Cinema Viscera: An Anthology of Movie Theater Horror

by Sam Richard, Katy Michelle Quinn (Contributor), Charles Austin Muir (Contributor)

In five unique and bizarre tales Katy Michelle Quinn (Girl in the Walls), Charles Austin Muir (Slippery When Metastasized), Jo Quenell (The Mud Ballad), Brendan Vidito (Nightmares in Ecstasy), and Sam Richard (Sabbath of the Fox-Devils) each bring you their own disturbing vision of what lurks in the darkness of your local movie theater.

Not gonna lie, this shit is a lot darker than we thought it would be.

Make sure to grab some popcorn...

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Anthologies

148 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2021

About the author

Sam Richard is the author of several books including The Still Beating Heart of a Dead God and the award-winning To Wallow in Ash & Other Sorrows. He has edited ten anthologies, including the cult hits Profane Altars: Weird Sword & Sorcery and The New Flesh, and his short fiction has appeared in over forty publications. Widowed in 2017, he slowly rots in Minneapolis where he runs Weirdpunk Books. You can stalk him @SammyTotep across most socials or at weirdpunkbooks.com

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very impressive collection of horror stories. Each vision comes from someplace personal, and all of the selections are seriously tense, scary and poignant. Individually, these five stories by five different authors pick you up and drag you through someone's personal vision of hell on earth. Even when fearing that the characters have no hope of redemption, you still feel the strength of an inner cheering for their escapes. There is a lot of graphic content to plunge through, as well as some very emotional and frustrating situations. I'm so glad I picked up this book. Sometimes, you can judge a book by its cover. But never a person.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries]

DNF. I tried the first few stories and sadly realized that these authors all had a fairly similar vibe that wasn't for me.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply personal and heartfelt anthology of uncomfortable horrors. Sometimes pushing societal boundaries, this isn’t for an audience that wants to avoid taboo topics. Beautifully done. In my opinion there are two connecting themes that create a flow in this anthology, cinema settings or themes, and deeply personal. A very sweet touch that they included trigger warnings in the back of the book, I do recommend checking them before choosing to read this. Also enjoyed and appreciated learning about the authors whom personal fears are reflected in these pages. As humans, fear is one of the most basic instincts that connects us, that is entirely relatable. It does not discriminate. In this anthology, I felt connected to my authors and their fears. I related. I empathized. It made me feel things that are in my own mind, through the lens of other imaginations and experiences. Need I say more?

[Jonah Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m sad but also disturbed! Dark shit oozes up from the celluloid in this collection. Probably shouldn’t have read it before bed.

[Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

All hail the view flesh! One of the best and most moving horror anthologies I've ever read.

I don't find those "In story 1 this happens, in story 2..." reviews super helpful, so what I'll say is that these stories are extreme, smart, and not what I was expecting. If you're hoping for camp "monster under your movie seat" like The Tingler, that's not what this is. These stories deal with forced detransition, bodies and stories sewn together with film, bad science for arguably good reasons, and so, so much sadness and loss.

Every story is excellent, and the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts. Highly recommended, and please do check out the helpful content warnings at the back because this is one of the most brutal books I've come across.

[Kevin L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a *very* dark little collection, which I guess makes sense since it’s cinema themed - you don’t experience the cinema in brightness, but rather settle into a dark place.

I really enjoyed all of these stories, but when a story called A Marriage of Blood and Pus is the single story with a kind of happy ending you KNOW these stories are DARK. My favorite, and IMHO darkest story was The Reassigned by Jo Quenell, an emotionally gutting experience from first to last.

Kudos to Sam at Weird Punk Books for including authors’ story notes and content warnings, a welcome addition to this collection.

[Emily Lorié · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark and thrilling read that will stick with you long after you put it to rest.
My favorite story in this collection was Nostalgia Night at the Snuff Palace. While out of my typical wheelhouse, I appreciate how the author explored the minds and memories of the main characters. It was masterfully executed in gruesome and thought-provoking ways.
I’m fairly inexperienced when it comes to extreme horror, but I’d say these stories comfortably fit the mold.

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story in this anthology was wildly different but equally horrifying.

[Joseph Dolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legitimately some of the most messed up stuff I've ever read.

[Thyme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories I liked more than others, although I understood all of them, even if they took me some extra time.
I did enjoy it and I don't feel like it deserves three stars, since even though the stories I didn't like I still understood and resonated with, some of them just weren't personally my cup of tea which isn't anyone's fault.
Overall, I recommend! Definitely read the content warnings in the back though first. If I could change anything I'd probably move those to the front.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, just wow.
Thank you for the content warnings and thank you for my first exposure to Weird Punk Books - what a gem to start with, eh?
4.5 stars

[ʚ༺ rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

found this at a local bookstore and it had a little blurb written under it that promised queer body horror, the theme of the collection being horror stories that include film / movie theaters in the vein of movies like gremlins, an american werewolf in london and popcorn. it sounded amazing from the blurb and intro and I really wanted to love it because that sounds like absolutely my thing. 3 stars because the majority of the stories were COVID allegory sci fi apocalypse-esque which is fine but just not my thing.
however "the reassignment" by jo quenell was incredibly well done. it was heart-wrenching-stomach-churning trans body horror and is something that will definitely stick with me.

[Teresa Ardrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the stories went places I was not expecting and most of the stories are not for the faint of heart. It is incredible that all the authors had the same prompts and yet the stories are vastly different. All are beautifully written. Not all were to my tastes, but I am still interested in seeking out more by these authors. But if you go in with an open mind, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

[Mother Suspiria]

Intense, bizarre, and highly personal, CINEMA VISCERA is nightmarishly horrific and sincere in its desire to disturb/disconcert. This VERY dark, very unique antho has 5 great, memorable stories featuring movie theaters- just don't expect any happy endings, here.

[Jason Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting... 3/5 just because two of the stories didn't really make any kind of impression on me, but there's a lot of really intriguing concepts here. I really enjoyed how you can feel that each of these stories are very personal to their authors, even before you read the authors notes.

[Grey · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent collection. Highly recommend to horror/gore fans.

[JiGoEm Conan Turner ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, I could literally read it a thousand times, I recommend it to you my genre is definitely horror and it has a good story

[Emma Rucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let more trans people write weird shit!