Dark Book Review – Peel Back The Skin
Review Written By Casey Douglass
They live down the street, in the apartment next door and even in our own homes. They are the real monsters, and they stare back at us from our own bedroom mirrors.PEEL BACK THE SKIN is a powerhouse anthology of terror that removes the human mask from the real monsters that walk among us, those who stare back at us from our own mirrors. PEEL BACK THE SKIN begins a new chapter in the man as monster saga that started as soon as humans first walked upright and evolved into the killing machines they are.
Peel
Back The Skin is an upcoming anthology from horror masters Grey
Matter Press and one in which the focus of the horror zeroes in on
the evil that humans are capable of, whether assisted by the
supernatural or not. In its pages are fifteen stories, all of them
taking the reader to a “horror destination”. Some stories take
the back roads, others burn down the interstate at 150mph.
For
the most part, I enjoyed all of the stories. Some authors had a more
appealing style to me personally, but even the ones that didn’t, I
could appreciate what they were doing and how they did it. I will
talk about the six standout tales for me personally:
I think my favourite story is Charles Austin Muir’s – “Party
Monster”. The story begins with a confession but only paragraphs
later, gets spiced up even more by the character creating mystical
sigils to aid him in his goals. What unfolds is a tale of reality
bending carnage that all serves to highlight and explore the
unresolved issues of the lead character and the concepts he holds
dear. Trippy and brutal, with the added esoteric element of sigils. I
really enjoyed it.
Next up is Erik Williams’ – “The Long Bright Descent”, a tale
that focuses on two characters racing each other on seemingly strange
terms. One has to agree to the terms of the other, whether to be
chased or to play a game of wits. Night and day play their role too,
and there are some strange and ancient powers at work. I enjoyed The
Long Bright Descent because it had me scratching my head and
pondering, while also enjoying the dance of hunter and prey, a great
combination.
Jonathan
Maberry’s – “Mystic” is
another great tale, this one featuring a guy that can see dead
people, and that has a unique way of helping them deal with their
unresolved issues via tattoos and violence. As all good main
characters, it is a burden as much as anything, but his sense of
compassion drives him on into the fiery pain of vengeance. A gritty
and hard-hitting story.
A
lot of the stories in Peel
Back The Skin feature
some gore and violence but a couple did stand out for being
particularly “nasty”. Graham Masterton’s - “The Greatest
Gift” had a scene in which the female lead character did things
that had me grimacing as I read, which is a rare thing. Yvonne
Navarro’s – “Superheated” was an arid tale of kidnap and
torture in which the victim was as unaware of what was going on as the reader, until the truth was laid bare. It didn’t make me
grimace like The Greatest Gift but it certainly stays with you once
you've finished reading.
As
I said, these are the stories that I wanted to give special mention
to, but there wasn’t really a bad story in the bunch, just some I
clicked with more than others. If you enjoy variety in your horror,
whether that variety comes in pace, location or theme, I think you
will find something to like in Peel
Back The Skin’s pages.
I give it 4/5.
Visit the Peel Back The Skin page on Grey Matter Press here for more information.
Book Title: Peel Back
The Skin
Author: Anthology
Publisher: Grey Matter
Press
Release Date: 7th June
2016
I was given a free
copy of the book to review.
