Some of the hottest young talents in the genre have been collected in this collaborative collection of both short stories and novellas from the core authors of Jobs in Hell. This book includes more than 70,000 words of fiction (mostly original) and also "Earthworm Gods," the Stoker-recommended novella written by Brian Keene.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A sub-breed of fiction quite tasty...and emotionally challenging if you dare embrace their themes." -- William P. Simmons, Cemetery Dance
"As a group, these guys are comfortable with the many forms terror can take..." -- Garrett Peck, Hellnotes
"As a group, these guys are comfortable with the many forms terror can take..." -- Garrett Peck, Hellnotes
From the Publisher
I'd have to say that this collection is one of the strongest collaborations I've seen in awhile. Not only are Keene, Huyck, Cooper and Oliveri friends, they're great writing partners. Each feeds off of the others' ideas and creates their own very unique effect to each of these stories in 4 x 4. All four authors in the collection are great minds in the field of horror and they mesh so well with another. This book offers a taste of their individual talents and their combined styles to form a very remarkable and entertaining read for any lover of the horror genre.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you're looking for an excellent read, this is the book!,
By Jason M. Brannon "Author of Winds of Change a... (Amory, MS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: 4 x 4 (Paperback)
First thing's first-if you don't know who these guys are then you, then you haven't done your homework for Horror Fiction 101. Oliveri, Cooper, Keene, and Huyck are the proverbial sparkplugs of the small press, and for good reason. It's apparent in every story that they know when to walk the well-trodden paths and when to leave the trail entirely in search of monsters. Yet there is an intelligence to the horrors in this book that defies the repetetive vampire-ghost-werewolf standbys which continue to be recycled and rehashed by less inventive writers. Where most small press writers would automatically go to their well worn copies of King and Koontz for inspiration, these four draw on a wealth of sources for their ideas that mirrors the depth in their writing. Keene cites a picture he saw in National Geographic as the stimulus for the epic "Earthworm Gods" while Oliveri mentions Nietzsche in his notes on the well-crafted "To Fight With Monsters." As you might imagine, the stories in this book definitely transcend your basic run-of-the-mill horror. In addition to having depth, this book is simply a lot of fun. It reminds me of a greatest hits collection from my favorite band in that there isn't a bad track in the lot and there's never any desire to skip to the next song. What's more, there's a little something for everybody-from the undead animals in "Wild Kingdom" to the homicidal tattoos in "Dealer's Wheel" to the brutal description of a man getting his comeuppance in "Harvesting Sorrow." There's even a new Brackard's Point story. The bottom line: if you're going to ride with these Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, make sure you've got a taste for blood, a strong stomach, and a love for the horror genre in all its forms. Definitely recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Way too much hype comin' from the pipe of this 4x4!,
By
This review is from: 4 x 4 (Paperback)
Well I must say I'm disapointed with this book. I would guess the reason why is it's so overhyped. There is such a high demand for this because it has Brian Keene in it. Also because it is one of Delirium's earlier titles. Prices on ebay for the paperback(only 300 copies of it) can reach $150 easily and the hardback(only 100 copies of it) I've seen fetch $600 bucks on ebay. I guess this is part of the reason it's overhyped, because it's relatively rare. However just because something is rare doesn't make it a good read. I'll get to what 4x4 contains in a moment. First, let me say that these publishers like Cemetery Dance and Delirium and Necro and so forth are ruining the book industry by publishing these limited edition books that not alot of people can afford and even more can't get a copy to read. Even worse is once you pay these high prices for these books alot of the time the stories aren't even worth spit. There are certain stories that I would like to read but can't afford because of high book prices. Most of the time the books don't get reprinted to a cheaper paperback like Leisure. Anyways I had to get that off my chest. Now for 4x4! There are 8 stories in this book. In my opinion, only 3 of them are good. Actually 2 of those 3 are great. One of those that is great is called Earthworm Gods written by Keene and the other is To Fight With Monsters written by Keene and Michael Oliveri. This is the only place you can find Earthworm Gods except for the No Rest books by Keene, which are also pricey. This is the only place you can find To Fight With Monsters and is the first part of a sequel. The second part of the story is a novella called To Walk Among Men and is equally great and was written by Oliveri and is in New Dark Voices. The only other story in 4x4 worth a flip is Hell Hath No Fury by Oliveri. Surprise! Surprise! Just about everything this guy writes is awesome. Keep an eye out for his stuff! Oh yeah that Keene guy is pretty good too! There is a Brackard's Point story by Geoff Cooper in there but it's not that great. There is another called Engaging Entropy by Mikey Hyuck and Oliveri and it was just plain dumb. Also of crapiness is Wild Kingdom by Keene and Oliveri. I don't know what happened with that story! There are two other stories that were so unmemorable that I don't remember the names or care to. I recommend that you wait for these 3 stories to see reprint somewhere such as in a yet to be released and why I'm not sure Mike Oliveri short story collection. If you want to read the Earthworm Gods story just wait for Keene's novelization of it which should be out about right now. If you can't afford the limited HC of it wait until next year and get the leisure paperback version. I however do not recommend you going out and purchasing 4x4 unless you have money to burn and if that is the case you can send me some instead. Just kidding! Seriously though, wait for these 3 wonderful stories to printed elsewhere hopefully eventually because while they may be collectively great stories there not $150 collectively great at the cheapest. If you really have to read these stories borrow it from a rich friend or better yet just steal it from somebody else. Just kidding again! Not terribly bad overall and not terribly good overall. Just a few sparkly diamonds in the rough in this over hyped book.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Era of Gangsta' Horror Is Upon Us!,
By "gammasorrow" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 4 x 4 (Paperback)
Brutal, unflinching, unapologetic, and downright HORRIFIC. Think there's nothing new in the field of horror? Then read this book and be proved wrong. The 80's/90's brought us the splatterpunk era. 4X4 kicks off the gangsta' era! I look forward to more from each of these authors.
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