3.0 

Spontaneous Human Combustion

By Richard Thomas
Spontaneous Human Combustion by Richard Thomas digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A 2022 BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE

A TOR NIGHTFIRE MOST EXCITING HORROR BOOK OF 2022

"In range alone, Richard Thomas is boundless. He is Lovecraft. He is Bradbury. He is VanderMeer." —Chuck Palahniuk

With a Foreword by Brian Evenson

In this new collection, Richard Thomas has crafted fourteen stories that push the boundaries of dark fiction in an intoxicating, piercing blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Equally provocative and profound, each story is masterfully woven with transgressive themes that burrow beneath the skin.

  • A poker game yields a strange prize that haunts one man, his game of chance now turned into a life-or-death coin flip.
  • A set of twins find they have mysterious new powers when an asteroid crashes in a field near their house, and the decisions they make create an uneasy balance.
  • A fantasy world is filled with one man’s desire to feel whole again, finally finding love, only to have the shocking truth of his life exposed in an appalling twist.
  • A father and son work slave labor in a brave new world run by aliens and mount a rebellion that may end up freeing them all.
  • A clown takes off his make-up in a gloomy basement to reveal something more horrifying under the white, tacky skin.

Powerful and haunting, Thomas’ transportive collection dares you to examine what lies in the darkest, most twisted corners of human existence and not be transformed by what you find.

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Spontaneous Human Combustion Reviews

3.0
“Two and a Half Stars Very Good: Repent, How Not to Come Undone Good: Clown Face, Requital, Saudade, Hiraeth, Nodus Tollens, Open Waters, Undone Okay: Battle Not With Monsters, The Caged Bird Sings in a Darkness of Its Own Creation, Ring of Fire Poor: From Within, In His House Had high hopes for this particular collection and much of it was passable though sadly unremarkable. Enjoyable ideas throughout which never find the right spark to truly set them blazing.”
“4 ⭐️ Spontaneous Human Combustion by Richard Thomas is . . . dark, punishing; this read will make you sizzle and burn. A marvelous monster made of blood, anger, fear, guilt, grief, hunger, and pain. A sweet little collection of short, eerie stories that is this book. Not every story is my favorite. A couple of them completely missed the mark for me, however, this book is still absolutely fantastic. I would definitely recommend it to the Horror/SciFi/Fantasy reader.”
“2.5 Writing style is superb. The descriptive paragraphs were definitely graphic (in a good way!). I gave it 2.5 because the stories focus on specific moments during a horrific story with little explanation of the why and how. So story-wise, there is nothing memorable here. I had to force myself to finish it past the clown story. If the author could inject this type of writing into a bigger story, I think he can really hit a home run.”

About Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas is the award-winning author of seven books—Disintegration and Breaker (Penguin Random House Alibi), Transubstantiate, Staring into the Abyss, Herniated Roots, Tribulations, and The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books). His over 150 stories in print include The Best Horror of the Year (Volume Eleven), Cemetery Dance (twice), Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders (Bram Stoker winner), PANK, storySouth, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Shallow Creek, The Seven Deadliest, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Qualia Nous, Chiral Mad (numbers 2-4), PRISMS, Pantheon, and Shivers VI. He was also the editor of four anthologies: The New Black and Exigencies (Dark House Press), The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, and Thriller awards. In his spare time he is a columnist at Lit Reactor. He was the Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press and Gamut Magazine, and lives in Mundelein, Illinois. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com or contact Paula Munier at Talcott Notch.

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