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The Box
Beyond the depths of cosmic, body horror and grotesque fiction comes sixteen tales wrapped tightly in a BOX. Whatever you pull out first after opening will surely haunt your psyche.
“This is a book of transformations, where victim and victor shift roles at the turn of a twisted tale. From abjection and depravity to wistful, unfulfilled love, Couturier guides us through the realm of appetite, and what it turns us into. Body horror, science fiction, and the paranormal are lenses through which he shows us the unforgiving food chain we participate in. Open this box and partake in its implacable calculus.”—Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, author of COME TOMORROW and STRENGTH OF WATER
“A collection of weird tales worthy of the original Weird Tales, a book to put on your shelf next to your battered Clark Ashton Smiths, “The Box and Others” is a kaleidoscopic study in contrasts—wonderfully nostalgic but always forward-looking, terrifying, gloriously inventive, and grimly funny. More than anything, it’s a showcase for Couturier’s near-boundless imagination. Here are the long-dead sorcerers, the obsessed archaeologists, the reluctant explorers of the abyssal depths, but set in and around the heathen temples of modern society: the late night truck stops, the spooky recycling centers, the broke-down carnivals and cramped apartments of the modern age. These sixteen twisted tales go down smooth, like fine vintage wine, but reimagined for the modern age and told with such robust, wicked glee you can’t help but marvel at Couturier’s enthusiasm and remarkably deft touch. Highly recommended.”—Polly Schattel, author of THE OCCULTISTS and SHADOWDAYS
“This is a book of transformations, where victim and victor shift roles at the turn of a twisted tale. From abjection and depravity to wistful, unfulfilled love, Couturier guides us through the realm of appetite, and what it turns us into. Body horror, science fiction, and the paranormal are lenses through which he shows us the unforgiving food chain we participate in. Open this box and partake in its implacable calculus.”—Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, author of COME TOMORROW and STRENGTH OF WATER
“A collection of weird tales worthy of the original Weird Tales, a book to put on your shelf next to your battered Clark Ashton Smiths, “The Box and Others” is a kaleidoscopic study in contrasts—wonderfully nostalgic but always forward-looking, terrifying, gloriously inventive, and grimly funny. More than anything, it’s a showcase for Couturier’s near-boundless imagination. Here are the long-dead sorcerers, the obsessed archaeologists, the reluctant explorers of the abyssal depths, but set in and around the heathen temples of modern society: the late night truck stops, the spooky recycling centers, the broke-down carnivals and cramped apartments of the modern age. These sixteen twisted tales go down smooth, like fine vintage wine, but reimagined for the modern age and told with such robust, wicked glee you can’t help but marvel at Couturier’s enthusiasm and remarkably deft touch. Highly recommended.”—Polly Schattel, author of THE OCCULTISTS and SHADOWDAYS
- GenresHorrorScience Fiction
186 pages, Paperback
Published June 7, 2022
2 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Scott J. Couturier
45 books29 followersScott J. Couturier is a Rhysling-nominated poet and prose writer of the weird, liminal, and darkly fantastic. His work has appeared in numerous venues, including The Audient Void, Spectral Realms, Tales from the Magician’s Skull, Space and Time Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and Weirdbook; his collection of Weird fiction, The Box, is available from Hybrid Sequence Media, while his collection of autumnal & folk horror verse, I Awaken In October, is available from Jackanapes Press.
Currently he works as a copy and content editor for Mission Point Press, living an obscure reverie in the wilds of northern Michigan with his partner/live-in editor and two cats.
Currently he works as a copy and content editor for Mission Point Press, living an obscure reverie in the wilds of northern Michigan with his partner/live-in editor and two cats.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 6, 2022
Cosmic, folk, bloody, & supernatural terrors abound between the pages of “The Box”. There are monsters, cults, gore fests and more!
Each tale was unique, with twists and turns; there was always a surprise in store for the reader, usually a horrifying one.
My top three favourite stories were:
Like Vultures- I felt this one viscerally! There’s been a black van in our neighbourhood recently and I ALWAYS cross the street to avoid walking near it. This story makes my fears feel validated.
“Resistance is token where agency is nil.”
Hatchling- imagine a creature like that living hidden in your basement! Creepy as heck!!
Ten Cents a Bottle- ok, this one was about a haunted bottle returns store. Built on indigenous land, there are seriously strange and eerie happenings.
Definitely give this unique collection a read!!
Each tale was unique, with twists and turns; there was always a surprise in store for the reader, usually a horrifying one.
My top three favourite stories were:
Like Vultures- I felt this one viscerally! There’s been a black van in our neighbourhood recently and I ALWAYS cross the street to avoid walking near it. This story makes my fears feel validated.
“Resistance is token where agency is nil.”
Hatchling- imagine a creature like that living hidden in your basement! Creepy as heck!!
Ten Cents a Bottle- ok, this one was about a haunted bottle returns store. Built on indigenous land, there are seriously strange and eerie happenings.
Definitely give this unique collection a read!!
August 12, 2022
It is difficult to review a book like this one, essentially a collection of several short stories, unique and divergent. There is gore, fantasy, horror, but also some creative writing from an author who has a complex grasp of the English language. If the tags describing this book align with your interests, there is some fine writing here. It contains some adult fare and gruesome descriptions but the writing is compelling. While the content is not my usual fare, I gave it four stars for the author.
December 15, 2022
Scott Couturier you are a sick man & I have a strait jacket with your name on it! I’d put it on you but than I’d be stopping you from writing more of this insane brilliance.
This book is a collection of short stories that resonates the styles of LoveCraft & Clive Barker. I would also like to add one more comparable name to that list. I detected the nihilism of Thomas Ligotti as well. Each story came with its own beautiful descriptions of the cosmic horror that we know & love with the added bonus of disgusting gore.
There are lots of lovable characters to root for in these stories but none of it matters because our characters both good & bad are doomed to the unholy hell you blessed (should I say cursed?) them with.
From the old gods, to zombies, ghosts, & even that classic reanimated corpse of Adam for that brief twisted appearance, I had so much fun with this page turner. I originally planned to slowly read this book all of the month of December but inadvertently finished it in 2 weeks because I couldn’t stop myself.
This book is a collection of short stories that resonates the styles of LoveCraft & Clive Barker. I would also like to add one more comparable name to that list. I detected the nihilism of Thomas Ligotti as well. Each story came with its own beautiful descriptions of the cosmic horror that we know & love with the added bonus of disgusting gore.
There are lots of lovable characters to root for in these stories but none of it matters because our characters both good & bad are doomed to the unholy hell you blessed (should I say cursed?) them with.
From the old gods, to zombies, ghosts, & even that classic reanimated corpse of Adam for that brief twisted appearance, I had so much fun with this page turner. I originally planned to slowly read this book all of the month of December but inadvertently finished it in 2 weeks because I couldn’t stop myself.
July 21, 2022
The Box is a wonderful collection of tense horror, vivid science fiction and stomach-churning folklore. Couturier keeps you on the edge of your seat with delightful twists and turns without telegraphing the plot.
The story, "Million-Dollar Smile" is my favorite. A hapless photographer finds himself and the world slowly slipping and seeping into horror. It left me breathless!
The Box features gore, angst and battles of will. It will remind you that magic really does come with a price!!
The story, "Million-Dollar Smile" is my favorite. A hapless photographer finds himself and the world slowly slipping and seeping into horror. It left me breathless!
The Box features gore, angst and battles of will. It will remind you that magic really does come with a price!!
July 24, 2022
This book was a mind blower, touches on a lot of different horror genres, many times within the same story it will shift between body horror and cosmic horror, to gothic horror and gory splatter horror. There's even a healthy dose of occult and folk horror as well. Despite jumping from genre to genre between and throughout the stories, this collection is also extremely thematically cohesive.
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January 3, 2023The Box‘s Scott J. Couturier is equally adept at writing chilling ghost stories as surreal experiments in cosmic and body horror, and provides fresh twists on monsters, cannibals, aliens, and other genre staples. The best stories have a slightly meta feel: “Monster of the Mind” sees a Ligotti-esque cosmic horror writer returning to his classic monster roots (and turning his biggest critic into one), while “#1 Fan” profiles a mostly-forgotten novelist who finds immortality not in his work, but in the undead offspring he spawns. This eclectic collection manages to retain a strong undercurrent of darkness while remaining consistently clever and fun.
August 10, 2024
“The Box” by Scott Couturier, 2022, from Hybrid Sequence Media. With beautifully crafted chills from a growing luminary in the horror genre, this collection hits the ground running from the opening tale “Like Vultures” and Couturier continues to deliver the goods with each offering. I won’t go into each story as you need to discover and experience them for yourself but one soon realizes this book is from a writer who loves and understands and experiments with the weird and the Weird. Characters are fully fleshed out even when they are dead as in the fascinating, gruesome “Million-Dollar Smile”, a story about a reclusive weird author whose last “portrait” causes much more than the photographer’s undoing. Couturier’s sleight of hand with words as well as a near-preternatural understanding of the darkness we all experience make “The Box” a must-read.
September 19, 2022
This is Lovecraft updated for cell phones and digital cameras, although real film remains the go-to medium for spreading incomprehensible horrors.
“Monster of the Mind” is a real standout, a sort of Stranger Than Fiction for horror. “Two Silver Dollars” was also a lot of fun. It’s hard to go wrong with a circus story.
The author is from Michigan, so it was interesting seeing the occasional Michigan reference, such as the Meijer supermarket chain, much like the H-E-B chain here in Texas.
“Monster of the Mind” is a real standout, a sort of Stranger Than Fiction for horror. “Two Silver Dollars” was also a lot of fun. It’s hard to go wrong with a circus story.
The author is from Michigan, so it was interesting seeing the occasional Michigan reference, such as the Meijer supermarket chain, much like the H-E-B chain here in Texas.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews