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Madman
Sometimes you will hear the voices. Eventually, the voices will force you down to the depths of your insanity and keep you there until every last word is heard, even if it costs you your life.
Madman is a collection of short stories written by a man who couldn't stop hearing them speak and wrote down every last word they said on paper. Tales of gruesome death, tragedy, monsters, bizarre families, and dark beings from other dimensions.
Joseph Pesavento's debut short collection is sure to give you a piece of thrill and dread on every horrifying page!
Madman is a collection of short stories written by a man who couldn't stop hearing them speak and wrote down every last word they said on paper. Tales of gruesome death, tragedy, monsters, bizarre families, and dark beings from other dimensions.
Joseph Pesavento's debut short collection is sure to give you a piece of thrill and dread on every horrifying page!
206 pages, Paperback
Published July 10, 2021
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61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 3, 2022
When I read Pesavento, I can feel his catharsis on the pages. Home invaders, orbs that influence, pills peddled to the grief-stricken, and voracious cannibal children roped to couches and left to starve. When the skull of this Mad Man opens, all the most potent nightmares come crawling out. There are wild ideas at play here, and the conviction to explore them...
A debut collection that defines his voice as a writer, Pesavento tells his stories with a personal touch, and I'm eager to see what's next for him on the road of dark fiction.
January 20, 2024
Was there a defining moment in your friendship with someone where you questioned their sanity? For me it was reading his book, r u OK Joseph darling 👁 😅 I really enjoy short story collections and this one was SO creepy and disturbing, there's a smorgasbord (I love that word s'much) of sub genres from sci fi, body, grief and supernatural so there's something for everyone, I was impressed by the diversity in each one and enjoyed them all, I love Josephs writing style and how vivid his descriptions are, even if they are incredibly gruesome 😅
September 10, 2021
“The voices are never quiet. They repeat the horrors they face, and now they’ve become my horrors.”
We open with the discovery of a dead body found by authorities on the morning of July 9th. This body is in an abandoned building, unidentified and slashed to death. About the body are piles of lined paper and written on these pages are the stories one cannot get out of their head. Stories that haunt a person until their end. Stories that the voices won’t let them stop hearing.
Here we have Joseph Pesavento’s debut anthology collection, Mad Man. For a debut, this was a haunting treat. The writing is a tad clumsy but the stories offer the punch of distressing horror. I’d call them the babies of Creepshow and grief horror born in a liminal space and spit out into a void.
One thing I found interesting about this collection is the stories seemed to be connected in a strange way like dipping into alternate universes. I love the very slight nods to previous stories that make you feel like you’re in on something even the characters themselves don’t know about. I remember watching this anime, and I forget the name, but every episode was watching a reset of a group of characters deaths. These stories felt like that.
I wish we got a conclusion regarding the body in the beginning found with all these stories. Perhaps that’s the point. That once you pass these stories on, there’s nothing more to say. You are forgotten and the stories take your place. 🤷🏻♀️ Who knows. What I will say is Pesavento has a taste for some pretty harrowing horror and I’m curious to see what he comes up with next.
TW: Suicide
We open with the discovery of a dead body found by authorities on the morning of July 9th. This body is in an abandoned building, unidentified and slashed to death. About the body are piles of lined paper and written on these pages are the stories one cannot get out of their head. Stories that haunt a person until their end. Stories that the voices won’t let them stop hearing.
Here we have Joseph Pesavento’s debut anthology collection, Mad Man. For a debut, this was a haunting treat. The writing is a tad clumsy but the stories offer the punch of distressing horror. I’d call them the babies of Creepshow and grief horror born in a liminal space and spit out into a void.
One thing I found interesting about this collection is the stories seemed to be connected in a strange way like dipping into alternate universes. I love the very slight nods to previous stories that make you feel like you’re in on something even the characters themselves don’t know about. I remember watching this anime, and I forget the name, but every episode was watching a reset of a group of characters deaths. These stories felt like that.
I wish we got a conclusion regarding the body in the beginning found with all these stories. Perhaps that’s the point. That once you pass these stories on, there’s nothing more to say. You are forgotten and the stories take your place. 🤷🏻♀️ Who knows. What I will say is Pesavento has a taste for some pretty harrowing horror and I’m curious to see what he comes up with next.
TW: Suicide
September 4, 2023
Damn.... I really fuckin liked this collection. There is something in this collection for everyone and all the stories are so damn creepy and disturbing. This collection felt like just good old school horror..... Kinda like if ya mixed some Twilight Zone with some Creepshow and a little bit of Alfred Hitchcock. Just a bad ass collection from a author that I will definitely be reading more of and keeping an eye on. Joseph Pesavento rocks I highly recommend this collection
November 30, 2022
This little collection really starts with a bang, the first story is powerful and exquisitely short, and I would say it's worth cracking open this book just for that story.
There is something sweet and an almost innocent awkwardness about a lot of the characters presented through the various stories. When the author gives us a douche canoe of a character is seems a bit unnatural which left me with the impression that the author is probably a pretty sweet person (and his afterword did cement that impression) which was surprisingly cute for a collection that has all the bleak and hopeless you could wish for.
In some parts the writing was a bit iffy and some stories seemed like they were a chapter in a novel more than a short story but overall I felt like it was a decent collection with pretty varied stories.
For the ace/sex-repulsed in the room; there is one pretty descriptive sex scene (descriptive enough that the repulsion showed in my facial expression apparently) in one story that can probably be skimmed if you don't mind missing some details, however most of the stories don't feature much if any sex.
There is something sweet and an almost innocent awkwardness about a lot of the characters presented through the various stories. When the author gives us a douche canoe of a character is seems a bit unnatural which left me with the impression that the author is probably a pretty sweet person (and his afterword did cement that impression) which was surprisingly cute for a collection that has all the bleak and hopeless you could wish for.
In some parts the writing was a bit iffy and some stories seemed like they were a chapter in a novel more than a short story but overall I felt like it was a decent collection with pretty varied stories.
For the ace/sex-repulsed in the room; there is one pretty descriptive sex scene (descriptive enough that the repulsion showed in my facial expression apparently) in one story that can probably be skimmed if you don't mind missing some details, however most of the stories don't feature much if any sex.
September 5, 2022
What a freaking crazy book. Madman is a collection of short stories that will keep you interested from the first story to the last. I love his imaginative and full-out descriptive style of writing. I think I questioned my sanity while reading this book. Or maybe just his. I highly recommend this book and this author to all horror fans. It just might scare the crap out of you. I will be reading all of Joseph Pesavento's books.
June 20, 2022
This collection is awesome! I had a blast reading all the darkness and chaos Pesavento created in these grisly tales. The majority of these stories were 5 star reads for me. There were maybe two stories I’d give 4 stars to but suffice it to say, there is not one weak story in the entire collection. From supernatural horror, sci-fi horror, grief horror and body horror, there’s enough variation here to appeal to any horror fan.
Stand-outs for me include:
- 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩: Two friends meet up in the same spot every year but this year feels a little different. So chilling!
- 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡 : a sci-fi horror with a badass robot that tears into her enemies with brutal viciousness! This one left me gagging for a novel-length extension!
- 𝙊𝙧𝙗: A revenge tale of a mysterious orb that grants revenge to victims. Was different and unexpected!
- 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙙𝙨: A kid climbs a steep hill with his bike to attempt a stunt. But on his way up encounters ghosts that didn’t quite land the stunt. My #1 favorite! Love the chills this gave me!
- 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩: A giant monster has destroyed the city as two survivors watch the chaos unfold. I’ve been craving giant monster horror and this definitely delivered!
- 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢: Something has taken over Heathers body and while she plans a getaway with her boyfriend at his beach house, she uncovers hidden motives and soon seeks revenge. I love how this gave me venom vibes, the body horror in this is sickening!
Some of these stories can get graphic with descriptions of violence and gore. Also some trigger warnings to mention are self-harm and suicide.
If there was one thing I’d change is to make the front size of the paperback bigger. But overall, I highly recommend checking out this terrifying collection of horror stories, Pesavento hit it out of the ballpark with this one!!
.
Stand-outs for me include:
- 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩: Two friends meet up in the same spot every year but this year feels a little different. So chilling!
- 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡 : a sci-fi horror with a badass robot that tears into her enemies with brutal viciousness! This one left me gagging for a novel-length extension!
- 𝙊𝙧𝙗: A revenge tale of a mysterious orb that grants revenge to victims. Was different and unexpected!
- 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙙𝙨: A kid climbs a steep hill with his bike to attempt a stunt. But on his way up encounters ghosts that didn’t quite land the stunt. My #1 favorite! Love the chills this gave me!
- 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩: A giant monster has destroyed the city as two survivors watch the chaos unfold. I’ve been craving giant monster horror and this definitely delivered!
- 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢: Something has taken over Heathers body and while she plans a getaway with her boyfriend at his beach house, she uncovers hidden motives and soon seeks revenge. I love how this gave me venom vibes, the body horror in this is sickening!
Some of these stories can get graphic with descriptions of violence and gore. Also some trigger warnings to mention are self-harm and suicide.
If there was one thing I’d change is to make the front size of the paperback bigger. But overall, I highly recommend checking out this terrifying collection of horror stories, Pesavento hit it out of the ballpark with this one!!
.
February 23, 2025
“Am I the only person still alive?” Mad Man by Joseph Pesavento
If you’re someone who loves stories that make you think, shiver, and maybe even question your reality, then Mad Man by Pesavento is a collection you won’t want to miss. With each short story, the author skillfully crafts a world where nothing is quite as it seems, pushing the boundaries of gore, psychological tension, and emotional disarray.
The beauty of this collection lies in its ability to strike differently with each story. One moment, you're wading through visceral, descriptive horror that leaves an unsettling taste in your mouth. The next, you're hooked by a mind-bending psychological twist that lingers long after the page is turned. It’s not just about disturbing imagery or shocking plotlines — Pesavento explores deeper, often difficult themes that force readers to confront the darkest aspects of the human experience.
While some of the content is undeniably hard to process and stomach, there's an undeniable power in how Pesavento makes the unbearable somehow bearable. You may find yourself reflecting on these stories long after you’ve closed the book, questioning your own beliefs, your fears, and the limits of your comfort zone.
In a world of predictable thrillers and easily digestible plots, Mad Man is a refreshing — if unsettling — break from the norm. It’s perfect for readers who are craving a deeper, more complex dive into the human psyche. ✨Highly recommended for those who dare to venture into the depths of the bizarre and the macabre✨
If you’re someone who loves stories that make you think, shiver, and maybe even question your reality, then Mad Man by Pesavento is a collection you won’t want to miss. With each short story, the author skillfully crafts a world where nothing is quite as it seems, pushing the boundaries of gore, psychological tension, and emotional disarray.
The beauty of this collection lies in its ability to strike differently with each story. One moment, you're wading through visceral, descriptive horror that leaves an unsettling taste in your mouth. The next, you're hooked by a mind-bending psychological twist that lingers long after the page is turned. It’s not just about disturbing imagery or shocking plotlines — Pesavento explores deeper, often difficult themes that force readers to confront the darkest aspects of the human experience.
While some of the content is undeniably hard to process and stomach, there's an undeniable power in how Pesavento makes the unbearable somehow bearable. You may find yourself reflecting on these stories long after you’ve closed the book, questioning your own beliefs, your fears, and the limits of your comfort zone.
In a world of predictable thrillers and easily digestible plots, Mad Man is a refreshing — if unsettling — break from the norm. It’s perfect for readers who are craving a deeper, more complex dive into the human psyche. ✨Highly recommended for those who dare to venture into the depths of the bizarre and the macabre✨
September 16, 2022
An absolutely engrossing collection of terrifying tales. For a debut collection I was very impressed with the diversity of the stories. The twisted mind of Pesavento will keep you turning the pages wondering what terrors await.
December 1, 2023
A stimulating collection of short stories that examines the lines between life and death and puts family dynamics under the microscope.
January 21, 2024
This book was absolutely awesome!!! The stories were entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to read more.
This was the first book I read by Joseph Pesavento and he did not disappoint. He is very descriptive with his story telling and has a lot of imagination which is shown in his writing style in this book.
My Favorite stories are:
Where We Meet
StreetKids
Orb
Heatform
l am absolutely reading more from Joseph Pesavento
This was the first book I read by Joseph Pesavento and he did not disappoint. He is very descriptive with his story telling and has a lot of imagination which is shown in his writing style in this book.
My Favorite stories are:
Where We Meet
StreetKids
Orb
Heatform
l am absolutely reading more from Joseph Pesavento
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews