Reviews

Dark Matter Presents: Human Monsters by Sadie Hartmann, Ashley Saywers

badazz_knitter's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.5

nicksenior's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bobmetal's review

adventurous challenging dark lighthearted tense fast-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

5.0

locke_unhold's review

Was listening to the audiobook version and the quality of the readers seemed to vary quite a bit between stories. Some also had very affected accents while reading that took me out of it.

nate_the_raven's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.5

kyrajanson's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

fearnerd's review against another edition

5.0

Human Monsters is the first book in a trilogy of stories about monsters. As the title suggests, the 35 stories of this anthology involve the human variety. And we get all types from murderers to rapists to pedophiles to normal people driven to do bad things. This is a great sampling of many unknown and known authors offering up a hodgepodge of different writing styles. Not all of the stories worked for me, but there are more winners here than not. I can't say I wasn't at least entertained by some of the weaker stories.

This collection was edited by Sadie Hartmann and Ashley Saywers, who own and operate the great monthly horror book subscription service Night Worms. I received this book through Night Worms, and it's put together extremely well. I love the cover art, and it's just a nice thick book that you can tell a lot of care went into its creation.

I'll offer up my top 5 stories; though, no spoilers or synopses of them (read them for yourselves!). I'd like to know your favorites if you've read this anthology.

5. BodiBag by Rebecca Jones-Howe
4. Paypig by Jeremy Megargee
3. A Sunny Disposition by Josh Malerman
2. Jubilee Junction by Nat Cassidy
1. The Myth of Pasiphaë by Andy Davidson

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

kellyvandamme's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 rounded up

A fantastic collection with some really chilling stories.

nikres's review against another edition

5.0

Loved this collection of stories. So many great ones that stuck with me after reading.

tarainez's review

5.0

4.5 stars, but once again, I rounded up, because this was such a fun read. There were a few stories in here that I felt lukewarm about, but there were many more that I found really interesting. I think the standout story for me was Nat Cassidy’s “Jubilee Juncture.” It hit all the marks for me in just a few short pages. Ventriloquist dummies really creep me out, so do with that what you will. I really enjoyed that not every single story in here was about murder; there were some about torture, some about people who are on the verge of escalating to committing crimes or murder, or just general fucked up shit we do to one another. Some of them really made me question who the true monster was in the story, and I love that. I also love the breadth of storytellers in here; I read a lot of stuff from people I hadn’t read or heard of before, some stuff from very well-known authors, and some stuff from authors I was actually introduced to through NightWorms (L.P. Hernandez, Gemma Amor and C.S. Humble specifically, and I loved all 3 of their stories). Also that cover!