Greg Sisco

You know those books that completely subvert your expectations? The ones that linger in the mind long after you finish, rolling around and revealing layer after layer of brilliance. Ones where the longer you meditate on them the better they are (and that's not discounting how great they were in the immediate reading)?

Well, if you haven't guessed where I'm going...THIS is one of those books.

All I knew going in was: this is a collection of three interconnected novellas, the stories span several different genres in horror, Sadie Hartmann (aka Mother Horror) dug it, and that Off Limits Press can do no wrong so I was likely to enjoy it. Happy to say it was all the above and beyond.

- Story 1: haunted doll torments young girl; brutal shocker of an ending

- Story 2: phony medium uses sex to fill a void and trees start growing from his fingertips; scenes of full on eye-averting body/eco horror mixed with meditations on relationships, identity, and fatherhood

- Story 3: older woman takes care of her mother who is terrified a malicious presence will take her if she's left alone; slow-burn dread and despair that rises into taunt suspense before falling into a reality-shattering ending; upends the whole collection on its head

All three stories have a basic premise structuring them, but did you notice how increasingly complex they got (and how much harder of a time I had distilling them into concise summaries)? I absolutely love the way the author did this. We begin with a child, move to a young adult, and end with an elderly woman. What starts as a straight-forward evil doll story ends as a cosmic, existential reckoning. I was not prepared to wrestle with such heavy philosophizing on the meaning of life, but it elevates the collection to a whole other level.

Another thing I loved is how the stories are all connected to each other. I'll try not to go into spoilers here, but each protagonist was a side character in one of the other stories. It was so cool to get insight on some of the overlapping scenes from a different character's perspective; to see how things affected each character differently and learn more about their motivations and personalities.

As mentioned previously, the author presents us with a variety of different genres in horror and nails each of them perfectly. The pacing is fantastic and the stories are very character-driven, full of emotion and complexity. I'm speaking in vague terms for this review because I went in blind and that's the best way to go. Just know that I loved this book and the more I reminisce, the more it creeps up my "best of" list for 2021.… (altro)

Seit geraumer Zeit ist er weltweit in aller Munde: Donald Trump. Beim Lesen dieses Buches erfahren wir, dass Donald Trump früher einmal ein selbstloser Wohltäter und Menschenfreund gewesen ist. Doch leider wurde er eines Tages von einem hinterhältigen Gehirnparasit befallen, der sich als Haarteil auf seinem Kopf festgekrallt hat. So wurde aus dem bescheidenen Mann ein Egomane, der wütet und rücksichtlos handelt. Dann will dieser fremdgesteuerte Mensch auch noch Präsident der USA werden. Ein fall für den ausgebrannten Dokumentarfilmer Michael Moore, der das Geheimnis der merkwürdigen Frisur ergründen und die Bürger der USA vor solch einem Präsidenten und der damit zusammenhängenden fürchterlichen Zukunft bewahren will.
Diese Satire liest sich gut und flüssig. Man kann über die abstrusen Begebenheiten lächeln und eventuell lauthals lachen, aber oft bleibt einem auch das Lachen im Hals stecken. Trumps Einwanderungspolitik betrifft auch deutsche Schäferhunde, und die Mexikaner erhöhen freiwillig die Mauer, weil sie die flüchtenden Amerikaner nicht haben wollen.
Wer groteske Geschichten mag, wird vielleicht seinen Spaß mit dem Buch haben, mich hat es allerdings nicht so begeistert, denn die Wirklichkeit scheint die beste Satire zu sein.… (altro)

Now, generally speaking I am not a fan of erotica (I mention this because Amazon lists this under erotica) and I despise books with misogynistic tendencies. I didn't find the book particularly erotic, but misogyny abounds! The dark humor kept me reading, despite the misogyny. There was only one character I might have liked if we had gotten to know him better. I pretty much despised all of the main characters, and thoroughly enjoyed despising them. This author is definitely dark and left me with a happy ending, pun intended!

Warning, Sisco takes a frank and dirty look at the Skud of the earth in this story. There is violence, sex, and lots of language. This is not a read for people with sensitive palates, but it does paint a morbid tale and takes a very philosophical look at people, cause and effect, and the dark underbelly that exists in humanity. A fascinating read.… (altro)