Sick: An Anthology of Illness

Rating:
Summary: Pass me that barf bag, the one with the pretty picture on it
Review: 'Sick' is sick at it's best form, both ethereal and bloody and down right retching.

The editorial blurb said of Sick, 'Themes explored are physical, mental, and societal in nature.'
Not the best way to put in the divider marks, but Sick is basically broken down into three parts.

Part 1.01 - God Playing On The Posterior Of A Man When He Is Thinking About Tulips, would lean toward the more physical of the malaises.

Part 1.02 - Spontaneous Ars Poetica, tends to drift into the surreal.

Part 1.03 - Excessive Exposure To Time, seemed to leap into some shallow ponds of SciFi/Horror and left the best taste in my mouth of all.

There are too many stories to list individually, mostly short fiction with interspersed pieces of flash fiction to fill out the menu. You will find grotesqueries revulsion, stimulation, comedy, blood and gore, surrealism, and many other oddities that melted in a very satisfactory way on my horror palate.

At the back, Editor John Edward Lawson has kindly included short bios of the contributing authors, which is always a nice dessert after a horror read to me.

My absolute favorite story would have to be 'A Night To Remember With Mocha Sumatra', by Mark McLaughlin.
Very honorable mentions would also be:
The Garbage Eaters by Scott Christian Carr
The Legend Of Jimmy Wad by Vincent W. Sakowski
Wuornos by Harold Jaffe
The Will Of The Dresser, The Will Of The Blender by Kevin L. Donihe and satan165.
The Wishing Urn by Steve Goldsmith
The King Old Fellow by James Chambers
Drainage by Christian Westerlund
Along Came Auntie Rose Mary by Brutal Dreamer

And many many more.
If you like horror anthologies as much as I do, craving that tiniest of snacks before bedtime to feed and nurture the coming nightmare, then you must own a copy of Sick. It fed my soul just fine.

Of notable mention also is the amazing cover art of this book by David Anthony Migitis. I strongly recommend if you like surreal, odd, despairing artwork; you should check out his other works. Very talented artist. Enjoy!


Rating:
Summary: Interesting anthology
Review: It is not for those who are faint of heart, but if you like horror stories, Sick: An Anthology of Illness is for you. Like all anthology collections, it's a mix bag of stories in varying quality. But when it's good, it's great, and makes it worthwhile. True standouts are The Kind Old Fellow by James Chambers, an interesting science fiction story that crosses the worlds of Judge Dredd and Philip K. Dick with the best of hard boiled crime noir; Christ Machine by Tim Curran, an off-beat look on Christianity; Unicorn's Revenge by Greg Beatty, a story that asks what if computers can take revenge on pedophiles; The Shadow by Jack Fisher, a character study on the spilt personality of a child murderer; and Visits with Mother by Kurt Newton, where a man who visits his mother and gets more than her bargained for.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting anthology
Review: It is not for those who are faint of heart, but if you like horror stories, Sick: An Anthology of Illness is for you. Like all anthology collections, it's a mix bag of stories in varying quality. But when it's good, it's great, and makes it worthwhile. True standouts are The Kind Old Fellow by James Chambers, an interesting science fiction story that crosses the worlds of Judge Dredd and Philip K. Dick with the best of hard boiled crime noir; Christ Machine by Tim Curran, an off-beat look on Christianity; Unicorn's Revenge by Greg Beatty, a story that asks what if computers can take revenge on pedophiles; The Shadow by Jack Fisher, a character study on the spilt personality of a child murderer; and Visits with Mother by Kurt Newton, where a man who visits his mother and gets more than her bargained for.

Rating:
Summary: Keeps you on your toes
Review: Now I ask you, with so much going on in the world today and horrors revealed daily on the evening news, is it still possible to shock the apathetic and indifferent? After reading this book all I can sum up is, "Hell Yes"! In fact, let me back up that statement with the admission that I was physically ill not once but twice during my visit into this world. This is not your typical run-of-the-mill scare here kiddies. In an arena created with mayhem and anarchy, Lawson makes sure to not only make you tremble with fear; he's going to make you beg to be released.

Bringing together a stellar collection of writers to assist him, Lawson annihilates the standard. With thirty-six stories revolving around the abnormal, the insane and the alluringly repugnant, I warn you - you will find no comfort here. Lets start off with the tale that resulted in my illness, A Terrible Thing To Waste, written by Vincent W. Sakowski. A tale about an operation that went south, Sakowski took only two pages to mangle and distort the perception of hospital protocol and induce my lunch to resurface [figuritively].

Some other tales here are Mouthful of Dust, Along Came Auntie Rose, Drainage and Portrait of a Suburb. Adding their own piece of flayed skin to an overpopulated pool of horror, each author and story adds a new perspective. This collection confirms my theory that should horror writers not be permitted to write out their therapy, they might have been highly successful serial killers.

What makes a compilation like this stand out is the distinctive angle of each story. From one tale to the next, you're never really sure where you'll end up. From the quietly haunting to the appallingly shocking, this book keeps you on your toes and your mind in chaos.

My rating? I give it a 4 . For the Simple fact that even though I love horror, I like my meals even more. Buy the paperback and save those extra few dollars for some paper bags and a bottle of Pepto Bismol.

Rating:
Summary: Wrong in so many of the right ways...
Review: SICK is a rock-solid antho. The sheer range of stories, from the directly, appallingly nasty shock of Sakowski's "A Terrible Thing to Waste" to the philisophical, Analog-type Dick-ery of Chambers' "The Kind Old Fellow," makes this worth reading. Add on the range of literary experimentation that actually succeeds here and you've got the makings of an underground classic.

I very seriously wish I would have skipped that Sakowksi story, though. Ed Lee fans and those who appreciate effective short fiction will dig it, but I don't know that I'll ever be willing to go under anesthetic again.

Damn, that story's messed up.


Rating:
Summary: Must read dark fiction
Review: Sick is undoubtedly one of the most successful collections of horror and dark fiction in recent years. Eschewing formula and tradition, the tales gathered here chart fresh new territory through the grotesque, the frightening, and the downright nauseating. This is the genuinely edgy work of probing (and, yes, most likely disturbed) authors who don't know the meaning of pulling their punches, but do understand style, wit, and intensity. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Must read dark fiction
Review: this book is full of truly underground writers and the type of material that could only be delivered by such a group. john lawson -- known as a 'don' in many circles -- has finally started his own company. this is one of the first releases from raw dog screaming and its SOLID. forget about trash playing itself off as 'horror', this is the real deal. quit messing with that garbage and take a dose of this stuff. this release was a long time coming but well worth it. raw dog is on the come up move! look out!!!

Rating:
Summary: completely horriffic
Review: this book is full of truly underground writers and the type of material that could only be delivered by such a group. john lawson -- known as a 'don' in many circles -- has finally started his own company. this is one of the first releases from raw dog screaming and its SOLID. forget about trash playing itself off as 'horror', this is the real deal. quit messing with that garbage and take a dose of this stuff. this release was a long time coming but well worth it. raw dog is on the come up move! look out!!!