Gordon is an everyday seaside psycho, kidnapping and killing for fun, with a quality torture basement to boot. His latest victim is Jane. Sadly for Gordon, Jane turns out to be a handful of energy. Cosmic energy. And everything is about to go wrong, in the bloodiest way possible.
Jane Doe is a novella that some people might find distasteful. Actually, most people might find it distasteful. If you are of a nervous disposition, or have a weak stomach, perhaps you might want to give this one a miss, yes?
Full of blood, gore, brain matter and more, Jane Doe is an extreme horror, painted with the blackest of humour. Consider this a trigger warning for just about everything.
The book started in quite an exciting way. A woman being abducted by cabdriver Gordon. What happens afterward was very strange. Confined in the basement her hunger for the flesh of children came up. What is she? Gordon's god? Well, from there on the story got a bit of a downer. Unrealistic, bizarre in a way it didn't affect me. Maybe for fans of the author. Not my cup of tea to be honest!
This story centres around Gordon, who pretends to be a taxi driver in the seaside town of Birchingate, to enable him to snatch women and keep them as prisoners in his basement. One woman he picks up is different and though he keeps her imprisoned, the tables have completely turned, and it’s this ‘Jane Doe’ who is in control.
This is all I’m saying as anything else would be giving spoilers!
This was entertaining, vile, very bloody and gory, and a lot of fun. Not really any sex, just a tiny bit, which is probably why I dropped one star 🤣
This was a gnarly cosmic horror experience. Jane and Gordon went together as perfectly as peanut butter and jelly. This flipped the typical script on a lone serial killer who kidnaps the wrong person. No, this isn't about revenge, it's about subservience and codependence to a higher power. Not a ton of gore, but a perfect amount to move the scenes along. And the length was spot on, never overstaying its welcome, either. Good pacing, lovely character development, and it left me smiling. Definitely one of my favorite Ash Ericmore stories to date.
It was tough to decide how to rate this but with regard to what I read I liked it. So I'll explain the dilemma I have been having with regard to shorter reads. Some like in the If I Die Before I Wake series which is a collection of short stories (and admittedly I've only read the first volume) flat out suck. I also seem to have an issue with a lot of novella's in that I see the potential for so much more in them so to a degree I get frustrated wondering why the author chose not to see that. Such is the case with this novella.
Gordon is a serial killer, rapist who has outfitted his house so as to house his victims. He uses his taxi to lure in his victims. However, when he picks up Jane Doe and successfully houses her in his basement sex chamber he discovers he has trapped and captured something more than human and something that ultimately turns the table on his plans. Such a cool little concept isn't it?
Jane Doe really puts Gordon to work and he clearly regrets capturing her. Could she get away from him. Oh, I think that answer is clear but why should she when she has a way of getting him to do as she pleases. Again what a cool little concept here.
Yet the book is just shy of 100 pages and my mind is thinking man if I had the intelligence to come up with such a book idea I think I could have gotten way more out of this than a novella. So perhaps it's just me and I should take what I read for just that, a longer than usual short story that was a lot of fun and after all what is wrong with a good fun horrific read?
I should stress that the cover of this advises that there is graphic content and extreme horror and that advisory is spot on my friends! There is a child who gets killed and at a certain level children being killed really bothers me. Figure that - lol. Yet killing a child is one thing, eating it is at a whole different level and that's what happens in this short little novella.
So be forewarned the content of this book is just as advertised, graphic with extreme horror. It was a nice change of pace for me as I am just delving into the graphic and extreme horror genre. Naturally such a genre can be really out there so to speak and when reading it I come into parts that I really don't buy into but who am I to question the depravity and its extent within some of mankind? Clearly we are a species capable of so much depravity. Also, as per maybe 5 out of the last six or seven books I've read their is an allusion to creatures who may appear to be human but are in fact so much more and I have no issue at all with regard to that aspect. In fact I kind of strongly buy into that premise and so enjoy reading about it.
I rounded this up to four stars but it is a weak four stars for me for the issues I have with this type of novella. However, I read short story collections and novella's to squeeze in a story per se. It is the type of book I'll bring to read while waiting for an appointment or a car repair so to speak, a story I'll fit in while getting ready for a buddy read. So, I have been scouring for short story collections and if you have any feel free to let me know. I recently purchased The Imago Sequence based on an author's recommendation and while at University I took an English class that dealt with science fiction and our short story book was The Road to Science Fiction: From Heinlein to Here. I didn't fair all that well in that class but loved that short story collection which I am adding to my collection as well :)
Very well written. I couldn't put it down, I mean, I had to a few times, I had other stuff to do. But I wanted to keep picking it back up. So, you know, it was good. Read it.
Gordon screamed a silent scream as Jane fucked him. She slid in and out of him, finding ways to intrude into his flesh, her life quashing his, his consciousness sliding away from him, trapped, motionless in a floating nothing as he became part of her.
Well that was totally different than what I was expecting but it was fucking awesome. It was different twist on the classic guy kidnaps lady with a syfy\creature type feel don't want to give to much away but I liked this one a lot. 5 fleshy stars from me.
This was a book with some surprises! I loved it. Books that start off in one direction then change directions are my favorite. Ash Ericmore is a brilliant author.
This novella is a vicious, vulgar, insane piece of splatterpunk filth. Atrocity and repugnant behavior abound. The villain(s) are... woah boy. So, yeah, it's AWESOME BABY!!! Buckle yourself in, this one is sloppy.
What the f....? What just happened? Quick, shocking, disgusting read.
But 3.5 rounded up. I didn't enjoy (and trying not to give spoilers), the dog, there was tentacles and that it was short I couldn't connect to the characters although it started off strong.
Another great gore filled story from Ash. His short stories are always great and also get me out of a rut after, or while reading a longer novel. This one I wasn’t expecting the plot twist at all. Gordon got what he deserved,
Gordon just wanted to abduct a nice lady, give her a place to rest her head and make her his for a while. Unfortunately, Jane is anything but a nice lady. Locked away in the void inside of her lurks a godly abomination that requires the flesh. She will do what she needs to do in order to get her fill.
I’ve read time and time again the classic tale of a man abducting a woman and keeping her in his basement, but Ericmore wins the Dakota Award for Originality on this one! Never has the thought of this story crossed my mind. It’s brilliant! When something seems so foreign to you, it’s hard to really guess where it goes, and it was a wonderful trip to not be in control. The unpredictability of this story shows off Ericmore’s story crafting skills. The man can write, people!
A tale of a human monster meeting a cosmic monster.
Gordon likes to kidnap and kill, but he chooses the wrong victim when he locks Jane up in his basement. Soon he starts to become her unwilling slave.
This was a brief story, but graphic in nature, perfect for fans of extreme horror. I enjoyed seeing a killer come up against something stronger than he could ever imagine.
This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Nothing wrong per se, other than maybe a letdown on the marketing side since it was pretty tame for "extreme horror."
The story follows Gordon, a serial killer who uses taxi driving as a cover to grab his latest victim as the story opens. He gets more than he bargains for when it turns out the woman is a cosmic entity of some sort. It's a great idea and I enjoyed the broad strokes of the premise.
I enjoyed the initial reversal of roles as the captor became the captured, but as the story progressed, I found myself waiting for it to get out of second gear. It never did. Objectively, things escalated, but it just didn't interest me all that much. Maybe it was because I wasn't too taken by the main character. He had some interesting mental tangents at times, but I guess I just expected more, considering the book's title was Jane Doe: Extreme Horror.
My middling interest also made the dozen or so misused words and other mistakes stick out more than they might have.
In the grand scheme of things, this was a fine short horror novella. Remove the "extreme horror" and call it a slow-burn cosmic suspense and I might have gone into it with a better mindset.
Not gonna lie, this is one of those WTF did I just read books 🤭 It’s a short extreme horror novella with a splash of humour. To which I freely admit I did scoff and giggle at parts.
Please do not read this if you can’t handle extreme gore, m*rder of all ages, bl00d, and supernatural control 🤷🏻♀️ etc.
I beginning to think I have lost not only my marbles but any sense of sanity now…naw! I never had it in the first place 🤣🤣🤣
4.5⭐️ I read this within an hour because I couldn’t put it down. It was interesting concept for a book. I just wish the ending would have went a little differently. Only because I love a good revenge! Gordon picked the wrong woman to abduct is all I will say! It’s a must read!
I have been looking for extreme horror and this is it
I would rate this book higher but it didn’t flow very well in some sections. In one part, there was some grammatical errors. All in all, extreme horror.
“Have you not noticed the influence that I can have over you? That I have had over you since you brought me down here. You do what I want, when I tell you. You rarely even question it. And in your dreams … in your dreams you are only my puppet.”
Gordon was the traditional kidnapper for years before his luck would suddenly and shockingly change. Constantly on the prowl for beautiful young woman to add to his captives, he would encounter Jane for the first time. Driving for a taxi service gave him alibi upon alibi as he picked them up one by one. Yet Jane has something different about her. From the day he brought her to his basement and shackled her ankle she had something off about her. Not frightened or easing for her life, instead she was totally calm and controlled him. She was a Godly creature who fed upon flesh of the deceased, and used Gordon as her pawn to obtain the flesh. First he slaughtered a young buy for her, then a teenage girl before his neighbor Nathan also fell victim to her hungers. Opening her chest reveled a dark ess inside, before tentacles reached out and stole the body inside. As he tried to poison her, he succeeded in destroying the vessel but unlocked her to fully fill his mind. Now it's weeks later and the police are hot on his trail as he abducted and slaughtered three children on a public beach to feed her. Yet she felt not an ounce of fear.
“Where is the flesh?” she asked. “I can …” She pulled a long breath in through her nose. “… smell it.”
This is the story of Gordon. Gordon poses as a taxi driver. He stalks the station waiting for his next fare.
When he finds his fare he takes them back to his house, drugs them and chains them up downstairs for his playthings. He's been doing this for at least 7 years. Life's been good to Gordon.
When we catch up with Gordon he spies Jane and gives her a ride. It's a bit early for her appointment so he offers to take her to a Cafe.....problem is the Cafe has been closed for years, but Jane doesn't know this. When they arrive he fakes disappointment and says he has coffee at his house if she wants. He assures her that he's not that kind of boy and that she will be safe...she agrees.
When they get to his house makes her a cup o' Joe and drugs her......sorry Jane ya trusted Gordon. He takes her to his playroom (basically his basement with a small bedroom with a bathroom, and a chain in the wall).
Little does Gordon know Jane is not your typical fare, and she has a rather interesting appetite that needs to be tended to.
I enjoyed this book up until a point, however this was so short (98 pages) that there wasn't enough character build for Jane. I wanted to know/learn more about her. So this for me was a 2.5 star, and rounded up to 3 for Goodreads.
*I'm not going to give you the 'what this book is about' blurb - you can read that elsewhere.
1. If you've been around a bit you know I absolutely LOVE Ash Ericmore. That being said, this was a no for me. 2. I do not mean this book is not well written. It is (duh!). I personally just didn't prefer it when compared with other Ericmore works. When you read as much of his stuff as I have/do, you're bound to have one that falls to the bottom of the list and this was it for me. 3. Revenge is typically something I love in a novel and I can't say I wasn't a little thrilled to see Gordon get schooled. He absolutely deserved it. It just happened in a way I didn't care for. I think Cosmic Horror is not my jam. Who knew?! 4. If you like Revenge and Cosmic Horror and can stomach gore, this very well may be a book you love!
When opening an extreme horror book you understand one thing: you never know what is in store. When I started this book, I don't think I was prepared for a monster horror. It was a pleasant surprise. I will also say, this will not be one of my favorites from Ericmore. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, that didn't require me to have a map to get to the point. The horror was definitely there: gross, bloody, shocking, and fulfilling. This story just didn't appeal to me. I couldn't get into the characters. I didn't love them and the codependency didn't help. That said, the codependency is part of the monster's deal. Overall, I do recommend it. It's got all the elements of extreme horror, it's well written, and the pacing is good. I'll let you decide on the characters.
I’m slowly making my way down Ericmores Audible list (thank you for all the codes) and decided to start with this little gem!
Gordon is a clever guy! He’s sound proofed his home, turned the basement into a perfect bedroom to house his “guests” & has the perfect pretend job as a taxi driver. Why does he do all of this? Well because he kidnaps women of course!
All of this has worked well for him so far, that is until he meets Jane. She was the easiest of catches, willingly going to his home and he’s excited to see her tucked away in the basement.
Jane isn’t like the others though, oh no, he soon sees he has his hands full & most of the time they’re painted red 🩸
I went in blind with this so didn’t expect any of the plot 😂 it was a good surprise! The narration was so much fun, I found myself giggling at his British humour and the words he used when annoyed 🤭
Another brilliant read from Ash 👌🏻Check those triggers it’s a bloody one! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤎
I started my journey into Ash Ericmore’s twisted writing with the Smalls family, then the zany Bob Sausage shorts, and now here I am with a whole new mindfuck in Jane Doe! This was an amazing early-story twist that just kept getting weirder and better as I read on! Reminded me a bit of Koontz’s “Intensity” but with less dogs and more tentacles. There was a time when I thought “Intensity” was the craziest, most violent story I’d ever read, but that time was long forgotten once I was introduced to Ericmore’s brilliance!
My first book from the author. Enjoyed it a lot, bloody, gory and extreme. Loved the premise. Gordon picks up someone, locks them in his basement but it turns out that person is more than he bargained for, and his already unusual life gets just a bit more unusual. The humour was done well, didn't find it jarring which usually happens with comedy in horror, it was done well, (or maybe I have a similar humour to the author). My only minor problem is that there are some typos in the ebook version which I got from Amazon. It did pull me out of the scenes, but overall still found it enjoyable.
I wasn't sure about starting this because I didn't know how I would initially feel. I love horror movies, thriller books, so it made sense to read something like this for a thrill. The beginning of this had me on edge and I was horrified with the possibility of what could happen, but that only lasted until the reveal. While it was interesting to read, I guess I'm one of the desensitized and didn't feel as "horrified" as I thought I would be. However, I would say that if you enjoy extreme horror, give this a go as it's a quick read.