Dangerous creatures, neglected kids and dejected employees face the weird, odd and perilous. Enter a world where possessed pageant girls get their revenge, a pigeon leads to an underground cult, and a video game mod threatens to unleash hell itself. Enjoy fourteen stories of spite, mischief, and malevolence!
Dark bleatings, my happy tribe! I’m here today with a short story collection for you, so let’s get into it 🙂
Turducken: Confirm Humanity
We start with a story about a scary creature plaguing a city. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t care for scary creatures stalking me – creepy opener.
Seeping Willow
Great title. Tom’s mum is abusive, but he isn’t alone. He has a cousin that won’t stand for it. Left me wondering if there are different severity categories of villains…
Slug Slick
Two kids (one under the influence of the other) cause a car accident, only to discover that the car in question is the most expensive in the world and has extremely advanced AI capabilities. It’s almost like an episode of Black Mirror, only Black Mirror has never gone quite this psychotic in the end.
Re-Wipe
Nathan is at first annoyed to discover that he can’t “like” anything on social media. He then progresses to get obsessively angry about this when he also realises that no one has been at all affected by his lack of input on their posts. I can’t decide if I like this one because I do love the concept, but I felt like Nathan’s motivations were a bit extreme and sudden. I’d love to see this as a longer story with the character and idea fleshed out a bit more.
The Disco Rice Club
I liked this one a lot. What a freaky idea! A group of refuse collectors initiate their newest team member into ‘The Disco Rice Club’ – a reference to squirming maggots that they frequently encounter. So gross, so weird, but so good.
Pageant
Will make you think twice about becoming a Pageant Mom.
Sparrow Eyes
I really REALLY liked this one. A group of friends return to a camping area where something happened in their past. I wish I could talk about this one more but I don’t want to spoil it – great group of characters though!
Gut Punch
A horrible group of teenage girls attack a woman, only to discover the horrifying truth about her. Twisty and fun (in a demented way).
Cannon Fodder
Oof, this one is a nasty. A woman survives something absolutely horrific, and sets out for revenge, but things go awry. My heart was in my mouth.
The Boredom Drive
Something monstrous lurks in the woods, and the less said about this one the better! I liked it but again, don’t want to spoil it.
Fuck It Cat and the Mad Hex From Hell
This was an interesting idea. A guy lucks upon a free gaming console. He’s confused by the deal but doesn’t complain until he suffers the consequences of the only game installed.
War Cannibal
A nuclear apocalypse creates desperate survivors. I love the apocalypse in fiction, even if it does give me stress nightmares.
I think this story is called “Pigeon Clinic” but my handwriting is so terrible I can’t be sure from my notes….
I didn’t like this one, I’m afraid. It starts with birds and becomes a story about a drugged girl being tricked into certain activities, and I couldn’t get past that element of it.
Happy Bunny
The longest story in the book (novella length, I’d say). I’m mildly confused still but I think this is kind of meta satire about Hollywood. I enjoyed the story but I’m not 100% sure that I quite got the concept.
Overall, this collection would fall under a 3/5 for me, meaning that I enoyed it and I’m glad I read it. I liked most of the stories and loved a couple, and generally speaking, I found that the ideas were quite unique and interesting. I’d recommend this for horror fans who likes things a bit different. Also, this might be for you if you enjoy a good sting in the tail.
If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
HAPPY BUNNY AND OTHER MISCHIEFS
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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