Wearing Skin

Wearing Horror #1

by Simon Paul Woodward

None of us are what we seem to be on the outside. We are all pretending. We are all wearing skin.

The Angel of Loughborough Junctions: An amoral filmmaker experiences the horror of the world through an angel’s eyes.

Children of Ink: A living tattoo breaks one of the Five Laws of Ink and suffers the terror of life away from flesh.

Wearing Skin: Bigotry conquers true love in a blood-splattered tale of body swapping, sex and immortality.

American Sexual Lobster: A seafood chef loses his mind and body on a night of shellfish slaughter.

Manny & the Monkeys: An egotistical writer’s life is ripped apart by escalating, and increasingly bizarre, coincidences.

These 12 unsettling short stories include the British Fantasy Society award-winning Manny & The Monkeys.

If you're a fan of Stephen King, Joe Hill or JT Lawrence you'll love these dark stories with a twist. Get ready to stay up all night with award-winning horror author Simon Paul Woodward.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2020

About the author

Simon Paul Woodward writes horror, science-fiction and dark-fantasy for adults and young adults. He lives just south of London (London, England that is … not one of the 10 Londons in the USA, London Kiribati or 8837-London, which is an asteroid). It’s best to be precise about these things.

Before he didn’t live on an asteroid, he was born in the Midlands, studied in the North and relocated to the South. His accent is a bit of a mess.

He loves Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Michael Marshall Smith, David Mitchell, Patrick Ness, China Mieville, The Flaming Lips, Elbow, Ennio Morricone, Sergio Leone, David Lynch, David Lean, Johnny Marr, Max Richter, football and running, gin and bagels... but believes marzipan was created by the Devil (after he finished spawning brussel sprouts).

You can visit him at www.simonpaulwoodward.com
To receive email updates about new releases, and to receive a free copy of ALL THE DEAD THINGS, sign up for my Readers’ Group by clicking this link (opens a secure signup form in a new window).

Reviews

[Cheryl (Super Slump)]

This is a 4.5 star read.

Man! ....... this was a fine read. A damn fine read!!

[Kebbie Stephenson]

The words creative, creepy, and suspenseful can only begin to describe this amazing collection of short stories. Simon Paul Woodward has the imagination to create fantastic worlds, and the talent to bring them to life. I felt like I got to know all the characters, despite the short amount of time I got to spend with each of them. I truly lived in these worlds (as scary as that was sometimes) and love every second of it. If you want to be on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, turning pages faster than lightning while you forget to breathe, then this is definitely the book for you.

[Agna]

A collection of 12 short horror stories, right on time for Halloween. Some are creepy, others unsettling or bizarre.
My favourites:
- The Angel of Loughborough Junctions: An amoral filmmaker experiences the horror of the world through an angel’s eyes;
- Children of Ink: a living tattoo breaks one of the Five Laws of Ink and suffers the terror of life away from flesh;
- The Anatomy of Tears: Dr Celeste carefully harvests tears from his test subjects in search of the image of emotion.

[Randa Sperling]

Very creepy stories. I read all the horror I can get my hands on but these stories stood out of the crowd. Recommend!

[Pan | Book Reviews and Recommendations]

I wear a skin when I wake up in the morning. I wear a skin when I leave for work. I wear a skin when I mingle with people. I shed my skin when I am all alone.

Simon Paul Woodward was awesome enough to send me a copy of his latest book, 'Wearing Skin, for review.

This fantastic collection consists of 12 'skins'. 12 unsettling and unique short stories that deliver more than just a punch.

Dear reader, you are in for a treat from the very moment you get your hands on this truly inventive and horrific (in a very good way) read. A nice Halloween treat; as 'Wearing Skin' launches right on the spookiest day of the year.

See the sad and disturbing world through 'borrowed' angel eyes, experience interdimensional world traveling through a seer's out of body abilities, feel the horror of a law defying tattoo as the punishment is truly severe, cry for your doctor so you can get your past revealed, meet the world's unluckiest chef and writer.

Dark tales with a twist that will keep you up all night. The writing is beautiful and inventive, the style unique and the graphic horror comes in waves. Huge, massive, waves to sweep you of you feet and launch you into surreal worlds.

My personal favorites 'Children of Ink', a story that caused me nightmares and 'Manny
and the Monkeys' a story that truly stressed me out. No wonder why it won the British Fantasy Society award.


This Halloween, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of 'Wearing Skin'. It will send shivers down your spine. Not only because it's packed with horror literature diamonds but also because it is a prime example of how creative an author's writing can be.

Get it at:
https://getbook.at/wearingskin

[Samantha]

Review: Wearing Skin
By: Simon Paul Woodward
Out: 31 OCT 2020
4/5
•
This collection of horror stories includes 12 unique short stories. I obviously can't review all 12 within my review, but I can tell you a little about my favorites. A filmmaker experiences an ungodly world through stolen angel eyes, immortal beings wearing the skin of humans, a doctor able to see into your past when you cry, a world where tattoos can tear away from flesh and come alive, a man ready to take out his enemies is trapped alone in a distant world, and my favorite, the seer, a man with abilities that allow him to travel from his body to the depths of the unknown. I love reading short story collections because you're never bored and there's always something new waiting within the turn of a page.
•
I was kindly sent this e-arc for review, but all opinions are my own.

[Elizabeth Suggs]

Wearing Skin: 12 Devilishly Dark Horror Short Stories by Simon Paul Woodward is a quick horror read with some stories that’ll stick with you for a long time afterward.

Woodward has a way of bringing the reader into his world with every story. Some of these tales are remarkably different from each other, but it works. I’m going to focus on my three favorite stories, “Children of Ink," “Still Lives in Motion,” and “The Galilean Manoeuvre.” Woodward has other great stories, but these spoke to me the most.

“Children of Ink” is the strangest yet one of the most beautiful short stories I’ve ever read. In this world, art are living things. We explore different avenues of life, like graffiti, the story’s focus is on two tattoos who find each other on the bodies of a very dysfunctional couple.

While the tattoos fall in love with each other, breaking the Five Laws of Ink, the couple on which they inhabit slowly cycles more out of control, becoming all the more unhealthy.

This is my favorite story, one I will definitely come back to reading over and over.

Here are my favorite quotes:
“I feel her slide against me, body to body, ink to ink, and confusingly, even though we only exist into dimensions, I can feel her body’s curves.”

“We make love across Eloise’s body: across her stomach and between her thighs, crushed in darkness on her back.”

Another great story is “Still Lives in Motion.” This is about a man who lives in a world of isolation and emptiness. He creates a place to live in a mall, and he is happy for years until he realizes there’s something missing. Almost as if the universe hears his mind, a woman comes along. She is like him, enjoying isolation, living in this quiet world. Together they make a life for themselves.

This story feels very reminiscent of the life we lead now, living during a pandemic, despite it having nothing to do with a virus. I enjoyed this a lot.

The last story I’ll mention is “The Galilean Manoeuvre.” This is about a compulsive liar journalist who meets a female juggler. The pair are together for a small amount of time, and in that time, she uncovers his secrets. The writing is clever and concise. The ending was great.

Here are some quotes:
“An effortless lie; a professional reaction.”

“Taylor had a face like a crushed beer can and implosion wrinkles and folds of skin.”

“The more he filled the space inside him with booze, the more real he became.”

I want to give a shoutout to another great quote. This one’s from the story “The Anatomy of tears”:

“The image of emotion in the heart of tears.”

Definitely check out Woodward’s anthology. You'll find something you love in here!

[Dylan Butcher]

BORN IN PAIN, AND BLOOD AND INK!

An angel in an attic. An author accused of plagiarism and under attack by monkies. A story told from the perspective of a girl's tattoo. Age-old monsters in human skin. A doctor who freezes tears to understand his own lack of emotion. Two people ready to throw their lives away, until the people they hate vanish and they are alone in the world... And many more besides.

This horror short-story collection is full of the most unsavoury characters, with recurring themes of vengeance and suffering. Filled with so many sins that this book could only end in one place... And it ain't Heaven! With subtle vibrations of Joe Hill and Stephen King, and lashings (of the Hellraiser kind) of Clive Barker, reminiscent of the Books of Blood of the 1980s. Woodward will make you want to tear off your own skin to stop it from crawling. Titles to die for for. Narratives with bite. A Molotov Cocktail of realism and the mythological, contemporary characters and settings... You will be gripped!

Seasoned with the speculative and served on a bed of nails...

"Born in pain, blood and ink"

[Miss.Morningstar_Reads]

This was an interesting one, such a awesome collection of short stories.

12 horror stories that will scare you, creep you out, and sometimes you may want to put it down! (If you read them late at night) 👀

My favorite was Still lives in motion, about a murder who finds some Redemption.

Simon Paul Woodward did a amazing job, the talent and creativity he put into these stories, and bringing the characters to life.

[Tracy Steadman]

I loved this book. I don’t read lots of horror, but this collection is at the literary end of the spectrum, and while the stories are scary, they have a big focus on character and are real page turners. I’ve read Stephen King and it reminds me of his work (only a bit darker!).

[judy]

Well worth reading these short horror / just strange / just weird stories. All enjoyable and beautifully crafted. Make a good Xmas present !

[Roxy]

A different kind of horror.

A selection of short horror stories which are very different to the norm. Certainly worth reading. Each one has a different aspect.

[Ashley Twardy]

This was an interesting (and unnerving) 12-story anthology. Wearing Skin is definitely dark and foreboding. A few of my favorite stories include;

‘The Angel of Loughborough Junction’: This one had great atmosphere. 2 men come across what they think is an abandoned house, but when they break in, they hear weird noises coming from the attic. They head up to the attic and find something completely unexpected.

‘Kissed by the Moth’: A couple wake up to find that an intruder has been in their apartment. They can’t figure out what has been taken…until later.

‘The Anatomy of Tears’: A scientist is trying to figure out if tears hold “images of emotions”. What seems like a interesting (albeit creepily fascinating) procedure ends up turning into a bit of a nightmare.

‘Still Lives in Motion’: A man has a very dark plan he wants to carry out. He’s in a bathroom getting everything together, but upon leaving the restroom he notices the entire human race has vanished.

There were a couple that I wasn’t a huge fan of, but that’s not to say someone else wouldn’t love them. If you’re looking for an eerie book that goes by pretty quick, give this one a read.

[Bandit]

I might have overlooked this random book on the day it was a freebie if not for an auspicious blurb from Michael Marshall Smith, an author I like very much. Sure enough, I ended up downloading it and—surprise, surprise—rather enjoying it.
Why surprise? Because I’m skeptical of unheard authors, indie and self-published, alike. The free-for-all market has given rise to a lot of crap floating around. This one, however, was well worth a read.
On the surface, you get a professional look and edit. On the inside, you get twelve wildly imaginative and profoundly disturbing dark tales. I very much enjoyed the conceptual originality of these stories. My favorite was Children of the Ink, second favorite was the last story. Overall, definitely a solid collection of nightmares and an interesting new (to me) author to have found. Recommended for genre fans.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Greg Robinson]

Creative and Engaging.

Of the 12 stories, I found 9 to be interesting. Of those 9, I found 3 to be truly captivating -- dark, fascinating, short stories. At first, I didn't realize each story would adhere to the title's theme ("wearing skin"). Indeed they did, in tremendously varied fashion. Everything ranging from the autonomy of tattoos, to immortals who don the skins of mortals, to the scientific analysis of tear drops and emotions, and more!

[Neil Stacey]

Loved this collection. Full of surprises. Great characterisation and visual imagery crammed into a a few pages in each story. I immediately read 'Wearing Shadows' - equally good and enjoyable. I really enjoy the way he writes - rich, vivid but concise. No words wasted. Now want to read all things he has written.

[Claire Trigell]

I got this book and the follow up book because it had outstanding reviews on here and Amazon! I wish I never looked at the reviews now as it set me up for disappointment! Not that it’s bad, it’s just no where near as good as reviews made me believe! I’m a big fan of a horror short story but some of these are just plain daft! For me it was an averagely ok book which I’ll probably not pick up again! I’m hoping the second book is better!

[Krystina Prince]

A collection of short horrors. There are some good ideas in this book. However, I'm not sure I'd fully class this book as a horror. Bizarre, yes, but the horror aspect is very mild. I did like the idea of having a collection of short stories. This was a handbag book for me to pull out when waiting for appointments, etc.

[suzanne]

I read and like lots of horror...in my opinion, these mostly don't fit that description. None of these short stories gripped my attention like I'd hoped. Some were a bit interesting but I felt like I waded through trying to find something compelling and was just disappointed.

[Lori Spinks]

I did not like this biik.

[Barbara Andrews]

Short stories

Read these short stories and was a little surprised. They where not what I expected. They where ok as far as short stories go.

[Jarrod]

Unique subject matter, fascinating stories. Must read. I would like to see some of these tales expanded into full-length novels.

[Dave Musson]

This was ok. I wish I loved it, but none of the stories truly grabbed me. They were inventive, and the writing was of a very high quality, but it just didn't have that spark to click with me.

[Suzanne Louise]

The depth and intensity of Simon Paul Woodward’s imagination has combined with his authorial skill to produce an amazing collection here 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻