Eric Raglin

Splatterpunk isn't a genre that greatly appeals to me; I love horror fiction, but I'm rarely delighted by gore. Most rules result in exceptions, though, and ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK seems to be one of mine. It turns out there's something immensely satisfying about a big horrible messy gross splatter when it's made up of fascist garbage, and this collection leans into that satisfaction as far as it can go.

I'll admit that I'm the kind of coward who reads books like this with one hand in front of my show more face like I'm watching a movie I know is about to get gory and I'm scared I'll have to look away at any moment. Many of these stories contain scenes of carnage so vivid and visceral they feel burned into the backs of my eyelids. This is not a book for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach, but if you dream of rolling with punk necromancers and punching Nazi trash so hard they're propelled directly through the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead (see Caias Ward's wonderfully wild story "Snorting Ghosts in the Cause of Anti-Fascism", possibly my favourite story in the anthology) well, this is definitely a book for you.

Fans of contemporary indie horror may recognize many of the names in this book's TOC. A few of my recent favourite writers of weird and terrifying fiction make gruesomely effective appearances here (Gordon B. White, Donyae Coles, Joe Koch, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, and anthology editor Eric Raglin). Extreme horror still isn't really my cup of tea, on the whole, but this book does what it does so well that even a coward like me found a lot to enjoy. show less

I received a paperback ARC of Nightmare Yearnings, authored and published by Eric Raglin, for review consideration. Cover art/design: Matthew Revert. Editor: Rachel Oestreich, owner/editor of The Wallflower Editing, LLC. Interior design/typesetting/layout: Sam Richard. What follows below is my honest review freely given.

I rated this debut collection 5 stars.

MOTHER’S TONGUE
So now I am left wondering if the world has places that are constantly thin, or if we are responsible for every spot show more created, every time. The needs for each breach to be successful would be varied in terms of acknowledgment and price required, but holy shit could I be on to something?! A favorite.

IVORY
Out of all the shorts in this collection this is one that I read and enjoyed but don’t really have any thoughts on.

GRAY MATTER
Have you ever read/watched a scene of horror so well done that you can only describe the reaction as being in the realm of delicious? Think splinter in the eye a la Zombi 2 (1979), this short will cause a flinch, a drawing back in defense of oneself. A favorite.

SICK LEAVE
I can’t help but see an evil store of any type in literature, think of Bentley Little and smile. This sadly hits a little too close to home for many.

THE PATCH
American Gods by Neil Gaiman had new gods, ones brought into being by people’s need. I believe internet was one of them, I’m too lazy to go to the other room to grab my copy atm. Interesting concept, because humans have tons of unhealthy coping mechanisms for basically anything. What could we create without *really* wanting to? A favorite.

THE LORD ABOVE
So most fantasy/supernatural stories have hierarchies for the bloodsuckers right? So those big sprawling complexes would be the goal, living the life of luxury (in theory) less chance of being noticed if draining from a larger pond.

UNDER THE HOOF, UNDER THE HORNS
There is a line in this short that is, imo, ‘metal as fuck’, but I don’t want to repeat it here and ruin it organically crossing your gaze, because when it hits, man the story just comes together. It gives it this aching weight, like a bruise that also is somehow scooped out? Can’t describe it well enough, but you’ll understand.

FOR MY FINAL GIRL
Brilliant. In any genre there is room to tweak and twist things just a hair and create something wholly new. A favorite.

LOCKDOWN
Is this one that would strike as much fear in a non-American? In the way that I noticed Japanese say suffered brain death, instead of braid dead, in the horror novels I have, is this a way to know you are reading an American story?

TOP 5 GHOSTS CAUGHT ON CAMERA
I thought this short was chef’s kiss! I felt uneasy right away, knowing that the worst was to come made the tension building painful to endure. And the delivery, when it came, not prepared dude. Seasoned horror reader, still hits hard. Top favorite.

REMI ROOK THE CANNIBAL COOK
Give me more of this universe, please and thank you. I am not sharing anything on purpose, just the title should give you enough clues. A favorite.

MY BETTER HALF
The audacity of this bitch. A favorite.

THE REVEAL
Celebrities may go the whole pregnancy and birth before alerting anyone there is a baby, boy or girl. Then you have Amy and Allen buying pounds of explosives to let all their neighbor/cousins know if number five is going to drive a tractor or be a ballerina (because those are only for a boy or a girl respectively, duh). This was so fun to read.

SMALLER
What We Do in the Shadows has an energy vampire by the name of Collin Robinson, hilarious character. This struck me as a type of stealing from another being, but not by choice of either party.

GHOST OF THE OCEAN
Interesting but also dangerous feeling. No good deed goes unpunished was a saying my parents raised me on, it’s not one I agree with, but in some situations caution has to be the dominating emotion, right? But what if?

WHEN THE MOTHMAN CAME TO QUEER LAKE
I’ll admit that Mothman never really graced my mind from the cryptid stockpile, so I didn’t really know his shtick until this short. Now I stan him and feel that he deserves all the love and support his poor shoulders could handle. show less

An enjoyable anthology themed on labor issues and anti-capitalism. Some of the most memorable stories to me were "Sweet Meats: A Grisly Tale of Hansel and Gretel" by Tim Kane, "That Ye Shall Transgress" by Hailey Piper, The Price of Motherhood Tiffany Michelle Brown, "Alabaster Cities" by Joanna Michal Hoyt, "CORPOS!" by M. Lopes da Silva, "Falling Apart" by Tom Nicholson, "Variables" by Clark Boyd, and "Salen’s Found" by Corey Farrenkopf.

Lovely and unusual horror stories. I enjoyed the book very much.