Overall, I enjoyed Of The Flesh. This is a mixed bag of an anthology with some stories far superior than others. Some of the authors are known to me including Michael Faber, Lavie Tidhar, Evie Wyld and Lionel Shriver so this encouraged me to give this anthology a shot. The stories, for the most were enjoyable if not quite good enough to make me seek out other works by the authors. Three stories stood out and made this anthology worth reading; Adorah Nworah’s ‘The Smiling African Uncle’, Irenosen Okojie’s ‘Rosheen’ and Lucy Rose’s ‘Carcinisation’. For these startling stories alone I’d recommend this book. I also really loved Fruiting Bodies by Bridget Collins. I’d recommend this anthology.

This anthology was quite a mixed bag, to the extent that several stories felt out of place. I enjoyed a few stories significantly more than others and intentionally skipped a few. When I requested this ARC, I recognised a few of the authors' names and was intrigued by the overall premise of the anthology. However, I have since learned that Lionel Shriver and Lavie Tidhar are authors whose views and actions do not align with mine, and therefore, I prefer not to consume or promote their work.

As mentioned, many of the stories were enjoyable enough but ultimately forgettable, and not compelling enough to make me want to dive into the authors’ other works.

Three stories, however, stood out significantly and have made me eager to explore these authors' backlists. These were: Adorah Nworah’s ‘The Smiling African Uncle’, Irenosen Okojie’s ‘Rosheen’ and Lucy Rose’s ‘Carcinisation’. For these three stories alone, I’m glad I persisted with the collection rather than DNFing early on. I’m excited to explore more of their writing.

A number of stories in this collection should come with a long list of trigger warnings. I would recommend avoiding this anthology if body horror, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, and the death of a loved one are triggering for you. While overarching trigger warnings are included in my StoryGraph review, there are a few I'd like to highlight here.

The third story ‘The Fruiting Body’ by y Bridget Collins’, although well-written ond a good horror story overall, contained some very jarring intimate partner violence, which is a recurring theme throughout the piece. Michel Faber’s ‘The Broccoli Eel’ was easily one of my least favourites. It is filled with child abuse, gaslighting, and intimate partner violence. The entire story revolves around a traumatic lie told to a young child, and I would not recommend it to anyone.

Overall, I’m grateful to have read this anthology, if only because I discovered three new-to-me authors whose work I’m excited to explore further.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

It's difficult to give a rating for anthologies of short stories because each story is so different. This is what I found with "Of The Flesh", 18 short modern horror stories from the likes of Bridget Collins, Emilia Hart, Francine Toon and more. Some good, some not so good. I think my favourite was "Fruiting Bodies" by Bridget Collins. Definitely worth a second read and maybe to dip into as the nights draw in.

A good collection of short stories. Some were a little predictable and others ended too soon and left you wanting more. A good mix and a great way to pass a rainy day! Something for everyone in here and a very good range of topics, themes, regions etc. covered. A good solid read.

Horror is not a genre I read regularly, so I didn't know what to expect when venturing into this collection. I really enjoyed reading through these stories. There is a good mix and something for everyone. Some of them are on the more creepy side, and some are a bit more macabre.
I did prefer some more than others, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy them all.
The stand-out stories for me were;
Apples by Emilia Hart
Carcinisation by Lucy Rose
Fairies by Lavie Tidhar
The Fruiting Body by Bridget Collins.

There were others I also enjoyed, too. It all depends on what type of horror you like. There are a few authors for me to also check out their other books.

Overall. It is a weird and occasionally bizarre collection of compelling and thought-provoking stories.

Thanks to The Borough Press for my advanced copy and Netgalley. My opinions are my own

A fabulously written gripping collection of stories that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

A selection of short horror stories bought to you by authors, some I know of and some new to me.

I don't mind a bit of horror, and some of these stories were well written, but others failed to hit the mark.

So, a mixed bag here....read at your own peril!

Given the high quality of writing on show in this horror short story anthology, it could just as easily have been billed as literary fiction. Although there are some gory descriptions, the stories are cerebral not slasher and explore issues such as racism, misogyny, worker exploitation and domestic abuse. Some scenarios popped up more than once: house renovations, airplane flights, strange foods, outsiders entering new communities, and bodily transformations.
Here’s what each story is about:
Fight, Flight, Freeze by Susan Barker
A mistress is haunted by the cancer-ridden ghost of her lover's dead wife.
Flight 2212 by J.K. Chukwu
In a world where no one has fingers and toes but limbs that end in bone, a woman flies abroad for risky surgery to have digits fitted.
The Fruiting Boy by Bridget Collins
A young couple buy a dilapidated doer-upper – with something malignant in the dry rot.
Daisies by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell
In this morbidly humorous tale, Lucas is summoned by his aunts to witness the reburial of his long-dead mother’s bones. But there’s a problem with the remains.
The Broccoli Eel by Michel Faber
Against a backdrop of domestic violence, a child is coaxed into eating his greens with horrific consequences.
Sketchy by Lewis Hancox
A comic strip I sadly couldn’t read on Kindle.
Apples by Emilia Hart
A middle-aged woman moves into a house with a wild garden. The apple tree has startling properties.
Waffle Thomas by Ainslie Hogarth
A woman has ended a long-term relationship and plans to heal herself by hiking in an oak forest. But she isn’t the only one in the woods.
Shade by Robert Lautner
Set in an indigenous community in Bolivia, am 11-year-old miner takes it upon himself to tidy and decorate the carving to El Tío, the devil who rules the mine.
The Smiling African Uncle by Adorah Nworah
The real-life horror of racism is front and centre here. Zikora, newly arrived in the UK, is hounded by repeated encounters with a blonde woman who accuses him of theft, and worse.
Rosheen by Irenosen Okojie
A young Irish/Trinidadian woman arrives in Norfolk in search of her long-lost father and is forced to take work with an abusive, exploitative farmer.
Carcinisation by Lucy Rose
An exquisitely written tale of metamorphosis. An unloved fisherman’s wife keeps one of the crabs in his catch as a companion.
Going Large by Lionel Shriver
A svelte woman, who despises those more amply sized, gets a taste of her own medicine.
BobaJob by James Smythe
A futuristic approach to dealing with debtors.
Fairies by Lavie Tidhar
Maya is a little girl who’s scared of fairies, and of the bullies at school.
Ghost Kitchen by Francine Toon
An islander moves to a mainland city and orders a takeaway.
The Old Lion by Evie Wyld
A woman takes a trip home to visit her widowed father. Meanwhile girls and animals are going missing.
Mouse by Louisa Young
A woman, caring for her sick and ungrateful husband in a high-rise flat, discovers she has an unwelcome house guest.

With thanks to the authors, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
At publication, I will post my review on my blog, Amazon and GoodReads.

I'm not always a fan of horror, but was drawn to Of the Flesh by several authors in this anthology whose other work I'd enjoyed. I also appreciated the mix of and experimentation with form in this collection - particularly the inclusion of Lewis Hancox's horror comic, Sketchy. Although there were some real gems in here, I found them outnumbered by tales which unfortunately weren't my cup of tea. I appreciate the condensed format of a short story leaves less room for conclusion, but I found several of the stories to be actively dissatisfying. That said, this anthology has also introduced me to some new authors whose further work I'd like to read. An interesting, mostly engaging, but occasionally frustrating read.

This book features a mixed bag of tones and styles, and inevitably some shined brighter than others. That said, it was overall a great reading experience. What I loved most about this book was the opportunity to read many pieces by many different authors. I never would have been able to sample work like this so quickly, and I found some authors whose writing styles I really loved. I will definitely be looking for full-length work from them, which I’m very excited about. If you’re looking to dabble in horror, this is the way to do it! Find what you like with Of The Flesh!

3.5 Stars

This is a collection of 18 short horror stories bundled up all in one beautiful book for your enjoyment.

This collection was short stories I personally didn’t find myself enjoying and engaged in, leaving myself honestly bored and wanting to put it down. Don’t get me wrong though these authors did an amazing job. There were sure some stories I was engaged in and enjoyed. They each have their own unique voice but still sticking to an overall theme which just added to the reading experience.

This was a great collection with very different tones in each story. Also that cover!! So stunning! My favourite stories were Flight 2212, Fairies, Daisies and Sketchy. Sketchy was such a nice surprise as I've never seen a comic in an anthology like this. They should be included more often as it was a great way to take a little break from all the text.

I'd definitely recommand this book to my horror loving friends! I now have some new authors to look into too

Description:
A collection of horror stories with a bodily theme.

Liked:
Really high standard across the collection, with only a few stories I wasn’t keen on. Favourites included Apples by Emilia Hart, which was perfectly plotted; super engaging with a very sympathetic protagonist and a grubby but homely feel, and Waffle Thomas by Ainslie Hogarth which was also masterfully done, with twists that kept me guessing and very visceral imagery.

Disliked:
Really didn’t enjoy Sketchy, the only graphic novel in the bunch, for both the art style and story content. Rosheen and Fairies also fell a bit flat, both feeling less original than some of the others in the collection.

Would recommend - a decidedly high-quality collection!

Anything Else:
Francine Toon’s Ghost Kitchen didn’t quite make it into my top three, but I *did* think it was super clever in one respect: there’re a couple of jump/fake-out type scares in there which are really really good at communicating just how scary it can feel to be a woman in the real world sometimes. It’s really well done!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.


A nice collection of short horror stories some I liked better than others. But overall entertaining to read. The overall theme is body horror. Which I don’t really know if it’s really my thing. But because of the fast pace the scenes that made me feel a bit squeezy were easy to get through.

A nice read for people wanting to get into body horror and love short stories.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. There is a grey mix of creepy and down right weird stories and a lot of them stuck in my head for a long time after reading them. They are all beautifully written and thought provoking and I didn't dislike any. I normally read short story collections one at a time but with this one I actually found myself reading 3/4 in one sitting.

As with any collection some are better than others but I honestly think there is something here for everyone.
My personal favourites were apples, Shade, waffle Thomas, bob-a-job and daisies.
I highly recommend this for fans of creepy and unusual horror.
Thank you so much for giving me the chance to read this wonderful ARC.

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you HarperFiction and Netgalley for my arc copy.
I was expecting to rate this so much higher as a horror lover. However some of the stories just didn't have anything memorable about them.
However I really enjoyed a few of them and would be happy to see the authors other works. Some of note that I really enjoyed were Fight Flight Freeze, Apples and Faeries

While I did not love every single one of the stories (which is impossible in an anthology either way) , I loved this curated selection with different cultural backgrounds and themes. None of them were too gory in my opinion either. The authors I was most excited for delivered but so did writers I haven't even heard of before. Absolutely recommend.

3.5 Stars - Short story collections are mostly hit or miss for me so this came as such a nice surprise!

This is probably one of the best collections that I've read that is SO consistently strong with it's theme and even though I may not have enjoyed every single story, credit where credit is due - every author came up with a pretty unique story!

A lot of the stories also leave you with something to think about, which I appreciated. As well as being completely creeped out and um... well, disgusted.

I think a lot of horror and speculative readers will end up enjoying this one.

Also... let's acknowledge how stunning the cover is please!!!

Personal favourites =
-Fight, Flight, Freeze by Susan Barker
-The Fruiting Body by Bridget Collins
-Apples by Emilia Hart
-Carcinisation by Lucy Rose
-Fairies by Lavie Tidhar

Huge thanks to the team at HarperFiction for sending me an e-ARC!

-Sarah

A fantastic and disturbing collection of horror stories, perfect for horror fans. Discover malignant spirits, mind altering fruit, obsessive plastic surgery and avenging ghosts among many others. The variety of stories is really refreshing and I'll say it again, disturbing, and I’ll admit there were a few times that I had to pause before moving onto the next tale. Great to see a graphic story included. Lots of authors included that I’ve not read before, so great to add new authors to my 'want to read' pile.

I don’t usually go for short stories myself. I usually find that they’re never quite enough to make me feel satisfied when finishing them.
But as Horror is one of my go to genres, and this cover is stunning, I knew I had to give it a go.
I found this collection to cover a broad range of the horror genre, well chosen and put together. It’s always difficult when you’re reading an anthology to find authors work that complement each other to make it feel cohesive.
This book managed that beautifully. Obviously, some appealed more than others, but that’s the nature of any anthology.
On the whole, I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read and was pleased I picked it up.