What do you think?
Rate this book
Ruthless
This shocking short story collection includes sick and twisted tales by the following disturbed authors: John McNee, Daniel Fabiani, Lucas Pederson, Danny Hill, Jessy Marie Roberts, Shane McKenzie, Jared Donald Blair, Lesley Conner, David Bernstein, AJ Brown, Tom Olbert, Nate Burleigh, John "Jam" Arthur Miller, Thornton Austen, Aaron J. French, Eric Stoveken, Alec Cizak, D. Krauss and Airika Sneve. With introduction by Bentley Little
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2010
6 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 24, 2011
The collection starts off with the best story of the bunch, “Bebbel” by John McNee. This was a seriously disturbing and upsetting story. Bebbel is a part of a trans-humanist freak show, living in a dark, silent cage between performances, his body brutally modified against his will. The Mistress of Ceremonies, Sally – The Keeper of Dark Secrets, has created a repellent cast that performs on her command, feeling adoration and loathing for their cruel maker. The story is full of body horror, creepy trans-humanist revisions:
"Lupi is operated via remote control. Somewhere off-stage a switch is thrown and she rumbles into life. Her body begins to shake, shoulders quivering, head lurching. The exhaust pipes jutting out from between her ribs belch black smoke. Blood seeps out through her gritted teeth. There’s a motorcycle engine in her belly. The block is visible where the metal has split the skin. Under her seat is a single motorcycle wheel, and it starts to roll now, inching towards the front. When the revs get up, Lupi vomits blood. She can’t make a sound, poor Lupi. Her throat is full of liquid. Can’t speak, laugh, or moan. But her eyes are screaming."
The story is plagued by poor editing, as are many in this collection, but in most horror books from small presses, you will see similar lack of attention, if not worse. But in terms of creating a horrific story that is truly upsetting and foul without crossing over into the sort of comic overkill that dominates much of extreme horror, McNee succeeds quite well. The reason this story is different from all the other trans-humanist freak show stories is Bebbel. Bebbel, a victim like the others, grows into his role as a monster in a surprising way. Imaginative, frightening, and very unpleasant, this really is the best story in the collection and it’s nice and somewhat unusual that the editor led with his strengths. Generally the best story is buried under lesser stories.
Read my entire discussion here.
"Lupi is operated via remote control. Somewhere off-stage a switch is thrown and she rumbles into life. Her body begins to shake, shoulders quivering, head lurching. The exhaust pipes jutting out from between her ribs belch black smoke. Blood seeps out through her gritted teeth. There’s a motorcycle engine in her belly. The block is visible where the metal has split the skin. Under her seat is a single motorcycle wheel, and it starts to roll now, inching towards the front. When the revs get up, Lupi vomits blood. She can’t make a sound, poor Lupi. Her throat is full of liquid. Can’t speak, laugh, or moan. But her eyes are screaming."
The story is plagued by poor editing, as are many in this collection, but in most horror books from small presses, you will see similar lack of attention, if not worse. But in terms of creating a horrific story that is truly upsetting and foul without crossing over into the sort of comic overkill that dominates much of extreme horror, McNee succeeds quite well. The reason this story is different from all the other trans-humanist freak show stories is Bebbel. Bebbel, a victim like the others, grows into his role as a monster in a surprising way. Imaginative, frightening, and very unpleasant, this really is the best story in the collection and it’s nice and somewhat unusual that the editor led with his strengths. Generally the best story is buried under lesser stories.
Read my entire discussion here.
July 22, 2024
Overall a good anthology. Some stories I loved others not so much. This was one of those anthologies that the good definitely outweighed the bad.
September 9, 2010
One of the things I love about independent and small press publishers is that they have the stones to publish things that the larger companies won't touch. Too controversial, too disturbing, not commercial enough are all reasons why some otherwise excellent work gets shot down. Pill Hill Press, however, isn't afraid of a little controversey, as is evidenced in their new anthology of extreme horror, Ruthless.
Pick a subject that will disturb, and it's in here. Violence, cannibalism, sex and drugs, you name it, you got it. More important is the fact that you get it in well-written, tight stories that will leave you shaken. Beginning with John McNee's "Bebbel," about a twisted circus freak, readers are taken through the darkest parts of dementia. While it may be difficult to say what the "best" stories in this collection are because of their content, it is equally difficult to pick stand-outs because of the quality. "Saucy," by Nate Burleigh, is a vivid description of a hooker disposing of, and eating, her John, while "To Boil" is a depraved little tale about people trapped in a basement while their imprisoner plots to boil them into soup. "Birthday Song," by Thornton Austen, is a darkly humorous tale of an old man who just hates for the sake of hating.
With Anthologies, it's difficult to do a real in-depth review just by the nature of the work. Every story has its own merit, but isn't long enough for massive character development or grand sweeping plot arcs. What we get, then, are vignettes, little slices of action and mayhem that are just long enough to plague our minds when we close the book for a break. Suffice to say, if you like your horror dark, demented, and disturbed, Ruthless has what you're looking for.
Adding a bit of wisdom to the book is an excellent introduction from Bentley Little, in which the author correctly and effortlessly talks about the difference between extreme horror and every other schmoe out there who thinks that, just because he can come up with gross images, he's a horror writer. Not so, says Little, who states that there's a big difference between gross and horror. Ruthless, while sometimes tapdancing right down that line, manages to stay firmly planted on the horror side.
Pick a subject that will disturb, and it's in here. Violence, cannibalism, sex and drugs, you name it, you got it. More important is the fact that you get it in well-written, tight stories that will leave you shaken. Beginning with John McNee's "Bebbel," about a twisted circus freak, readers are taken through the darkest parts of dementia. While it may be difficult to say what the "best" stories in this collection are because of their content, it is equally difficult to pick stand-outs because of the quality. "Saucy," by Nate Burleigh, is a vivid description of a hooker disposing of, and eating, her John, while "To Boil" is a depraved little tale about people trapped in a basement while their imprisoner plots to boil them into soup. "Birthday Song," by Thornton Austen, is a darkly humorous tale of an old man who just hates for the sake of hating.
With Anthologies, it's difficult to do a real in-depth review just by the nature of the work. Every story has its own merit, but isn't long enough for massive character development or grand sweeping plot arcs. What we get, then, are vignettes, little slices of action and mayhem that are just long enough to plague our minds when we close the book for a break. Suffice to say, if you like your horror dark, demented, and disturbed, Ruthless has what you're looking for.
Adding a bit of wisdom to the book is an excellent introduction from Bentley Little, in which the author correctly and effortlessly talks about the difference between extreme horror and every other schmoe out there who thinks that, just because he can come up with gross images, he's a horror writer. Not so, says Little, who states that there's a big difference between gross and horror. Ruthless, while sometimes tapdancing right down that line, manages to stay firmly planted on the horror side.
December 26, 2022
Finally found a copy of this gem. An excellent anthology of extreme horror stories. Lot's of depraved stories in this one. All 4-5 star stories.
January 28, 2024
I guess I'm not really an extreme horror person.
I'm not bothered by the graphic content or subject matter, and I love horror in general, my preference, however, is more atmosphere and character development.
I'm also finding that short stories aren't my preference. I enjoy getting to know the characters over time. If I don't care about them I find I don't care what happens to them and the stories are less enjoyable for me to read.
I'm not bothered by the graphic content or subject matter, and I love horror in general, my preference, however, is more atmosphere and character development.
I'm also finding that short stories aren't my preference. I enjoy getting to know the characters over time. If I don't care about them I find I don't care what happens to them and the stories are less enjoyable for me to read.
September 5, 2013
Mediocre and disappointing to say the least. One or two stories stood out as a cut above the rest (Little Blenny Bunting comes to mind) but the rest were hardly what one could call "extreme" or "shocking."
There was little to no plot in the majority of these authors' works. Rather, the theme seemed to be who could out-gross the other without any rhyme or reason to why these events were transpiring. It was juvenile, lacked cohesion and was frankly a chore to finish. The stories were unpolished and seemed to have been written by young boys rather than self aware writers who have a basic understanding of their craft. Pathetic book with the exception of the final story, which saves it from getting a one star rating. An insult to horror fans.
There was little to no plot in the majority of these authors' works. Rather, the theme seemed to be who could out-gross the other without any rhyme or reason to why these events were transpiring. It was juvenile, lacked cohesion and was frankly a chore to finish. The stories were unpolished and seemed to have been written by young boys rather than self aware writers who have a basic understanding of their craft. Pathetic book with the exception of the final story, which saves it from getting a one star rating. An insult to horror fans.
April 21, 2011
Ruthless, like most horror anthologies, runs the spectrum from great to disgusting to eye-rolling to truly freaky and weird. Not for the faint of heart.
I think the biggest problem I had were with the two "woman on a rampage" stories; both were written by male authors who don't seem to have much idea how women think.
There are worse ways to spend my $5, I'm sure, but the real deal for me is in seeing where I'm going wrong as a writer. If this is what sells, my question to myself is...is this what I want to be writing?
I think the biggest problem I had were with the two "woman on a rampage" stories; both were written by male authors who don't seem to have much idea how women think.
There are worse ways to spend my $5, I'm sure, but the real deal for me is in seeing where I'm going wrong as a writer. If this is what sells, my question to myself is...is this what I want to be writing?
August 28, 2013
Brainycat's 5 "B"s:
blood: 5
boobs: 1
bombs: 0
bondage: 4
blasphemy: 3
Bechdel Test: FAIL
Deggan's Rule: FAIL
Gay Bechdel Test: FAIL
This is a collection of short horror stories, most of them written by people who's names I don't recognize. There was quite a disparity between the quality of the stories; a couple of standouts really shined but most of the collection is mediocre and two or three of the stories felt like they were below par for the collection. The anthology covered all the usual themes in horror, and frankly I didn't think any of them were especially "extreme". I did not finish this book with a sense of having discovered any new writers, either, which I find very unfortunate - I look forward to anthologies like this to find new talent.
The highlights of the collection are "Little Blenny Bunting" by Airika Sneve. The voicing was especially good in this, and the persepective from the learning-disabled protagonist played well against the setting where he finds himself in a corner of reality where the rules are suddenly different to anything he's experienced before. The other standout story is "Mother's Little Helper" by Tom Olbert, a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when technology and morality collide.
I felt "Sanctity of Passion" by Daniel Fabiani and "Strength" by Alec Cizak were the weakest in the collection. They were written well in the technical sense, but the stories covered well trod ground and failed to bring any new insights or conclusions to the reader, finally leaving me with a feeling of jaded disappointment.
Each of the stories are well written in the technical sense. All of the authors showed an understanding of pace, and the cadence was well handled through vocabulary and grammar. I did not see any typos. However, the epub I have did not have any links from the TOC. This means to go to a particular story you have to page through the whole book until you find it.
I'm torn between two and three stars. If the book weren't labeled "Extreme" and the TOC functioned correctly, I would probably give this three stars. But because it was mislabled, and I had to page back and forth through the whole book to find the stories to jog my memory (yes, most of them are that forgettable) I'm going to go with two stars. I believe that less jaded readers, or people who haven't read as much horror as I have, would enjoy this book more than I did.
blood: 5
boobs: 1
bombs: 0
bondage: 4
blasphemy: 3
Bechdel Test: FAIL
Deggan's Rule: FAIL
Gay Bechdel Test: FAIL
This is a collection of short horror stories, most of them written by people who's names I don't recognize. There was quite a disparity between the quality of the stories; a couple of standouts really shined but most of the collection is mediocre and two or three of the stories felt like they were below par for the collection. The anthology covered all the usual themes in horror, and frankly I didn't think any of them were especially "extreme". I did not finish this book with a sense of having discovered any new writers, either, which I find very unfortunate - I look forward to anthologies like this to find new talent.
The highlights of the collection are "Little Blenny Bunting" by Airika Sneve. The voicing was especially good in this, and the persepective from the learning-disabled protagonist played well against the setting where he finds himself in a corner of reality where the rules are suddenly different to anything he's experienced before. The other standout story is "Mother's Little Helper" by Tom Olbert, a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when technology and morality collide.
I felt "Sanctity of Passion" by Daniel Fabiani and "Strength" by Alec Cizak were the weakest in the collection. They were written well in the technical sense, but the stories covered well trod ground and failed to bring any new insights or conclusions to the reader, finally leaving me with a feeling of jaded disappointment.
Each of the stories are well written in the technical sense. All of the authors showed an understanding of pace, and the cadence was well handled through vocabulary and grammar. I did not see any typos. However, the epub I have did not have any links from the TOC. This means to go to a particular story you have to page through the whole book until you find it.
I'm torn between two and three stars. If the book weren't labeled "Extreme" and the TOC functioned correctly, I would probably give this three stars. But because it was mislabled, and I had to page back and forth through the whole book to find the stories to jog my memory (yes, most of them are that forgettable) I'm going to go with two stars. I believe that less jaded readers, or people who haven't read as much horror as I have, would enjoy this book more than I did.
Please note: I don't review to provide synopses, I review to share a purely visceral reaction to books and perhaps answer some of the questions I ask when I'm contemplating investing time and money into a book.
October 21, 2011
Meh. Not sure what I expected, but it was mostly stories with people coming up with the most original methods of torturing other people. Think Saw or Hostel in book form. Ironic that in trying to be original, most ended up quite the opposite. A few stories were really good, but abruptly ended and could have used a few more pages. Fewer still were actually awesome, so it wasn't a total bust.
October 31, 2011
Not really extreme at all. I think the collection "Vile Things" forever desensitized me.
July 18, 2012
This one will always hold a special place in my heart. Call me biased, but I f-ing loved it from beginning to end. <3
October 19, 2013
Extreme is a bit over-stated, but it was still ok.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews