Vile Things: Extreme Derivations of Horror - Book Review

Here's the blurb from the publisher first of all:
"Vile Things is the ultimate collection of extreme horror with 15 unspeakably gruesome, cringe-worthy, and sometimes disturbingly hilarious tales. and above all else an entertaining and damn good, fun read. The stories, most of which are previously unpublished, include a wide range of subjects: the Jersey Devil, zombies, sadistic Nazis, insatiable ghouls, perverted fishermen, a cult of Basilisk, tequila worms, and much more!"

So, does it live up to the hype? Is this the 'ultimate collection of horror' as it states? No, I'm afraid it is not. What Vile Things does offer is some tales the like of which you're unlikely to read elsewhere. They aren't all in the 'usual' horror mode - you won't find the usual serial killer or ghost in here I'm afraid.

What will you find then? You'll find dark tales of a worm that makes a relationship something which it definitely shouldn't be (The Worm, John Bruni), a monster reborn in the most disturbing of ways (Coquettrice, Angel Leigh McCoy) and one of the most disturbing stories I've read in a while - The Caterpillar by C. Dennis Moore.

Each story seemed to be quite short - for some this definitely hampered the narrative. One or two were actually part of a longer narrative explored in other tales - I'm not a fan of including these in short story collections, though I am sure that writers and publishers are.

I think the standout word here for the stories is strange - rather than vile. Well, perhaps that's not fair. Graham Masterton once again has done the business with his story of Sepsis (oh my god, what a way for two people to become one - and definitely not in a good way).

If you're new to horror fiction, don't read this first. There's a possibility you'll be put off by the disturbing nature of some of the stories. If, however, you're a massive fan of the horror short form, then you could do worse than take a look at this collection. For the record, I was one of the first in the UK to get a copy - shame it took me so damn long to get the review up!