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The Sick Box Trilogy #1
The Sick Box
Karen Floyd is in Hell. The toilet paper is like fine-grit sandpaper. Yeah, literally, Karen is in Hell. She works at the Nakara Corporation, Hell’s largest provider of wireless communications, internet, and cable television. Karen doesn’t belong here. She doesn’t deserve this. But that’s been the story of her entire life. Wait. No! That WAS Karen’s story. She’s been offered a promotion, and this time it’s going to work out. Karen can feel it. Stand back, because Karen is on fire. Nakara is moving her up to the executive floor. All she has to do is possess the body of a child named Mallory Matthews, avoid an exorcism, and finish her report for the board of directors by Monday. She will pave the way for Satan’s outreach team, the great Beast will rise, and Karen will get another chance at living, in a new body, a fresh start. And she better not mess it up, or there will be Hell to pay.
“Hell is other people, and those people have a better wireless package than most of Canada. The Sick Box takes a lighter look at a dark subject with wit, charm, and a dash of dark humour.” — Jim Phoenix, owner of HauntedMTL(dot)com “Part Good Omens and part Conjuring, The Sick Box checks that sweet spot between a dead-job survival guide and a heartfelt exploration of what the afterlife can do to one poor soul.” — Lamar Jenkins, author of The Tupac Files
“Hell is other people, and those people have a better wireless package than most of Canada. The Sick Box takes a lighter look at a dark subject with wit, charm, and a dash of dark humour.” — Jim Phoenix, owner of HauntedMTL(dot)com “Part Good Omens and part Conjuring, The Sick Box checks that sweet spot between a dead-job survival guide and a heartfelt exploration of what the afterlife can do to one poor soul.” — Lamar Jenkins, author of The Tupac Files
- GenresHorror
205 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 22, 2021
About the author
Matthew Fries
7 books15 followersMatthew Fries is a graduate of the creative writing program at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He writes in many genres, but tries to keep it light and humourous. Proudly Canadian, he reverts to UK spelling (see humourous), and seeks to obtain cult status.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 12, 2021
THE SICK BOX is an explosion, a fever dream. It is an hilarious and rapidly cycling ride between corporate hell and cultural absurdity.
The author's "sick box" acts as a sling shot lunging the reader between two wickedly comical realms. A very funny must read for the modern cynic.
The author's "sick box" acts as a sling shot lunging the reader between two wickedly comical realms. A very funny must read for the modern cynic.
October 23, 2021
Kitties and bunnies don’t usually remind me of heaven and hell, but when the riveting horror novel under my nose is about a little girl whose body is coveted by a damned soul seeking visiting rights to life on earth, then all bets are off. Karen Floyd is not quite as repulsive a damned soul as being a citizen of hell might sound. She is in her right mind, at least until it utterly rots away. She wants out of hell, as would any sane person. Ironically, her portal is a sick box, which according to Ben, the little girl’s father who bought the box at an antique sale, is also a way out of mortal life for the dying, at least in the tradition of Catholic rites. Why shouldn’t it be a portal back into life for the dead?
Readers follow Floyd on an escapade that was planned in the marketing trajectory of the Nakara Corporation, Hell’s main monopoly. Before Floyd actually exits hell (i.e. the Nakara Corporation), we learn enough about its employee indoctrination procedure to recognize it as giddily like our own workplace. The dead characters of hell are funny; the living characters of Earth, whom Karen Floyd is stalking, are funny, and this delight from first-time published novelist Matthew Fries is well worth the gamble of opening its pages, something Czykmate Productions was wise enough to bet on.
Readers follow Floyd on an escapade that was planned in the marketing trajectory of the Nakara Corporation, Hell’s main monopoly. Before Floyd actually exits hell (i.e. the Nakara Corporation), we learn enough about its employee indoctrination procedure to recognize it as giddily like our own workplace. The dead characters of hell are funny; the living characters of Earth, whom Karen Floyd is stalking, are funny, and this delight from first-time published novelist Matthew Fries is well worth the gamble of opening its pages, something Czykmate Productions was wise enough to bet on.
October 25, 2021
Once every so often, I buy a book that was worth every single penny and then some. I read it, then my husband reads it, and then we buy a copy (or more than one) as a Christmas gift because I am terrified I won't get the book back once it leaves the house. The Sick Box has a great story with amiable characters who base their decisions and opinions on conjecture or whatever they have routinely heard. A little girl's soul is in mortal peril. The parents have to save her. The cursed soul is on their heels. Hell is so much like Earth it makes the reader sit up straight. Tongue in cheek and wonderful. Highly recommended.
November 27, 2021
Just goes to show, if this book had been published in the 1950s in Paris, the whole literary world would be talking about it. Instead, in the second decade of the 2000s, it is a gem waiting to be discovered. Unusual plot, great family dynamics, unforgettable characters, screwy antics, descriptive backdrops in hell and Canada, and overall wonderful writing. It made me laugh and shake my head. The story starts out with a couple pages of data about hell, but then the action zigzags between hell and earth, moving swiftly. I really couldn't guess what would happen next! Once I started, I read the book in about three days (only because I had to go to work).
September 23, 2021
This is hilarious.
If you are a fan of "absurdist fiction" give it a try.
I loved it.
All she has to do is possess the body of a child named Mallory Matthews.
If you are a fan of "absurdist fiction" give it a try.
I loved it.
All she has to do is possess the body of a child named Mallory Matthews.
July 6, 2023
The Sick Box is a dark comedy that will make you laugh and cringe at the same time. The book follows Karen Flynn and her increasing desperation to escape her soul crushing job in Hell. The book is relatively fast paced and really enjoyable, with witty dialogue and clever twists. The characters are well written and relatable, but sometimes infuriating… (I’m looking at you, Dana!) and the author does not shy away from exploring the dark side of human nature. The Sick Box is a book that will keep you entertained and surprised until the end. I give it 3 stars out of 5 and would recommend.
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October 5, 2021I was intrigued, amused and even put off at times. A great read that I've been thinking about for days. The only thing I know for sure is that it's always a good idea to be kind to snails.
January 24, 2022
I liked the part where the little girl's father questions all the choices he has ever made. It made me feel like the story is true. Maybe?
December 24, 2024
This was a hilarious and original read!
Premise: Karen, a demon in Hell, has the opportunity for a second life as a human if she can possess a specific 5-year-old girl. Chaos ensues.
It's absurdist fiction, a dark comedy with a cast of stand-out characters. Give it a try!
Premise: Karen, a demon in Hell, has the opportunity for a second life as a human if she can possess a specific 5-year-old girl. Chaos ensues.
It's absurdist fiction, a dark comedy with a cast of stand-out characters. Give it a try!
February 1, 2022
I thought this book was funny, unusual, and oddly relatable. It was a quick read and a great escape during the pandemic. I can't wait to see what he writes next!
December 23, 2024
Worst things about Hell:
1. Zombies
2. Acronyms
3. Potlucks
Say what you will about Matthew Fries "The Sick Box: A paranormal horror comedy (The Sick Box Trilogy Book 1)", henceforth to be referred to only as "The Sick Box" or perhaps even as brief as "TSB", but by far my favo(u)rite chapter was 666. That of course rules out the 4 chapters that were titled something else but you can't have everything in life - or apparently death - now can you? As you may then have already ascertained from this as well as the cover featuring a demonic rabbit (his name is Todd), TSB spends about half of its length actually in hell, sorry, Hell and the rest trying seemingly to bring Hell to Earth. Because there is simply no denying it: "Karen is coming."
Nobody wants to be eaten alive while they are having a poo.
Whereas I did not not like TSB, I am somewhat reluctant to chuck it into my large pile of horror comedy books (no one should argue about its paranormal credentials). It is a truly weird book, yes, with lots of weird and often even surprisingly absurd things happening. However, where I found it somewhat lacking was in the actual comedy bits. Now, I'm not saying that either the book or Mr. Fries (pronounced Mr. Chips) are NOT funny, it's just it didn't actually strike ME as being all that funny. Now here is the important bit: per se. Humo(ur) is a weird creature unto itself and in this case what I did see was a lot of ironic snippiness and even some outright cruel pranksterisms. But at no point was I threatened with an undeniable urge to either LOL or even ROFL, which at my age, could have had strong reprecussions.
God is a perpetually pregnant calico cat with a missing fang.
Now before you start flooding my inbox with a bunch of "are you some kind of sombre fuddy duddy?" (the answer is a resounding "yes" btw), don't misunderstand. What others call funny can appear as mildly (at best) amusing to others. It's not that we aren't enjoying ourselves but maybe we were actually looking forward to our acronyms of laughter and had trouble meeting those targets. For example, I will say that Fries' depiction of company politics including the inexplicable need to try and motivate employees by any means necessary other than using tactics that would, well, actually motivate them, was spot on. So spot on in fact that these bits actually upped the horror factor quite significantly but left me more with the feeling I should just have a good lie down in the corner and weep myself to sleep. And that's even after my regular injection of "nonsensical pseudo spiritual venom into" my veins…
Having the drive to succeed in business, having vision, is a lot like being a zombie in pursuit of your next meal.
Trust me, if you've ever worked for a company like this or even had a job where for 20 years your responsibility was esssentially to create work solely for yourself, then none of that is really all that funny, particularly when you've put it well into the cracked rearview mirror of life. It's a rather sad indication of just how soul-destroying our economic models have become, squelching all hopes for innovation, self-expression, or even the options of escaping the metaphorical AND literal zombies at the door. So yes, the depiction of Hell struck me as being spot on but not funny. Stabbing people in the eye with a letter opener is what I remember as just being a Thursday before the Quarterly Reports were due and not the basis for a comedy.
She was already dead when I killed her. I have no idea what her problem is.
Also the time that we spent on Earth was just tremendously and thoroughly odd. Usually in a horror comedy you also find someone that is if not totally likeable then at least sympathetic enough that you hope they get eaten last. However, with the horrible "they should never have married let alone reproduced" parents, the sad best friends, the inbred country bumpkins, and, of course, the bloody goddamn hippies running around getting their exorcise ("Oh, unloved spirit, be groovy and bestow upon us your handle. We can help you. Dig it?"), frankly I was hoping for a lot more destruction than we actually witnessed. And wasn't the best friend - Uncle Don I think he was called - supposed to ring in a warning about any untowards activity in their apartment there towards the end? How could he miss all those people if so, especially once the nude bongo dancing (or some variation thereof) got going? Maybe Todd was really the secret hero of all this, bravely pelletizing the cabin carpet and doing his best to avoid being eaten by the coyotes (not metaphors) in the forest.
Todd did not answer because he was a rabbit, and rabbits are mostly stupid.
So workable story, yes, but I didn't think it was all that funny. I was also somewhat (read: severely in parts) put off by the editing mistakes that seemed to sprout up at the worst spots, including way too many punctuation errors for comfort. I downloaded the first two books in the trilogy (is it? will it be?) but frankly, I'm now debating whether or not to bother with the second one. It does appear to be Christmas-related and since said holiday (on Earth as it is in Heaven) is just hours away, I guess I could try and find some holly jolliness to try it. We'll see. Anyway, if your idea of a rollicking good time is to witness the pukey goodness that comes with the demonic possession of a 5-year-old little girl, well, you've found your next read. For me, well, the search continues. Call it bad karma or harshing my mellow or something, I dunno. I need another humbug to nosh on…
1. Zombies
2. Acronyms
3. Potlucks
Say what you will about Matthew Fries "The Sick Box: A paranormal horror comedy (The Sick Box Trilogy Book 1)", henceforth to be referred to only as "The Sick Box" or perhaps even as brief as "TSB", but by far my favo(u)rite chapter was 666. That of course rules out the 4 chapters that were titled something else but you can't have everything in life - or apparently death - now can you? As you may then have already ascertained from this as well as the cover featuring a demonic rabbit (his name is Todd), TSB spends about half of its length actually in hell, sorry, Hell and the rest trying seemingly to bring Hell to Earth. Because there is simply no denying it: "Karen is coming."
Nobody wants to be eaten alive while they are having a poo.
Whereas I did not not like TSB, I am somewhat reluctant to chuck it into my large pile of horror comedy books (no one should argue about its paranormal credentials). It is a truly weird book, yes, with lots of weird and often even surprisingly absurd things happening. However, where I found it somewhat lacking was in the actual comedy bits. Now, I'm not saying that either the book or Mr. Fries (pronounced Mr. Chips) are NOT funny, it's just it didn't actually strike ME as being all that funny. Now here is the important bit: per se. Humo(ur) is a weird creature unto itself and in this case what I did see was a lot of ironic snippiness and even some outright cruel pranksterisms. But at no point was I threatened with an undeniable urge to either LOL or even ROFL, which at my age, could have had strong reprecussions.
God is a perpetually pregnant calico cat with a missing fang.
Now before you start flooding my inbox with a bunch of "are you some kind of sombre fuddy duddy?" (the answer is a resounding "yes" btw), don't misunderstand. What others call funny can appear as mildly (at best) amusing to others. It's not that we aren't enjoying ourselves but maybe we were actually looking forward to our acronyms of laughter and had trouble meeting those targets. For example, I will say that Fries' depiction of company politics including the inexplicable need to try and motivate employees by any means necessary other than using tactics that would, well, actually motivate them, was spot on. So spot on in fact that these bits actually upped the horror factor quite significantly but left me more with the feeling I should just have a good lie down in the corner and weep myself to sleep. And that's even after my regular injection of "nonsensical pseudo spiritual venom into" my veins…
Having the drive to succeed in business, having vision, is a lot like being a zombie in pursuit of your next meal.
Trust me, if you've ever worked for a company like this or even had a job where for 20 years your responsibility was esssentially to create work solely for yourself, then none of that is really all that funny, particularly when you've put it well into the cracked rearview mirror of life. It's a rather sad indication of just how soul-destroying our economic models have become, squelching all hopes for innovation, self-expression, or even the options of escaping the metaphorical AND literal zombies at the door. So yes, the depiction of Hell struck me as being spot on but not funny. Stabbing people in the eye with a letter opener is what I remember as just being a Thursday before the Quarterly Reports were due and not the basis for a comedy.
She was already dead when I killed her. I have no idea what her problem is.
Also the time that we spent on Earth was just tremendously and thoroughly odd. Usually in a horror comedy you also find someone that is if not totally likeable then at least sympathetic enough that you hope they get eaten last. However, with the horrible "they should never have married let alone reproduced" parents, the sad best friends, the inbred country bumpkins, and, of course, the bloody goddamn hippies running around getting their exorcise ("Oh, unloved spirit, be groovy and bestow upon us your handle. We can help you. Dig it?"), frankly I was hoping for a lot more destruction than we actually witnessed. And wasn't the best friend - Uncle Don I think he was called - supposed to ring in a warning about any untowards activity in their apartment there towards the end? How could he miss all those people if so, especially once the nude bongo dancing (or some variation thereof) got going? Maybe Todd was really the secret hero of all this, bravely pelletizing the cabin carpet and doing his best to avoid being eaten by the coyotes (not metaphors) in the forest.
Todd did not answer because he was a rabbit, and rabbits are mostly stupid.
So workable story, yes, but I didn't think it was all that funny. I was also somewhat (read: severely in parts) put off by the editing mistakes that seemed to sprout up at the worst spots, including way too many punctuation errors for comfort. I downloaded the first two books in the trilogy (is it? will it be?) but frankly, I'm now debating whether or not to bother with the second one. It does appear to be Christmas-related and since said holiday (on Earth as it is in Heaven) is just hours away, I guess I could try and find some holly jolliness to try it. We'll see. Anyway, if your idea of a rollicking good time is to witness the pukey goodness that comes with the demonic possession of a 5-year-old little girl, well, you've found your next read. For me, well, the search continues. Call it bad karma or harshing my mellow or something, I dunno. I need another humbug to nosh on…
December 9, 2021
The sick box pulls all the little annoyances from everyday life together to form one's own personal hell (or should I say Karen's hell). From only being able to use internet explorer as your browser to the only sport being frisbee golf, every page is relatable and humorous. Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. An easy read that will have you laughing and somehow cheering for the hell-doomed protagonist Karen to find her way back to the mortal world!
November 30, 2021
The Sick Box follows Karen back and forth through hell and earth, full of dark humour and comical, absurd scenes that made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions. It is hilarious and weird and I enjoyed every minute of it.
December 24, 2021
Review originally published here, at Reedsy Discovery: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/the...
A devilishly funny dark comedy about a woman in Hell who must possess a young child on Earth in order to fulfill a fated prediction.
If Hell is other people, then the other people are certainly our corporate coworkers.
Karen Floyd is living out this workplace version of Hell: she's employed at a communications company in the fiery depths, filled with absurd acronyms, even absurder motivational posters, and zombie outbreaks. But all of a sudden, things finally start to go Karen's way--turns out, she's up for an important promotion.
In the brilliantly kooky world of Matthew Fries' "The Sick Box," Karen's new job is related to the box mentioned in the title. A sick box is the collection of items that Catholic priests use to deliver last rites to the dying. Karen's sick box has ended up in the hands of the Matthews' family--husband Ben, wife Dana, and daughter Mallory--and Karen finds out that she's intimately connected to the family by an important prophecy. Karen must possess Mallory in order to fulfill her destiny for Satan (who is, of course, a giant woman). In exchange, Karen will get a chance to start over, but she better not screw things up.
The narrative also closely follows Ben, who's trying to figure out what he believes about his daughter's condition. His wife, Dana, is convinced that Mallory is possessed, but Ben thinks that theory is pure foolishness. No matter what's going on with Mallory, Ben and Dana will have to address her condition before their marriage falls apart completely.
"The Sick Box" is a laugh-out-loud hysterical farce that pokes fun at everything from "The Exorcist" to fake self-help advice columnists to Reiki practitioners. Fries expertly skewers contemporary capitalist culture and society, calling attention to the zaniness of the world he's created with effortless confidence. Overall, "The Sick Box" is a pitch perfect black comedy that concludes with a hilarious inversion of one of Satan's lines from Milton's "Paradise Lost": Better to live simply on Earth than serve in Hell. Or, is it?
A devilishly funny dark comedy about a woman in Hell who must possess a young child on Earth in order to fulfill a fated prediction.
If Hell is other people, then the other people are certainly our corporate coworkers.
Karen Floyd is living out this workplace version of Hell: she's employed at a communications company in the fiery depths, filled with absurd acronyms, even absurder motivational posters, and zombie outbreaks. But all of a sudden, things finally start to go Karen's way--turns out, she's up for an important promotion.
In the brilliantly kooky world of Matthew Fries' "The Sick Box," Karen's new job is related to the box mentioned in the title. A sick box is the collection of items that Catholic priests use to deliver last rites to the dying. Karen's sick box has ended up in the hands of the Matthews' family--husband Ben, wife Dana, and daughter Mallory--and Karen finds out that she's intimately connected to the family by an important prophecy. Karen must possess Mallory in order to fulfill her destiny for Satan (who is, of course, a giant woman). In exchange, Karen will get a chance to start over, but she better not screw things up.
The narrative also closely follows Ben, who's trying to figure out what he believes about his daughter's condition. His wife, Dana, is convinced that Mallory is possessed, but Ben thinks that theory is pure foolishness. No matter what's going on with Mallory, Ben and Dana will have to address her condition before their marriage falls apart completely.
"The Sick Box" is a laugh-out-loud hysterical farce that pokes fun at everything from "The Exorcist" to fake self-help advice columnists to Reiki practitioners. Fries expertly skewers contemporary capitalist culture and society, calling attention to the zaniness of the world he's created with effortless confidence. Overall, "The Sick Box" is a pitch perfect black comedy that concludes with a hilarious inversion of one of Satan's lines from Milton's "Paradise Lost": Better to live simply on Earth than serve in Hell. Or, is it?
April 10, 2022
Karen Floyd is in Hell. Otherwise known as at the Nakara Corporation that is Hell’s largest provider of wireless communications, internet, and cable television. To succeed in her climb up the corporate ladder, she must occupy the body of a little girl, she must venture through the portal from the nether world to the real world by means of the Sick Box which is the sacred box containing the oils used by priests to give final blessings to the dying. Sounds like a wild, far out story and it is all that told in a hilarious cynical voice. A unique sense of comedy that leads to laugh out loud fun. It reads like a sure bet for the Leacock medal for Humour.
April 20, 2022
This is a great little book. Fast-paced, hilarious, and with just the right amount of absurdity. If you like Christopher Moore this will be right up your alley. Docking one star because the ending seemed a little haphazard and I really wish the author would have flushed out the possession a little bit more. Overall it’s a great read and I can’t wait to see more from this author.
March 25, 2022
Very funny
July 24, 2023
Weird, fast-paced, and darkly funny.
July 5, 2024
Funny
I giggled my way through most of the book, but still ended up caring for Karen and Mallory and everyone else.
I giggled my way through most of the book, but still ended up caring for Karen and Mallory and everyone else.
July 27, 2024
The cool cover and free price got me to read the book. The story itself was enough for me to not want to continue with the series.
May 16, 2024
An intelligently twisted journey into the depths of Hell.
This was my first Fries read. It won't be my last. I'm dying to see what happens in the next book!
Karen is working her way up through the corporate ladder quite literally in corporate Hell. When her genius idea lands her a position working directly with Satan Herself, Karen will do anything to avoid fucking up her big chance.
A couple of issues stand in her way, a bitchy colleague and a zombie bite that has left her ankle infected.
She's destined for great things, but time is ticking, and she must successfully possess a young girl in the earthly world.
I loved everything about Karen. She's sassy, witty, twisted, devilish, yet likable and endearing. It's hard not to find yourself on her side.
The story unfolds as Karen moves between Hell and Earth. There are plenty of surprises and a heap of action as well as a slew of imaginative characters.
I found The Sick Box to be a beautifully written creative spin on the ever so popular concept of possession and exorcism.
This was my first Fries read. It won't be my last. I'm dying to see what happens in the next book!
Karen is working her way up through the corporate ladder quite literally in corporate Hell. When her genius idea lands her a position working directly with Satan Herself, Karen will do anything to avoid fucking up her big chance.
A couple of issues stand in her way, a bitchy colleague and a zombie bite that has left her ankle infected.
She's destined for great things, but time is ticking, and she must successfully possess a young girl in the earthly world.
I loved everything about Karen. She's sassy, witty, twisted, devilish, yet likable and endearing. It's hard not to find yourself on her side.
The story unfolds as Karen moves between Hell and Earth. There are plenty of surprises and a heap of action as well as a slew of imaginative characters.
I found The Sick Box to be a beautifully written creative spin on the ever so popular concept of possession and exorcism.
August 24, 2023
What an excellent debut novel from Matthew Fries! I was searching for dark humor books and I’m so glad this was on a list of recommendations. Hilarious, bizarre, fascinatingly vivid and delightfully entertaining, this is my favorite book of 2023. The story is so wild and fun to follow along. I couldn’t put it down. The ending was absolutely bananas and I’m so glad there’s going to be another book in the series, I can’t wait!
February 3, 2024
Spoilers I guess?
I definitely recommend this book for people who like dark humour. Once you pick it up, you can't set it down. I have to admit this is my number one recommendation and my new favorite book. I like how Karen is pretty kind to Mallory (atleast kindER) and wanted to make her feel good before she tried to possess her. It feels like a fever dream...a GOOD fever dream.
I definitely recommend this book for people who like dark humour. Once you pick it up, you can't set it down. I have to admit this is my number one recommendation and my new favorite book. I like how Karen is pretty kind to Mallory (atleast kindER) and wanted to make her feel good before she tried to possess her. It feels like a fever dream...a GOOD fever dream.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews