Corpse Honey: A Banquet of Gruesome Tales

by Michael J. Picco

A Feast of Fear! Award-winning author, Michael Picco, serves up a banquet of twelve gruesome tales sure to satisfy even the most grisly of appetites! Corpse Honey features some of the lesser-known horrors that lurk in the shadows of our world: the possessed, the cursed and the afflicted — and worst of all, the monsters with the all-too-human faces.

Stories included in this collection:

In Unison with a Dying Earth
The Bark Men
Isle for One?
On the Other Side of the Sky
Mortimer the Maus
Dispossessed
Under My Bed… Where the Lower Things Crept
It Ain’t No Raspberry Beret
The Island
The Topielec
The Popelick Goatman
{The Hive Mind}

Genres: Horror

171 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 15, 2020

About the author

Over the last decade, Michael Picco has published over two-dozen short stories; produced two award-winning collections; and has received numerous accolades for his brand of “literary” horror. Michael’s work “explores the dark and disturbing recesses of what is possible” and has been described as “eloquently-written terror.” Michael received his B.A. in English from Western State College in Colorado. He is a member of the Horror Writers Guild, the Denver Horror Collective, and the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. His most recent publishing credit, The Horse Leech Has Two Maws appears in The Jewish Book of Horror. He is currently working on The Wretched Bones, a revision and expansion of some of his most popular published work.

Reviews

[Irene Well Worth A Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

What first caught my eye was this gorgeous cover, designed by the author himself. It made me want to read Corpse Honey before I even knew that it was a collection of short horror stories, which of course made me want to read it all the more.
Some of these tales are more sci-fi than horror and others lean towards psychological thriller. My favorites are those with supernatural overtones.
The author employs the stream of consciousness technique in the narrative which may be jarring for some readers who are not expecting the unusual syntax and rough grammar or heavy use of dashes and ellipses instead of the more conventional use of punctuation. For me, it put me into the characters' thought processes almost making me part of the stories.

Among my favorites were The Bark Men, which is a coming-of-age tale surrounding two young cousins' encounter with mysterious beings deep in the woods of Colorado. I would like to see this story developed into a full-fledged novel. It was both sad and creepy at the same time.

I also enjoyed Isle For One? - a Satirical, darkly humorous look at customer service that has not improved in pandemic times. If you've ever sat on hold while listening to a recorded voice this is for you.

Another favorite was Mortimer the Maus in which a man recalls a childhood visit to a cut-rate unsavory amusement park that went from unpleasant to horrifying when he became separated from his neglectful father. This one made my skin crawl.

Under My Bed... Where The Lower Things Crept - After being frightened by a story his older sister tells him, a boy is forced to give up his bedroom and move into the room where grandma died. Is there something evil under the rug? Or is it all in his mind?

All I have to say about The Popelick Goatman is Ladies, this is exactly why if you break up with your man on a dark and stormy night, you do not get into his junk car and drive off with nowhere to go. You stay inside where you are safe and warm and you toss his ass out. Let the Goat man have him, he deserves it. Trust me and learn from this.

Not every story was my cup of tea but these were my favorites, yours may be different. Recommended for readers who enjoy horror. sci-fi or weird tales.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to the Denver Horror Collective for the finished paperback copy.

[Lezlie The Nerdy Narrative · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start by giving a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to the Denver Horror Collective for reaching out to offer me a copy of this collection to read and review. When they said they'd been following me a while and thought they had one I'd like, they had me PEGGED. Not only did I get hours of reading enjoyment from this collection, I now have a new author that has been added to this list of READ EVERYTHING THEY WRITE - EVER.

Each of the 10 stories in this collection has a different narrative tone and style that adapts to the subject matter of the individual story, which I loved. Sometimes when a collection is by one author, you start feeling stories are predictable because they are written in the same style. If a story felt like it took place in the distant past, it was written that way. If it was narrated by a teenager, it reflected the thought process and terminology of a teenager. It kept me engaged and looking forward to the next story.

None of the stories had the same core theme either. There was a vampire one that honestly focused on the loneliness of their life, a teenager dealing with the loss of his beloved cat that was infused with folklore regarding nature, one that felt like an urban legend with the scare factor dialed up to 11. Let's talk about the two that brought my longtime fears of deep water and water you can't see to the bottom of...or even people dressed as a favorite character in a theme park...I could go on and on about this collection.

The exceptional imagination of the author had me either shaking in my boots at an old childhood fear remembered or provoked a lot of thought regarding its theme. Factor in the amazing, adaptive writing style with the fact that I enjoyed EVERY SINGLE STORY and you understand why this one is a top tier read for me. Okay, maybe it also has to do with the nostalgia the very last bonus story gave me - if you're a fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, well, you just get ready for a treat.

Highly recommend - horror fans will love this, readers looking for some spooky Fall reads will love this - and my book collector friends who love gorgeous cover art will have to own it physically. Did I mention the author designed and drew the cover and illustrations?? It's just not fair for one person to have so much talent, but at least Michael Picco is sharing it with the world.

[Sadie Hartmann]

Stay tuned for a full review in an upcoming issue of Scream Magazine.

[ratstick · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get through this book and stopped at some point during the second story. It's SO bad. The writing is just absolute shit. So many grammar issues and doing inappropriate things with punctuation. The stories are all over the place and never seem to actually lead anywhere. There is inconsistent narration (12 year olds don't say they need to practice lying to make it more "credible" they'd say believable). I am just in awe this was published and in awe he apparently has fans and readers that helped him edit this. Just completely stunned how this could have gotten past more than one person. Let this be a lesson that you have got to tell your friends when they absolutely suck at whatever craft they're trying to monetize. Life is too short to read bad books.

Hey Picco, I wrote better vampire erotic turning scenes when I was 12. If you want to hire a real editor hit me up. Be warned though, I'd essentially be suggesting you rewrite your entire book.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just bad. Just bad. I don’t even wanna give it a one star review, but zero stars won’t let me warn other potential readers. Ugh.

[Robin Knabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The artwork by the author was captivating, and the stories were so engaging and fun to read. His stream of consciousness style made me connect with the narrators of each unique story.

I have a more in depth, spoiler free review of Corpse Honey on my site. Feel free to enjoy it.

https://robinknabel.squarespace.com/r...

[Keith Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently finished reading the collection of short stories "Corpse Honey", and I quite enjoyed it. I would read a story each night, and while some of the stories didn't exactly resonate with me, it did have its moments of brilliance. Firstly, the design of the book was stunning. The cover is beautifully crafted, and the interior formatting added an extra layer of aesthetic pleasure to the reading experience.

As for the stories themselves, some were certainly better than others, but that's to be expected with any collection. However, there were a few standout tales that I thoroughly enjoyed. "The Bark Men" was an eerie and well-crafted story that reminded me of the chilling horror of "Pet Sematary". "Isle for One" was a compelling sci-fi short that had me thinking about the dark possibilities of our future, while "Mortimer the Maus" satisfied my love for creepy carnival tales.

Overall, what really stood out about "Corpse Honey" was the author's writing style. While some of the stories may have fallen flat, the author's voice was always engaging and interesting to read. All in all, I'd recommend this book to those who are looking for a quick and entertaining read, especially those who are fans of horror and science fiction.

[Cameron Trost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corpse Honey is definitely a title that suits Michael Picco's collection; gory and gruesome but with a drop of guilty sweetness. The monsters in these stories can be crammed into two specimen jars, although it's not always easy to choose which tale goes into which jar (there's a bit of leakage going on) but we have our monster romps and our internal demon nightmares. My favourites from the first jar are the Lovecraftian "The Island" and the devilishly naughty "The Popelick Goatman". "It Ain't No Raspberry Beret" is easily my pick from the second jar, and "Under My Bed… Where the Lower Things Crept" is a gothic tale that remains open to interpretation. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Michael Picco hasn't yet reached the peak but the climb is well and truly underway...now is the time to gear up and follow him.

[Katie (DeathByPaperbacks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book an average rating of 3.5 but rounded up for goodreads. I enjoyed the nature approach taken amongst all the stories. I think nature can be such a great inspiration for horror. I also liked some of the gross monsters that Picco created, specifically Mortimer the Maus!
That being said there are quite a few typos throughout the book as well as some stories that came off a bit pointless. Too many loose ends or information that didn’t have to do with the storyline at all.
Overall I’m not disappointed that I read it. The ideas are all there, it just could have used a bit more editing.