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sea_caummisar's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this in audible form... a media that I am slowly inserting into my life. What I liked about this is that it was multiple stories in one listen. If I didn't like one I could skip it. I love hardcore, extreme, bizarre, splatterpunk.... whatever you want to call these stories. This is like a grab bag of goodies and you aren't sure what you're getting next. For fans of this genre there's a little bit of something for everyone
canibefictionaltoo's review against another edition
4.75
Unique stories, exactly what i was here for.
Had a lot of fun!!
Had a lot of fun!!
bosermoki's review against another edition
4.0
It's a fun and hardcore horror collection. It's a bit intense, but with a title like this, what do you expect?
petra_reads's review
4.0
My original Year's Best Hardcore Horror Volume 1 audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
I thought this collection of 19 horror stories would be suitable listening for Halloween week and it did indeed end up to be very captivating and entertaining. I don’t actually listen to/read a lot of horror and don’t very often pick short stories, so this was quite a change for me. Perhaps because of that, I was only familiar with one of the authors, [a:The Behrg|12748250|The Behrg|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1457391236p2/12748250.jpg]. But since finishing this I had to check out the work of some of the others because I was impressed by their stories.
The marketing blurb for this is actually true for once. These are truly hardcore, extreme stories that disregard taboos and boundaries. I’m not very squeamish and tend to enjoy dark and graphic stories but some of these actually had me screaming “yuck” and “gross” repeatedly. However, they weren’t as scary and creepy as I was expecting them to be but instead with a much stronger focus on sex than I had anticipated. So be warned, while I would wholeheartedly recommend this collection, it definitely isn’t for everyone.
Nonetheless, some of the stories are quite subtle and leave you time for a breather. There is a good range of different themes covered. From serial killers to supernatural occurrences, from strong females and weak priests to zombies, there is a lot of variety. Out of the 19 stories, I can honestly say there were only maybe two that I didn’t particularly care for. One of the GG Allin stories? Maybe it’s because I’m a mother, but I was glad to get to the end of that one!
The really strong point for me was that all the stories made you feel something, and I don’t just mean the obvious terror or disgust. [a:Monica J. O'Rourke|155791|Monica J. O'Rourke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1214486925p2/155791.jpg]’s “Exposed” about a woman hunting down child abductors packed a powerful emotional punch. Considering these were short stories, the characters were surprisingly well developed. It wasn’t short of humor either. [a:Jeff Strand|207708|Jeff Strand|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1238033438p2/207708.jpg]’s “Awakening” had me laughing out loud, and “The Most Important Miracle” by Scott Emerson was pretty funny, too.
The entire anthology is narrated by [a:Joe Hempel|14429280|Joe Hempel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1452713389p2/14429280.jpg] and he does a great job. His normal narrating voice was smooth and pleasant to listen to with great pacing, and when he voiced the different characters he used the right amount of acting, different accents, and tones to make this into a vivid, consistent and engaging performance. The production was faultless.
Story: 4 stars. Narration: 5 stars.
Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com
I thought this collection of 19 horror stories would be suitable listening for Halloween week and it did indeed end up to be very captivating and entertaining. I don’t actually listen to/read a lot of horror and don’t very often pick short stories, so this was quite a change for me. Perhaps because of that, I was only familiar with one of the authors, [a:The Behrg|12748250|The Behrg|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1457391236p2/12748250.jpg]. But since finishing this I had to check out the work of some of the others because I was impressed by their stories.
The marketing blurb for this is actually true for once. These are truly hardcore, extreme stories that disregard taboos and boundaries. I’m not very squeamish and tend to enjoy dark and graphic stories but some of these actually had me screaming “yuck” and “gross” repeatedly. However, they weren’t as scary and creepy as I was expecting them to be but instead with a much stronger focus on sex than I had anticipated. So be warned, while I would wholeheartedly recommend this collection, it definitely isn’t for everyone.
Nonetheless, some of the stories are quite subtle and leave you time for a breather. There is a good range of different themes covered. From serial killers to supernatural occurrences, from strong females and weak priests to zombies, there is a lot of variety. Out of the 19 stories, I can honestly say there were only maybe two that I didn’t particularly care for. One of the GG Allin stories? Maybe it’s because I’m a mother, but I was glad to get to the end of that one!
The really strong point for me was that all the stories made you feel something, and I don’t just mean the obvious terror or disgust. [a:Monica J. O'Rourke|155791|Monica J. O'Rourke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1214486925p2/155791.jpg]’s “Exposed” about a woman hunting down child abductors packed a powerful emotional punch. Considering these were short stories, the characters were surprisingly well developed. It wasn’t short of humor either. [a:Jeff Strand|207708|Jeff Strand|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1238033438p2/207708.jpg]’s “Awakening” had me laughing out loud, and “The Most Important Miracle” by Scott Emerson was pretty funny, too.
The entire anthology is narrated by [a:Joe Hempel|14429280|Joe Hempel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1452713389p2/14429280.jpg] and he does a great job. His normal narrating voice was smooth and pleasant to listen to with great pacing, and when he voiced the different characters he used the right amount of acting, different accents, and tones to make this into a vivid, consistent and engaging performance. The production was faultless.
Story: 4 stars. Narration: 5 stars.
Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com
charshorrorcorner's review
5.0
4.5 stars!
Normally, I'm more of an atmospheric horror gal than a gore lover, however, I do believe there's room for both in the horror genre of today. I picked up this volume when it first came out, but it was the offer of the free audio, (in exchange for my honest review), that made it possible for me to read it now rather than some time in 2017. This was my first book narrated by Joe Hempel and I think he did a fine job, especially considering the often shocking subject matter.
There were a few "new to me" authors here and my favorite among them was The Behrg and his story, Reborn. THIS, this is the reason people don't leave babies on the steps of churches anymore. Reborn is my favorite type of short horror story-no messing around, BAM!! It hits you right in the face! The Behrg has been on my radar for awhile and now I have to finally acknowledge him. (You were right, Kimberly!)
The Most Important Miracle by Scott Emerson. Now, seriously, who the hell is this guy? From what kind of sick brain did this story emerge? More importantly, are there more stories in there?
There were a couple of tales from authors I am already familiar with that I really liked-Adam Howe's Cleanup On Aisle 3 was one of them. It's a BADASS turning of the tables type story that had me cringing and laughing at the same time.
Jeff Strand's contribution Awakening had me laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair. Rarely are suicide pacts THIS funny!
Lastly, Jason Parent's Eleanor knocked my socks off. Boot-i-ful?? Yep, you bet! Sick, twisted and beautiful.
Overall, this was an above average collection that lost nothing in the translation to audio. Most of these tales are brutal, gory and shocking though, so prepare yourself before you go wading in. It gets deep and rather slimy the further you go.
Highly recommended to fans of hardcore horror!
*Thanks to Joe Hempel and Audiobook BOOM! for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.*
Normally, I'm more of an atmospheric horror gal than a gore lover, however, I do believe there's room for both in the horror genre of today. I picked up this volume when it first came out, but it was the offer of the free audio, (in exchange for my honest review), that made it possible for me to read it now rather than some time in 2017. This was my first book narrated by Joe Hempel and I think he did a fine job, especially considering the often shocking subject matter.
There were a few "new to me" authors here and my favorite among them was The Behrg and his story, Reborn. THIS, this is the reason people don't leave babies on the steps of churches anymore. Reborn is my favorite type of short horror story-no messing around, BAM!! It hits you right in the face! The Behrg has been on my radar for awhile and now I have to finally acknowledge him. (You were right, Kimberly!)
The Most Important Miracle by Scott Emerson. Now, seriously, who the hell is this guy? From what kind of sick brain did this story emerge? More importantly, are there more stories in there?
There were a couple of tales from authors I am already familiar with that I really liked-Adam Howe's Cleanup On Aisle 3 was one of them. It's a BADASS turning of the tables type story that had me cringing and laughing at the same time.
Jeff Strand's contribution Awakening had me laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair. Rarely are suicide pacts THIS funny!
Lastly, Jason Parent's Eleanor knocked my socks off. Boot-i-ful?? Yep, you bet! Sick, twisted and beautiful.
Overall, this was an above average collection that lost nothing in the translation to audio. Most of these tales are brutal, gory and shocking though, so prepare yourself before you go wading in. It gets deep and rather slimy the further you go.
Highly recommended to fans of hardcore horror!
*Thanks to Joe Hempel and Audiobook BOOM! for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.*
persephone_bookworm's review
1.0
While some of these stories did entertain me, I found myself indifferent or tired with most.
A lot of these added sex in the mix with gore/horror, and of course rape, sexism, ableist were part of the deal... so be warned. Anyway, I wouldn´t recommend this anthology. I think a good anthology should be more diverse because I could just sort them in two groups: those that happened in the dessert and those in the woods (with the sole exception of the one that was settled in Puerto Rico)... also most of these writers are men (a thing you could tell even if you didn´t know their names).
So the lesson I´m leaving with is that I should just read horror stories written by authors I know I like, and probably just give up with "best of the year" horror anthologies.
Now onto my impressions of each story:
"Worth the Having" by Michael Paul Gonzalez
So I might have underestimated the "hardcore" part of the title. But boy, this story immediately made sure to live up to the word. I didn´t like it but that does not mean it didn´t accomplish to give me goosebumps and made me gag.
"Awakening" by Jeff Strand
So this one tried to be "funny" but it just lost me.
"Readings Off The Charts" by Adam Cesare
So this cynic dude only goes along with the ghost hunting because he likes Trish... you guess it, I dislike him immediately. But I admit, I laughed at the ending.
"Reborn" by The Behrg
This one I liked. Very gory.
"What's Worst" by David James Keaton
Worst jokes ever... I was very amused.
"Dead End" by Kristopher Triana
Kind of liked the ending, but not fan of the psycho POV.
"What You Wish For" by Lilith Morgan
This is basically PWP.
"King Shits" by Charles Austin Muir
Well... not sure what I think about it.
"Cleanup On Aisle 3" by Adam Howe
... This one is my favourite so far.
"Bath Salt Fetus" by George Palacious
Very weird, but not really original.
"Bored With Brutality" by MP Johnson
This much senseless violence is just stale.
"Exposed" by Monica J. O'Rourke
Another that deserves the adjective ´hardcore´ and lets add the gore, because I don´t think the first story had as much as this one.
"Eleanor" by Jason Parent
what the hell? awful.
"The Scavengers" by Tony Knighton
Poetic justice?
"The Most Important Miracle" by Scott Emerson
Now this one is weird.
"Hungry For Control" by Clare de Lune
I though this was off to a good star but very quickly turned into a hetero power imbalance drama.
"Clarissa" by Robert Essig & Jack Bantry
Ugh no. didn´t bother to read it
"Where The Sun Don't Shine" by Pete Kahle
So this dude was like "I know a place" and guided his friends into a grub hell hole. ---SPOILER---At this point I´m not even surprised that the female worm raped the dude.
"Blackbird Lullaby" by George Cotronis
Eh, boring.
A lot of these added sex in the mix with gore/horror, and of course rape, sexism, ableist were part of the deal... so be warned. Anyway, I wouldn´t recommend this anthology. I think a good anthology should be more diverse because I could just sort them in two groups: those that happened in the dessert and those in the woods (with the sole exception of the one that was settled in Puerto Rico)... also most of these writers are men (a thing you could tell even if you didn´t know their names).
So the lesson I´m leaving with is that I should just read horror stories written by authors I know I like, and probably just give up with "best of the year" horror anthologies.
Now onto my impressions of each story:
"Worth the Having" by Michael Paul Gonzalez
So I might have underestimated the "hardcore" part of the title. But boy, this story immediately made sure to live up to the word. I didn´t like it but that does not mean it didn´t accomplish to give me goosebumps and made me gag.
"Awakening" by Jeff Strand
So this one tried to be "funny" but it just lost me.
"Readings Off The Charts" by Adam Cesare
So this cynic dude only goes along with the ghost hunting because he likes Trish... you guess it, I dislike him immediately. But I admit, I laughed at the ending.
"Reborn" by The Behrg
This one I liked. Very gory.
"What's Worst" by David James Keaton
Worst jokes ever... I was very amused.
"Dead End" by Kristopher Triana
Kind of liked the ending, but not fan of the psycho POV.
"What You Wish For" by Lilith Morgan
This is basically PWP.
"King Shits" by Charles Austin Muir
Well... not sure what I think about it.
"Cleanup On Aisle 3" by Adam Howe
... This one is my favourite so far.
"Bath Salt Fetus" by George Palacious
Very weird, but not really original.
"Bored With Brutality" by MP Johnson
This much senseless violence is just stale.
"Exposed" by Monica J. O'Rourke
Another that deserves the adjective ´hardcore´ and lets add the gore, because I don´t think the first story had as much as this one.
"Eleanor" by Jason Parent
what the hell? awful.
"The Scavengers" by Tony Knighton
Poetic justice?
"The Most Important Miracle" by Scott Emerson
Now this one is weird.
"Hungry For Control" by Clare de Lune
I though this was off to a good star but very quickly turned into a hetero power imbalance drama.
"Clarissa" by Robert Essig & Jack Bantry
Ugh no. didn´t bother to read it
"Where The Sun Don't Shine" by Pete Kahle
So this dude was like "I know a place" and guided his friends into a grub hell hole. ---SPOILER---At this point I´m not even surprised that the female worm raped the dude.
"Blackbird Lullaby" by George Cotronis
Eh, boring.
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