Sick Things: An Anthology of Extreme Creature Horror [Paperback]

John Shirley (Author), Simon Wood (Author), Randy Chandler (Author), Michael Boatman (Author), Tim Curran (Author), Aaron Polson (Author), Stephanie Bedwell-Grime (Author), Ralph Greco Jr. (Author), M. Shaw (Author), Cheryl Mullenax (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2010

Comet Press presents the ultimate collection of extreme creature horror with 17 deviant and gore-soaked stories featuring demons, cannibals, mutants, golems, werewolves, and many more vile creatures. Brace yourself for a wild and bestial ride in these disturbing tales of Sick Things. Over-endowed aliens invade earth with one purpose: to mate with human females. A filmmaker documents a devil worshipping blood cult--and becomes the main subject. A farmer with an unnatural affection for his livestock gets a special gift when his wife is bitten by a werewolf. An employee finds his new boss sexy and attractive--and so do the flys. An obese, bed-ridden woman is given a pill to help her lose weight, with gag-inducing consequences. Pissed off, flesh-eating cows take over a dairy farm. A musician returns from the dead to avenge his wife's murder, with the help of a mysterious black possum. The Allies find a secret weapon: a monstrous blob with an insatiable appetite for dead human flesh. A chef creates his ultimate dish: an anatomically correct golem made out of leftovers. A mythical demon preys on unsuspecting college girls. A morbid, mouth-watering retelling of Hansel and Gretel. And many more! Table of Contents Devils by Randy Chandler Threshold by Fred Venturini This is My Body by Lawrence Conquest Hunger Pangs by Matt Kurtz Fly on the Wall by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime Legacy of the Last Invader by M. Shaw Acceptable Losses by Simon Wood An Unfortunate Incident at the Slaughterhouse by Harper Hull Rotsworth by Kurt Bachard Evil, Bent, and Candy-Sweet by Tim Curran Heat by Daniel I. Russell The Neglected by Sean Logan Betty and the Cambion by Ralph Greco, Jr. Jimmy Sticks and the Outlaw Critter of Doom by Michael Boatman Ranching the Sleore by Aaron Polson Paper Angels on Fire by John Shirley The Special Son by Jeffrey Hale Editor: Cheryl Mullenax

Editorial Reviews

Review

FANGORIA MAGAZINE--What's the best criterion by which to appraise an anthology such as SICK THINGS? With the gut, this reviewer is guessing--and within the first six stories, mine was properly knotted. That the anthology hits the ground slipping and sliding in its own viscera with Randy Chandler's sexually explicit "Devils" is no accident. There is something of a mission statement implicit in Chandler's sopping assault: Read on at your own stomach's peril...

...Mullenax has assembled a rogue's gallery of intelligent grotesqueries that will temper one's appetite hours after closing the book... --Fangoria Magazine

About the Author

John Shirley, Simon Wood, Randy Chandler, Michael Boatman, Tim Curran, Aaron Polson, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Ralph Greco Jr., M. Shaw, Harper Hull
--author

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Comet Press (June 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982097972
• ISBN-13: 978-0982097977
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #643,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comet Press Does it Again, July 20, 2010

By 

Jacob Gustafson "Film Junkie" (Marina, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sick Things: An Anthology of Extreme Creature Horror (Paperback)

Sick Things is a sequel of sorts of Vile Things. Instead of body horror though, this time we get creatures. Now body horror is my favorite but creature horror comes in at a very close second. God Bless Comet Press for giving us great collections of wonderful NEW ideas. What a revelation. Gone are (most) of the creatures herein are new and different ideas. Hell the only "zombie" story here is unconventional, funny, gory, and written by former Spin City star Michael Boatman! I'm so sick of zombies and vampires I could spew and I'm so glad the editor of Sick Things saw fit to keep the genre tropes down to a minimum. Many of the same authors that were included in Vile Things and/or The Death Panel return here, and again they're the best of the bunch. Fred Venturini turns in a story about creatures that steal secrets, Randy Chandler tells us about a woman raped by demons. Tim Curran gets my award for most descriptive tale in the bunch, a retelling of Hansel and Gretel, Sean Logan's tale, "The Neglected," was so disturbing and uncomfortable I almost couldn't get through it. One of the more creative and bizarre of the bunch, Legacy of the Last Invader by M. Shaw, is about a now exstinct group of aliens whose sole purpose was to repopulate their race with our women, the problem is they're hung like baseball bats and kill nearly every woman they meet. The always impressive John Shirley turns in a story about the after life and Jefferey Hale finishes the set with a story every adolescent male would cringe at. 17 stories in all and not a bad one in the bunch. Some are more successful than others but all were a good read.

Comet Press once again has produced a superior collection of extreme horror. Honestly I feel like this one's the best yet from them. All the authors here turn in tight, sharp work that surpass the previous collections. Most of the authors here are virtual unknowns some are even publishing their first work here but don't let that deter you, these are going to be the horror leaders of tomorrow, catch them now and be ahead of the curve. Recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Let down, December 2, 2011

By 

Some Guy (Redwood City, California United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sick Things: An Anthology of Extreme Creature Horror (Paperback)

Extreme creature horror? Well, there are creatures, but I found little here that was horrifying or extreme.

Some stories had some gore, one or two had some gross-out moments, but in almost every case the writer's descriptions were so blase' that you hardly felt a twinge. Also notable by it's absense was any convincing sense of dread in any of the stories.

As with all anthologies, you take your chances, and there are a couple of nicely original stories here that are at least a good read; even if they aren't necessarily scary or horrifying.

The word "extreme" may have applied in, say, the turn of the century, but there's nothing here that pushes boundries today. I don't feel the least bit compelled to read any of these stories again, even the few I liked.

This collection simply doesn't deliver on it's title or your expactations. OK, there's a critter of some kind in almost all, but the stories are not extreme, they're not horrifying, and they're not even creepy. Some could have been, because there are some great concepts here, but the authors simply fail to pull off instilling any feeling of drama, creepiness or dread in the reader.

I hope the authors grow to really capitalize on their inspiration. But for now, this collection is way too short on atmosphere and real horror.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stories were less "Creature" than I expected., November 10, 2011

By 

J. Cr "Never enough time" (D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sick Things: An Anthology of Extreme Creature Horror (Paperback)

Stories were less "Creature" than I expected. I was expecting campy monsters and overgrown insects rather than the deep dark monsters of the soul kind of creature.