Customer Reviews

Sheep and Wolves

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sheep and Wolves is an interesting little short story compilation, with thirteen short stories of a very high caliber. The stories in this particular compilation are all horror stories, with some leaning into the realm of science fiction gone bad. The writing is concise, yet descriptive. Each story feels like it is just the right length for the reader's comfort level. As with all short story collections, some stories are more effective than others. All are horrifying in one aspect or another. Some thrilled me, others confused me, and some left me perplexed and disturbed. I consider this to be a fine collection which was both very entertaining and disturbing from beginning to end.

My only real criticism for this book is the order of the stories. There are certain horrifying visuals that Mr. Shipp is very fond of and uses over and over again. They can be very effective. However, the stories that use these common images would have been more effective if they had been broken up instead of having one right after another. I would also have liked a little more clarification on exactly what I was reading in some of the stories... for example there is a story where a man has something locked up in a VW in his back yard, he feeds this thing and it seems fairly hostile. At one point in the story I thought I had a grasp of what it was, but by the end I was even more perplexed. I still enjoyed the story, but would have liked it more if I had been able to close the book knowing what the thing in the VW was.

"Those Below," a tale of life after death in a strange way, was probably my favorite of the stories, with very interesting social implications that could leave the reader pondering about humanity afterward. "American Sheep" was also a very interesting tale. I would love to see that one expanded to the length of a novella. On the whole this is a fun little short story book.

I'd like to start out by saying that I don't like short stories. Short stories tend to be under-executed and half-done.
I'd like to say next that I utterly loved "Sheep And Wolves" with all my book-loving heart.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book- I had already read Jeremy's other book "Vacation", and enjoyed it immensely. By the end of the first story in the book, "Watching", I knew I was holding a masterpiece. I kept reading. And reading.
At the end of every story I paused, open-mouthed, and said out loud: "Goddamn it Jeremy!" And I meant it in the best way possible. I was amazed. I was pulled in, and the book wouldn't let go. Could that be possible inspiration for the title? The book itself is the wolf, me, the poor reader, the sheep coming happily to the slaughter? I don't know.

I recommend this book to EVERYONE. It's a masterpiece, and it DOESN'T let you down ever. Pick it up, and you won't let go.
Pick it up, and it won't let you go.

"When people say, "Get a life," what they usually mean is, "Drown out the screaming of your heart like I do, then we can be friends." I refuse." from "Nightmare Man"

On the way to park this afternoon I spotted the first glimpse of Autumn. It was a full grown oak with leaves glowing in orange, yellow and red. Soon there will be pumpkins, scarecrows, ghost, goblins, haunted houses, and all of the typical joy mixed with fear that is Fall. There is no better writer to read on a cool autumn evening then California's Jeremy Shipp. Having read his enthralling and disturbing debut novel Vacation, I jumped at the chance to take a sneak peak at his new collection of short stories, Sheep and Wolves. Now I had never read any of Jeremy's short stories, but I knew I had to find the right time and location to read through this collection. The mood had to be just right, and I chose to be alone in a dimly lit room late at night. It seemed right as I tried to let the gruesome images that can seem so foreign yet so captivating.

Jumping right in with the first story "Watching", Jeremy creates worlds that at times seem unreal or unfamiliar, but have a biting sense of reality that really allows the reader to stay engaged. From moving marshmallow peeps to reattaching a little girls severed thumb to clowns and cyborgs, the stories contained in Sheep and Wolves are like a series of car accidents. You know shouldn't be looking, but you can't take your eyes off the pages stained with blood and fingers and all the horror and madness. It's perfect for this time of year even if you are not a fan of the genre. Start a campfire, grab a bag of marshmallow and read lines like; "Now I'm dragging a dead dog by the tail. I'm dragging her toward an apple tree under the full moon, because these are the three ingredients. Dog, apple, moon."

Shipp has been thinking a little too hard, too long, and we are the beneficiaries. Shipp will tickle readers with delight, and in the next moment, scare the living daylights out of them.

Sheep & Wolves by Jeremy C. Shipp is the product of a very strange individual who obviously sees the world in a very strange way. Symbolism is a part of the human experience, you see (as in Tarot cards, Rorschach tests and street signs), but Shipp's mixture of talking trout, ravenous creatures trapped in busses and other oddities will definitely stretch the mind while providing an entertaining experience from cover to cover. Like any other collection I've read, some stories are better (and easier to understand) than others, but there's nothing to skip over in this one. My absolute favorite from this book is "Camp," which first appeared in Chizine, and my second is "Devoured," which I'll simply describe as "cannibalism as a metaphor for an abusive relationship," and leave it at that. 5.5/5 (and that's not a typo).

Jeremy C. Shipp has established himself as a new, haunting voice in dark fiction. With the release of his first collection of mind-bending, spine-tingling, (perhaps gut-wrenching), stories, Shipp solidifies his growing reputation. He'll make you laugh, scream, and cry... perhaps all at once.

Shipp's work boasts an insane mix of intelligence, social astuteness, dark imagination, and perhaps even clever dementia. Over the years, many writers have imitated this "bizzaro-style" of first and second person narration with limited success. Shipp sidesteps these clichés by tugging his stories in surprising directions. Embedded inside these twisted tales are nuggets of social awareness that lifts them above the realms of mere shock value.

Some of the best stories seize hold of genre conventions and flip them. In "Those Below", Shipp employs the age-old zombie vehicle, albeit with a twist. In "Camp", young boys are sent away to a different type of summer camp for an awful sort of training, with disastrous results. In "Baby Edward", a man's internal conflict is given flesh in the most bizarre of ways. "The Rules" is a quick, bloody slash at zealous righteousness, while "American Sheep" enslaves an unwilling participant in a literal corporate machine.

Many of these stories will be not completely understood, but that's part of the insane fun of Jeremy C. Shipp. Sometimes you'll only glimpse the truth from the corner of your eye...but that'll be enough to change the way you think for days to come.

Sheep and Wolves is a collection of 13 dark and twisted stories that once you pick up you won't be able to put down. This was my first journey into the mind of Mr. Shipp and it won't be my last. Highly recommend!

These stories are dark, twisted, sometimes playful, and certainly challenging. Shipp definitely has a unique voice, and chances are you won't be able to guess where each tale is taking you. Each story is worthy of a re-read, with rewards you probably didn't notice the first time through. Give this collection a shot.

This is a well-written collection of horror short stories, which I'm sure are going to return as nightmares off and on for a while. I was fascinated by the first, and read the entire book all the way through without taking a break (my coffee went cold!).

If you like horror that makes you think, this is a title for you.

What devil slips into our skin and forces us to rip out the entrails of the innocent and serve it up as today's special? Jeremy Shipp knows. It is a rare event to discover a master storyteller who can wield a manipulative power and skillfully render us victim, silent witness, and complicit killer all-at-once while effortlessly leading the reader through a crucible of pain, misery and repulsion like a parent reading a bedtime story to a child. Cannibals, S&M Gods, Sociopaths, Zombies, Mutants and Dark Fantasy Creatures are some of the bizarre inhabitants found in this brilliant, fascinating and entertaining collection of grisly tales. Not for the squeamish. The standout stories are: "Watching", "Baby Edward", "Those Below", "Scratch", "Dog", "Camp", "American Sheep", "Sin Earth" and "Flapjack".