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fanglyfish's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
keen's review
Out of 26 stories, I read, from most liked to least:
- The Truth That Lies Under Skin and Meat by Cassandra Khaw
- Welcome to Mengele’s by Simon Bestwick
- Cuckoo by Angela Slatter
- The Travellers Stay by Ray Cluley
- Spar by Kij Johnson
- La beauté sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine
geckghost's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
11corvus11's review
3.0
As someone who is generally put off by what many call "torture porn" in film and writing, I found myself surprised by how much I enjoyed body horror stories. Perhaps enjoyment is the wrong word. While there is surely overlap between the two, the creative way that good body horror stories create a disconcerting tension around how we view and expect bodies to be separates it from the lazy technique of showing gratuitous violence (more often against women than not) in order to shallowly upset the viewer. Kameron Hurley's book "The Stars are Legion" and Cronenberg's film "The Fly" both come to mind immediately when I think about body horror that affected me in lasting ways. Both of these are considered to be mainly in the science fiction category, but manage to horrify nonetheless.
When I saw that the anthology, "Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror," edited by Ellen Datlow, was coming out, I figured I should give it a shot. The draw for me were the names of some authors I really enjoy such as Tananarive Due and Carmen Maria Machado on the cover. I went in expecting new stories from these authors, but the entire collection is composed of stories that were previously published elsewhere. As a result, I had already read the ones included. On top of that, for these two authors in particular, the stories chosen are not good representations of or introductions to their talent.
One of the best things about this book is actually its visual design. The cover is not my favorite, but the inside of the book is full of artwork by John Coulthart. The works of his featured within all deal with manipulations of black and white educational anatomical imagery. Part of me wants to cut the pages out of this book and frame them were it not for the stories on the other side. The graphic design in general is also very good and creates a well rounded experience.
The stories, however, on the whole were mostly unimpressive. All anthologies tend to be a mixed bag, but this one leaned more to the side of lower quality stories unfortunately. Some of them have great promise, but are then abruptly cut off. Others just aren't very good. There are a few that really did shine though and they made reading the book worth it.
Of these, I found Seanan McGuire's "Spores," which focuses on a lesbian couple's unsettling experience with something so prevalent around us, to be the best in the book, hands down. I originally thought that McGuire usually wrote young adult novels, which is why I have not read much of her stuff. After this story, I am definitely adding things to my to-read list. Lucy Taylor's "Subsumption," is my second favorite story. If you like things similar to Jeff Vandermeer's work, you'll probably like this story. It's only fault is that it is far too short. It felt like something interesting enough to be a full book or at least a longer story. Kirstyn McDermott's "Painlessness" was pretty interesting, but it did lose me a bit in the ending where it takes an unnecessary turn away from thoughtful examination of the story to torture porn. "Welcome to Mengele's" by Simon Bestwick was intense and worth reading. The two aforementioned stories both deal with themes around sex work in interesting (and horrifying) ways. Gemma Files' "Skin City" was also worth reading, even if it lacked originality in some ways.
This book is huge and has a large quantity of stories so, many things that did not float my boat may still appeal to others. The artwork in this book was a great complement and also stands quite well on its own. It's not the best anthology I have read, but there were still some great moments that made it worth my time.
This was also posted to my blog.
When I saw that the anthology, "Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror," edited by Ellen Datlow, was coming out, I figured I should give it a shot. The draw for me were the names of some authors I really enjoy such as Tananarive Due and Carmen Maria Machado on the cover. I went in expecting new stories from these authors, but the entire collection is composed of stories that were previously published elsewhere. As a result, I had already read the ones included. On top of that, for these two authors in particular, the stories chosen are not good representations of or introductions to their talent.
One of the best things about this book is actually its visual design. The cover is not my favorite, but the inside of the book is full of artwork by John Coulthart. The works of his featured within all deal with manipulations of black and white educational anatomical imagery. Part of me wants to cut the pages out of this book and frame them were it not for the stories on the other side. The graphic design in general is also very good and creates a well rounded experience.
The stories, however, on the whole were mostly unimpressive. All anthologies tend to be a mixed bag, but this one leaned more to the side of lower quality stories unfortunately. Some of them have great promise, but are then abruptly cut off. Others just aren't very good. There are a few that really did shine though and they made reading the book worth it.
Of these, I found Seanan McGuire's "Spores," which focuses on a lesbian couple's unsettling experience with something so prevalent around us, to be the best in the book, hands down. I originally thought that McGuire usually wrote young adult novels, which is why I have not read much of her stuff. After this story, I am definitely adding things to my to-read list. Lucy Taylor's "Subsumption," is my second favorite story. If you like things similar to Jeff Vandermeer's work, you'll probably like this story. It's only fault is that it is far too short. It felt like something interesting enough to be a full book or at least a longer story. Kirstyn McDermott's "Painlessness" was pretty interesting, but it did lose me a bit in the ending where it takes an unnecessary turn away from thoughtful examination of the story to torture porn. "Welcome to Mengele's" by Simon Bestwick was intense and worth reading. The two aforementioned stories both deal with themes around sex work in interesting (and horrifying) ways. Gemma Files' "Skin City" was also worth reading, even if it lacked originality in some ways.
This book is huge and has a large quantity of stories so, many things that did not float my boat may still appeal to others. The artwork in this book was a great complement and also stands quite well on its own. It's not the best anthology I have read, but there were still some great moments that made it worth my time.
This was also posted to my blog.
brandonadaniels's review
Travelers Stay by Ray Cluley: 4- a roach motel
Toother by Terry Dowling: 3- what it sounds like it would be
Painlessness by Kirstyn McDermott: 4 - bloody feather
You Go Where It Takes You by Nathan Balingrad: 5
Toother by Terry Dowling: 3- what it sounds like it would be
Painlessness by Kirstyn McDermott: 4 - bloody feather
You Go Where It Takes You by Nathan Balingrad: 5
theduchess93's review
5.0
Can't go wrong with a Datlow anthology. Some of these were a bit lacking in the intense body horror I was looking for, but I did discover one of my new favorite queer horror short stories (Fabulous Beasts by Priya Sharma), so that's excellent.
torihbu's review
5.0
- an excellent anthology with stories discussing all types of body horror, even those i couldn't think to imagine!
- my two favorite story was actually the last one, but there is bound to be a story to thrill anyone & everyone
- a good mix of writing styles & topics
- my two favorite story was actually the last one, but there is bound to be a story to thrill anyone & everyone
- a good mix of writing styles & topics
eyebrightt_'s review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
abandoned because i ended up gifting it to a friend before i finished the book.
like any compilation, it has both good and bad stories. i ranked what i read and made some quick notes on each, here:
travellers stay 1/5
- badly written w forgettable and unoriginal characters
toother 4.5/5
- packed with story. felt like i read a whole novel but the ending was disappointing
painlessness 4.5/5
- queer?
you go where it takes you 2/5
- good characterization i guess, but the ending is silly. at least it's short
a positive 3/5
- love the fucked up family cult vibes
la beaute sans vertu 4/5
- i enjoyed the cultural critiques :3
subsumption 3.5
- felt distinctly covid/quarantine-inspired (depending on when it was written). i rlly like some of the body horror in this but i wish it was a little longer bc the pacing was a Lot
spar 3.5/5
- super horny super horrible situation. i wish it didnt have such a hopeful ending
it was the heat 4/5
- idk what happened but i love cadigan's narrative voice !
atwater 0/5.
- this was too much happening all at once. it felt like random shit thrown together with a dose of "mental illness is scary." this was boring and incoherent to me
the transfer 3/5
- very very loosely horror but i enjoyed it. not sure what happened though
welcome to mengele's 4.5/5
- i didnt want it to end !!! its so simple and i love it
black neurology 5/5
- reads like a poem more than anything. gets a bit weird and absurd but again it feels like a poem so its great ! reminded me of lovecraft's reanimator idk i loved this so much
cuckoo 5/5
- i love the concept. id read a whole novel on it, but im happy even just for the short story
cinerous 4.5
- i would have read an entire novel on this concept. possible commentary on colonialism? unsure! fun setting!
the truth that lies under skin and meat 3/5
- i felt like i was trying to catch my breath the whole time i was reading this. it feels like its missing something because while i like the descriptions of eating but i was just getting whiplash with the mystery side of things. what was happening :(
like any compilation, it has both good and bad stories. i ranked what i read and made some quick notes on each, here:
travellers stay 1/5
- badly written w forgettable and unoriginal characters
toother 4.5/5
- packed with story. felt like i read a whole novel but the ending was disappointing
painlessness 4.5/5
- queer?
you go where it takes you 2/5
- good characterization i guess, but the ending is silly. at least it's short
a positive 3/5
- love the fucked up family cult vibes
la beaute sans vertu 4/5
- i enjoyed the cultural critiques :3
subsumption 3.5
- felt distinctly covid/quarantine-inspired (depending on when it was written). i rlly like some of the body horror in this but i wish it was a little longer bc the pacing was a Lot
spar 3.5/5
- super horny super horrible situation. i wish it didnt have such a hopeful ending
it was the heat 4/5
- idk what happened but i love cadigan's narrative voice !
atwater 0/5.
- this was too much happening all at once. it felt like random shit thrown together with a dose of "mental illness is scary." this was boring and incoherent to me
the transfer 3/5
- very very loosely horror but i enjoyed it. not sure what happened though
welcome to mengele's 4.5/5
- i didnt want it to end !!! its so simple and i love it
black neurology 5/5
- reads like a poem more than anything. gets a bit weird and absurd but again it feels like a poem so its great ! reminded me of lovecraft's reanimator idk i loved this so much
cuckoo 5/5
- i love the concept. id read a whole novel on it, but im happy even just for the short story
cinerous 4.5
- i would have read an entire novel on this concept. possible commentary on colonialism? unsure! fun setting!
the truth that lies under skin and meat 3/5
- i felt like i was trying to catch my breath the whole time i was reading this. it feels like its missing something because while i like the descriptions of eating but i was just getting whiplash with the mystery side of things. what was happening :(
chamomile1's review
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
1.0
Honestly it was not good. Not really graphic enough to be considered "extreme tales of body horror", to be frank the vibes overall were just weird. Honestly none of the stories were good. None of them stuck with me. None of them were scary. I am not even really sure why I finished it, other than perhaps the hope that the next story would be worth my time.