REVIEW: Teenage Grave | Filthy Loot, Ed. Ira Rat

Teenage Grave from Filthy Loot

Filthy Loot consistently puts out good product, and the press’s latest release is no exception.

This is a nice and tight anthology, coming in at just 70 pages, and can easily be read in one sitting. Every paragraph is compelling, and each story is paced nicely, with good payoff endings.

Jo Quenell hits it out of the park, as always, with “Stale Air.” Creepy and sad.

Sam Richard’s “I Know Not the Names of the Gods to Whom I Pray” is a look at visceral grief and bereavement after the death of a romantic and sexual partner. Sam’s writing punches you right in the gut, over and over, and his descriptions of gore are always fantastic. (check out more from Sam at WeirdpunkBooks.com)

“Apate’s Children” is the first work I’ve read by Brendan Vidito, and I really enjoyed it. Creative interpretation of guilt and atonement. Really imaginative use of mythological reference here, too.

Justin Lutz‘s “Start Today” gave made my stomach churn, gave me chills, and left me with my jaw hangin’ on the floor, in that order. Loved it. Great way to end.

I don’t hesitate when I give this book a 5-star rating. Filthy Loot had introduced to me so many authors whose work I love, and I’m excited to see what they have coming up next for us.

Follow Filthy Loot editor, Ira Rat on Twitter @eyerarat, and me @evanstjones

Review: Gianluca Cameron | Utopia

Gianluca Cameron’s Utopia reads simultaneously like a fever dream and a surreal translation of a philosophy text:

Ennui is the ultimate symptom of privilege.” and “After all, if you improve yourself, are you really you afterwards? What is the self but a bunch of oscillating memories?

There is a narrative to discover in Utopia, but my retelling of a plot (which is pieced together artfully with non-sequiturs) can do little to say what this book actually is. It’s a chaotic, stream-of-consciousness, bizarro, psychological/body horror, sci-fi, dystopian utopia. We quickly jump between timelines, dimensions, and points-of-view, which further adds to the surrealism. Though there are occasionally insights from other characters, we mainly focus on a man named Niko, his friend Raoul, and a green woman who grew out of a giant flower, Patema. 

Cameron’s use of language is impressive and often poetic, and the philosophical questions he weaves rapidly throughout Utopia were at times confusing, but instead of it being a frustrating experience for the reader, it added to the surreality and highlighted the confusion the characters experienced throughout the book. It all serves to highlight how we, in modern society, live insular, self-centered lives without regarding the feeling and well-being of others, explicitly ignoring the evidence of suffering: 

I could not talk to these men because their experience was too alien to me. They spoke a different language that I couldn’t even hear, let alone comprehend.” and “…as I walked, I noticed some interesting graffiti. One depicted a tower made of people and another was of a tree growing from a corpse. They were intriguing, but I didn’t know what they meant. They probably didn’t mean anything.

Thematically, I find this book hard to pinpoint. My gut tells me that there’s a clear allegory for the afterlife to be found, but I also feel driven and encouraged to live my life to the fullest, even through the absurdity. 

Have you ever felt like a cipher? That you and everyone around you are not human beings but characters in a story? Mere catalysts for events? Do you view them from afar as a human views a play?

 It’s loaded with lofty metaphors and references to both literature and film, as well as religious symbolism: 

Baphomet cradled my soul in a manner reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Pietà, and …Patema had been born for our sins.


A few ideas and references went over my twenty-nine-year-old head, which is almost twice as old as the author’s head when he wrote this. Cameron was born in 2001. That makes him 19, and his bio mentions that this book was written when he was 15 and 16. You can tell from his writing in Utopia that he is talented and eager, and I think we can look forward to a great authorial career from Cameron.

Review: Andrew J. Stone | All Hail the House Gods

All Hail the House Gods by Andrew J. Stone drops the reader into a dystopian future where even the illusion of autonomy and choice has been eradicated. Kurt, our protagonist, and his wife, Katie live in a city run by the Coupling Caucus, whose mission is to organize society in such a way that will produce daily sacrifices to the hungry House Gods. They are born to mate, and they mate to sacrifice.

Families are non-existent in AHTHG’s reality. Children are taken from their parents and raised at the Offspring Oasis, where they are either culled for the House Gods or paired off based on puberty and virility. They are taught to “pug” at a young age to increase their chances of being coupled before they are chosen for sacrifice to the House Gods.

After one of their own is chosen and fed to the House Gods, Katie decides she must start a collective to resist the Coupling Caucus and wage war on the houses, and Kurt is taken along for the ride. It’s not long before Kurt overhears a theory that goes against all the collective believes in. Are some House Gods good? Is it possible to overthrow the current system without violence?

To know anything about Andrew J. Stone is to know that he holds deeply leftist political views, and it’s clear that those views informed this novella. There’s a metaphorical war going on in its pages between centrist, “Let’s-all-get-along” liberals and leftists, and the fight between the two sides was illuminated well by Stone.

The prose in All Hail the House Gods is easily digestible, well-written, and effective. Written from Kurt’s perspective, the story propels itself nicely, making it a quick and exciting read. Kurt is a perfectly likable protagonist you want to root for. Will he find a peaceful solution to end the loss of life to the House Gods?

January 6th, 2021 was a dark day for those of us in the U.S. Rioters protesting the presidential election of Joe Biden stormed D.C. and breached the capitol building. Since then, we’ve seen Republicans and Democrats alike call for “healing” and a “reconciliation between the sides.” If I can, let me relate this to the theme of the book: there are some who believe that there are good people on both sides and that it’s worth reaching across the aisle and working within the confines of the system in place. Kurt, as a character, falls firmly within this group, while Katie and her comrades know that doing so is useless.

Will it be worth it for Kurt, in the end, to put his trust in the belief that some House Gods are good? Pick up a copy of All Hail the House Gods to find out.

Check out Andrew on Twitter @Andrewosaurus96 and me @EvanStJones.

Review: Dale Robertson | Project Fear: Season 1

Domestic, familial horror. Sentimental. Suburban. Dale Robertson’s Project Fear is a collection of horror stories that inspire nostalgia for the 90s kid in me. With tales that sit comfortably next to those that were told on television shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps, this collection is one that will satiate the hunger of anyone who fondly recalls being spooked as a child.

Most of the stories revolve around families and children, and I assume Robertson is a dog person, seeing as many of the episodes feature man’s best friend in starring roles, which I also appreciate. 

Some of the episodes that stood out to me:

Episode 2: “Chew Toy” deals with the loss of a family pet, and how desperation to memorialize it (as well as procrastinating shopping for a birthday present) can lead to despair.

Episode 5 reminds me of stories about Dybbuk boxes. A little girl finds an odd music box at a yard sale and takes it home to find it impossible to open. Little does she know, this box will change her life forever.

Episode 7: “Stitches” recalls urban legends parents would tell their children to keep them from misbehaving. 

Episode 9 is a continuation of episode 4. Both are written as transcripts from a voice recording of a man who witnesses mass violence and chaos as people begin transforming into monsters. I love the found footage vibe from this set of stories.

Episode 10 is a revenge story of a femme fatale who kidnaps skeezy car salesmen who manipulate and take advantage of women in order to close a sale. This one gave me Saw/The Hunger Games vibes, and was a lot of fun!

Episode 12: Skee-bo. A violent, modern retelling of the Bloody Mary myth. 

Like mentioned before, if you’re a fan of shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Creepshow, this is the collection for you! With 13 spine-tingling tales, you’re sure to find one or two that suit your fancy.

Follow Dale on Twitter @Dale_Dez81 and me @EvanStJones.

Review: Madeleine Swann | The Vine That Ate The Starlet

The Vine That Ate The Starlet by Madeleine Swann

Swann’s writing oozes atmospheric vibrations brought forward in time straight from 1920s New York. The Vine That Ate The Starlet is full of mystery, intrigue, and vines that feed on humans.

Dolly is a gossip columnist who quickly gets swept up into a conspiracy when she stumbles upon the husk of an aspiring actress she had met just hours before at a party. She notices the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death seem odd, and Dolly takes it upon herself to figure out what exactly happened. It’s not long before she finds herself being followed by a shadowy figure, and the deeper she find herself wrapped up in the conspiracy, the more dangerous things become for her and anyone unlucky enough to have made her association.

Like Swann’s stories from her collection Fortune Box, this novella is a quick and compelling page-turner that is full of quirks and enough weirdness to keep you satiated, unlike the man-eating vines.

Purchase: The Vine That Ate The Starlet

Review: Sarah Karasek | The Little Punk Princess: a Fairy Tale

The Little Punk Princess by Sarah Karasek

Princess Walton-Clinton-Trump loves punk music. She loves heavy metal, ska, and industrial, too. The only problem is that these genres are seen as anti-patriotic propaganda and have been made illegal in the country of The America. Her parents are the People in Charge, and Princess will one day inherit the presidency. Mr. And Mrs. Walton-Clinton-Trump want Princess to fit the role of a Person in Charge, so they put her on diets to lose weight, not to mention try to control every aspect of her life.

When Princess is caught with contraband in her room (the cassettes, CDs, and vinyl records she managed to scavenge), she must make a choice to stay and become president eventually, or escape with her music to a land that is rumored to be more accepting.

My favorite character is one Princess meets about halfway into the book. Their name is Occasum, and I have to give major props to the author for so flawlessly incorporating a non-binary character into the story. It means a lot to see that representation.

The Little Punk Princess is a fun and fantastic read that give a little glimpse into what communities can be like if we all work together and take care of one another, as well as what can come out of the greed and excess of capitalism. Read it!

Review: Andrew J. Stone | The Ultimate Dinosaur Dance-off

The Ultimate Dinosaur Dance-off by Andrew J. Stone

An explosion of dance, color, psychedelia, dinosaurs, and inter-dimensional / inter-species romance. I found myself literally dancing in my chair as I read, sights and sounds evoked by the story.

When brothers Colin and Joe, along with Joe’s girlfriend Emma, see a light emanating from a cave during a camping trip, they never could have imagined that upon investigation, they would be launched into a psychedelic romp through a prehistoric island of dinosaurs on a pirate ship complete with a talking longneck figurehead.

Once they arrive on the island, they are greeted by dancing apatosauruses with vibrantly colored tie-dyed skin. The landscape around them is as strange and colorful as the dinosaurs: twisted and warping based on the apparent whims and dance moves of its inhabitants. Colin, Joe, and Emma join the dinosaurs and dance until they collapse from exhaustion. When they awake, Colin and Emma realize that Joe has gone missing in the night. Colin stumbles upon Rose (the apatosaurus he danced with the previous evening) in the bushes, and she agrees to help him and Emma on their quest to find Joe. She had bad news though: Joe has been captured by The Tyrannosaurus Task Force and will be fattened up to be eaten at a feast following The Ultimate Dinosaur Dance-off at the House of Rex.

What follows is a funny, heartwarming, brain-scratching, and terrifying trek that will leave you admiring Andrew J. Stone’s writing (beautiful, lyrical), as well as having learned more than you expected to about dance and dinosaurs. 

We get a look into Colin’s relationship with dance and his brother, Joe, his infatuation with dinosaurs, and his attempt at love in flashback sequences sprinkled throughout. These always made me feel more fond of Colin, and helped me understand him a little better.

The author mentions in the acknowledgments that he has been influenced by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Land Before Time for most of his life, and these beloved children’s stories are both evidently imprinted upon the DNA of The Ultimate Dinosaur Dance-Off. I would recommend this book to readers of both of those works, as well as anyone who considered themselves a fan of bizarro fiction. It was a wild ride, funny as hell, and touching. Do not miss this one!