Review of Scabs by Wrath James White

Review of Scabs by Wrath James White

                So to further my descent into extreme horror I figured it was time to read something by Wrath James White.  After looking at the works he’s done I thought I’d go with a short story collection as it matches the kind of entertainment that I wanted to have waiting for my last class in the middle of the student center.  So I settled on the collection Scabs and will be looking at each of the stories individually.

Scabs:  The first story of the collection and also its namesake is a tale of discrimination and prejudice and scabs that just don’t heal.  The interplay between the characters and speed of the narrative with the mixed in thoughts of Malik with his actions starts it at a brisk pace.  Later the everlasting mark of the two girls and the cartoonish argument continues it along as the climax of the story approaches.  It wasn’t that extreme of a story but it was a damn good one and strangely enough had a moral almost which is something I’m not used to.  I have no idea how it feels to contemplate the facts presented in the story but it was surely horrifying to read about.  Easily 4.5/5.

No Pain:  A lot less thinking and a lot more violence, this is the kind of story I was interested in reading most when I started reading extreme horror.  Torture is not necessary to have a lot of bloodshed and broken bodies and the violence in here is as mutual as it is fierce.  I could see the events happening in my thoughts and almost feel the pain of the combatants.  Definitely recommend this even more so than the first story 5/5.

Perditions Flame:  A spooky haunting account of what happens in one of the most controversial places of business in the world.  Short and to the point, it has a satisfying ending no matter what stance you might have on the issue at hand.  4/5

Perpetual Motion:  Not even a horror story but a reflection on life as a whole.  Not a whole lot I can say without giving it away but it was good and even moving to a degree.  3.5/5

Run Away:  A gigantic metaphor for the impact of someone’s personal choices on themselves and others.  As the name implies it’s a brisk run through a hellish vision of the world we currently live in.  The inhabitants however are were the author gets you.  4/5

Best Friends:  A high school setting provides a very heartfelt but still disturbing story about friendship with people who don’t have anyone else.  The author gives great insight into the main characters feelings in combat with his actions, and finally it goes full circle.  5/5

Pressure:  So I figured this story was coming eventually, just a hardcore torture porn impersonating story about domestic bliss.  That’s all.  4/5

Talent Does What It Can:  An interesting juxtaposition of a story to end a great collection.  A woman inadvertently causes the end of the world and plays it out.  Great stuff 5/5. 

So from all of this it’s obviously a 5/5 collection, the writing is strong and visceral but easy to read and flows nicely along.  He makes reading about the most disgusting things as beautiful as the good things in his works.  My favorite is No Pain but none of the stories are real clunkers, I just felt that perpetual motion was a little bit on the long side without a whole lot happening during it. 

The Overwhelming Urge - Andersen Prunty

     So I have become a pretty big fan of bizarro fiction, and mostly with the short fiction category of it.  This book goes along with that fact as it has a great deal of stories in a short amount of time, most of them would qualify as microfiction or flash fiction but they have a great deal of content for the shortness.
     What I like the most about this collection is the fact that every story is based mostly in reality and its the subtle things that make it surreal.  That sort of small feeling that things aren't right is what I look for in some of my reading.  It's not too gory or full of sex but there is some of both of them, so not for the complete squeamish but don't expect too much extreme content either.  For favorites it would be really hard to list them as there are 20+ stories, but honestly I liked all but the longest one a great deal.  Highly recommended.

Hell Driver - Ultraviolence

     Throughout my movie watching experience I have always had a soft spot for the weird and unusual, the bizarre, and the darkly comical.  This has led me to several viewings of japanese ultraviolent horror comedies such as the machine girl, tokyo gore police, the meatball machine, and naked blood.  After viewing those hits I knew that I had a genuine interest in the material and have had chance contact with other examples of the films.  It was through this semi-research I found the movie helldriver and decided to watch it.
     This movie is not for the weak at heart or close-minded.  There are no english dubs, just closed captioning to allow someone to follow along with the storyline.  However as nearly everything is action there isn't too much that can be missed without that even.  We come to see that a woman has a mother who is a homicidal maniac and commits atrocious crimes with the aide of her brother.  After that she gets hit by a meteor and starts spawning and controlling zombies with horns.
     That might seem like a spoiler but it all takes place very close to the beginning of the movie, which is even stranger because the first 45 minutes of the movie take place before the opening credits.  Throughout there is sadism, mutilation, torture, cannibalism, exploding humans, and the most ridiculous constructs made out of undead zombies you could ever imagine.  It was a true spectacle and I enjoyed the hell out of watching it.  I would highly recommend this to anyone, but only if you're willing to watch something pretty insane.  4.5/5

Cube - Canadian Saw

     I had heard quite a bit about the Cube franchise in horror circles, but never really had the urge to watch it until today.  It definitely started with a bang and didn't let go until the end of the movie. 
     The setting is very integral to the movie and is done well to create an alien setting.  The actors are spot on as well, in their emotions and actions under such unusual circumstances.  There is honestly not a whole lot I could say without spoiling anything, except its a pretty fantastic movie and you should watch it immediately.

100 Horrors: Tales of Horror in the Blink of an Eye

     Started reading this collection because I'm a pretty big fan of microfiction in all of its forms and seeing a list of 100 stories with 100 words maximum is something I found interesting.  I know that volumes with this many stories would be uneven in quality but I'll admit I was happily surprised with the end result.  Highly recommend for anyone open minded.

Sticking to it Now

     So I thought I'd be sticking to this when I first started it, but life started back up and that made it hard to do it.  Now however I've come to the conclusion that it was a good outlet for myself so I will start it back up again.  I've been reading a lot of bizarro and splatterpunk so it should provide ample fuel for the blog.