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The Brain Leeches and Other Eldritch Phenomena
The stars are right and the old gods are restles...
Nameless rites. Half-human abominations. Formless spawn from black gulfs of horror. Nightmare conspiracies and unbreakable cults.
Thirteen tales of loathsome realities where mankind is an endangered species and primordial evil rises from sunken crypts and dark dimensions.
Nameless rites. Half-human abominations. Formless spawn from black gulfs of horror. Nightmare conspiracies and unbreakable cults.
Thirteen tales of loathsome realities where mankind is an endangered species and primordial evil rises from sunken crypts and dark dimensions.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2022
About the author
Tim Curran
156 books615 followersTim Curran lives in Michigan and is the author of the novels Skin Medicine, Hive, Dead Sea, Resurrection, The Devil Next Door, and Biohazard, as well as the novella The Corpse King. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as City Slab, Flesh&Blood, Book of Dark Wisdom, and Inhuman, and anthologies such as Shivers IV, High Seas Cthulhu, and Vile Things.
For DarkFuse and its imprints, he has written the bestselling The Underdwelling, the Readers Choice-Nominated novella Fear Me, Puppet Graveyard as well as Long Black Coffin.
Find him on the web at: www.corpseking.com.
For DarkFuse and its imprints, he has written the bestselling The Underdwelling, the Readers Choice-Nominated novella Fear Me, Puppet Graveyard as well as Long Black Coffin.
Find him on the web at: www.corpseking.com.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 5, 2022
One Grim Collection!
This collection showcases some of Curran's best work. A couple of these were new to me because I was unable to acquire their original publication source material. All these tales are impressive and done in the way only Curran can project. The Brain Leeches, his newest in this collection, is the reason why I claim Tim Curran master of the genre. His work is unequaled and I will continue to praise that without shame. This is a perfect collection to read during October. If you're new to Curran, this is a great book to start with!
This collection showcases some of Curran's best work. A couple of these were new to me because I was unable to acquire their original publication source material. All these tales are impressive and done in the way only Curran can project. The Brain Leeches, his newest in this collection, is the reason why I claim Tim Curran master of the genre. His work is unequaled and I will continue to praise that without shame. This is a perfect collection to read during October. If you're new to Curran, this is a great book to start with!
October 23, 2024
Tim Curran is one of my favourite horror writers and from time to time, he dabbles in a Lovecraftian themes\monsters. Dead Sea, Blackout, Nightcrawlers among others (some I didn't even read). This one since it was a compiliation of short stories and this month I had decided to dwell on anthologies I Went for it.
First of all, one thing that I will say is that probably I won't be doing anykind of Anthology Month in the near future since It gets a bit repetitive/boring. And I think the value of the stories drops down, not by their value but because you are only investing on stories with 20 pages and on to another one.. it's like seeing TikTok videos.
We've got some interesting stories, some not that good. One interesting thing is that although they are lovecraftian the trademark of Curran is there with the gruesome scenarios.
Each story, or the vast majority of the stories dwell in a different Old One.
“Spider Wasp” is a newer version of “The Festival”
The Brain Leeches” is well, quite similar to “At the Mountains of Madness”.
I bet there are more connections but I've not read everything Lovecraft read, or much to be honest.
One interesting part here is the third person perspective while Lovecraft used 1st person so we can see people dying and the aftermath. There are 13 stories and some of my favourites are
"When the sea runs hot and cold" deals with some mariners that capture something from the deep and Dagon takes revenge.
"Cult of the Black Swine" is another lovecraftian horror story about a cult but with a twist that makes you flabbergast.
"THe Horror of Many Mouths" & "Slithering" are also very short and potent stories. I also mentioned "Brain Leeches" and finally the most Lovecraftian one - with all those beings in the mix is "Scratching from the Outer Darkness" where we see all of these references to all of these books, Elder Things, Old Ones etc and Earth coming to an end. Very very good.
Overall I am going to rate 80 out 100 since there were some that were a miss for me.
First of all, one thing that I will say is that probably I won't be doing anykind of Anthology Month in the near future since It gets a bit repetitive/boring. And I think the value of the stories drops down, not by their value but because you are only investing on stories with 20 pages and on to another one.. it's like seeing TikTok videos.
We've got some interesting stories, some not that good. One interesting thing is that although they are lovecraftian the trademark of Curran is there with the gruesome scenarios.
Each story, or the vast majority of the stories dwell in a different Old One.
“Spider Wasp” is a newer version of “The Festival”
The Brain Leeches” is well, quite similar to “At the Mountains of Madness”.
I bet there are more connections but I've not read everything Lovecraft read, or much to be honest.
One interesting part here is the third person perspective while Lovecraft used 1st person so we can see people dying and the aftermath. There are 13 stories and some of my favourites are
"When the sea runs hot and cold" deals with some mariners that capture something from the deep and Dagon takes revenge.
"Cult of the Black Swine" is another lovecraftian horror story about a cult but with a twist that makes you flabbergast.
"THe Horror of Many Mouths" & "Slithering" are also very short and potent stories. I also mentioned "Brain Leeches" and finally the most Lovecraftian one - with all those beings in the mix is "Scratching from the Outer Darkness" where we see all of these references to all of these books, Elder Things, Old Ones etc and Earth coming to an end. Very very good.
Overall I am going to rate 80 out 100 since there were some that were a miss for me.
October 22, 2022
Oof that cover is lit.
This is a captivating and well written cosmic horror collection!
Favourite stories:
When the Sea Runs Hot and Cold: a nightmare catch, and monstrous weather. This story gave me the shivers just picturing being on the stormy sea with the creature(s). Isolated on the surface of the black ocean with the depths of the sea below, I can’t think of anything more terrifying.
Cult of the Black Swine: Riggs is man on a mission to find a kidnapped girl. The switch in the townspeople was eerie as hell, from zombies to keen onlookers. It felt like a trap, and for the rest of the story my breathe was baited waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The Eldritch Eye: a surgery has some unexpected after effects for Art. I was squirming with the eye horror; anything to do with eyes freaks me right out. I
The Horror of Many Mouths: an order of nuns take care of an abandoned girl. The steep descent of the convent nuns was shocking, their faith didn’t seem to provide any protection. Ugh it was awful to read. Then the twist at the end… I am shook!
Nemesis Theory: A prison where the prisoners are mysteriously disappearing. Escaping or being taken? Something is coming in the night sky, and it doesn’t bode well. The cult leader Sloat was eerie as hell! I was rooting for Chi Chi, Coogan, and Luis, but a happy ending was not to be….
Favourite Line(s): “For here was not just the smell of time, but the smell of unhallowed memory, of advanced decomposition, of embalmed things resting uneasily in nitrous oblong boxes.”
Feedback: A very small percentage of the stories were a little long/repetitive/confusing.
This is a captivating and well written cosmic horror collection!
Favourite stories:
When the Sea Runs Hot and Cold: a nightmare catch, and monstrous weather. This story gave me the shivers just picturing being on the stormy sea with the creature(s). Isolated on the surface of the black ocean with the depths of the sea below, I can’t think of anything more terrifying.
Cult of the Black Swine: Riggs is man on a mission to find a kidnapped girl. The switch in the townspeople was eerie as hell, from zombies to keen onlookers. It felt like a trap, and for the rest of the story my breathe was baited waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The Eldritch Eye: a surgery has some unexpected after effects for Art. I was squirming with the eye horror; anything to do with eyes freaks me right out. I
The Horror of Many Mouths: an order of nuns take care of an abandoned girl. The steep descent of the convent nuns was shocking, their faith didn’t seem to provide any protection. Ugh it was awful to read. Then the twist at the end… I am shook!
Nemesis Theory: A prison where the prisoners are mysteriously disappearing. Escaping or being taken? Something is coming in the night sky, and it doesn’t bode well. The cult leader Sloat was eerie as hell! I was rooting for Chi Chi, Coogan, and Luis, but a happy ending was not to be….
Favourite Line(s): “For here was not just the smell of time, but the smell of unhallowed memory, of advanced decomposition, of embalmed things resting uneasily in nitrous oblong boxes.”
Feedback: A very small percentage of the stories were a little long/repetitive/confusing.
September 15, 2024
Amid non-euclidean angles and beings from outside the known universe, it’s easy to forget how gruesome Lovecraft’s writing was. But it was gruesome. There were humans mating with fish monsters, ghouls eating corpses like cookies, headless corpses animated and sent as servants to their murderers.
This book takes this gruesome aspect and amplifies it. It’s disgusting. It’s upsetting. It’s horrifying.
One of the best books I’ve read this year.
Don’t get me wrong, the cosmic aspect is still there. Humans are still pawns in the spidery legs of infinitely more powerful and incomprehensible beings. Meeting such beings inevitably leads to madness followed shortly by death (one advantage of third-person narration is that you can show your protagonists dying).
But before that, the reader can feel the squelching of meaty things that fill our bodies, the smacking of innumerable mouths, indescribable horrors crawling under the skin and so. Many. Hatching. Eggs.
I’m not a delicate person, but even I had to pause every once in a while, because wtf was I reading? But also, it became monotonous. There are only so many times I can read about the reality unraveling and gelid eggs hatching. Especially the second half I feel was more repetitive. Also, the stories were hardly original. Most of them were just new versions of Lovecraft’s stories (“The Brain Leeches” was “At the Mountains of Madness”, “Spider Wasp” was “The Festival”, “Nemesis Theory was a mix of The Whisperer in Darkness” and “The Dreams in The Witch House”, etc). There were a few original ones, mostly at the beginning. “The Blowfly Manifesto” was a mix of Lovecraftian horror and cyberpunk. “The Horror of Many Mouths” had a tang of nunsploitation. “The Eldritch Eye” was body horror at its finest. “Cult of the Black Swine” made me think of “Under The Skin” (the book, not the film).
All in all, great collection, even though it lost some steam in the second half.
This book takes this gruesome aspect and amplifies it. It’s disgusting. It’s upsetting. It’s horrifying.
One of the best books I’ve read this year.
Don’t get me wrong, the cosmic aspect is still there. Humans are still pawns in the spidery legs of infinitely more powerful and incomprehensible beings. Meeting such beings inevitably leads to madness followed shortly by death (one advantage of third-person narration is that you can show your protagonists dying).
But before that, the reader can feel the squelching of meaty things that fill our bodies, the smacking of innumerable mouths, indescribable horrors crawling under the skin and so. Many. Hatching. Eggs.
I’m not a delicate person, but even I had to pause every once in a while, because wtf was I reading? But also, it became monotonous. There are only so many times I can read about the reality unraveling and gelid eggs hatching. Especially the second half I feel was more repetitive. Also, the stories were hardly original. Most of them were just new versions of Lovecraft’s stories (“The Brain Leeches” was “At the Mountains of Madness”, “Spider Wasp” was “The Festival”, “Nemesis Theory was a mix of The Whisperer in Darkness” and “The Dreams in The Witch House”, etc). There were a few original ones, mostly at the beginning. “The Blowfly Manifesto” was a mix of Lovecraftian horror and cyberpunk. “The Horror of Many Mouths” had a tang of nunsploitation. “The Eldritch Eye” was body horror at its finest. “Cult of the Black Swine” made me think of “Under The Skin” (the book, not the film).
All in all, great collection, even though it lost some steam in the second half.
December 16, 2022
Very dark in the human mind of H.P Lovecraft style
If you love H.P Lovecraft you will like this. Kinda took me awhile to read with life and had to look up stuff I did not understand. I'm smart but intelligent enough. But I got the jest of the book of anthology. It kinda freaked me out and I've read a lot of horror that does not do that to me. If you H.P Lovecraft you will like this. 5 the old ones out of 5
If you love H.P Lovecraft you will like this. Kinda took me awhile to read with life and had to look up stuff I did not understand. I'm smart but intelligent enough. But I got the jest of the book of anthology. It kinda freaked me out and I've read a lot of horror that does not do that to me. If you H.P Lovecraft you will like this. 5 the old ones out of 5
May 15, 2026
pretty good
I like his books. They tend to be a little samey and the language is used more for effect I think then actual descriptions but that's lovectian horror for you. I do wish he'd use first names only I lose track of the characters and I think simpler names might help.
I like his books. They tend to be a little samey and the language is used more for effect I think then actual descriptions but that's lovectian horror for you. I do wish he'd use first names only I lose track of the characters and I think simpler names might help.
June 9, 2023
Spectacularly Lovecraftian
This is some of the best Lovecraftian horror I've ever read. The last story in particular made my skin crawl. Highly recommend.
This is some of the best Lovecraftian horror I've ever read. The last story in particular made my skin crawl. Highly recommend.
December 1, 2023
Very dark writings by Tim curran in HP Lovecraft writing. Thirteen tales and my favorite was the White Rabbit.
August 19, 2024
Great read
I can't get enough , the details of the hellscapes really paints a grim picture of a future with the old ones involved.
I can't get enough , the details of the hellscapes really paints a grim picture of a future with the old ones involved.
November 7, 2024
Disappointing collection of stories from Tim Curran. Expected more.
October 3, 2025
I'm not normally into short story collections but this was gross, violent, maddening and thoroughly enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews