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All the Wrong Ideas
This is where our worst impulses take us. This is the past come back to do much more than haunt us. These are the moments where we cross into madness, never to return. This is what happens when we devote ourselves wholeheartedly to acting out...
ALL THE WRONG IDEAS
From parasite-riddled pulp experiments to post-apocalyptic road trip freak-outs, from suddenly self-aware nuke narratives to tales of revenge told in reverse, ALL THE WRONG IDEAS collects the earliest and most absurd stories from bestselling weird fiction phenomenon Jeremy Robert Johnson in one wild, wondrous volume. Includes the novella "Extinction Journals," the brand new short story "The Seat of Reason," and 17 other unsettling entry points into JRJ's dark, delirious, and definitively damaged world.
ALL THE WRONG IDEAS
From parasite-riddled pulp experiments to post-apocalyptic road trip freak-outs, from suddenly self-aware nuke narratives to tales of revenge told in reverse, ALL THE WRONG IDEAS collects the earliest and most absurd stories from bestselling weird fiction phenomenon Jeremy Robert Johnson in one wild, wondrous volume. Includes the novella "Extinction Journals," the brand new short story "The Seat of Reason," and 17 other unsettling entry points into JRJ's dark, delirious, and definitively damaged world.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
198 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2021
14 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 7, 2022
Reviewing a book of short stories is difficult. It's especially difficult to review a book of short stories as eclectic as this was. There were stories with endearing characters, stories that were practically long-form jokes with a crude punch line (and yes - I found them funny!). And then there were stories that you wouldn't want to read in your neighborhood book club!
A couple really stood out for me as favorites. One was Wall of Sound: A Movement in Three Parts. I think my heart was racing with the three main characters we followed through the rave and the less than ideal trips they had. It was vivid and surreal. Very well told! The other was the very last story: Extinction Journals. This follows up on a character I met in Entropy in Bloom who made a suit out of roaches to survive the apocalypse. In the pages of this story we follow him and his roaches as they search for food/water/survival. I can't share too much without giving away the story. I just loved the strange hero's journey this character makes.
Add to that several stories about parasitic infestations. So many parasites are in this book! It's not for the squeamish. But it is for the curious who can't help but wonder how Jeremy Robert Johnson's brain ticks!
A couple really stood out for me as favorites. One was Wall of Sound: A Movement in Three Parts. I think my heart was racing with the three main characters we followed through the rave and the less than ideal trips they had. It was vivid and surreal. Very well told! The other was the very last story: Extinction Journals. This follows up on a character I met in Entropy in Bloom who made a suit out of roaches to survive the apocalypse. In the pages of this story we follow him and his roaches as they search for food/water/survival. I can't share too much without giving away the story. I just loved the strange hero's journey this character makes.
Add to that several stories about parasitic infestations. So many parasites are in this book! It's not for the squeamish. But it is for the curious who can't help but wonder how Jeremy Robert Johnson's brain ticks!
July 6, 2022
Not the best of his work (the author himself calls it a collection of his "b-sides"), but it does include a new story called "The Seat of Reason" that had me shuddering in disgust and revulsion. Also includes his novella "Extinction Journals," which is about a man who survives a nuclear apocalypse by wearing a suit of cockroaches. Fucking incredible, and among the best of JRJ's stories that I've come across. had to skim through one (very long) story, called "Wall of Sound," about a very, very bad trip at a rave, which comes across as rather disconnected and difficult to parse—though I think that was largely intentional.
Recommended, if only for "Extinction Journals," and for hardcore fans who want to see some of JRJ's early work. Closer in tone to Skullcrack City than [[book:The Loop|49295297].
Recommended, if only for "Extinction Journals," and for hardcore fans who want to see some of JRJ's early work. Closer in tone to Skullcrack City than [[book:The Loop|49295297].
July 8, 2022
new fear of snails unlocked!
September 8, 2021
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Jeremy Robert Johnson is one of horror’s best unsung heroes. The man’s output is all over the place, but that’s a good thing. Sometimes his stories are straight up fiction, sometimes they’re paranormal horror, sometimes they’re extreme, sometimes they’re sad, but the consistent through line in all of them is that they’re generally pretty great across the board. His ideas define the phrase “out there,” but he usually does a good job of bringing everything to a thematically resonant conclusion regardless of how weird things get. In 2017, he released a collection of some of his best short stories from his prior two cult hits Angel Dust Apocalypse and We Live Inside You. If that collection was a greatest hits, then his new release, All the Wrong Ideas, is something of a lost track collection. The title turns out to be very apt; All the Wrong Ideas is home to the rest of his insane tales, as well as a brand new, never before published story that is classic Johnson.
Read the rest of the review and find more great horror content over at Horror Obsessive: https://horrorobsessive.com/2021/09/0...
May 25, 2022
A collection of short stories from an exceptionally fearless and unique imagination. Some I'd read before (like the phenomenal "Ex-Hale" and "Precedents" and the other stories from Angel Dust Apocalypse) and some were new to me, but they were all entertaining. Johnson doesn't allow traditional norms to restrain his fiction. Things like how a story is presented, formatted, POV; he just delivers incredible stories about incredible people. Is that dude actually alive in "Ex-Hale"? Can you imagine your parent talking to you about the subject matter in "Priapism"? Sewing bugs to a suit to withstand a nuclear apocalypse? Death and destruction as seen from the POV of an H-bomb? It all sounds so insane and unworkable but, not only does Johnson make it work, he delivers each story with a compelling voice and brave style that leaves me awestruck. A must-read; open your mind, wide.
September 30, 2021
Jeremy Robert Johnson's prose is like a radioactive kaleidoscope of gore, filth, and love.
Easily one of my favorite collections now.
Easily one of my favorite collections now.
July 23, 2023
If I had more dedication to the cause, I would individually rate every single story in this book for a more accurate review. Unfortunately, this book took that dedication out of me.
Some stories were fantastic and made the book worth reading (Extinction Journals was amazing; Wall of Sound: A Movement in Three Parts; Working at Home; Laws of Virulence; Sparklers Burning; The Seat of Reason).
The rest? Not my cup of tea. Which, to be fair, the author warned readers of in the author’s note.
Overall, I can say confidently that every story was either horrifying, disgusting, or frequently both. To that end, the author succeeded in writing the most disgusting collection of short stories I have ever read.
Some stories were fantastic and made the book worth reading (Extinction Journals was amazing; Wall of Sound: A Movement in Three Parts; Working at Home; Laws of Virulence; Sparklers Burning; The Seat of Reason).
The rest? Not my cup of tea. Which, to be fair, the author warned readers of in the author’s note.
Overall, I can say confidently that every story was either horrifying, disgusting, or frequently both. To that end, the author succeeded in writing the most disgusting collection of short stories I have ever read.
August 9, 2023
Jeremy Robert Johnson is the most under rated horror author of our time, and wall of sound was an absolute masterpiece. I especially loved 1. BURN/liquidation, the seat of reason, Precedents, and working at home, a couple of which I appreciated from some of his other collections but was happy to re read them as they have a special place in my cold dark heart.
A few of my favorite quotes from the reading:
WITNESS THE AMAZING ANTISOCIAL ASSHOLE WHO BITCHES ENDLESSLY ABOUT THE NATURE OF HIS PEERS WHEN HESHOULD JUST SHUT THE HELL UP OR GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!
My late afternoon breakfast is Cocoa Crunch. I eat 88 inflated sugar puffs, eight per spoonful, eleven bites total. 88 works for me, and although I love the balance of the figure 1 always feel an unnecessary guilt in regards to the whole associative Nazi thing. The eighth letter of the alphabetist.
88-HH. 88-Heil Hitler. My cereal consumption has no subli mated Hitler love in its pattern. 88 puffs fills me up. Thatsit
I've got the money for it. I do the footwork and spot my target, who appears to be selling some ecstasy to a family of four, two teens, a nervous dad, and a soccer mom.
Some say the rave scene has gone mainstream.
That was the worst, the terrible pain in feet she didn't even have. Like being forced to give birth to a kid you weren't allowed to keep. Hurting for nothing at all.
A few of my favorite quotes from the reading:
WITNESS THE AMAZING ANTISOCIAL ASSHOLE WHO BITCHES ENDLESSLY ABOUT THE NATURE OF HIS PEERS WHEN HESHOULD JUST SHUT THE HELL UP OR GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!
My late afternoon breakfast is Cocoa Crunch. I eat 88 inflated sugar puffs, eight per spoonful, eleven bites total. 88 works for me, and although I love the balance of the figure 1 always feel an unnecessary guilt in regards to the whole associative Nazi thing. The eighth letter of the alphabetist.
88-HH. 88-Heil Hitler. My cereal consumption has no subli mated Hitler love in its pattern. 88 puffs fills me up. Thatsit
I've got the money for it. I do the footwork and spot my target, who appears to be selling some ecstasy to a family of four, two teens, a nervous dad, and a soccer mom.
Some say the rave scene has gone mainstream.
That was the worst, the terrible pain in feet she didn't even have. Like being forced to give birth to a kid you weren't allowed to keep. Hurting for nothing at all.
November 7, 2021
Gross. Deranged. Oozing. Stuffed and writhing with bugs of all kinds. I was pulled in by the cover and got more parasites/grotesqueries than I even expected.
Some of the body horror started to blend together for me through the collection, so the stories that are mainly in other genres stick out in hindsight. There are two stories involving infected kids that hit, and scrolling through the table of contents I’m reminded of some three page stories that are muggy bits of fresh air from the heavier body horror. The final story isn’t a genre that I’m normally interested in but I liked finally spending more than 15 pages with someone. I might pick up a print edition for that cover…
Some of the body horror started to blend together for me through the collection, so the stories that are mainly in other genres stick out in hindsight. There are two stories involving infected kids that hit, and scrolling through the table of contents I’m reminded of some three page stories that are muggy bits of fresh air from the heavier body horror. The final story isn’t a genre that I’m normally interested in but I liked finally spending more than 15 pages with someone. I might pick up a print edition for that cover…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2021
As soon as I was on the first page, I could tell I was back in the territory of WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS and CRONENBERG (yikes! 😉 #yeah-- #jonathanROSENBAUMMUSTDIE-- ), and that I'd be giving the book FIVE STARS!!! because why put it together in the first place ... it wasn't NEW ... like John SHIRLEY'S (another Portlander -- and PUNK, and BACK IN THE AREA, too! #seetheCROWagainWHYDON'TCHA-- 😉 #yeah-- ) Really, Really, Really, REALLY Weird Stories which I need to read again, and now am PRIMED too, like The UNBEARABLES, which has made me decide to get a a TATTOO ...
"Mark, do us all a favor and go before we have to call security. Are you drunk, Mark? Look, man, now Ray's mom is crying. Yeah, well I guess we can't pin that one on you, but you sure aren't helping things. No, I don't want to take this outside. Always the macho man, Mark. Big tough Mark, Mr. Tough Guy, you're so sad, man. Oh, I'm the sad one? Well you're sadder. Hey, fuck you! What does my wife have to do with this? Jesus Christ, Mark, you are such a liar. Look what you made me do, I just blasphemed in a church."
Great.
You know what -- clipping's CLIPPNG. and Buck 65's Situation are LIKE that -- ditto Harold JAFFE'S Straight RAZOR, you should READ that one, you'd LIKE it.
Punk!
😉
#yeah--
-EJB/Orwell
#believeMEor*DON'T*--
#*FUCK*--
#*YEAH*--
#*JAMESHOGG*--
#*THEDEVIL*--
#*ROBERTJOHNSON*--
#*REINCARNATION*--
#*PUTIN'SATHIEF*--
#*WATCHYOURBACK*--
#*YEAH*--
😉
#*DWAYNE*=CRAP--
#*SHIT*--
"Mark, do us all a favor and go before we have to call security. Are you drunk, Mark? Look, man, now Ray's mom is crying. Yeah, well I guess we can't pin that one on you, but you sure aren't helping things. No, I don't want to take this outside. Always the macho man, Mark. Big tough Mark, Mr. Tough Guy, you're so sad, man. Oh, I'm the sad one? Well you're sadder. Hey, fuck you! What does my wife have to do with this? Jesus Christ, Mark, you are such a liar. Look what you made me do, I just blasphemed in a church."
Great.
You know what -- clipping's CLIPPNG. and Buck 65's Situation are LIKE that -- ditto Harold JAFFE'S Straight RAZOR, you should READ that one, you'd LIKE it.
Punk!
😉
#yeah--
-EJB/Orwell
#believeMEor*DON'T*--
#*FUCK*--
#*YEAH*--
#*JAMESHOGG*--
#*THEDEVIL*--
#*ROBERTJOHNSON*--
#*REINCARNATION*--
#*PUTIN'SATHIEF*--
#*WATCHYOURBACK*--
#*YEAH*--
😉
#*DWAYNE*=CRAP--
#*SHIT*--
February 24, 2024
"Seat of Reason" and "Extinction Journals" were masterful stories. They were well worth slogging through the drug-dance trip-rave writing that took up a significant portion of this collection.
The author is sure to point out that this book contains some juvenilia. I could tell. But the later stories are of such high quality, I am more than willing to overlook these earlier experiments. Actually, I would recommend skipping anything in the book where he mentions a DJ.
This is a writer I am going to follow.
Also, a local? The guy knows the Pacific Northwest for sure...
The author is sure to point out that this book contains some juvenilia. I could tell. But the later stories are of such high quality, I am more than willing to overlook these earlier experiments. Actually, I would recommend skipping anything in the book where he mentions a DJ.
This is a writer I am going to follow.
Also, a local? The guy knows the Pacific Northwest for sure...
August 24, 2021
JRJ’s stories will make you squirm in delightful disgust.
November 4, 2021
This book has some WEIRD damn stories in it. But they’re also pretty awesome in a demented WTF kind of way.
January 12, 2023
Such a wild ride, thoroughly enjoyable. Jeremy Robert Johnson has a writing style that I like, a lot.
April 15, 2024
This guy. Gets the imagination going.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews