mfrisk's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

As are most short story collections there were some hits, some misses, and a few that didn’t resonate as much to me. This collection is body horror to the extreme with some great social commentary on homophobia, transphobia, gender dysphoria, and sexism. While I didn’t enjoy every story I did feel most did a great job in connecting to important themes that are valuable to dissect within the lens of horror. 

I want to take the time to highlight my top 2 stories here which I think will stick with me the most which though less reliant on body horror still packed a significant punch: 

1. Show Me - themes around sexism, gender roles, and toxic relationships

2. Man of the House - themes around homophobia and transphobia 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bladelikesbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

‘Bound In Flesh’ is an adult trans horror anthology. A collection of 13 horror short stories focusing on body horror. I rated each short story separately and got an average rating of 4 stars. Horror isn’t my usual genre so starting with this was like jumping into the deep end but I had a great time! 

My favorite short stories included ‘In The Garden Of Horn, The Naked Magic Thrives’ by Hailey Piper; ‘Show Me’ by Amanda M. Blake; ‘Looking For The Big Death’ by Taliesin Neith.

I loved how different the stories were from each other even though they were all within this one specific genre and I loved how diverse the casts were. There were so many different types of representation in this and so many different stories, I feel like there’s definitely something in here for everyone. 

I’d definitely love to check out the other works of the authors and editors who contributed to this anthology and I’ve also joined the Ghoulish Books book club which has been so much fun. Overall, I had a really fun experience reading this book and it has introduced me to a whole new community of readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the horror genre or queer books or anthologies. 

Representation - Autistic (A); Bisexual (A); Disabled (A); Fat (MC/A); Gay (SC/A); GenderFluid (A); He/They (A); Mobility Aid (Colostomy Bag - MC); NeoPronouns (It; A); Neurodivergent (A); NonBinary (A); Queer (MC); Sapphic (MC/A); She/Her/They/Them (A); She/He/They (A); They/Them (MC/SC/A); Trans (A); Trans (FTM, MC/SC/A); Transmasculine (A); Trans (MTF/MC/A)

TWs/CWs - Abortion; Amputation; Animal Cruelty; Animal Death; BDSM; Birthing; Blood; Body Horror; Bugs; Bullying; Cancer; Car crash (graphic); Child Abuse, Child Death; Corpse; Cult Activity; Cussing; Death; Emotional Abuse; Exorcism; Fatphobia; Financial Abuse; Gore; Homophobia; Medical Detail; Murder; Necrophelia; Needle; Nudity; Physical Abuse; Prison; Sexual Assault; Sexual Content; Suicide Attempt; Transphobia; Violence; Vomit

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...