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A review by screamdogreads
Teenage Grave by Brendan Vidito, Jo Quenell, Justin Lutz, Sam Richard
4.0
Pushing its hand into the puncture wound, the child pulled out a cluster of veins and sinew. It shone wetly, strands of bright white standing out among threads of brown and crimson. To Caiden it looked absurdly like an inverted bouquet of roses.
Comprised of 4 extremely short stories, Teenage Grave is a head first dive into the depths of the visceral and upsetting. This tiny little anthology of extremely transgressive and experimental horror is an imaginative rollercoaster. Atonement. Guilt. Grief. The three pulsating pillars at the heart of these tales, tying them together, creating a grotesque, disgusting, depraved thing that almost blends into one singular being.
Although this is a miniature book, it has some mighty teeth. What a wonderfully shocking and affecting book this is, each tale is so hauntingly intimate and so, so stressful to read. It's painful really, poetically tragic. These are tales designed to be actively anxiety inducing, to make the reader cringe, to suffer some form of physical and emotional reaction. Since this petite little novella only clocks in at 88 pages, let's take a brief glance at each of the stories it has to offer.
Comprised of 4 extremely short stories, Teenage Grave is a head first dive into the depths of the visceral and upsetting. This tiny little anthology of extremely transgressive and experimental horror is an imaginative rollercoaster. Atonement. Guilt. Grief. The three pulsating pillars at the heart of these tales, tying them together, creating a grotesque, disgusting, depraved thing that almost blends into one singular being.
Although this is a miniature book, it has some mighty teeth. What a wonderfully shocking and affecting book this is, each tale is so hauntingly intimate and so, so stressful to read. It's painful really, poetically tragic. These are tales designed to be actively anxiety inducing, to make the reader cringe, to suffer some form of physical and emotional reaction. Since this petite little novella only clocks in at 88 pages, let's take a brief glance at each of the stories it has to offer.
"I felt lucky that I had her there with me, that first time I was caressed by death; guiding me, holding me, loving me. The knife pierced into my heart like a stake through soft soil, only slightly jarring, and I could feel myself letting go, not just of her but everything. Stay with me she whispered, don't go until I'm ready, too."
In Stale Air, a father and son are reunited, deep-seated hatred is unearthed, a morbid sense of redemption punctures the stench of rotting fish. I Know Not the Names of the Gods to Whom I Pray depicts death in one of the most unflinchingly gorgeous, achingly beautiful and grueling ways ever penned. Apate's Children renders betrayal as imagery savage enough to steal away the air you breathe, and Start Today conceals sickening, repulsive body horror behind the false smiles of a self-help club for broken men. Sounds rather delightful, don't you think?
Difficult to forget and impossible to ignore, Teenage Grave is an iconic collection of new-age horror tales to take you to places you could never believe.
He raised the tool in his shiny, scarred arms. Miles brought the hammer down on his own face until it was a bowl made of bone full of nothing but pulp.