What do you think?
Rate this book
Hog Head
Judith drove two hours every week to see her foster brother at the state hospital. She had been doing this for the past five years. She was the only one who would. Their former foster mother couldn’t even stand to look at him after what he did...the pig head. The rope. The knife. The blood...She didn’t get how Judith could. Judith would carry those scars for life because of him.
But Judith was his only family. She felt she had a responsibility to him. He was ill. Society was not kind to those suffering from mental illness. It wasn’t like cancer, something you could scan, measure, and see. Something that could be cut out...
A tale of a mentally ill young man, his foster sister, and multiple pig heads.
But Judith was his only family. She felt she had a responsibility to him. He was ill. Society was not kind to those suffering from mental illness. It wasn’t like cancer, something you could scan, measure, and see. Something that could be cut out...
A tale of a mentally ill young man, his foster sister, and multiple pig heads.
- GenresShort StoriesHorror
Unknown Binding
3 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Bedlam
92 books245 followersElizabeth Bedlam is a writer of satire, dark humor, and low-brow literary fiction. She has been featured in anthologies and zines that you've probably never heard of including Anti-This/Anti-That, Low Life, Horror Sleaze Trash, and Soiled Purity.
Her most-read works include Rabbit Skin Glue and Lucy the Satanist. She has been praised for her realistic depictions of neurotic females.
Elizabeth is a Michigan native. She currently lives and writes from Melbourne, AU.
Correspond!
Instagram: @elizabeth.bedlam or @swann.bedlam
Email: elizabethbedlam@gmail.com
Website: swannbedlam.com
Her most-read works include Rabbit Skin Glue and Lucy the Satanist. She has been praised for her realistic depictions of neurotic females.
Elizabeth is a Michigan native. She currently lives and writes from Melbourne, AU.
Correspond!
Instagram: @elizabeth.bedlam or @swann.bedlam
Email: elizabethbedlam@gmail.com
Website: swannbedlam.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 16, 2020
A raw and disturbing look at childhood abuse and mental illness. A story not soon forgotten.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
February 1, 2021
HH (Hog Head) is a death metal musician committed to an insane asylum. He's been committed by his foster mother who caught him defiling his sister. Just to add more bile to the plot HH has a hog head fetish, which I'll leave for you to discover in more detail yourself. Everything is about to change, but it's all up to his sister.
Because the plot is based on sexual trauma most of the story is told in flashback. The revelatory memories, as they unfold could have been disturbing and sensational, but to the credit of Bedlam are surreal instead. If there was one flaw in the book, I thought the character of the foster father could have been fleshed out (pun intended) more so we could get a better idea of what went down in this twisted family. Bedlam does it again.
Because the plot is based on sexual trauma most of the story is told in flashback. The revelatory memories, as they unfold could have been disturbing and sensational, but to the credit of Bedlam are surreal instead. If there was one flaw in the book, I thought the character of the foster father could have been fleshed out (pun intended) more so we could get a better idea of what went down in this twisted family. Bedlam does it again.
November 17, 2020
A disturbing masterpiece from a writer with the rare talent of getting inside the head of the mentally deranged.
June 25, 2023
A gross and disturbing look into the lives over two very damaged individuals. It took me a minute to get used to the writing style, but once I did I read it in like a half hour.
November 19, 2020
Hog Head
This is my first time reading Elizabeth Bedlam and I gotta say it was quite an experience. This book was awesome and totally psychologically fucked up. I am definitely a fan and really dig her style I will be reading more from her. I really enjoyed this story it will stick with me for a while. Just read it is all I have to say
This is my first time reading Elizabeth Bedlam and I gotta say it was quite an experience. This book was awesome and totally psychologically fucked up. I am definitely a fan and really dig her style I will be reading more from her. I really enjoyed this story it will stick with me for a while. Just read it is all I have to say
January 27, 2022
Oink oink!!
This was the first novella I’ve ever read from Elizabeth Bedlam. A story of abuse and control, which was doled out by HH who as a kid, was obviously abused himself, and who has an unhealthy obsession with pigs/hogs. Poor Judith, both of them foster kids, just wanted to be loved!
This was the first novella I’ve ever read from Elizabeth Bedlam. A story of abuse and control, which was doled out by HH who as a kid, was obviously abused himself, and who has an unhealthy obsession with pigs/hogs. Poor Judith, both of them foster kids, just wanted to be loved!
January 25, 2021
This is one of those books that’s so good I have trouble reviewing it. The same thing happened when I sat down to review Bedlam’s novel, On Human Hearts and Hog Parts, which features many of the same characters. Without giving too much away, Hog Head is a morally complex tale of twisted love, sexual perversion, and that most simple but complex of qualities, human empathy. The characters are all nuanced and exceedingly believable. The themes are genuinely distressing, but handled with such sensitivity and downright genius that the result is a beautiful portrait of believable humanity viewed in extreme conditions. There are also touches of Bedlam’s unique black wit throughout. Highly recommended.
November 12, 2020
This was a fairly quick read. The author really pulled something off here by creating two extremely well-developed and crafted characters in such a short work. I found them both fascinating and they still linger in parts of my mind. If you are a writer, instead of wasting your time with those "how to write interesting character" books, read this instead, and take some notes.
August 9, 2021
Gettin' yo pork on.
A deeply disturbing and difficult book to read and yet I feel somebody needed to write this and get it out in the open. The sanitized version of sexual abuse that we hear on news reports gives us, the naive public, a softer view of what actually happens, and also an acceptance of the pitifully short sentences the courts impose on these creeps. This short story will fill you with more dread than when the dentist starts drilling your teeth and then says, "Gee, I think I forgot the anesthetic." Or when the pilot leaves the PA turned on and you hear, "If we lose one more engine, we're going down." The characters are easy to imagine. Poor Judith! You can't help but feel sorry for her.
There's something about this author's writing that makes me think she's an introvert. I'm possibly wrong, but it inspired me to read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Ms Bedlam tells it like it is though.
A deeply disturbing and difficult book to read and yet I feel somebody needed to write this and get it out in the open. The sanitized version of sexual abuse that we hear on news reports gives us, the naive public, a softer view of what actually happens, and also an acceptance of the pitifully short sentences the courts impose on these creeps. This short story will fill you with more dread than when the dentist starts drilling your teeth and then says, "Gee, I think I forgot the anesthetic." Or when the pilot leaves the PA turned on and you hear, "If we lose one more engine, we're going down." The characters are easy to imagine. Poor Judith! You can't help but feel sorry for her.
There's something about this author's writing that makes me think she's an introvert. I'm possibly wrong, but it inspired me to read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Ms Bedlam tells it like it is though.
March 10, 2021
A disturbing reflection on the effects of childhood trauma and abuse. The characters are very well written with a distinct voice, although I felt some of them needed a little more screen time.
The central theme of the story is an exploration of the struggles with the battle to show love and compassion towards someone that has caused pain and suffering, but also wanting to move on and recover. It does this very well, with sensitivity, but doesn't pull its punches. Great tension building, uncomfortable to read in parts.
The central theme of the story is an exploration of the struggles with the battle to show love and compassion towards someone that has caused pain and suffering, but also wanting to move on and recover. It does this very well, with sensitivity, but doesn't pull its punches. Great tension building, uncomfortable to read in parts.
June 1, 2021
Wow this was incredible and super creepy. Hog Head is one fucked up character. This is pretty unsettling the whole way through. I really wanna meet Elizabeth Bedlam.
May 29, 2021
Well, That was just fucking disturbing!!
Why do I read this stuff??? I am never gonna look at my pigs the same! Daniel Volpe's Chickenator made me carry hot sauce to feed my chickens and Bedlam and Hog Head.......Jesus Christ I am never gonna want to go out and feed all my animals. Fuck it, still not enough to make me quit reading this wonderfully disturbing shit. And man, was this story disturbing. This is my first Bedlam read and certainly won't be my last. Shout out to the Written In Red podcast for turning me on to her!! If all the rest are anything like this one, I am in for a hell of a ride!
Happy Reading and Splatter On.....
Why do I read this stuff??? I am never gonna look at my pigs the same! Daniel Volpe's Chickenator made me carry hot sauce to feed my chickens and Bedlam and Hog Head.......Jesus Christ I am never gonna want to go out and feed all my animals. Fuck it, still not enough to make me quit reading this wonderfully disturbing shit. And man, was this story disturbing. This is my first Bedlam read and certainly won't be my last. Shout out to the Written In Red podcast for turning me on to her!! If all the rest are anything like this one, I am in for a hell of a ride!
Happy Reading and Splatter On.....
May 19, 2021
Completely enthralling. I was enchanted and repulsed by the characters and story line. It was disgusting without being overly descriptive.
February 1, 2025
This writer did a really great job on both povs. I believe that this story could spread awareness on how women are shaped by society and how when certain men do something harmful to women, those men just get to be free and do it again. Even in the ending Judith had more consequences than him. I wish Judith would of just not seen him anymore but I understand.
August 31, 2020
Subtle. Original. Loved it!
April 28, 2022
Interesting set up for a short story. I felt it ended abruptly. I thought it might get darker.
December 7, 2022
So sad and disturbing. I couldn’t stop reading.
August 12, 2023
Not as funny as her other work, but much more realistic and personal. Despite the graphic edginess, I can tell everything she writes has a message.
August 13, 2025
This was absolutely disturbing. Read it.
August 22, 2022
I had a hard time giving this book a rating. It was raw, disturbing and made me cringe several times BUT it was also so captivating. I couldn't stop myself from reading it.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews