This anthology has a collection of short stories. With anthologies I feel like there's something for everyone but I sadly couldn't gel with these stories, I felt that some were disjointed.

A quirky and thought provoking anthology. Susan's Barkers Fight, Flight, Freeze, Rosheen by Irenosen Okojie and Shade 140 by Robert Lautner were particular favourites.

I really struggled with this one. I couldn’t get into the flow of the short stories and they didn’t jump out at he either. Some were great, some not so much but none were memorable.

I don't have it in me to write a detailed review but I read this collection of modern horror short stories last month and loved it!
Such an amazing selection of stories which were wonderfully weird.
I remember particularly enjoying Apples by Emilia Hart a super clever, creepy feminist tale.
Highly highly recommend!
4 eyeballs out of 5!

As always, I will begin by thanking the authors, all 18 of them, as well as the team at The Borough Press for an advanced reading copy, in exchange for an honest review.

This collection immediately caught my eye, both the cover and the title, and I am always looking for new horror authors to enjoy and recommend, so what better way than a book of short stories? I have to say though, overall I was disappointed. There are some authors who I will go on to read but why are we still supporting the likes of Bridget Collins and Lionel Shriver?

I read one a day or two a day, and have compiled my thoughts on each below, so this will be a slightly longer review than usual:

1. ‘Fight, Flight, Freeze’ by Susan Barker – 2/5 Stars

• Hadn’t read anything by this author before, but knew of some of their titles.
• My dad is currently struggling with Cancer, so this was super triggering for me.
• Not a huge reader of ‘cheating spouses’ tropes. I don’t think this will change.
• I am not in on the whole, lack of speech marks, thing. Grammar is good.

2. ‘Flight 2212’ by J.K. Chukwu – 4/5 Stars

• A new author to me, but I really enjoyed this. I have added ‘The Unfortunates’ to my TBR.
• Such a big impact in such a few short pages.
• Matters like class, race and wealth commentaries all expertly woven into the story
• The setting was super claustrophobic, and one I have never experienced before: the inside of a plane that’s not taken off yet.


3. ‘The Fruiting Body’ by Bridget Collins – 1/5 Stars

• ‘The Binding’ is my all-time favourite book, to the point that I have a tattoo for the book, but I have not enjoyed anything else she has written.
• I still did not enjoy this story – it reads like poor FanFiction.
• I couldn’t tell if the repetition of words and phrases was done for emphasis or was just poor editing.
• Colleen Hoover writes better domestic violence stories.

4. ‘Daisies’ by Mariana Enriquez (translated by Megan McDowell) - 4/5 Stars

• Knew of the author from the popularity of ‘The Dangers of Smoking in Bed’ which has been on my TBR forever and since reading this, has jumped to the top.
• Very clever, a very close family with a dark past is always something I will enjoy.
• Had to Google some of the worshipped characters but man – what an interesting topic!
• The sun-baked setting gives an intense, close feel on top of the impending horror – one of the best of the bunch.

5. ‘The Broccoli Eel’ by Michael Faber – 5/5 Stars

• I will never eat broccoli again. Or anything green for that matter. I might just stop eating altogether. Thank you for the nightmares.
• Not much is given away and the brain finds the darkest places to fill in the gaps, I love an author who can do that!
• I come from a background in childcare and education so understood the view of the child’s imagination from the start.
• Have added some of his backlist to my TBR. Would read anything of his.

6. ‘Sketchy’ by Lewis Hancox – 4/5 Stars

• I have read Lewis’ autobiographical novels and knew his comedy sketches from The Internets, so was excited to see something new and very different!
• Even the style of illustration had changed, adding a new edge to his work. More grungy, Junji Ito-style sketches. Nowhere near as much gore but less polished that Hancox’s usual style – if this is making any sense?
• Liked the premise, was a nice change of pace for the collection – more graphic novels in story collections, please!

7. ‘Apples’ by Emilia Hart – 3/5 Stars

• Knew of this author from the popularity of ‘Weyward’ and the upcoming ‘The Sirens’
• Storyline quite predictable but fun nonetheless.
• I grew up with an apple tree in my garden too, so this took me way back and got me thinking about what lay under it…
• I think I would like to read some of her other stuff, I feel like she may be better at a fuller story?


8. ‘Waffle Thomas’ by Ainslie Hogarth – 2/5 Stars

• Amazing title for a story. No notes. Became a new nickname for my partner, who is a Thomas. He was unimpressed.
• Loved the premise, was hooked on the ‘camping in the woods to find myself’ vibes. Yes, go to the woods. We love a good slasher-in-the-woods story...
• I thought I knew where this was going: I did not.
• Ruined by the Tarantino-esque twist - I think I missed something.

9. ‘Shade’ by Robert Lautner – 4/5 Stars

• Another South American setting and I loved this one, it was slightly longer than others
• Like Liz Hyder’s ‘Bearmouth’, really close setting being in the mines makes you feel super claustrophobic
• Written from a child’s perspective again, but very different from ‘The Broccoli Eel’ in that this child is a miner and also friends with Satan.

10. ‘The Smiling African Uncle’ by Adorah Nworah

• Written in 2nd person – which took some getting used to but very original and different
• Makes you uncomfortable but in a more real-world way – in terms of race and class
• The use of the word ‘alien’ made me cringe, which is what I think they were going for
• Felt a little like the ‘Smile’ films, which I wasn’t mad at


11. ‘Rosheen’ by Irenosen Okojie – 3/5 Stars

• Beautifully written and genuinely evokes Norfolk, where I grew up so it was nostalgic for me
• Loved being suspended in time, it was never pinpointed at an exact time or date, just ‘post-war’ and with telephones but it works so well.
• A little slow in the middle, could have done with a little more in the way of action. Found I was skipping over sentences to get on with the book, which ruined it for me a little.

12. ‘Carcinisation’ by Lucy Rose – 4/5 Stars

• I was excited to get stuck into a new author and have since been gifted an ARC of ‘The Lamb’ which I am very excited for!
• This was fun, ‘The Mercies’ meets the Goddess Calypso from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
• Enjoyed the shift from singular to plural as the two creatures became one
• Not a fan of tooth-related horror but that was all that brought it down for me


13. ‘Going Large’ by Lionel Schriver - DNF

• Another author I have an issue with, as she is a massive transphobe, but I’d never tried any of her stuff. I won’t be in future, either.
• In this day and age, there is no need for such fat-shaming. As someone who is plus-sized and identifies as non-binary, this story had nothing positive about it for me.
• The author truly shows her colours in this – I genuinely have nothing nice to say.

14. ‘Bob-a-Job’ by James Smythe – 4/5 Stars

• Another cracking title!
• One of my favourites – super cinematic and another that lets your mind wander.
• Think ‘1984’ meets ‘Tender is the Flesh’ – both of which I loved for different reasons.
• Creepy and an overall sense of unease makes this a great story – have added more by this author onto my TBR

15. ‘Fairies’ by Lavie Tidhar – 3/5 Stars

• I was hoping for so much more from this – it started great, another from the child’s POV but it fell flat compared to some of the others in this collections
• I feel bad in saying that it wasn’t all that tense and was quite predictable

16. ‘Ghost Kitchen’ by Francine Toon – 3/5 Stars

• I think I missed something… I wasn’t too sure what was happening and then it ended.
• Another short story written in 2nd person, which I enjoyed previously in this collection but I just got lost.
• ‘Pine’ was such a hit that I was super excited to read more but this was nothing like that.

17. ‘The Old Lion’ by Evie Wyld – 2/5 Stars

• I need an adult to tell me what happened at the end of this? Again, I feel like this title went nowhere – what does the bottle of blond mean? Did she do it? Was it a ghost?
• I loved the start but the end was a flop for me, as I genuinely didn’t get the ending.
• I might try other stuff by the same author to see if they do better in a longer format?

18. ‘Mouse’ by Louisa Young – 3/5 Stars

• The last book in the collection is always a tricky spot, as you expect them to end it with a bang – which was not the case for this one.
• It was, for want of a better term, mousy, but not in the cute way – it was meek and forgettable.
• I found I was comparing it to ‘The Graveyard Shift’ by M.L. Rio which I just finished and found way better for filling the rodent-hole in my horror.

All in all I was a little disappointed by this collection, I am sorry to say. I had my favourites but a lot of the others were just… Middle of the road or downright terrible.

As with all short story collections this was definitely a mixed bag but I feel like I enjoyed more of the stories than I didn't.

One thing I do have to point out is that one of the stories is a comic/graphic novel. I am a reader of comics/graphic novels and the one included in this book was good but it just really threw me off suddenly switching formats unexpectedly, it felt really out of place.

Of the Flesh is an extremely accessible collection of horror stories, which contains just about something for everybody.
The stories within cover a huge range of themes, from the opening story being a tale of creeping retribution, then on to themes such as dystopian worlds where people switch bodies and then on to what we would call more conventional horror. There is even a short graphic novel/comic within the varied pages.
The only drawback with this publication is that the quality can highly differ from story to story, this seems quite common when reading collections such as this, this alone is my reason for downgrading the rating from four to three stars.
Overall a thouroughly enjoyable read from cover to cover.

Review: Of the Flesh, 18 Stories of Modern Horror {ad-gifted}
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Want to get into horror, but don’t know where to start?

This is where I’m at, and this collection features 18 different authors who are referred to as “masters of the craft” so you can see what vibe you like and go from there! There’s definitely something for everyone in here - there’s even a short graphic novel story (which was also one of my favorites).

This is honestly such a good mix of different types of genres within horror - whether it’s murder-y, occult, paranormal or gore all exploring of identity, desire, relationships and the human condition. It was really enjoyable to read! I will absolutely be checking out some of the other books by these authors.

Also we need to take a moment for this cover because i LOVE it.

As with all collections there are stories you love more than others so here are my favorites:
🎨 Sketchy (graphic novel style) by Lewis Hancox
A girl inherits her mums old sketchbook and one day her boss and the customers in the bar frustrate her to the point that she draws them disfigured, or having heart problems and school bullies with skin problems. These drawings become a horrifying reality. Can she erase what she has done?

🍎 Apples by Emilia Hart
A newly divorced mum moves into a new house which has a garden. One of these trees grows apples which when consumed allow you to read the thoughts of men (and it’s terrifying). She invites her daughter and her new bf over for a welcome dinner and after hearing what he is thinking bakes an apple crumble to serve as dessert to try and show the truth.

🥦 The Broccoli Eel by Michael Faber
A story started by a child’s mother to get him to eat more vegetables bites back. The eel becomes real and it is hungry.

😳 Shade by Robert Lautner
Children work in the mines. Upon entering they meet El Tio - a devil like thing that is to be worshipped when underground. Offerings of cigarettes must be left, but when one boy starts working there he starts to talk to El Tio, telling him about life above ground which he was warned not to do, with disastrous consequences - but for who?

. 🧚🏼‍♀️ Fairies by Lavie Tidhar
Fairies can make bargains and can make wishes come true. Maya loved reading about fairies. She hated school. One day at playtime she leaves offerings under a stone, and starts to hear fluttering wings outside her bedroom window. Another day her school bully takes it too far. Will Maya end up asking for the fairies help? and get revenge?

Also notable chapters include those written by Mariana Enriquez and Lucy Rose.

Will you be picking this up?

Thank you so much harperfiction for sending this over! {ad-gifted}

This is a really easy book to read. 18 short stories and one of them is a comic style story at the end.
It was a really mixed bag of stories. There were some stories that I found I couldn't connect with (Apples, Waffle Thomas) and then some stories really had me hooked (The fruiting body, flight 2212) and some were just super bizarre (The Broccoli eel)
I'm really glad I got the opportunity to read this as now I would like to venture out and explore some of the authors I've discovered.
Really enjoyed this

I should probably have realised from the title that this was going to be a collection of body horror, but I didn't. First story about a woman dying of cancer, second story full of disgusting imagery and concluding with an unpretty vomiting scene. No thanks. For me, horror is supposed to be spooky, creepy, deliciously spine-chilling, not nauseating. I won't be reading the rest. I'd rather not rate it, since I don't feel I've read enough, but NetGalley insists. I will not be leaving a review on social media outlets.

Of the Flesh is a good mix of classic and modern stories of varying horror, some are tame and make you think and others are more gory, but they are all enjoyable if you like a scare.

Thank you Netgalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press and the various authors for the eArc of, Of The Flesh.
Authors include, Featuring stories by: Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enriquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young

Seeing its spooky season, this is a book Id definitely recommend reading. Not only it suits the season ( and any time of the year!) within these short stories, you are exposed to all sorts of sub-genre of horror fiction. Each of the 17 stories are well written and engaging, giving the right amount of character development to entice you and a great mixture of horror which can leave you wanting more.

4 stars

A great mix of short horror stories all to do with bodily functions and flesh. Some stories I personally wouldn’t call horror for me, however to some they would be. I do enjoy extreme gorey horror, which most of the stories do have.

3.5 stars

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC! Really enjoyed this short story collection overall, although a couple I did skip.

Although a few of them didn’t provide the creepy, gross ick I wanted from a body horror collection, most of them were successful in making me squeamish in one way or another! Some of my favourites were Apples where a woman is suddenly imbued with the awful gift of hearing men’s thoughts, Bob-a-Job, which honestly I’m not sure what was going on but it was dystopian, gross as hell and great, and Ghost Kitchen by Francine Toon, where a woman is followed by a watery curse.

I also really enjoyed The Smiling African Uncle, where Black and brown immigrants are subjected to microaggressions x 10000, and any who crack are deported. Only those who remain the good, grateful immigrant can stay. But as much as I enjoyed it, it didn’t seem to fit with the others - though racism is a horror unto itself.

I was a bit disappointed by the Mariana Enríquez story, since short horror is right in her wheelhouse, but Daisies was underwhelming. This was also the only translated story in the collection - there could have been a few more to get more worldly horror involved.

Of the Flesh by Susan Barker, Lucy Rose, James Smythe, J.K. Chukwu, Mariana Enríque, Bridget Collins, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adora Nworah, renosen Okojie, Lionel Shriver, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld, and Louisa Young

WoW! WoW this book was so good one of the best books I have read for short stories especially as it is written by all different authors. Everyone story was excellent and I loved it from the very first short story till the last story.
A great book for Halloween that is just around the corner. A great collection of stories packed on one book..

I loved the cover - very clever and an eye catcher.

Fear never dies…
These stories from eighteen masters of the craft will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.

An exploited child worker in the silver mines of Bolivia finds an ally – but at what cost? A young woman's workplace affair has terrifying repercussions when her lover's wife dies. A sailor's wife takes her communion with Nature a little too far…

From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a touch too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.

Featuring stories by: Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young.

I loved this collection. It's the perfect Halloween read.

Of the Flesh is one of those horror anthologies that has a cover that makes you want to pick it up and see what delights are hiding within, but do the contents live up to the cover's promise? Sadly not. Oh, some of its contents are well worth a read, Bridget Collins's The Fruiting Body, Lionel Shriver's Going Large, James Smythe's Bob-a-Job & Lewis Hancox's Sketchy are personal favourites, but most are disappointingly average. That's just me though, anthologies can be hit and miss, and I'm sure every short hidden within Of the Flesh will find its audience.

Thanks to NetGalley, The Borough Press and all involved for an advance copy.

Of The Flesh: 18 Stories of Modern Horror
⭐⭐⭐ 3.75 stars
Publication date: 10 October 2024
Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror. This collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.

This was a really solid collection with quite a few known-to-me authors, and several I want to read more of. Not all the stories landed for me, which often tends to be the case, but there was some really good body horror in this book, and some of the stories were creepy, icky and uncomfortable.
As someone living in a house that suffers from damp, The Fruiting Body by Bridget Collins had me eyeing my walls with growing suspicion 👀
The Smiling African Uncle by Adorah Nworah was by no means scary, though it was stressful, and was such an amazing and clever take on the “good immigrant” rhetoric.
Going Large by Lionel Shriver left me feeling ambivalent. When I reviewed Mania by this author, some fatphobic undertones had made me feel quite uncomfortable. The same goes for this story, although I did appreciate the twist at the end.
BobaJob by James Smythe and Fairies by Lavie Tidhar were probably my two favourite stories; the first one because it was gross and gruesome, and the second because it was tense and creepy.
And shout-out to Sketchy by Lewis Hancox. It was the first collection I read that contained a story in the form of a comic strip; it was good and gory, and unexpectedly heartbreaking.

A collection of horror short stories which revolve around body horror. It was a bit of mixed bag with one or two standouts amongst the majority which were ok.
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Fight, Flight, Freeze by Susan Barker - to be honest the MC doesn't get what she deserved. TW: infidelity, terminal illness. Rating: 3 out of 5.

Flight 2212 by JK Chukwu - very strange story. TW: vomiting. Rating: 2 out of 5.

The Fruiting Body by Bridget Collins - one of the better stories. TW: toxic relationship. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Daisies by Mariana Enriquez - OK. Rating: 3 out of 5.

The Broccoli Eel by Michel Faber - poignant. TW: domestic abuse. Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sketchy by Lewis Hancox - not for me. Rating: 2 out of 5.

Apples by Emilia Hart - the best story in the collection. TWs: ageism, misogyny. Rating: 4 out of 5.

Waffle Thomas by Ainslie Hogarth - decidedly odd. TW: animal cruelty. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Shade by Robert Lautner. OK. Rating: 3 out of 5.

The Smiling African Uncle by Adorah Nworah. Interesting take on racism. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Rosheen by Irenosen Okojie. OK. Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Carcinisation by Lucy Rose. TWs: animal cruelty & blood. Rating: 3 out of 5.

Going Large by Lionel Shriver. TW: fatphobia, dieting. Rating: 3 out of 5.

BobaJob by James Smythe. Intriguing. Rating: 4 out of 5.

Fairies by Lavie Tidhar. OK. Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Ghost Kitchen by Francine Toon. Average. Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

The Old Lion by Evie Wyld. Started off interesting but stalled. TW: animal death. Rating: 2 out of 5.

Mouse by Louisa Young. OK. TW: animal death. Rating: 3 out of 5.
__________________________________

There are quite a few different trigger warnings for the stories & I've tried not to include spoilers. For me, Apples is the best story - it has an intriguing premise & plays on societal attitudes towards women. Overall though, I would say the collection for me is just OK as there were some stories that felt unfinished or I just wasn't sure where the author was going with it. 3 stars.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, HarperCollins UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

A hugely anticipated read for 2024, I love my dark and disturbing reads so to see so many of my fav authors in this one I could not wait to read! I do love a short story but the only thing is sometimes I feel like I need more time to bond with the characters/allow the story to properly shock me. Not that any of these were bad I have to say I enjoyed them all but I feel like some hit the mark more than others for me. I have to say a shoutout to Lucy Rose because again (THE LAMB IS AMAZING) her story made me scream WTF!!

Stories I marked as 5 stars (and authors I would definitely read again) were:

- Flight 2212 by J K Chukwu
- The Broccoli Eel by Michel Faber
- Apples by Emilia Hart
- Carcinisation by Lucy Rose
- Bob-a-Job by James Smythe
- Sketchy by Lewis Hancox

A lot of body and psychological horror within this one I would say, which I of course absolutely loved.

A perfect read to pick up for the spooky season!!!