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A review by horrorbutch
Little Guts: An Anthology of Short Gories by Lor Gislason
5.0
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the editor in exchange for an honest review.
This is a wonderful horror short story collection of the blood- and guts-soaked variant. Having read (& enjoyed) another body horror anthology by Lor Gislason (Bound in Flesh), I knew I had to check this one out and I am very thankful that I received an ARC!
If you like your horror gory, I don’t think I need to sell you on this further (look at that cover! It’s incredible! Look at the pun. Short gories! Dig in! Dig deep!), but I will! It also features some more gore-related puns (my favorite being the goreword) and lovely guts-based interior art as well! And even more important: It features a lot of really good, really gorey stories. From a brutal hockey-game to pimple-popping fetish to Eels, honey, Eels, it has everything gross and gorey that you could wish for. There’s also horrorotica and haunted VHS-tapes and food that turns to rot in your mouth. All in all, there wasn’t a single short story I didn’t enjoy, but my favorites were “The Colonoscopy” by Kay Hanifen (not a title you want to read in an anthology about gore. I was. Very tense!), “Top of the Pops” by Rain Corbyn (you will never think about pimples the same way), “In Viscera” by Rory G. (Meat! Meat! Meat! Harvesting the Meat from the Meat Man!), “Old New Stock” by Rebecca Bennett (Haunted VHS tape body horror that is placed over the body horror of growing up trans and fat in the 90s) and “Gifts of Life” by JF Foster (gay horrorotica my beloved, the kinky bodily fluids variant, smeared in shit and spunk and piss and others).
All in all, again I can just recommend this short & gory collection to everybody looking for a fun, deliciously gross and most importantly gore-filled horror read.
As always with anthologies you can now find my notes on each short story including trigger warnings starting here:
Guts for Glory by Keegan Hughes: The most brutal hockey-game ever. Oh My, there sure is a lot of blood and guts and teeth and brain matter on the ice. This leans really deep into injury and violence and horrible, horrible disembowelment with hockey sticks. Outch. Fun to read though :D
TW: gore, violence, disembowelment, murder, death, lots of bodily fluids everywhere
*FAV* The Colonoscopy by Kay Hanifen: This is Not really a title you want to read in an anthology of gore-themed short stories! Uh Oh! I‘m excited, but also Afraid. Now having read it, despite the (frankly terrifying) title, this story went into a very different direction than I expected (I was imagining colonoscopy based gore, which this isn’t really) and ended up really quite heartwarming. Like. Awwww. How sweet. Still gross, still very messy, still quite unsettling, but also. Awwwww. Lesbians with parasite worms in their guts truly are the genre that keeps on giving. Really, really liked this one.
TW: parasites, mindcontrol, defecation, unsanitary everything
*FAV* Top of the Pops by Rain Corbyn: A food-challenge blogger finds her fall from fame stopped when she is discovered by people that love watching pimple popping. Soon she is caught up in an increasingly gruesome spiral of popping more and more to keep her followers happy. That one was a tough one to read for me, truly left me queasy, which is an incredible feat! Very well done, fun to read, but also. Ufff. A Lot. Really gorey, really great though.
TW: body mutilation, self harm, gore, unsanitary, murder, cannibalism
Little Red Mice by Jessica Luke Garcia: A former emergency room worker with a lot of experience of removing strange things from people’s orifices is asked for help removing a tampon by a friend/(ex-)lover. The endless pulling things from vaginas part felt a bit like a clown trick, but gross. I enjoyed the descriptions of all the things that were in there. Really messy story and I adored the background we got for the characters in this one. Really makes my heart hurt for the MC.
TW: lesbophobia, injury, burns in orifices
The Eel by Kyla Lutz: A shared trip for some illegal eel finishing ends in gore, when a tradition has to be fulfilled. I haven’t thought much about eel reproduction before, but I sure will now! What a messy and lovely story, I adored it.
TW: murder, gore, fishhooks
Mind over Matter by Ryan McAdams: A young man’s attempts to keep up with his education and work after his mother’s death and his increasingly bad ADHD symptoms lead him to try some pills from the dark web. Finally, his sister is forced to call the cops. With a fulminant gorey ending of the monster variety, this was a lot of fun to read.
TW: death, gore
Meat of the Starfish by Joe Koch: A great fantastical horrorotica about a starfish-boy called Misha whose member is cut and consumed by a powerful woman only to regrow. His life in this golden cage is soon disrupted though, when people storm her estate set on freeing him. Messy, gorey and fuuuun! I enjoy horror with a focus on the erotic a lot and this one performed that task masterfully.
TW: consent issues, castration, cannibalism, death, self-mutilation
*FAV* In Viscera by Rory G: A farming town finds its way of life altered when a giant, unrotting body appears, covering most of the farmland. Soon people switch their professions to mining for meat. Gruesome and a great depiction of what happens when a small town economy switches tracts. Features some really interesting characters as well. Not as gross as other stories in here, but more melancholic and sad.
TW: cannibalism, death, gore
South Coulee Sinkhole by Mary Sanche: A woman, who enjoys taking nature photographs, finds herself obsessed with a hole that grows and grows. I really enjoyed the descriptions of gore and dead animals in there and the end was fun!
TW: descriptions of animal carcasses, body horror
*FAV* Old New Stock by Rebecca Bennett: Mar finds themselves stuck in a basement with a cassette tape burrowing into their stomach. Really great (& heartbreaking) examination of growing up fat and trans and I just really, really want to hug Mar.
TW: transphobia, child abuse, fatphobia
Melody is Hungry by Jessica Doutsas: A girl, who cannot eat anything without it turning rotten in her mouth, finds herself rescued from a bad date by the guy running a dinner. As her interest grows, so does her hunger. Really fun, really gross, really interesting world building. And I love the ending.
TW: rotting food, maggots, gore, murder
*FAV* Gifts of Life by JF Foster: A daddy/boy relationship that dives deep into a world full of bodily fluids. Fun and gross and with a gorey, gorey end. Very Exquisite Corpse.
TW: fecal matter, vomit, necrophilia
Lil’ Goopy Guys Go Viral by Andrew Rivas: A grieving father and a grieving son bond over finding weird goopy creatures in their well. Soon the son becomes famous on tiktok and influencers want one of their own. Thankfully the creatures multiple! Really fun creature horror, I love the goop.
TW: gore, body horror, death, grief
This is a wonderful horror short story collection of the blood- and guts-soaked variant. Having read (& enjoyed) another body horror anthology by Lor Gislason (Bound in Flesh), I knew I had to check this one out and I am very thankful that I received an ARC!
If you like your horror gory, I don’t think I need to sell you on this further (look at that cover! It’s incredible! Look at the pun. Short gories! Dig in! Dig deep!), but I will! It also features some more gore-related puns (my favorite being the goreword) and lovely guts-based interior art as well! And even more important: It features a lot of really good, really gorey stories. From a brutal hockey-game to pimple-popping fetish to Eels, honey, Eels, it has everything gross and gorey that you could wish for. There’s also horrorotica and haunted VHS-tapes and food that turns to rot in your mouth. All in all, there wasn’t a single short story I didn’t enjoy, but my favorites were “The Colonoscopy” by Kay Hanifen (not a title you want to read in an anthology about gore. I was. Very tense!), “Top of the Pops” by Rain Corbyn (you will never think about pimples the same way), “In Viscera” by Rory G. (Meat! Meat! Meat! Harvesting the Meat from the Meat Man!), “Old New Stock” by Rebecca Bennett (Haunted VHS tape body horror that is placed over the body horror of growing up trans and fat in the 90s) and “Gifts of Life” by JF Foster (gay horrorotica my beloved, the kinky bodily fluids variant, smeared in shit and spunk and piss and others).
All in all, again I can just recommend this short & gory collection to everybody looking for a fun, deliciously gross and most importantly gore-filled horror read.
As always with anthologies you can now find my notes on each short story including trigger warnings starting here:
Guts for Glory by Keegan Hughes: The most brutal hockey-game ever. Oh My, there sure is a lot of blood and guts and teeth and brain matter on the ice. This leans really deep into injury and violence and horrible, horrible disembowelment with hockey sticks. Outch. Fun to read though :D
TW: gore, violence, disembowelment, murder, death, lots of bodily fluids everywhere
*FAV* The Colonoscopy by Kay Hanifen: This is Not really a title you want to read in an anthology of gore-themed short stories! Uh Oh! I‘m excited, but also Afraid. Now having read it, despite the (frankly terrifying) title, this story went into a very different direction than I expected (I was imagining colonoscopy based gore, which this isn’t really) and ended up really quite heartwarming. Like. Awwww. How sweet. Still gross, still very messy, still quite unsettling, but also. Awwwww. Lesbians with parasite worms in their guts truly are the genre that keeps on giving. Really, really liked this one.
TW: parasites, mindcontrol, defecation, unsanitary everything
*FAV* Top of the Pops by Rain Corbyn: A food-challenge blogger finds her fall from fame stopped when she is discovered by people that love watching pimple popping. Soon she is caught up in an increasingly gruesome spiral of popping more and more to keep her followers happy. That one was a tough one to read for me, truly left me queasy, which is an incredible feat! Very well done, fun to read, but also. Ufff. A Lot. Really gorey, really great though.
TW: body mutilation, self harm, gore, unsanitary, murder, cannibalism
Little Red Mice by Jessica Luke Garcia: A former emergency room worker with a lot of experience of removing strange things from people’s orifices is asked for help removing a tampon by a friend/(ex-)lover. The endless pulling things from vaginas part felt a bit like a clown trick, but gross. I enjoyed the descriptions of all the things that were in there. Really messy story and I adored the background we got for the characters in this one. Really makes my heart hurt for the MC.
TW: lesbophobia, injury, burns in orifices
The Eel by Kyla Lutz: A shared trip for some illegal eel finishing ends in gore, when a tradition has to be fulfilled. I haven’t thought much about eel reproduction before, but I sure will now! What a messy and lovely story, I adored it.
TW: murder, gore, fishhooks
Mind over Matter by Ryan McAdams: A young man’s attempts to keep up with his education and work after his mother’s death and his increasingly bad ADHD symptoms lead him to try some pills from the dark web. Finally, his sister is forced to call the cops. With a fulminant gorey ending of the monster variety, this was a lot of fun to read.
TW: death, gore
Meat of the Starfish by Joe Koch: A great fantastical horrorotica about a starfish-boy called Misha whose member is cut and consumed by a powerful woman only to regrow. His life in this golden cage is soon disrupted though, when people storm her estate set on freeing him. Messy, gorey and fuuuun! I enjoy horror with a focus on the erotic a lot and this one performed that task masterfully.
TW: consent issues, castration, cannibalism, death, self-mutilation
*FAV* In Viscera by Rory G: A farming town finds its way of life altered when a giant, unrotting body appears, covering most of the farmland. Soon people switch their professions to mining for meat. Gruesome and a great depiction of what happens when a small town economy switches tracts. Features some really interesting characters as well. Not as gross as other stories in here, but more melancholic and sad.
TW: cannibalism, death, gore
South Coulee Sinkhole by Mary Sanche: A woman, who enjoys taking nature photographs, finds herself obsessed with a hole that grows and grows. I really enjoyed the descriptions of gore and dead animals in there and the end was fun!
TW: descriptions of animal carcasses, body horror
*FAV* Old New Stock by Rebecca Bennett: Mar finds themselves stuck in a basement with a cassette tape burrowing into their stomach. Really great (& heartbreaking) examination of growing up fat and trans and I just really, really want to hug Mar.
TW: transphobia, child abuse, fatphobia
Melody is Hungry by Jessica Doutsas: A girl, who cannot eat anything without it turning rotten in her mouth, finds herself rescued from a bad date by the guy running a dinner. As her interest grows, so does her hunger. Really fun, really gross, really interesting world building. And I love the ending.
TW: rotting food, maggots, gore, murder
*FAV* Gifts of Life by JF Foster: A daddy/boy relationship that dives deep into a world full of bodily fluids. Fun and gross and with a gorey, gorey end. Very Exquisite Corpse.
TW: fecal matter, vomit, necrophilia
Lil’ Goopy Guys Go Viral by Andrew Rivas: A grieving father and a grieving son bond over finding weird goopy creatures in their well. Soon the son becomes famous on tiktok and influencers want one of their own. Thankfully the creatures multiple! Really fun creature horror, I love the goop.
TW: gore, body horror, death, grief