lurking around town, and that only Harry can see—or, possibly, that only Harry dares acknowledge (and in this regard it brings to mind Thomas Ligotti’s story “the small people”). It’s here that the books finds its main source of horror to complement the comical.
The third and final force (and, perhaps, the worst of them all!), is Harry’s own author, Nicole Cushing. From the beginning there is a somewhat meta-fictional aspect with Cushing herself introducing us to Harry the character, who seems to be haunting her somehow. The books plays with the idea of whether authors invent or create characters, or if they are out there somewhere, lurking around as they wait for their stories to be told. Cushing does not seem to have the power to dictate what happens to Harry or affect its outcome, only narrate to us. It is an interesting concept that at first kinda took me out, like a movie somehow breaking the illusion and reminding you it is a movie, but it ends up being part of what made this book an interesting, funny read.
December 26, 2020
Half Freaks is the story of Harry Meyers, a man described as Quasimoto Flinstone who lives with his elderly mother and has never been responsible for anything until he must arrange his mother's burial. Part of his problem may be the half freaks who seem to have infiltrated his town, with their malicious plans for domination and their not-quite-right faces. Or, is all of that in his warped and moldy head because he just can't deal with a little bit of responsibility?
Cushing's prose is on another level, pulling you into every word, and making it all feel so natural to fall into this world. The fact that she can make the most repulsive character something you want to know more about is miraculous. And it's not because she gives him a hero's journey or even a redeeming moral like a Frederich Bachman story, no, we simply have this awful man.
The story is told in the author's voice, as she regrets having to be aware of Harry and his story. It's a bit like Stranger Than Fiction, if we the audience all agreed Harold Crick should die.
It's captivating without having likeable characters, and charming in a grotesque way that will turn many readers off. Beware, if you think a book should have trigger warnings, this won't be for you. It will trigger pretty much everything.
This is for fans of Clive Barker, Chuck Pahliniuk, Mark Danielewski, Jason (David Wong) Pargin, and Lauren Beukes.
Cushing's prose is on another level, pulling you into every word, and making it all feel so natural to fall into this world. The fact that she can make the most repulsive character something you want to know more about is miraculous. And it's not because she gives him a hero's journey or even a redeeming moral like a Frederich Bachman story, no, we simply have this awful man.
The story is told in the author's voice, as she regrets having to be aware of Harry and his story. It's a bit like Stranger Than Fiction, if we the audience all agreed Harold Crick should die.
It's captivating without having likeable characters, and charming in a grotesque way that will turn many readers off. Beware, if you think a book should have trigger warnings, this won't be for you. It will trigger pretty much everything.
This is for fans of Clive Barker, Chuck Pahliniuk, Mark Danielewski, Jason (David Wong) Pargin, and Lauren Beukes.
October 22, 2019
I reviewed this for High Fever Books, but wanted to post something here...
Nicole Cushing’s The Half-Freaks is the perfect storm of the weird and dark humor. At the eye of the hurricane is our protagonist, a gumpy moldy-brained man that Cushing decides needs to be tormented for our amusement. And I am one hundred percent on board with the mundane death-by-a-thousand-papercuts that he faces. The Half-Freaks will instantly have you hooked by the first page with its unique narrative style and keep you going just to see if the main character will survive dealing with those he sees as the half-freaks.
Cushing’s style comes across right away. The first couple of chapters are sort of a discussion between us the reader and Cushing. It’s not quite breaking the fourth wall as much as an author giving you a peak behind the curtain. She wants to warn us that Harry, the main character, wasn’t too open with his backstory and has been hanging around her office. I love this concept because it sets up so much. We learn a lot about Harry, it gives us an idea of what to expect from her writing style, and tells us that Cushing is going to be a part of this narrative. It’s an original way to grab us and delivers on what it promises.
Nicole Cushing’s The Half-Freaks is the perfect storm of the weird and dark humor. At the eye of the hurricane is our protagonist, a gumpy moldy-brained man that Cushing decides needs to be tormented for our amusement. And I am one hundred percent on board with the mundane death-by-a-thousand-papercuts that he faces. The Half-Freaks will instantly have you hooked by the first page with its unique narrative style and keep you going just to see if the main character will survive dealing with those he sees as the half-freaks.
Cushing’s style comes across right away. The first couple of chapters are sort of a discussion between us the reader and Cushing. It’s not quite breaking the fourth wall as much as an author giving you a peak behind the curtain. She wants to warn us that Harry, the main character, wasn’t too open with his backstory and has been hanging around her office. I love this concept because it sets up so much. We learn a lot about Harry, it gives us an idea of what to expect from her writing style, and tells us that Cushing is going to be a part of this narrative. It’s an original way to grab us and delivers on what it promises.
November 13, 2019
The Half-Freaks is a meta tale of weird fiction that plays with the fourth wall, drags up the horrors of the Freudian/Lacanian Oedipal/Symbolic complex, and probes the mental instability of an adult male dealing with the loss of his mother. To be sure, the instability is already there, before the novel begins. But as Nicole Cushing takes the reader through disturbing vignettes, coloring in the the life of Harry Meyers, the novel bends towards the sympathetic. Is Harry Meyers a Half-Freak, or do the monstrous visions he has of others add up to the only freaks of the novel? If Harry Meyers is the Half-Freak, then what does it say about an audience who can sympathize? Harry is a man in the midst of a life coming apart: he is emotionally stunted, almost completely intellectually inert, at a loss how to survive without a mother despite being passed middle age himself. The joy of reading The Half-Freaks, however, stems from Cushing's seemingly effortless ability to blend horror and humor, meta commentary with a uniquely weird tale, showing her hand from time to time, but never the whole deck.
December 13, 2019
A fabrication of Harry before you.
Immortalized with stark complexities of one unique Harry.
The obscurity and decadent waking and walkings of Harry await, his realm of self-loathing may get under your skin but at the same time you want to see out his fate.
Seeing out this tale and the fictitious Harry is due to the successful skill of the storyteller in lucid form with psychological insight into the construct of Harry, this form of horror writing at times being a channel to stir you up, and a possible task at hand here, whilst spinning the tale forward into the weird fun ride chasm that is Harry.
Delightful skeptic Harry, you fetid soul your are off your rocker!
There will be no fan fiction to follow or children of Harry.
See you at the Town Supermarket Harry, your an absurdity, an imposter, interloper in this realm of existence, and next time I see you, open your mouth and call me half-freak to my face!
Enter at your peril this divine dark comedy of Nicole Cushing conjuring.
Next up, I will watch the 1980 Ken Russell movie Altered States, mentioned in here.
Review with excerpts @ More2Read
Immortalized with stark complexities of one unique Harry.
The obscurity and decadent waking and walkings of Harry await, his realm of self-loathing may get under your skin but at the same time you want to see out his fate.
Seeing out this tale and the fictitious Harry is due to the successful skill of the storyteller in lucid form with psychological insight into the construct of Harry, this form of horror writing at times being a channel to stir you up, and a possible task at hand here, whilst spinning the tale forward into the weird fun ride chasm that is Harry.
Delightful skeptic Harry, you fetid soul your are off your rocker!
There will be no fan fiction to follow or children of Harry.
See you at the Town Supermarket Harry, your an absurdity, an imposter, interloper in this realm of existence, and next time I see you, open your mouth and call me half-freak to my face!
Enter at your peril this divine dark comedy of Nicole Cushing conjuring.
Next up, I will watch the 1980 Ken Russell movie Altered States, mentioned in here.
Review with excerpts @ More2Read
May 7, 2020
After 7 or so years straight of exploring the new weird subgenre as much as I possibly can, stuff was starting to get very same-y outside of a core group of authors that I know I can depend on. I was looking for a new author who really impressed me with the uniqueness of their style and vision.
Nicole Cushing delivers. I will be reading more from her in the near future.
Nicole Cushing delivers. I will be reading more from her in the near future.
January 14, 2022
The Half-Freaks is such a brilliant, meta, and unusual book, it’s about the character Harry Meyers and his spawning from Cushing’s imagination. He visits her, breathes down her neck and is a menacing presence that she longs to know about… so she creates a backstory for this sad and twisted man. The story sees Harry deal with the death of his mother, and an already disturbed mind factures further as half-freaks menace him, and the world falls apart.
It’s hard to describe this book effectively as it’s so unique and odd, I adored it as I have with Cushing’s past books, she proves time and time again her skill, talent and how wonderfully warped her imagination is!
It’s hard to describe this book effectively as it’s so unique and odd, I adored it as I have with Cushing’s past books, she proves time and time again her skill, talent and how wonderfully warped her imagination is!
September 26, 2023
The prose is raw. The gore is vivid, the character is memorable. The story as a whole, I liked, but didn't love. Though i appreciate the self awareness, social commentary, unique narration style, and the hallmarks of it's genre, I'm left with a profound sense that this book went a little bit over my head, or that perhaps I'm missing something. That said, I will definitely be reading Nicole Cushing again.
April 7, 2023
This is one of those werid books that you think you are not going to enjoy when you are only a few pages in, but by the end of it, you think it might live in your brain for a long time.
Deeply werid and strange with a main character you hope to never meet, it's also very well written and somehow I felt like I couldn't put it down.
Deeply werid and strange with a main character you hope to never meet, it's also very well written and somehow I felt like I couldn't put it down.
May 19, 2020
Wow. WOW. What did I just read?!
It’s surreal. It’s bizarre. It’s ironic and self aware.
It’s funny and disgusting and twisted and sad and insane and horrific and then it’s over.
I’ve never read a book like this. I hope to read more like it.
It’s surreal. It’s bizarre. It’s ironic and self aware.
It’s funny and disgusting and twisted and sad and insane and horrific and then it’s over.
I’ve never read a book like this. I hope to read more like it.
May 30, 2022
Firstly, the cover is so creepy. I placed this one face-down whenever I took a break.
Secondly (and more importantly), I loved this goofy little glimpse into Nicole Cushing's mind. It's a pretty short story, but is puffed out a bit by describing the author's relationship with her fictional character. It's not fluff, it's magic. It's a framing device that made me laugh my ass off at a book with a pretty horrific premise, and an even more gruesome conclusion. Another brilliant book by someone who is fast becoming one of my favorite authors!
Secondly (and more importantly), I loved this goofy little glimpse into Nicole Cushing's mind. It's a pretty short story, but is puffed out a bit by describing the author's relationship with her fictional character. It's not fluff, it's magic. It's a framing device that made me laugh my ass off at a book with a pretty horrific premise, and an even more gruesome conclusion. Another brilliant book by someone who is fast becoming one of my favorite authors!
August 1, 2020
Horrible, but mercifully short enough I didn’t have to spend too much time there. This is my first Cushing excursion: she is scary talented, and I have yet 2-3 more books in the TBR queue.
November 21, 2021
This was my first time reading Nicole Cushing. I am still thinking about it, a rather amazing work of character development and fascinating writing, I will certainly be picking up more of her work.
October 23, 2023
kind of meta, kind of weird, kind of gross
April 16, 2025
Surprisingly unexpected. Had not heard of the author and am not particular to the horror genre, and, surprisingly enough, this was not of the horror genre. Quite witty and, well, unexpected.
September 6, 2022
3½ Stars
November 8, 2022
Another great bit of weird fiction from Nicole Cushing. Metafictional, creepy, funny, and disturbing - it is well worth a read.
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