After facing catastrophic injuries during his stint in Vietnam, Garnet Montrose returns home to his small Virginian town as a shunned war hero. He’s a hero for serving his country, but he’s shunned because of the grievous injuries he sustained. His skin is delicate, unable to take much pressure before sliding off the bones. His […]
Read more "Grotesque and Real: James Purdy’s In a Shallow Grave"In order to terraform Mars, humans send plant life and cockroaches to spread across the surface to thrive and make some kind of atmosphere. Five hundred years later, it’s time to execute the plan to eradicate the roaches and make way for humanity. Who do you send? The expendables, of course. Killers, illegal immigrants, and […]
Read more "Bugging Out: Terra Formars (2016)"The first time Steven Blitz’s life takes a turn for the unexpected, he is sitting at home preparing for a major case. Tapped to defend an artist and accused serial killer, perhaps the case of his career, he’s lost in the details when his wife announces she wants him out of the house. At first, […]
Read more "The Danger of Wandering Down Roads Not Taken: Jason Starr’s The Next Time I Die"In the glorious days of 1987, when religious true believers picketed sinful establishments, Sally Mewbourne (Shaina Schrooten) and her churchy pals are picketing the local adult entertainment establishment Revealers. It’s not a strip club per se nor is it a very extensive adult bookstore. It’s a hole in the wall with some adult magazines and […]
Read more "Peeping at the Apocalypse: Revealer"After a mishap delays their train, Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) miss their boat back to England and have to room in a luxurious hotel during its off season. As one imagines, they newlyweds find a few ways to pass the time. But as it turns out, the royal suite they’ve taken is […]
Read more "Seduction and Destruction: Daughters of Darkness"Have you ever started a book, gotten maybe two pages in, and thought “This is great stuff! I hope the author manages to stick the landing…” Well, Manhunt turned out to be one of those books for me. It’s not a warm and fuzzy story, of course. Gretchen Felker-Martin posits an ugly, disturbing scenario in […]
Read more "Battle of the Sexes: Gretchen Felker-Martin’s Manhunt"Ron Shannon (Al Cliver) is the reigning champion of Endgame, the hottest televised sports show in the postapocalyptic world of 2025. When the rad count’s too high, stay inside and watch a man on the run through trashier parts of the city, stalked by three killers. Each is armed with only three weapons from the […]
Read more "Play to Win: Endgame"After a raging storm is tied to the destruction of a strange tower, a pronouncement flutters across the screen dictating a set of laws that seem untethered to anything but the maddest of minds—”And you shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters?” Whaaat?—only to reveal these are sections of […]
Read more "Sex, Violence, and Labor Relations: Mad God"Marcos (Vincente Parra, an actor who resembles a young DeForest Kelley) is no stranger to killing. After all, he works at the local butcher shop. He’s a handsome if nervous man, who flirts with Rosa (Vicky Lagos) and waitress while dating a younger woman, Paula (Emma Cohen). Maybe they will get married, but he’s working […]
Read more "Blood Will Have Blood: The Cannibal Man"A nice, normal day is on the verge of utter ruin when older and wiser Katharine hollers for her fourteen-year-old sister Susan to stop just a few seconds too early. Evanston, Illinois seems an idyllic enough place, which is a fancy way of saying a boring one. However, when the sky turns green, Kitty wants […]
Read more "A Melting Pot of SF Horrors: Mira Grant’s Square-3"
consideringstories 