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Fetty on the Switches
Not yet published
Expected 30 Jun 26- GenresHorrorShort Stories
240 pages, Paperback
Expected publication June 30, 2026
6 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
David Simmons
6 books38 followersDavid Simmons is the author of the critically acclaimed “Eradicator” and the breakthrough cult novels “Ghosts of East Baltimore” and “Ghosts of West Baltimore.” His work has appeared internationally in numerous magazines and anthologies. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and three daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 24, 2026
I was SO excited when I found this available on NetGalley, I almost sprained my fingers rushing to download my copy.
This is a collection of strange, funny, and entertaining tales of horror & debauchery set against an urban landscape. Some of my favorite stories included:
“Nobody Gives a Shit about Donald Defoe”: in which Willem Defoe’s brother does some really cool things, but nobody cares
“Vonyetta Mosley’s Marzipan Palace”: a story set in a world where there’s a market for rappers making diss tracks about killing each other, and two men are looking to cash in on the phenomenon
“Glock Dookie”: where an incarcerated man befriends his cell neighbor…who happens to be a large wasp looking to birth their larvae
“Archipelago”: a Kafka-esque story in which a man is locked up for crimes he doesn’t remember committing
There were plenty other stories in this collection that I loved, but I’m trying to be brief. I guess you guys will have to read it yourself to see what other weird tales are waiting 😉
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy!!
This is a collection of strange, funny, and entertaining tales of horror & debauchery set against an urban landscape. Some of my favorite stories included:
“Nobody Gives a Shit about Donald Defoe”: in which Willem Defoe’s brother does some really cool things, but nobody cares
“Vonyetta Mosley’s Marzipan Palace”: a story set in a world where there’s a market for rappers making diss tracks about killing each other, and two men are looking to cash in on the phenomenon
“Glock Dookie”: where an incarcerated man befriends his cell neighbor…who happens to be a large wasp looking to birth their larvae
“Archipelago”: a Kafka-esque story in which a man is locked up for crimes he doesn’t remember committing
There were plenty other stories in this collection that I loved, but I’m trying to be brief. I guess you guys will have to read it yourself to see what other weird tales are waiting 😉
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy!!
January 15, 2026
Thank you NetGalley, and CLASH Books for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of Fetty on the Switches by David Simmons. This collection is to be published on June 30, 2026.
This is a solid collection of short stories. The variety in the horror is exceptional. It switches from gross, vulgar, dark, weird, vile and sad. I appreciate the dark humour and moments of beauty as well. As much as some of these stories disgust you, they’re also thought-provoking. Wildly imaginative and original.
This is a solid collection of short stories. The variety in the horror is exceptional. It switches from gross, vulgar, dark, weird, vile and sad. I appreciate the dark humour and moments of beauty as well. As much as some of these stories disgust you, they’re also thought-provoking. Wildly imaginative and original.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This was my second trip into the twisted mind of David Simmons and holy crap do I love it inside there
This short story collection was wild. Surreal, dark, and violent, the stories in this book will take you for a ride through the rough streets of Baltimore while hogtied in the trunk. The way Simmons writes has so much style to it. The stories are so bizarre, but they pull you into this world of gritty street crime and whacked out characters and situations that you can't look away from.
I was in a choke hold from the very first story in this book, and it never once let up. Horror, as a genre, thrives in short stores, and every single one of the 21 stories got so much done in such a small amount of time. I was disgusted and disturbed, but all the way hooked the entire time. If you're a fan of weird lit and messed up books, I can't recommend this one enough
This short story collection was wild. Surreal, dark, and violent, the stories in this book will take you for a ride through the rough streets of Baltimore while hogtied in the trunk. The way Simmons writes has so much style to it. The stories are so bizarre, but they pull you into this world of gritty street crime and whacked out characters and situations that you can't look away from.
I was in a choke hold from the very first story in this book, and it never once let up. Horror, as a genre, thrives in short stores, and every single one of the 21 stories got so much done in such a small amount of time. I was disgusted and disturbed, but all the way hooked the entire time. If you're a fan of weird lit and messed up books, I can't recommend this one enough
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Big thank you to Clash Books and David Simmons for setting me up with a Paperback ARC to review.
You can find the expanded version of this review on my substack. All views and opinions are my own.
-
David will be the first to tell you that he loves his city, his home. His deep fondness for it. He embraces it all. The beautiful, as well the as disturbingly horrific, are brought into him, cherished and used as fuel, to fire his prose. If you read his debut novel ERADICATOR, I think you’ll see what I am driving at, when I refer to him as “The Scribe of Baltimore”. He takes the heartbeat, the pulsing life blood and the history and channels it into his work.
FETTY ON THE SWITCHES, finds “The Scribe of Baltimore” delivering a collection of of short stories, the vein of Baltimore still pulses with a rhythmic thud, throughout each story. Yet, I’d argue that this book is Simmon’s giving himself a chance to play. I often make the argument, that short story collections are a perfect way for an author to open up, to really show what they can do. In David’s case, that almost feels like a given. Fetty on The Switches finds this son of Baltimore flexing. His mad visions stretching from his beloved Baltimore, all the way to my own much beloved and much missed Bay Area, and beyond. His wit, darkly twisted humor, and ability to deliver lessons about the way things are, are given new ways to manifest, in each story.
When I first got my hands on my review copy of this book, I jokingly referred to it as “GIG’s HANDS and FRIENDS”, and honestly I still call it that. This is an all killer, no filler collection. Everything that I remembered David delivering, during his reading of GIGIS HANDS, at VOIDCON, was still present. Yet now it was shown to be something bigger, and far stranger, a midst all the other stories, in this collection. David’s comes at the reader with an imagination and ability to wield symbolism, and surreal imagery like a speed painter with a full palette and a fan brush. You blink, and before you know it, he’s blown your mind.
Last Month, author Mo Moshaty posted on Social Media about how access to Horror is thriving, but representation is not. It’s why amplifying the writing of authors like David Simmons, and his book FETTY ON THE SWITCHES is so damn important. Horror invites readers to come to a place to be challenged, to be presented with the unexpected. To let go of the illusion of a comfort zone.
As a reader I yearn to find authors writing from a place, a headpspace, far removed from my own. Horror has to much potential to be tropes and recycled concepts, awash in a sea of mayonnaise. FETTY ON THE SWITCHES is a reminder that you can have a pink arm of a faceless cop, or emotionally constipated office manager of the Caucasian persuasion, and not feel forced to craft a whole narrative around them. Their mere presence, and what they represent, is part of why the stories are what they are. Why it’s so important for them to be told, and for them to be available to readers looking for authors they can connect with, for writing coming from a place that inspires them, at their core.
David Simmons draws his stories from an inner well, that will not run dry for a very long time. I look forward to reading what The Scribe of Baltimore pens next. FETTY ON THE SWITCHES, will be due out from CLASH books this coming June.
You can find the expanded version of this review on my substack. All views and opinions are my own.
-
David will be the first to tell you that he loves his city, his home. His deep fondness for it. He embraces it all. The beautiful, as well the as disturbingly horrific, are brought into him, cherished and used as fuel, to fire his prose. If you read his debut novel ERADICATOR, I think you’ll see what I am driving at, when I refer to him as “The Scribe of Baltimore”. He takes the heartbeat, the pulsing life blood and the history and channels it into his work.
FETTY ON THE SWITCHES, finds “The Scribe of Baltimore” delivering a collection of of short stories, the vein of Baltimore still pulses with a rhythmic thud, throughout each story. Yet, I’d argue that this book is Simmon’s giving himself a chance to play. I often make the argument, that short story collections are a perfect way for an author to open up, to really show what they can do. In David’s case, that almost feels like a given. Fetty on The Switches finds this son of Baltimore flexing. His mad visions stretching from his beloved Baltimore, all the way to my own much beloved and much missed Bay Area, and beyond. His wit, darkly twisted humor, and ability to deliver lessons about the way things are, are given new ways to manifest, in each story.
When I first got my hands on my review copy of this book, I jokingly referred to it as “GIG’s HANDS and FRIENDS”, and honestly I still call it that. This is an all killer, no filler collection. Everything that I remembered David delivering, during his reading of GIGIS HANDS, at VOIDCON, was still present. Yet now it was shown to be something bigger, and far stranger, a midst all the other stories, in this collection. David’s comes at the reader with an imagination and ability to wield symbolism, and surreal imagery like a speed painter with a full palette and a fan brush. You blink, and before you know it, he’s blown your mind.
Last Month, author Mo Moshaty posted on Social Media about how access to Horror is thriving, but representation is not. It’s why amplifying the writing of authors like David Simmons, and his book FETTY ON THE SWITCHES is so damn important. Horror invites readers to come to a place to be challenged, to be presented with the unexpected. To let go of the illusion of a comfort zone.
As a reader I yearn to find authors writing from a place, a headpspace, far removed from my own. Horror has to much potential to be tropes and recycled concepts, awash in a sea of mayonnaise. FETTY ON THE SWITCHES is a reminder that you can have a pink arm of a faceless cop, or emotionally constipated office manager of the Caucasian persuasion, and not feel forced to craft a whole narrative around them. Their mere presence, and what they represent, is part of why the stories are what they are. Why it’s so important for them to be told, and for them to be available to readers looking for authors they can connect with, for writing coming from a place that inspires them, at their core.
David Simmons draws his stories from an inner well, that will not run dry for a very long time. I look forward to reading what The Scribe of Baltimore pens next. FETTY ON THE SWITCHES, will be due out from CLASH books this coming June.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I've had the rug pulled from under my feet, what an oddly fascinating, quirky and confusing collection of short stories.
The stories feel deliberately off-kilter. Narratives start, bend, and wander away entirely, leaving you to piece together meaning from fragments, moods, and moments rather than tidy plotlines. There were several stories I simply didn’t understand on a literal level, but strangely, that never felt like a failure. Instead, it felt like part of the experience Simmons is offering: reading as immersion rather than comprehension.
What works particularly well is the book’s tone. There’s a playfulness running through it, a sense that the author is less concerned with explaining himself than with creating a specific atmosphere. At times it’s disorienting; at others, unexpectedly moving. You might finish a story unsure of what just happened, yet still feel that something meaningful passed between the page and your own thoughts.
This isn’t a book for readers looking for clear answers or conventional storytelling. It is a book for readers who enjoy being unsettled, who are happy to sit with ambiguity, and who don’t mind admitting, “I didn’t get that but I liked it anyway.”
In short, Fetty on the Switches is not always easy, often baffling, but consistently intriguing. Its confusion is part of its charm, and its refusal to explain itself is precisely what makes it memorable.
The stories feel deliberately off-kilter. Narratives start, bend, and wander away entirely, leaving you to piece together meaning from fragments, moods, and moments rather than tidy plotlines. There were several stories I simply didn’t understand on a literal level, but strangely, that never felt like a failure. Instead, it felt like part of the experience Simmons is offering: reading as immersion rather than comprehension.
What works particularly well is the book’s tone. There’s a playfulness running through it, a sense that the author is less concerned with explaining himself than with creating a specific atmosphere. At times it’s disorienting; at others, unexpectedly moving. You might finish a story unsure of what just happened, yet still feel that something meaningful passed between the page and your own thoughts.
This isn’t a book for readers looking for clear answers or conventional storytelling. It is a book for readers who enjoy being unsettled, who are happy to sit with ambiguity, and who don’t mind admitting, “I didn’t get that but I liked it anyway.”
In short, Fetty on the Switches is not always easy, often baffling, but consistently intriguing. Its confusion is part of its charm, and its refusal to explain itself is precisely what makes it memorable.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5
Gripping, suspenseful, and a little bit of fun, ‘Fetty on the Switches’ is a collection of short stories you reach out for with an alcoholic beverage at hand after a long day.
All the stories featured kept me wanting to know what’s next; some were gory, while others delved into the supernatural. Definitely a page-turner, as it was an easy read. I adore how, even though some chapters were very short, they still strike me as something memorable.
Though I have to say that my favorite short story is the one that is the title of the book, ‘Fetty on the Switches’; every page of the chapter kept me on the edge of my seat, akin to that of a Black Mirror episode with all its vivid violence and absurdity.
Other honorable mentions include ‘Glock Dookie,’ ‘Vonyetta Mosley’s Marzipan Palace,’ and ‘Nobody Gives A Shit About Donald Dafoe.’
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Gripping, suspenseful, and a little bit of fun, ‘Fetty on the Switches’ is a collection of short stories you reach out for with an alcoholic beverage at hand after a long day.
All the stories featured kept me wanting to know what’s next; some were gory, while others delved into the supernatural. Definitely a page-turner, as it was an easy read. I adore how, even though some chapters were very short, they still strike me as something memorable.
Though I have to say that my favorite short story is the one that is the title of the book, ‘Fetty on the Switches’; every page of the chapter kept me on the edge of my seat, akin to that of a Black Mirror episode with all its vivid violence and absurdity.
Other honorable mentions include ‘Glock Dookie,’ ‘Vonyetta Mosley’s Marzipan Palace,’ and ‘Nobody Gives A Shit About Donald Dafoe.’
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Well, this collection of shorties is one of the weirdest I have encountered. I kind of knew what I was getting into when I asked for this title, but experiencing it was a different matter altogether.
Fetty (I think) means money, Switches (I think) means states, or situations into which one can switch. This is all based on street culture in Baltimore – it’s dirty, weird, confronting, horrific, darkly-funny (in parts) and really eye-opening.
Some stories involve characters eating body parts, others hustling on the streets, another return home each night to devour a corpse, a love story of sorts and more. But the themes here are really about money, lack of control, dysfunction, and straight-out bizarre situations.
Engaging, shocking and brave. You won’t be bored.
4 Stars
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this unique title, in exchange for my thoughts.
Fetty (I think) means money, Switches (I think) means states, or situations into which one can switch. This is all based on street culture in Baltimore – it’s dirty, weird, confronting, horrific, darkly-funny (in parts) and really eye-opening.
Some stories involve characters eating body parts, others hustling on the streets, another return home each night to devour a corpse, a love story of sorts and more. But the themes here are really about money, lack of control, dysfunction, and straight-out bizarre situations.
Engaging, shocking and brave. You won’t be bored.
4 Stars
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this unique title, in exchange for my thoughts.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Simmons writes with an ethereal quality, and that quality is present throughout his stories. Lynchian imagery and editing, lots of gaslighting or potential insanity, dreamlike jump-cut scenes with the reader in a room with a therapist who, when confronted with the fact that she's seemingly curated books about taxidermy, replies, "Perhaps." Some of these stories are memorable, some felt like filler; I'd wager each of them makes the reader squirm in some way. I wonder if there's a prioritization of style over substance in some cases here, though I think it's clear that Simmons has a lot to say. In all, this was an entertaining collection of short stories, and as a Baltimore native and local, this was a fun read on that level as well.
Standout stories for me were Frog Money, The Language of Goats, Glock Dookie, and King Von.
3.5 rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley et al. for the ARC of this collection.
Standout stories for me were Frog Money, The Language of Goats, Glock Dookie, and King Von.
3.5 rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley et al. for the ARC of this collection.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
First time I’ve come across David Simmons, but based on this offering, it definitely won’t be the last.
Fetty on the Switches is a collection of short stories that come in different shades of darkness, including body horror, vulgarity, violence, and Kafkaesque weirdness. Each story was a quick and entertaining read; while varied in tone, every entry carried a sprinkling of humour alongside an undercurrent of bleakness.
Admittedly, a lot of the slang went flying over my head, but there was more than enough here to hold my attention.
Worth a look.
With thanks to Clash Books for the ARC.
Fetty on the Switches is a collection of short stories that come in different shades of darkness, including body horror, vulgarity, violence, and Kafkaesque weirdness. Each story was a quick and entertaining read; while varied in tone, every entry carried a sprinkling of humour alongside an undercurrent of bleakness.
Admittedly, a lot of the slang went flying over my head, but there was more than enough here to hold my attention.
Worth a look.
With thanks to Clash Books for the ARC.
February 7, 2026
This is a very dark, tense read that kept pulling me forward. I finished it quickly because the suspense never really lets go.
That said, I struggled at times with the heavy slang and the relentlessly bleak tone, which made it harder for me to fully settle into the story. While I appreciated the writing, it didn’t quite click for me on an emotional level.
I received this ebook as ARC via NetGalley.
That said, I struggled at times with the heavy slang and the relentlessly bleak tone, which made it harder for me to fully settle into the story. While I appreciated the writing, it didn’t quite click for me on an emotional level.
I received this ebook as ARC via NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was my second book from the author - freaking insane again! I am not really fan of short story-collections but was positively surprised how well I enjoyed reading this one through. Once again, the creativity blows my mind. Brilliant work again!
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