Dedicated to the memory of Bryn Fortey (1937–2021) and with all proceeds going to Brecon Jazz charity, Build Your Own Monster!!! Four Horror Yarns by Bryn Fortey and Johnny Mains brings together the authors’ collective oeuvre, two previously published tales and two unpublished.
Build Your Own Monster!!! Four Horror Yarns simply shows two authors, who loved each other very much, having a lot of fun.
Dark bleatings, my lovely tribe. I’ve got a little treat of a monster-themed collection to talk to you about today. Let’s dive right in.
Build Your Own Monster!!! Guaranteed to Scare the Whole Family!!!
What a delightful monster story! Emily responds to an ad to ‘build your own monster’, only to receive a reply that tells her the product is no longer available but they’re willing to send her the leftover parts that were never used. She’s intrigued to find many limbs and heads from various monsters, and sets about building her new found family. It’s a really light-hearted story that feels almost cosy. I found it a refreshingly uplifting read, and also think this would be a great start for a young adult or teenager dipping their toes into horror.
The Seaburgh Discovery
What starts as something musical and Voodoo related (I was very pleased to see Papa Legba because rarely do I get treated to this figure when I’m reading British-written fiction!), morphs into something both spiritual and weirdly sci-fi. Time travel was not on my bingo card for this type of story.
I enjoyed the previous story a bit more more than this one because monsters are more in my wheelhouse than this particular type of scifi horror, but this was also a lot of fun.
Curse of the Monster
This is possibly the most British thing I’ve ever read. Victorian England, Queen Victoria’s master plan, Churchill, H.G. Wells and oh, of course, a demon. Historical fiction at its weirdest.
I found this very well written and for a horror story, rather quaint and polite, though it isn’t a favourite, I’m afraid to say (I don’t typically enjoy historical fiction, unfortunately).
Curse of the Brain
Oh nooooo, I feel so bad because this is also historical fiction and because of the current state of America and the comparisons being made between a certain European party of the past and what is currently going on in British politics, I found the subject of this story a bit stressful. It’s not that it’s not a good (and in part, quite humorously written) story, it’s just a case of me reading this at the wrong time to fully appreciate it, I think.
So, my overall thoughts…
I liked it! Just due to two of the stories falling into a category I normally avoid, this isn’t a favourite collection, but that’s just down to personal taste. However, I did love the first two stories and as a general feeling, found that all of the stories were really well written with a delightful hint of whimsy. I might not be the ideal audience for this myself, but I would recommend it!
If you’d like to check out the book or the authors, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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