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.

I do like a good horror story but I just didn't connect with this book. I confess to not reading all the stories so there may have been ones I liked a lot more. It was more weird and what the heck was going on. Sorry

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

3 stars!

I liked this short story collection. Some stories stood out a little more than other but that's the beauty of short story collections, everyone's reading experience and favourite are so different t. I thought I'd enjoy this more than I anticipated but clearly didn't hit perfectly for me but that's not to say anything against this collection. Fantastic read.

The thing with anthologies is they're varied. It's a lot of the appeal, but it also makes trying to comment on them a struggle. We all like different things and with 18 stories it's tricky enough remembering them all let alone trying to explain the good and bad of each one. What I can say is that for all the differences this is a strong compilation in terms of consistency. There are no real outliers in terms of good or bad, the quality is high across the board. They're all horror themed, and I often think that's a strong area for horror writing. In fact that's the aspect I really liked here, the stories do that very enjoyable horror style of building something up and then cutting off pretty much on the reveal. For me that really embodies the whole suspense and reveal vibe that makes horror enjoyable. They're creepy ominous atmosphere horror rather than jump scares and shock horror which is a good call for me, and the short story format really suits that style too. Oh, another thing I think suits horror? Graphic stories! And happily we got one of those too. I actually wish there had been two or three because I think the format works well in this genre and it would've made the use feel more balanced, but it's more a wish than any actual displeasure.

If you enjoy a good creepy horror that lets your imagination run away with the story you should find it here. Possibly even 18 times!

I really enjoyed all these short stories. Each one was so different to the next that I looked forward to getting back into it. Really well curated, a great selection and I could have kept reading. I hope there will be another release from this because I was throughly entertained.

Of The Flesh is a remarkably consistent collection of horror short stories. It's difficult to maintain this standard across a multi-author collection, and I feel that the editor/s deserve a lot of credit here... except that they aren't named. What is with this trend? Anyway, I enjoyed the variety and diversity of styles here, including one graphic short from Lewis Hancox, 'Sketchy', which was one of my favourite contributions. In fact, it would be easier to tell you about the stories that didn't work for me than the ones that did, as there really were only a couple I didn't vibe with: Ainslie Hogarth's 'Waffle Thomas' was too experimental for my tastes, and Louisa Young's 'Mouse' a bit obvious. I already knew that I don't click with Irenosen Okojie's writing, so I wasn't surprised not to love 'Rosheen' - though it is more straightforwardly told than the bulk of the other short fiction I've read from her, which made it stronger for me. But that's it! And on the other hand, there are some real standouts here. Susan Barker's haunting 'Fight, Flight, Freeze', about a woman pursued across the globe by another woman she wronged, has made me even more excited about her forthcoming horror novel Old Soul. JK Chukwu's 'Flight 2212' packs such a big world into such a small space. Domestic horrors especially hit home: Bridget Collins's 'The Fruiting Body' and Evie Wyld's 'The Old Lion' were both intensely creepy, as was Emilia Hart's 'Apples', which both presented a beautiful moral dilemma and reminded me of the terrifying fruit in Chuck Wendig's Black River Orchard. It's so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it's going to be a banger, so bravo, Borough Press.

SO good. One of the best horror short story anthologies I've read this year, and I've read a lot. This varies from the gently creepy to the gruesome. None of the stories fell short for me. Horror lovers are absolutely going to love this book.

These short stories are absolutely brilliant! Gruesome, thought-provoking and visceral! My favourites were Flight 2212 (J K Chukwu), The Fruiting Body (Bridget Collins), Daisies (Mariana Enriquez), Carcinisation (Lucy Rose), Going Large (Lionel Shriver), BobaJob (James Smythe) and Mouse (Louisa Young).

The cover art is incredible too!

Of The Flesh: 18 Stories of Modern Horror by by Susan Barker; J K Chukwu; Bridget Collins; Michel Faber; Lewis Hancox; Emilia Hart; Ainslie Hogarth; Robert Lautner; Adorah Nworah; Lucy Rose; James Smythe; Lavie Tidhar; Francine Toon; Evie Wyld; Louisa Young; et al
Rating: 4/5
Release Date: 10 October 2024

“Of The Flesh” lives up to its evocative title, delivering a collection of stories that delve deeply into the darker aspects of human experience. I found myself immersed in these tales, devouring each one eagerly. The anthology is nothing short of exceptional, presenting 18 narratives that span the spectrum of horror with a blend of gruesomeness and dark humour.

Each story pushes the boundaries of traditional horror, offering a unique and often chilling exploration of fear and the grotesque. From psychological terrors to visceral encounters with the supernatural, the anthology captivates with its diverse themes and narrative styles. It challenges readers to confront their deepest anxieties and unveils the unsettling truths that lurk beneath the surface of everyday life.

As I progressed through the stories, I appreciated how they collectively provoke introspection and evoke visceral reactions. They linger in the mind long after reading, leaving a haunting impression that speaks to the power of well-crafted horror literature.

“Of The Flesh” is not merely a collection of scary tales; it is a thought-provoking journey through the shadows of human existence, inviting readers to confront the darkness within and beyond.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press, and the authors for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

3.5

A really interesting collection of short stories. I really enjoyed some of them and some of them went over my head a bit!
Some were very creepy and I loved that!