100% Match by Patrick C Harrison III

Title: 100% Match

Author: Patrick C Harrison III

Year Published: 2022

Link to Buy: Amazon 

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Extreme Horror, Splatterpunk, Mental Illness, Novella, Thriller, Twist Ending

Summary:

Bart is thirty. He is bald. He is overweight. He wears glasses. He is a fry cook. He hates cats. And kids. Bart occasionally does very bad things. He is looking for his perfect match. He has done his research.

Ten-Sentence Review

This is yet another splatterpunk book that I will not recommend unless you know what you’re getting into—but if you’ve walked this disgusting road before, read 100% Match immediately! The only thing I loved more than main character Bart’s nonsensical depravity was the unexpected twist at the end. I read the whole thing in two short sittings, but unlike other horror novellas I’ve read, this one is the perfect length for the story. I would definitely read a prequel where we find out why Bart is the way he is, but this is a rare time when I feel that really isn’t necessary. The whole point of Bart’s existence is chaos and I wouldn’t want to ruin it by finding out about his childhood trauma. 

The narration was very American Psycho, describing the minutiae of everything he does without explaining why he does it; much like Patrick Bateman, we don’t know if this is because the narrator thinks the reasons are obvious to us, or because he doesn’t bother to assign reason to his actions at all. The main difference between the two characters is that Bateman is notoriously unreliable, but I’m fairly certain everything Bart describes is actually happening. Bart also has distinct similarities to Tyler Durden from Fight Club, and not just because of his additions to recipes at his fast-food job. 

Bart’s fatal flaw is assuming Sara is just another generic woman he can manipulate into thinking he is the perfect partner… But, he doesn’t seem too disappointed in the outcome when she reveals her true motives. 

5/5

Against Medical Advice by Ruth Anna Evans

 Title: Against Medical Advice

Author: Ruth Anna Evans

Year Published: 2024

Link to Buy: Amazon

Genre: Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Horror, Medical Horror, Mental Illness, Novella

Summary:

Frank's six-year-old daughter Maddie is sick. Very sick. Her mother is out of town and he's on his own to handle the emergency. But the doctors can't find anything wrong and money is quickly running out. Frank is desperate, and he begins to consider the unthinkable. Shelly is a social worker with a pill problem. When a case spins out of control, she finds herself out of pills and at the end of her rope. Then she gets a call to check into a tip from an A father who may be making his own daughter ill. Will Shelly intervene in time, or will she fail to save a child...again? From the author of OH FUCK OH FUCK IT HURTS comes this gripping, fast-paced novella of medical horror that will make you How far would you go when the only thing you can do is Against Medical Advice?

Ten-Sentence Review

The desperation and poorly processed childhood trauma of both main characters, Shelly and Frank, are what makes this too-short novel really special. Shelly allows her dependence on Xanax to get in the way of her social worker job, and Frank allows his paranoia over his daughter’s illness and their lack of money to push him to do something completely irrational. They both make poor decisions that may or may not be totally their own fault. 

When you have PTSD you aren’t always in your right mind when you get triggered, and Evans captures that perfectly in both people’s fractured thoughts and frazzled actions. I can’t say that I would have jumped straight to home surgery as quickly as Frank does, but he watched his mother waste away in the hospital when he was a teenager and has no trust left for the medical profession. 

The descriptions of abused and neglected children are so heartbreakingly accurate, and I appreciate how good Shelly is at her job even as she’s wrestling with her own demons. It was refreshing to see a horror novel where the characters have consciences and good intentions, but everything still goes terribly wrong. 

Solid plot, beautiful writing, realistic characters, and a strong resolution. My only complaint is that it was too short! I’d love to see a sequel about what happens to Frank in prison, his daughter and wife’s life without him as Maddie gets older, and Shelly checking in on them as her habits and PTSD either get better or much, much worse. 

5/5

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Title: The Deep

Author: Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes

Year Published: 2019

Link to Buy: Amazon

Genre: Fiction, Supernatural, Fantasy, LGBTQ+ Novella

Summary:

Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu. Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago. Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

Ten-Sentence Review:

Everything about this book, from the ebb and flow of the narrative to the non-chronological delivery of the plot, gives the reader a real feeling of floating through the deep ocean. The creatures--called Zoti Aleyu meaning Strange Fish, also collectively referred to as the Wajinru--are tactile beings with sensitive skin and minds, and I felt each cold wave and grain of salt along with them. The poetic prose dropped me into a universe where everything feels as off-beat and uncertain as floating in the open ocean.

The lesbian love story in this book is so subtle, and I hadn’t previously seen this title on any queer book lists, so I wasn’t expecting Yetu and Oori to end up together; it snuck up on me in the most satisfying way! You could even argue that since the Wajinru don’t particularly have genders they’re not lesbians so much as a generally-queer-kind-of-fem-probably-neurodivergent-inter-species-but-not-weird-because-one-is-a-merperson couple. I loved the gender fluidity throughout the whole book among Wajinru and humans alike, especially when Yetu explains that they are born with similar bodies but “there were men, women, both, and neither. Such things were self-determined…” (chapter 7).

In the last few years, I’ve noticed a trend of books with especially sad or violent storylines still ending happily for the characters who deserve it. I usually love a messy, chaotic ending where nothing is resolved because it’s true to the way most things in real life end up, but I couldn’t think of a better ending than the tidy bow The Deep is tied into during the final pages. Yetu and Oori find true belonging in one another, Oori finds a deeper heritage which is still connected to her lost community, and the Wajinru are learning to share their memories so they can all find peace. Instead of furthering generational trauma, the Wajinru experience a healing rebirth that they truly deserve.

5/5 and then some!

Here is the song "The Deep" by Clipping. Prepare for goosebumps.

I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House by Ben Farthing

Title: I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House

Author: Ben Farthing

Year Published: 2023

Link to Buy: Amazon

Genre: Fiction, Novella, Horror, Supernatural

Summary:
Dave and hie four-year-old, Jacob, find a circus tent in the woods behind their house. A strange voice invites them through the dark doorway. 

When they refuse, the tent swallows them.

What follows is a nightmare fleeing through a maze of circus tents. Strange performers lurk inside. They want Dave and his little boy to put on a show. The audience: a shifting figure on a platform high above the trapeze wires.

With Jacob perched in the crook of his arm, Dave determines to outsmart the boss of this dark circus, and escape this horrifying tent.

Ten Sentence Review:

This short novel presents a believable surreality that is absolutely dripping with creativity. Yes, there are clowns and circus performers, but not like you've seen before. The theme of minimizing your child's trauma is prevalent throughout, and Jacob is a very realistic four-year-old. Father and son stop to take breaks from running, eat snacks, lament forgetting to bring water, and play games to distract from their terrifying situation. This humanity was made even more delightful after reading the "Why I Wrote This Book" author's note at the end. 

One thing in this otherwise excellent story was very frustrating: in over an hour of complaining about arm pain and realizing he can't do various tasks while holding Jacob in one arm, Dave never once puts Jacob on his back piggyback-style to free up his hands. He even straps him on with a yoyo string at one point (the thinnest, flimsiest string I've ever encountered), but never considers shifting the kid to his back and telling him to hang on tight. This was surprising considering their clever use of circus props to get away from the performers.

The pacing of this book is spot on and really builds the suspense. Several instances of foreshadowing that worse things are still to come made me want to keep turning pages and find out--as the author says--"what the hell is happening." 

I would have loved more information on who the performers are, their backstories, and how the tent came to exist. Even without that info, this is an original and very scary story with several satisfying twists. 4/5.

Unbortion by Rowland Bercy Jr

Title: Unbortion

Author: Rowland Bercy Jr

Year Published: 2023

Link to Buy: Amazon

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Splatterpunk, Novella

Summary:
It was alive, confused, and pissed! It could not understand why it was violently separated from its host and left to rot. Following an undeniable call to pursue the one who abandoned it and seek revenge, the quest for retribution had begin, and nothing or no one would stand in the way.

Ten Sentence Review:

This novel was an enjoyable, funny, gross journey that left me with a lot of questions. Questions such as, "Wouldn't a placenta get dirty after rolling around a city all night and making a full pass through multiple people's bodies?" I decided to suspend those questions along with my disbelief, and truly enjoyed most of this bizarre tale. 

I only wish the dialogue and narrative were both a little less stilted and awkward, and that we could have really seen through the fetus' eyes through its real level of knowledge.  Unless there was a dictionary in that dumpster with him and the spaghetti, I have no idea how it knew the correct words for things like raccoons and single-family homes. 

Unbortion runs the risk of seeming like pro-life propaganda. The fetus is desperately seeking its host and even says the word "Mommy," and its mother regrets her abortion as soon as she gets home. Not to mention the description of unethical and brutal abortionists. Then again, these are also all pretty standard descriptions in splatterpunk. I don't think the feeling of propaganda was intentional on the part of the author or something that everyone would pick up on. 

While I'm worried that Ashley and Katrina will both need a round of serious antibiotics, I overall enjoyed this weird, fantastical romp in the Land of WTF Horror. 3/5.