Necro Files: Two Decades of Extreme Horror

by Cheryl Mullenax (Editor), Bentley Little, Edward Lee

Spanning over twenty years, 20 masters and modern authors that have broken down the barriers of traditional horror share their most unrestrained, edgiest works in this special edition from Comet Press. Many hard to find and out of print, some that were banned, Necro Files is a collection that covers every imaginable mode of mayhem and delves into the dark side of human nature.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
George R.R. Martin - "Meathouse Man".
Joe R. Lansdale - "Night They Missed the Horror Show".
Ronald Kelly - "Diary".
Elizabeth Massie - "Abed".
Randy Chandler & t. Winter-Damon - "I am He that Liveth and was Dead... & Have the Keys of Hell & Death".
Edward Lee - "Xipe".
Ray Garton - "Bait".
Gerard Houarner - "Painfreak".
Wayne Allen Sallee - "Lover Doll".
Charlee Jacob - "The Spirit Wolves".
Brian Hodge - "Godflesh".
John Everson - "Every Last Drop".
Mehitobel Wilson - "Blind in the House of the Headsman".
Monica J. O'Rourke - "An Experiment in Human Nature".
Graham Masterton - "The Burgers of Calais".
Nancy Kilpatrick - "Ecstasy".
Bentley Little - "Pop Star in the Ugly Bar".
Wrath James White - "The Sooner They Learn".
J.F. Gonzalez - "Addict".

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Splatterpunk, Ebooks, Zombies

265 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2011

Reviews

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the 90’s I read many of these stories in other extreme anthologies like “Hot Blood” & “Outsiders”, “Little Deaths”, “Still Dead” and a few in Cemetery Dance magazine. I loved them and ate them up like tasty candies and actively looked for more even though they probably weren’t all that good for me! I figured I’d revisit my old extreme love of all things horrible by listening to them on audio and maybe finding some new favorites. That did happen but I also had to come to a painful realization about myself. I am jaded and hard to shock. Either that or a few of these stories just haven’t aged very well.

Do you really need me to talk about all 19 stories? Of course you do! I’ll try to be brief and not too boring but I am a little worn out and despairing about the state of things in this world after listening to all 19 of these back to back. I don’t recommend doing it that way unless you don’t like yourself very much, btw. To be honest, I nearly quit it halfway through because it was making feel like I needed a good brain scrubbing.

George R. R. Martin’s "Meathouse Man" starts things off. I hear it was written in the ‘70’s. I bet back then it would’ve been horrifying but I thought it was a little frustrating. The main character was a sad sack who made me want to kick him in the pants. He was dumped twice and thought love was dead. He then had to go back to the alternative way of finding some sort of satisfaction by screwing animated corpses because what else is a man to do, hmmm? Try a third time, maybe? Nope. This poor, sad sucker goes back to the meat puppet vaginas, all dejected and rejected. This story didn’t make a lot of sense to me. The reader is plopped down into this weird world with little in the way of any explanation. There also seemed to be plenty of women around so WTH man? Stop your crying, grow yourself a backbone and find yourself a new lady love! That’s my advice, anyway. 3 Stars

Joe R. Lansdale’s "Night They Missed the Horror Show" Two numbnuts and a dead dog hit the road and find more trouble than they planned. There’s some classic Lansdale humor here, loads of shocking violence, some rough language and an ending that is well deserved, if you ask me. 4 Stars

Ronald Kelly "Diary" gets 2 stars because I didn’t find it interesting. A serial killer jots down his thoughts and they’re all pretty nasty but clinically dull – like reading his laundry list of dirty deeds. Was it me? Probably.

Elizabeth Massie’s "Abed" deserves 5 stars because it is HORRIFYING even in 2019, even after years of desensitization via The Walking Dead. It’s a haunting take on the horrible life of one very unfortunate young wife whose demented mother-in-law demands a grandchild at all costs in a world seemingly over-run with a zombie plague. I shudder to ponder any of it. If you read nothing else in this collection and want to be disturbed, this one will do it for you.

Randy Chandler & t. Winter-Damon "I Am He That Liveth and Was Dead..." & "Have the Keys of Hell & Death" - I skipped through this one because it didn’t interest me. I haven’t a clue what happens because I am a quitter. It’s an excerpt from a longer story and what I listened to wasn’t thrilling me. Sorry, folks. I am a terrible person.

Edward Lee’s "Xipe" gets 3 stars. I’ve read a bunch of Lee’s work and this one was just okay for me. It’s short and not nearly as nasty as some of his hardcore small press stuff. I suppose I expected something over the top and this one really wasn’t it.

Ray Garton’s "Bait" hurts the heart. I saw where it was leading and I was hoping I was wrong. I wasn’t. 4 Stars

Gerard Houarner’s "Painfreak" - I read this way back when it was originally released. I think it was a chapbook. I remember thinking it was shocking back then but this time around it bored me. The snippets of deviant sex that the main character peeks in on were very clinical and read like a grocery list of somewhat deviant acts. That’s probably more on me than on the story though. It takes place in an underground sex club and features another sad sack, this one is looking for his lost lover. He finds other things instead. This is another dude who needs to grow a dick and get over the fact that his lover no longer digs him. 2.5 Stars

Wayne Allen Sallee’s "Lover Doll" - This was great until that terrible, gut-punch of a final act. WTF, man? Why’d you have to go and do that? What is WRONG WITH YOU? Haha. This one BOTHERED me so I guess I’m not quite dead yet. It’s getting a 4 for everything that came before that last scene.

Charlee Jacob’s "The Spirit Wolves" - A boy wants only to be loved, to be touched with kindness after his mother rejects him time and again. He wants acceptance so badly he’ll do almost anything to get it. What he has to do to find his “pack” is a bit over the top gross but he eventually finds some comfort. I think I would’ve enjoyed this story if it had been a wee little bit longer. 3 stars

Brian Hodge’s "Godflesh" tells the tale of Ellen who is a mild mannered bookstore clerk by day and a sexy, sex fiend named Elle who frequents underground sex clubs by night. Sidenote: What is it with these underground sex clubs in the 90’s?! Were they ever a big thing? Anyhow, Ellen meets a man in a wheelchair giving himself some enthusiastic self-loving right out there in the street for all to see. He later visits her bookstore and she follows him back to his secret sex cult. I mean the nights are long, right, so why not? This one is freaky and harkens back to a certain element found in Dunn’s Geek Love but with some added freaky sex scenes. 3.5 Stars

John Everson’s "Every Last Drop” is about a dude who is no longer getting sexy times from his wife so he answers an ad that promises unspeakable pleasure for FREE! Fella, nothing is for FREE! He learns this lesson the hard way. It ends well with the pervert getting what he deserves. Or at least I thought so. 3.5 stars

Mehitobel Wilson’s "Blind in the House of the Headsman" was very short and very disturbing. I’m not entirely sure what happened because my mind started to go numb after listening to too many of these but whatever it was, it was definitely something terrible and abusive. 3.5 stars

Monica J. O'Rourke’s "An Experiment in Human Nature" Yikes, this one woke me back up. It’s about three privileged rich boys who decide to experiment on a poor student (who is a drain on society – according to these spoiled fucks). This story is extreme (in a not at all sexy way), it is horrifying and it might be one of the best in this book but it is not easy to stomach – even for me. 5 stars for shocking me.

Graham Masterton’s "The Burgers of Calais" This entire collection is narrated by Eric A. Shelman (and I sure hope he is okay after this!). His narration was by far the best in this story and the Lansdale one. The tone was markedly lighter and a much needed relief from the heaviness of the previous stories. This was another of my favorites. There is no extreme sex in this story either and for that I was thankful. It’s a fish out of water tale about a jovial man from Louisiana who gets stuck in Maine and decides to take a job in a restaurant in order to pay for car repairs. He’s the nosy sort and sniffs out something fishy going down with the meat he’s serving up. I’ll just say that I was never more thankful that I gave up eating beef two decades ago because if I hadn’t this book would’ve pushed me over the edge. It’s comical and good humored and the main character is almost charming. I wish more of the stories in this book had been written in this vein. 5 stars

Nancy Kilpatrick’s "Ecstasy" brings us back to the sordid world of strange, underground clubs. A lady goes looking for her sibling and what she finds is harrowing. 3 stars because I was a bit tuckered out by the depraved and strange clubs at this point.

Bentley Little’s "Pop Star in the Ugly Bar" is a Yikes story from beginning to end. This one is ROUGH going. I didn’t like it. It was super mean and cruel and clearly based on a real person making it a little too much AHHHHHH! for me to stomach. 2 stars.

Wrath James White’s "The Sooner They Learn" was another rough one. A man feels that he let his children down by being too lenient of a parent and since both are long past saving, he decides to take the parenting of other people’s brats into his own hands and does so with increasingly violent and sadistically scary methods. I was with him on the time-out nonsense but I simply can’t say I abide by his methods for taming those little beasts, lol. 3 stars.

J.F. Gonzalez’s "Addict"- Dennis tired of his overweight wife long ago and now he’s addicted to porn. His addiction has grown so bad that regular porn doesn’t do the trick and he’s seeking out extreme, rare and pricey films to sate his desire. This one is one of the grossest in a collection filled with grossness. There is decay and there are worm and you will have to use your own imagination because I’m not saying anything else. I think I need my head examined and that brain scrubbing right about now. 2 Stars

Overall the narration here is adequate. There are a few long pauses here and there but, you know, we’re all human. I liked what he did with Lansdale & Masterton tales but some of the others felt a little monotonous and his lady voices made me want to cry a little but there isn’t a lot of lady POV in these stories so that’s a minor nit to pick.

If you’re in need of some desensitization this collection will do the trick.

[Anita Dalton · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can read my entire discussion here. This was, all in all, a terrible collection wherein you will find five good stories. The rest is a sexist, misogynistic, poorly-written, inexplicable mess. I generally do not use feminist thought when I analyze extreme horror but parts of this collection were so stupidly anti-woman I had little choice in the matter.

Review snippet: I absolutely hated “Godflesh” by Brian Hodge. It was one of those stories filled with misogyny and questionable characterizations. And while I guess acrotomophilia was shocking and unheard of in 1995, it’s not so much now. The sexual desire for stumps, by the way, is not why I found this story so objectionable. Oh, and it features a secret sex club that meets in an old church. Yeah…

“Godflesh” features Ellen/Elle, a bookstore clerk and open-minded sex freak who, at the extremely advanced age of 35, is aging gracefully. But her coworker, Jude, who is much older, must be shamed for her facelifts. In fact, she is mocked several times in this short story for wanting to alter her face for her vanity while Elle (she drops the “n” when she goes to the extraordinary number of sex clubs that populate her city) decides to cut off her limbs for some higher purpose. Facelift bad, surgically becoming a stump good. Makes perfect sense, right. Jude and Ellen leave work one night and see a man in a wheelchair masturbating openly in the street. Facelifted Jude the prude is appalled but sexually liberated and far smarter Elle watches the display as a “Mona Lisa smile brushed her lips.”

But let’s discuss some passages. Jude is excoriated for having a facelift but Elle engages in all kinds of body mods including the removal of limbs and in the logic of this story, it’s supposed to make sense. Then there’s this realistic description of Elle:

She was almost tall, not quite. Her raven hair, when unbound, contrasted with her pale luminous skin and ripe lips in delicious nocturnal severity. She had a twenty-three-inch waist but could corset it down to eighteen. Men and women alike loved to wrap their hands around it, or nuzzle over smooth tight curves on their way to the drenched heat between her thighs.

A 23-inch waist is half an inch smaller than a size zero. More to the point, if Elle had corset trained her waist to the point that she could reduce a 23-inch waist by five inches, it’s suspect that the author doesn’t discuss the impact such continual tight lacing would have on her rib cage and hip bones. In other words, the male author seems to have no idea how tiny a 23-inch waist is in and of itself. Women that thin are not going to have that much in the way of curves and the results of so much tight lacing would show on their bodies. And yes, this entire passage read like a description yanked from a Victorian bodice ripper, and yes, as that last line should indicate, this page ended in a sex scene so bad your grandmother would have rolled her eyes. The phrases “musky dew,” “petaled cleft,” “feverish clits,” and worse are used.

Then we have this. The old man in the wheelchair who was yanking one out in the street came into the shop and flirted with Elle as they talked about their favorite Marquis de Sade novels, and at the end of the conversation, Elle, sexy, intelligent, mysterious Elle, feels the following sums her up:

Ellen’s laughter was soft, low, throaty, half-pleasure and half-challenge. Chocolate and sex. This man may have had no legs, but he most definitely had her number.

Get her chocolate if you want her to cut off her legs and join your sex cult. Bitches like chocolate!

[Иван Величков · Rating 4 out of 5]

Мисля, че тази книга уби част от детето в мен.
Компилация от хорър разкази, не плашещи, а разкриващи тъмната страна на човешките копнежи – разнообразни, мрачни, брутални.
George R.R. Martin - "Meathouse Man" – Поредното доказателство, че Мартин трябваше да се придържа към фантастичния жанр, вместо да се хвърля в мътните води на комерсиалните, безсмислени многотомни полюции. Имаме планета, основният бизнeс на чиито обитатели е приемането на затворници. Те биват обработени до ниво на безмозъчни зомбита, които вършат всякаква работа с помощта на оператори. Главният герой е такъв оператор и чисто човешката му история за пропаднал живот пълен с изгубени любови(отвратителна дума) и предателства е много силно въздействаща. Не мога да не оценя и��онията, като направя връзка с творческия път на самия автор 30 години по-късно.
Joe R. Lansdale - "Night They Missed the Horror Show" – Брутална преекспонация на южняшките безхаберие, расизъм и склонност към насилие, коя��о те кара да се чудиш – Как по дяволите има живи хора на юг от Вирджиния, примерно.
Ronald Kelly - "Diary" – Психопатски дневник на сериен убиец, в който недоизказаното е по-плашещо от написаното.
Elizabeth Massie - "Abed" - Най-бруталната зомби история, която съм чел (а аз бая съм прочел). Представете си кръстоска между „Мизъри” и „Зетата война” с некрофилско-насилствен уклон.
Randy Chandler & t. Winter-Damon - "I am He that Liveth and was Dead ... & Have the Keys of Hell & Death" – Удачен библейски цитат от който е излязло отвратително заглавие. Макар и посредствено описана, самата идея за наказателно разпарчетосване на бездарна поетеса някак ми легна на душата.
Edward Lee - "Xipe" – Едно от добрите произведения в сборника. Внимавайте, когато се занимавате с незаконна дейност на границата с Мексико, няма кой да ви помогне, когато ви налази култ към древно божество. Сигурно най-класическото хорър произведение тук.
Ray Garton - "Bait" – По-скоро забавен разказ, като изключим темата за отвличането на деца и все пак – някой замисля ли се с каква стръв е ловена всичката тая риба по магазините?
Gerard Houarner - "Painfreak" - Един от няколкото разказа за садо-мазо клубове в сборника, можеби най-слабият. Ако си си намерил жена в толкова екстремно място, не можеш да очакваш да е божа кравичка. Най-хубавата част от разказа беше конспирацията, която автора заформи като алюзия за състоянието на световната икономическа система, иначе слабо произведение.
Wayne Allen Sallee - "Lover Doll" – От тук нататък нещата загрубяват много. Трогателна история за любов между физически недъгави хора. Много добър разказ, а финалните две изреченя, докарващи обрат в сюжета го правят гениален.
Charlee Jacob - "The Spirit Wolves" – Мрачна, изпълнена с тъмна еротика и ужас върколашка история, която ми напомни по стил на Баркър.
Brian Hodge - "Godflesh" – Най-доброто нещо в антологията. Една разкрепостена и уморена от безразборни сексуални извращения библиотекарка се запознава с безкрак клиент, който и показва нови екстремни нива на съблазън. Перфектно написана, черна еротична фантазия, пресичаща границите на здравомислието.
John Everson - "Every Last Drop" – Фантастика за самоунищожение от страст, ама буквално. Не звънете на телефоните написани по градските кенефи, защото може да намерите каквото търсите.
Mehitobel Wilson - "Blind in the House of the Headsman" – Куц разказ, не го схванах. Продала тялото си за пари кифла мрънка, защото новият му господар системно го разрушава и възстановява. Ми да си мислила на време.
Monica J. O'Rourke - "An Experiment in Human Nature" – Брутално визуален разказ за мъчения, уж вдъхновен от „Ужас" на Баркър. Не може да впечатли с нищо. Сцените на насилие не правят хубав хорър, само го украсяват, но това авторката явно не го знае.
Graham Masterton - "The Burgers of Calais" – Както може да се очаква от Мастертън – чудесен разказ. Ентусиаст е свързал двата си бизнеса – верига за фаст фууд и фирма за извозване на биологични отпадъци. Марш към Макдоналдс сега да ви видя. Описанието на класически приготвяната храна по тези заведения беше по-ужасно от трупоядната фикция.
Nancy Kilpatrick - "Ecstasy" – Втори СМ бар в книгата. Едно момиче обикаля нощните клубове, за да намери брат си травестюга. Не ми допадна, но имаше добро послание вътре.
Bentley Little - "Pop Star in the Ugly Bar" – Предисторията на този разказ беше по-добра от него самия. Еднодневна поп-икона, придобила популярност с разкрепостено поведение, си е повярвала сама на щуротиите, но попада в Ugly Bar, където милост няма. Аматьорските гротески описания ми граничеха с пародия, но идеята е супер, бих набутал някоя сиво-нюансна кака точно в този бар.
Wrath James White - "The Sooner They Learn" – Странна, изпълнена с насилие история, за човек изгубил децата си на улицата, който решава да превъзпита света с брутални методи. Останах отвратен, но до някъде съпричастен. Ама насилието над дечица, дори да са разглезени, невъзпитани оправдания за аборти, не го одобрявам.
J.F. Gonzalez - "Addict" – Много силен завършек на компилацията. Изхабен от работа и семейно щастие чиновник пропада все по-надолу по спиралата на порно-пристрастеността, достигайки екстремни низини. „8 милиметра” е като „Телетъбис” в сравнение с това.
Повечето произведения са добри, има няколко гениални, има и пълнеж. Всяко едно ми се запечата в тиквата, доказвайки ми, че точно тези крайности на хорър литературата не са за мен. Или пък са?

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Necro Files is a collection of “horror” stories, written by twenty authors over a period of 20 years. Many of the authors have won or were nominated for awards, such as the Bram Stoker Award. I was thrilled when I found out I won a copy on Goodreads (as a first read giveaway), especially since Halloween was just around the corner and I was in a mood to be scared.

The book ended up being a total disappointment. Some of the stories had a twist at the end that was reminiscent of the TV series The Twilight Zone, except the twists in Necro Files were so telegraphed and poorly done that I see what was coming in most of the stories, and in a few, in the first paragraphs. Only one story had an ending that caught me off guard and that is because the protagonist lived, and in the situation he was in it was totally unbelievable that he wasn't killed. This ruined the story.

There are some “Extreme”, violent “sex” and graphic passages in the book, making this an ADULT ONLY book

Gore and violence doesn't equal horror no matter how “extreme” or detailed it is. In a few of the stories it felt that the writer was just trying too hard. Example: What is worse that having sex with a dead person? Having the dead person rotting and full of maggots! (Guess this type of writing is what justified the use of “Extreme” in the title of the book).

One of the stories had a torture passage that was hard to read, but the character development was so poor that there was no real emotional investment to make a true impact.

The two scariest parts of the book, for me, was when in one of the stories had a character describe the process of making hamburger (wasn't scary enough for me not to want a meatloaf for dinner). The other was when a character was described as wearing what looked like a plaid fur coat.

I was wanting a book that left me wanting to leave the lights on and maybe give me a shiver or two. What I ended up with was a book that felt as if it was always over reaching and trying to shock the reader instead of trying to scare the reader. Sometimes less is more.

The worse thing about this book is that it took away my desire to read. Hope I get it back soon.

If only horror and horrible meant the same thing...

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone!

[Konnie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I enjoyed every story in this book!! Xipe by Edward Lee was my favorite, but I may be a bit biased! It was my first time reading a lot of these authors, but I definitely want to read more by JF Gonzalez and Joe Lansdale. Special kudos also to the Wrath James White & Monica O'Rourke stories...but I already knew they would not disappoint!

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrath James White, Ray Garton, Elizabeth Massie, Joe Lansdale, and JF Gonzalez all had excellent stories in here. Monica J. O'Rourke probably had the best of them all.

[Heidi Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's start here: shock for shock's sake as a genre has kind of lost its shock value. While I'm sure all of these stories were considered in-your-face transgressive in their initial releases (some were even banned), after a decade of torture porn in the theaters -- piles of sharp objects and body parts on the "Hostel"/"Saw" franchise model, the puke-inducing zenith of which has to be the Human Centipede Trilogy -- we have become comfortably numb to mindless, graphic horror. Splattering fluids, unfathomably unsafe sex games, torture, mutilation, necrophilia, cannibalism. . . . yawn. I mean really, wasn't all that just, like, a clip from next week's episode of "The Walking Dead"? (I kid. I enjoy TWD very much. I don't, however, take it very seriously, and still find it unreal that it's one of the most popular shows on TV.)

In some ways, this collection is an interesting reflection of its times, as it lingers on many of the subversive subcultures of the millennium years. There was a free-floating cloud of nihilism, a lot of pain and anger bubbling up as self-mutilation in the name of self-expression and mind-expansion, the brute reality of AIDS for everybody, Y2K, whatever. It's no surprise this era bred a particularly dark brand of horror story.

But these transgressions today? No longer so transgressive, and many of these stories from splatterpunk's heyday seem dated, almost quaint, even as they try so very hard to shock. The boundaries having moved, these stories now have to rely on good writing to keep the reader's interest, and there are about four, maybe five actually good stories out of nineteen:

The collection, wisely, starts off strong. George R.R. Martin's "Meathouse Man" from 1976 (!) still retains its visceral shock, maybe because the idea at its core is a still-fresh twist on the undead genre, and one that's deeply psychologically disquieting. And it's George Martin . . . we know he can write. But Horror George is not much like jolly old "kill ALL the Starks" George. I mean, some of his short pieces make the Red Wedding look like a baby shower. This is one of those.

Next up: Joe R. Lansdale's "Night They Missed the Horror Show," a hair-raising no-good-very-bad night in the Deep South story that makes "Deliverance" look like a weekend in Ibiza. But again -- established writer in his element. Sociopolitical commentary. A real, meaty story.

The others I really enjoyed, if that's what one calls it, were Bentley Little's outrageously, sneeringly cruel "Pop Star in the Ugly Bar," which still works because pop stars and audiences never change (the author's note on this one is quite interesting); Elizabeth Massie's "Abed," another unique zombie story, and possibly the most tragic (yet repulsive) piece of shock fiction ever; and Charlee Jacob's "The Spirit Wolves," which captures the modern primitive ethos in a dark fairy tale about fur and teeth.

So what's not to like? Obviously it's pointless to expect to "enjoy" this kind of extreme horror, but I do expect to find the pleasure of a well-crafted tale, one with a point, if you will. Unfortunately, many of these are just badly crafted excuses to pile shock-upon-viscera-upon-snuff-club. Also? Full of cliched characters, riddled with plot holes and without much in the way of any profound insights to ponder. And I'm not even going to touch the misogyny and sexual violence. I try not to conflate sexual politics and fiction, but even I became uncomfortably aware of a pattern. (There are, however, a few stories where the women come out on top; John Everson's "Every Last Drop" had the potential to be a clever morality play on the dangers of anonymous sex, until I noticed a fairly large logic hole. You might enjoy it if you don't pick that out.)

There's probably a cultural historian's thesis in the themes of Millennium-era Horror Fiction, but I'm too tired to write it. Basically, this collection contains a small number of really good stories, a whole lot of "meh" stories that just didn't hold together or were ridiculously predictable, some that were just violent, juvenile prurience, and some that were offensive in a purely literary sense. (One author cited Clive Barker's truly masterful story "Dread" as the inspiration for her tale. Clive should be wildly offended.)

So I didn't love it. But it was like $1.99 on Kindle, and it's a curious time capsule of millennial nihilism and hopelessness.

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review to come.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Taboo, essa velha palavra polinésia, descreve bem a nossa atracção por aspectos mais perversos e obscuros da alma humana. Literatura e filmes exploram esse nicho, permitindo-nos perscrutar um pouco da negritude que se pode esconder no coração dos homens. Isto quando são intrigantes, porque na sua maior parte são banais e entediantes explorações que procuram rentabilizar o gosto pelo obscuro com iconografia sugestiva mas perfeitamente insossa.

É o caso deste Necro Files, que se anuncia como uma colectânea de contos de revirar o estômago, dos quais apenas se aproveitam dois - de George R.R. Martin e Joe Lansdale, não por acaso os nomes mais sonantes deste livro. O restante é pura exploitation, um aglomerado de palavras que tentam dentro dos estritos confins da literatura popular definida em inúmeros workshops especializados despertar algum horror pela justaposição de imagens pretensamente revoltantes. É preciso um pouco mais do que menções a sexualidades desviantes, necrofilia e canibalismo, entre outros, para criar algo verdadeiramente revoltante.

As notícias dos telejornais são mais intensas e repugnantes. Livros como Heart of Darkness de Conrad mostram muito melhor as profundezas negras da alma humana. E em caso de quererem conhecer a maldade que vai no coração dos homens, perguntem a The Shadow. Ele sabe.

[Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this collection. In my opinion, the first story "Meathouse Man" by Georgee R.R. Martin was the best, and other standouts were "Night They Missed the Horror Show," by the inimitable Joe R. Lansdale, "Abed," by Elizabeth Massie "The Spirit Wolves," by Charlee Jacob (I went ahead and ordered her first novel THIS SYMBIOTIC FASCINATION after reading this) and "The Burgers of Calais" by Graham Masterton. There were a few pieces I border-line hated, such as "Diary," "Ecstasy," and especially "Blind in the House of the Headsman" -- a story with ZERO redeeming features whatsoever. "Godflesh" by Brian Hodge was absolutely insane: one of those stories that had me reduced to muttering "Wow" for a few moments, blinking into the page, after it was finished. In all, a solid collection of shorts, probably better for someone like me who's new to the field of extreme horror and wants a sampler of different authors.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small bits of poison won't necessarily kill you but they sure can make you appreciate living. This collection is not your grandfather's gothic horror, rather it's a sampling of current extremes that will disturb even today's Saw horror crowd. Not for the faint of heart but if you're reading this then it is for you. Enter as your own risk, the blood is warm.



Received as an first reads reviewer

[Brainycat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Proper review forthcoming. Definitely worth reading. Very graphic and explicit with a focus on the "becoming the monster that lives inside you" type of story.

[Gary Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I give credit to Edward Lee and Wrath James White for their stories. George RR Martin's story had potential but lacked a decent plot. Other than that it was just kind of an attempt to be a shock factor book, which It wasn't. Many other stories had potential, just lacked the shine in the end. I liked Lee's and White's, but other than that, just not my cup of tea. I don't like starting a book and not finishing it, that's why I finished this book. Shock factor can be good, IF there is a story behind it and reasoning, Jim-Bob fucked a dead body for no reason at all, or because he is disturbed really doesn't have a story behind it if you know what I mean :-/ I mean, lets get a story/plot/reason behind some of this shock factor. It doesn't shock me, im a huge fan of Wade H. Garrett and once you read one of his novels, nothing is surprising, but he has motive and reasoning behind his stories, and damn good ones, which makes it an interesting read. Shock factor requires reason/motive and a story in my opinion to make it good. Hate giving bad reviews, but it is what it is ;-)

[David Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - this collection certainly delivers on its promises. These tales are next-level nasty, high-octane horror. And what's truly horrifying about them is that few have any element of the supernatural - most are constructed around human cruelty and obsessions. Porn addiction, sadism and other forms of mortal deviance are the premises of many of the stories and boy do they deliver on the description of 'extreme horror'. It's not surprising that some were initially rejected by other publishers. If I had to pick a favourite it would be 'Godflesh' by Brian Hodge because of its clever use of a belief held by an extreme sect of early Christians (no wonder the mainstream church stamped them out). And Necro Files is very adult-oriented - while the works of Poe, Lovecraft, King and others are generally OK for young horror fans this most certainly is not, due to the preponderance of sexual themes.

[Hakan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had this collection on my to-read list for quite a long time. I don't know anymore which book I started with so either Google or Goodreads suggested that this might be something interesting to read as well.

In quintessence, without losing too many words to a collection that does not deserve them anymore, my younger self would have been shocked by a few of the stories, but the rest are missing a certain je ne sais quoi, concentrating on the "disturbing" parts while losing the story telling part. I don't know whether this shows the general jadedness caused by all those torture porn movies, or, even worse, general jadedness caused by the overly violent newscasts one has accepted as a simple fact of life...

"Zippered Flesh" might be a better choice for lunchtime horror :)

[Mike Dominic · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I like some of the authors in this collection, I find the stories contained here suffer from a general lack of imagination. Certainly, they aim to be shocking, and perhaps for a less jaded reader they may succeed in that goal. However, I found that, for the most part, they do not achieve anything that other authors have accomplished in more effective ways. Good narrative is sacrificed for the sake of "going for the gross-out" and many of the authors confuse "extreme horror" with descriptions of sexual excess.
In the end, I found that there was very little that was effectively extreme and even less that was lingeringly horrific. It's entertaining in its weird way, but it certainly doesn't inspire me to want to seek out more work of this type.

[Chris Amies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't it used to be called Splatterpunk? Thankfully Edward Lee's story is not too disgusting - "Xipe" is a Lovecraftian story of taboo and blood thirst. Meanwhile Graham Masterton's entry reads like one of Edward Lee's more humorous tales especially given its protagonist. "Night they Missed the Horror Show" is one I've read before - extreme horror and snuff before they really existed. The last couple of stories were the best for me, and again quite funny compared with the rest of it. The variety of 'deviant sex club' stories didn't do it for me and I include the one with a thinly-disguised pop star in it. Charlee Jacob is good and reads like prime Angela Carter (sort of). Another much missed author.

[Karin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the type of book full of short stories, where I found myself skipping a lot of the stories after listening to each story for maybe two minutes.
Only three stories stood out to me, probably since they were the ones that wasn't about torture porn.
- Joe R. Lansdale - Night They Missed the Horror Show - loved how the boys got their just desserts for basically being two degenerates.
- Ray Garton - Bait - this one was about just where all those missing children end up... a nice twisted little tale.
- Graham Masterton - The Burgers of Calais - Have read this one before, and still enjoy this story. Just where is that amazing hamburger meat from?

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a fantastic collection. Here’s a short breakdown of my favorite stories(mild spoilers ahead):

Meathouse Man-
Dystopian horror. Remote-controlled prostitute corpses.

Abed- Undead roam the streets. Mother-in-law wants grandchildren.

Bait- Grocery store pontification on the missing children on milk cartons. Insane ending!

The Spirit Wolves- This was my absolute favorite one of the bunch. Erotic fever dream. Werewolves with an unconventional mythology. Beautiful prose. I want to read everything by Charlee Jacob now.

[William Engle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like in every collection of “extreme horror”, there are winners and there are losers here. The wins are creative in their depravity, and here they pay off. The losers are drooling and mindless, confirming my conviction that some “extreme horror” writers are cheap hacks who use gross-out guts and gore as a spackle to cover their bad writing. Plus, there’s a lot of stories here surrounding the “fetish club” as some sort of demonic hell-building. I thought we got over this weird, lowkey homophobic trope in the 80s guys, but it’s time to let it rest.

[timj26 · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of all things extreme and willing to push boundaries I absolutely loved this
It was interesting to see how the art form evolved over twenty years
Well narrated with some of the best authors in horror
If you know what your getting into I highly recommend it
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

[Andreas Acevedo Dunlop Strom · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories were mostly a bit TOO extreme for my liking I'm afraid. Sure, they were well written, and offered up some interesting ideas, but too often the authors went for the shocks and gore, and as foul language as they could. Not especially clever in my opinion... I did enjoy a few of them, though.

[Felipe Miguel · Rating 1 out of 5]

None of this stories is frightening at all. There's a proto-cyberpunk tale from George R. R. Martin, from 1976, and a gritty "dirty south" thriller from Joe R. Lansdale. They were a little bit above the average. The rest is mostly trash, seeded on the 90's vision of "extreme horror". Just dumb shock valeu, weird sex clubs, paper thin characterization and predictable "shocking endings".

[Victoria Sterling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Someone in one of my reading groups said once "if you give a book 1 star you should explain why" with this in mind I will explain why. THIS WAS NOT HORROR. This was more porn with the occasional horror tinge to it. I don't mind extreme horror at all but it has to be horror.

[Iain M Rodgers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just took a look at some of the reviews here. A lot of complaints about sexism and crap like that. That's worth an extra star in itself. I'll probably upgrade this to five stars once I've thought about it for a bit.

[Sarthak Bhatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Stories are not grusume at all and kinda funny like the girl who is forced to have sex with his zombie husband, others are outright horrible like the one with the kid arm is ripped off and he is fed to shark. Overall a good experiance

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection. Standouts are certainly "The Night They Missed the Horror Show" and "Abed" (holy crap). Enjoyed the majority of the collection.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really didn't like the first few stories, but then it picked up. Rating rounded up.

[Ikram Bateoui]

A beautiful way to remind us of the past and the creatures that preceded the existence of humanity

[Deb O rah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed most Elizabeth Massie's Abed, Ray Garton’s Bait, and John Everson’s Every Last Drop