Happy Goat Horror

There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things – and one such corner is Little Hodbury.

With a haunted tree, mutations in the heart of the British countryside, mythological creatures, and even menaces which plumb the depths of humanity’s worst instincts – nobody said living here was easy.

Benjamin Kurt Unsworth’s Into Wrack and Ruin presents thirteen stories which detail the various shades of the town and its inhabitants’ grief, devastation, chaos and anger – the question is who (or what . . . ) shall survive to tell the tale?

Dark bleatings, my beautiful tribe. I have read this collection (obviously, it would be a weird review if I hadn’t), and I have many thoughts. Before I get into my overall opinion of the book – and it’s lengthier than what I usually write for a summary – let’s talk a bit about each story first. One caveat: if you’re familiar with Ben’s reviews over at the fantastic Ginger Nuts of Horror, please don’t expect me to able to replicate his review style here. He is a much better reviewer than I am, quite frankly, but I hope to do him justice here not only because his book deserves to be talked about, but because his support of other authors with his own thoughtful reviews should be reciprocated. I’m no Unsworth, but I’ll do my best!

A Lenity for Ghosts

A married couple called Rathbone and Asquith deal in the supernatural – ghosts and exorcisms and such. They’re a competent pair but things take a terrifying and unusual turn for them when the subject of their latest mission isn’t a person, but a tree.

What a great, weird idea for a ghost/possession story. It’s rare that I’m truly surprised by this type of gothic horror (I tend to find it a bit repetitive, to tell you the truth – “Oh no, a ghost! What will we do? Etc.”), but the concept alone had me hooked because it’s so out of the box. Because of the nature element, the ghostly antics were very fresh and unpredictable. Un-death, in any form (vampire, zombie, ghost, etc.) is typically viewed in horror as some sort of perversion of the natural order, so it was particularly jarring and interesting to see it expressed through what’s typically an idealistic representation of nature, in trees and forestry.

The Tale of God-Fang

Two brothers go to find God-Fang, a mythical shape-shifting beast rumoured to hang out in some particular woods. They think they know what they’re doing, but perhaps said mythical beast is actually real, and knows how to do a little tracking of its own.

This was an enjoyable cryptid-like story that utilises one of my favourite creepy things, which I can’t elaborate on lest I spoil it for you. I always find the uncanny much more disturbing than the outright bizarre.

Crucial Decisions

Esther misses a council meeting, which illuminates the rest of the council members’ prejudices towards them, and their “any excuse to have a go will do” attitude. These people are assholes, and in a horror narrative, that can only mean that some sort of karma is due…

This wasn’t one of my favourites but I truly enjoy a karmic tale of this nature, and I think Ben did a great job with the subject.

Hollow Eyes

It all starts when Ramsey suspects his neighbour of stealing a potato from him. If that isn’t a hook after my own heart, I don’t know what it. Pardon my language but I fucking love potatoes.

Alison, his wife, starts to worry that something is wrong with him as he exhibits weird behaviour he doesn’t remember, and becomes increasingly obsessed with his allotment. He’s a bit taken with potatoes and soil and perhaps being some sort of potato king, in my estimation. Can’t fault the guy, really. Totally relatable. I now fancy potatoes in all their glorious forms, and just the thought of some nice, seasoned mash….oh good lord, what has this story done to me!?

A Loathing for Ghosts

I have to be brief with this one because a major component of it – the characters – feature elsewhere in the book, and this was a great surprise for me that I don’t want to spoil for you. But vaguely, this is about someone learning the lesser known elements of hauntings…

I really like this one and how Ben plays with the conventions of this subgenre.

Counting to Oblivion

Niveau is the main character for this one, and the story reads like an elevated OCD nightmare. I got a little lost reading this one and I think it’s because it gave me anxiety!

In the Forest of Bones and Shadows

A favourite. Fenisha and Fletcher, who don’t get along at all, are in the woods to get a badger camera. They’re separated and when Fletcher finds the camera box, the camera has been replaced by something truly disturbing and mystifying. I really wish I could tell you about the…thing…the characters are dealing with, because it felt straight out of one of those awesome horror anthology shows from the late 80’s/early 90’s, and I loved it.

The All-Embracing Nature of a Plastic Bag

This is my favourite in the collection and I can tell you with absolute certainty that it will be in my Top 10 Short Stories of 2025 list when I get to making it in December. It’s from the perspective of a plastic bag, and not just that, but the bag has a very specific, hideous purpose. Ben read this at his book launch and everyone (and I do mean everyone) that I spoke with about it afterwards was in agreement that the concept is a stroke of genius. Riddled with innuendo, thriving with personality, and spotted with some hilarious dark humour, this is one for the ages!

Paradigm of Pains

A killer story, but not a standard killer story, that involves the various perils of cops that you might not even consider. I was surprised by the sexual depravity, which isn’t too much or too explicit, but the way it’s used is sewn into the narrative in a way that took me aback. There are way more feathers in this author’s cap that I had realised.

Mother Dearest

Don is hideously abusive to his daughter, like he was to his wife. There’s no excuse because he’s barbaric, even more monstrous than them…and I’ll leave that summary there. I originally thought they were werewolves, but was pleasantly shocked by what is revealed quite cleverly through subtle details in the prose.

A Final Repose

A teacher gets pulled over by police and is incredibly confused, as are they when his response to being stopped is confusion. Confusion all around. They’re talking about one thing, and he keeps repeatedly talking about someone named Skyler, who seems very important. I loved how we’re kept guessing wtf is going on here.

The Fifth Demographic

A clusterfuck of creepy hideousness, and that’s all I have to say about that. I am disturbed.

Epilogue: O Little Town

What an excellent Christmas horror story! A Santa is chosen each year to…well, let’s just say he won’t be riding around in a Coca Cola float, Ho Ho Ho-ing at spectators, that’s for sure. Wonderful folk horror and I only wish it was longer, even though it was the perfect length. I absolutely loved it and have crowned it the Current Champion of Christmas Horror.

You’ll have to pardon the expression, for I do not possess Ben’s eloquence, but holy crap balls, you guys. I am shocked (and shooketh). I’ve read this author’s previous work, a collection called ‘Uneasy Beginnings’, which he co-wrote with his dad, Simon Kurt Unsworth. They didn’t co-write the stories, but rather alternated them, leaving off their names so that the reader wouldn’t automatically know who had written what.

I don’t mean this as any sort of insult towards Ben, and I truly hope it isn’t taken as one, but in that collection, I could mostly tell which stories were Simon’s. This wasn’t because Simon was more talented, because both authors brought fantastic ideas to the table, but because there was a bit of a difference in the quality of the writing. And there should have been, because Simon has been writing for years and is a seasoned author, and Ben was new, and that was his debut. Simon’s writing has a maturity and a confidence to it that Ben’s, at that time, didn’t quite share.

So, on picking up this brand new collection from Ben, I have to reiterate – holy crap balls. And, indeed, holy shit balls, too. Because the jump in the standard of Ben’s writing is absolutely effing staggering. It wasn’t bad before by any stretch, just a bit newbie-ish from time to time, but this solo debut has smashed and exceeded any expectations I went in with.

Ben’s skills as a writer have skipped that gradual process and gone right to “up there with the best of them”. I am gobsmacked. I don’t mean to sound so fanatical about it, but honestly, credit where credit is due because I’ve sincerely never seen a rise in writing quality this dramatic in this short a time. I’ve been getting my own stories published for a decade and my very best efforts are a shambles by comparison to the story that opens this collection.

Eloquence, a literary, almost-poetic flavour, characters that find themselves in a horror story, but feel like they come from speculative fantasy? Ben’s vocabulary alone makes me want to disown him out of jealousy, and that’s even before I get to compliment how he wields it.

So anyway, in short, kudos to the author. And also, Ben, how dare you show me up in this manner?

A collection that displays variety, range, and influences that are broad but also refined, Into Wrack and Ruin is certainly worthy of a place on any horror fan’s shelves. The amount of ground covered in Little Hodbury, which is where all of these stories are set, is staggering, and I can’t wait to see what Ben does next.

If you’d like to check out the book, I’ve popped the link below for you:

INTO WRACK AND RUIN

Bleeeeat!