Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprising, October 22, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have to confess that I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it made me feel profoundly, deeply normal. I can't tell you if that's because some of the stories made my peculiarities seem really benign, or if it was recognizing that other people are just as strange in the same ways as I am. No matter, it's a comforting volume, or was for me.
What surprised me, though, was how incredibly human and even humane these stories are. This isn't shock journalism, these are stories about people who find themselves doing things most people can't even imagine doing. They do them, not for the hell of it, not because it seems cool or perverse or wicked, but because they need the money, or because they find that there is something compelling them, some need to understand a thing which remains so incomprehensible to most people that they avoid thinking about it at all. The visit to the Holocaust Museum at Auschwitz is a fine example of the latter, and it's a well-written and thoughtful examination of one man's confrontation with a past that remains so painful, so horrific that some people refuse to believe it could have happened.
Honestly, if you're looking for some kind of perverse sexual thrill here, don't bother. These pieces will provoke you to use a wholly different organ. If you want to give some serious thought to the human condition, this is a wonderful resource.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It helps to be MORBID to get into the spirit of this book, October 20, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I had never heard of the magazine Morbid Curiousity prior to seeing this book as an offering through the Vine program at Amazon. As I consider myself both morbid as well as extremely curious, it seemed like a good fit based on the brief synopsis I read.
This is one of those instances where my instincts were spot on. By page 2 of the editor`s preface titled "Morbid Curiousity Changed My Life" I was hooked and ready to explore the world of morbid.
While there were truly many stories that were minimally gross and revolting, predictably enough the stories that affected me the most were the ones that echoed my own experiences such as having surgery and experiencing sensation, mourning a loved one, enjoying a good day at a creepy cemetery or encounters with the spirit world. This collection ran the gamut. While there were plenty of creepy stories, there were stories that were funny or sad also.
As this book was a composite of many persons experiences with the morbid/dark side, it presented a unique perspective to what individuals perceive as perverse.
It is a good read and should keep the reader involved.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Real Life Pulp Fiction Stories, November 4, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is an anthology of forty or so first-hand accounts of strange or unusual events that the various authors have experienced. Almost all of the stories are interesting to one degree or another. The common thread seems to be that these are about events that were significant to the writers and it is easy to understand why they felt compelled to write about them.
A couple of the stories probably aren't completely true, with the best candidate being the one about an encounter with a UFO and an alien who communicates telepathically.
Others are about things that aren't truly rare or unusual but that most people will not experience for themselves, such as being a gay Mormon, experiencing anesthesia awareness, working as a pole dancer, assisting a suicide, or finding a dead body.
Some of the stories are mildly disgusting, such as the story about cleaning up decaying rats or the ones about violating graves, tombs, and coffins.
A few are definitely for adults only due to very mature content but no doubt the young teenagers who get a copy of this book in their hands will very much enjoy reading it.
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