The Black Farm

The Black Farm #1

by Elias Witherow

After the loss of a child along with a slew of agonizing misfortunes, Nick and Jess decide to end their lives. Unable to cope with the misery that fills their days, they commit one last act together and die in loving relief.
But when Nick wakes up, he soon realizes that death isn't the gentle darkness he expected. Panicked and horrified, he struggles to understand the twisted abominations and hellish world he's now trapped in.
Driven by desperation and a sudden will to survive, he sets out to find Jess and is unable to cope with the thought of her having to suffer through the terrors this new reality holds.
But nothing could prepare him for the nightmares he found... nothing could prepare him for The Black Farm.

Genres: Horror, Splatterpunk, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror Thriller, Paranormal

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 7, 2017

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best stories that I’ve ever read. What I really like to see is a unique concept and a world that you just get dropped into, figuring things out along the way. And this was that kind of experience. The entire introduction was heartbreaking, and anyone who has suffered from anxiety and/or depression can relate to Nick and Jess’ circumstances. Upon entering the black farm, the book evolves into this universe upon itself. The visualizations are clear and concise, the creatures and mythology were fascinating, and even through the many ultra violent, ugly, and gory portions, I couldn’t stop reading. It is as horror as horror can get, but so much more. Nick’s personal redemption was so well done and his relationship with his girlfriend felt so real and true. I give this book my highest praise and can’t wait to start the sequel!

[Carl Bluesy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing read! This might be one of my favorite books ever.

Stuck in a farm world after committed suicide people are forced to make decisions about whether not to feed themselves to a pig to determine where they should go to heaven or hell. If they don’t, they are stuck on this farm with all the other people who commit suicide and all the atrocities they face in this place that is nearly.

The tone was so dark from start to the end it had suspense had tension ahead. Gore had everything that you would love and a horror novel. This is something that I’m going to read over and over and over again.

[Nancy]

No rating since I don't feel like I read enough of it to rate it. 2nd DNF of 2025

I stepped outside my comfort zone with this one because the premise sounded interesting and the ratings were high, but after getting through about a quarter of the book, I realized I just wasn’t enjoying it. I’m not squeamish and as a nurse I can definitely handle blood and gore, so that wasn’t the issue. I also have no issues with psychological horror or delving into darker topics. I just didn’t find it scary, more over the top than anything, and the dialogue and writing didn’t work for me. While I wasn’t expecting a literary masterpiece, I do expect a certain level of writing quality.

This was a buddy read with Brooke and we both decided to tap out around Chapter 5 and move on to something we’ll hopefully enjoy more.

[Khalid Abdul-Mumin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I coughed in the black and tried to focus my thoughts. That’s when the first bolt of unease shot up my spine like lightning.
I wasn’t supposed to have thoughts. I wasn’t supposed to be aware of anything. I was dead; I should feel…nothing. Why could I think? Why could I feel?
I coughed again as the darkness slid across my skin like frozen paste. It coated me, slid around me, engulfed me."
A refreshing and unique take on purgatory and the afterlife; savage and vicious but nevertheless full of human carnage, evils and conceits. I would love to talk more about the premise of this one but alas, no, I feel it'd be better for a reader to go into it with minimal info just like I did.

I exhaled slowly, my eyes trained up at the night sky. Stars twinkled down at me like curious crystals and I felt my chest heave. They looked so beautiful. They looked hopeful. They looked like happiness, dragging me towards them, millions of light years away.

The quote above offers us a very 'promising' start to a terribly dark novel that's excellently written. A truly sick experience of the mind.

Please be warned of Extreme Content, "...everyone who entered the Black Farm carried hell with them." I highly highly recommend this and it's sequel.

2023 Read

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1 The Black Farm ★★★★☆
#2 Return to the Black Farm ★★★★★

First of all: damn, what a shocking ride from start to finish!

The Black Farm is pitched as this absolutely terrifying, disgusting, miserable story, and even its most base-level plot is heartbreaking: a couple, mourning the loss of their child, decides to kill themselves together, only to wake up in a place “worse than Hell”: The Black Farm. They go on to suffer endless punishments for their actions, with this terrible “farm” going so far as to, when the victims die on the farm, regurgitate them back into it so they can be tortured all over again.

Oh, and trust me when I say that I don’t mean “torture” lightly at all. I’ve never read such gratuitous depictions of misery and turmoil as what’s in this story. It’s absolutely not for the faint of heart (or stomach), as there are some scenes that are simply disgusting, while others nearly made me cry for how miserable they were (especially the graphic rape scenes). On top of it all, Nick’s terror and rage are practically tangible, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, hoping he’d find a way to escape with his love before they were both completely broken by the agony and terror of this awful place.

All of that aside, what sold this book most solidly for me was the world-building. The Black Farm is, frankly, one of the coolest, most terrifying settings I’ve ever seen in any horror media—book, film, game, whatever—and I am desperate to know more about it. It’s sick, it’s twisted, it’s full of these absolutely awful “people” and creatures, and while this might make me sound a little disturbed to some of my friends and followers, I couldn’t get enough of the lore behind this afterlife.

The only reason I’m not giving this a full five stars is that I think the narrative voice could use a little refining; there were a few moments where I was taken out of the scene by odd phrases or structures in the narrative, but they were few and far between enough that I feel more than content to give this 4.5 stars!

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: couldn't finish, got to 23% and deleted off Kindle.

The book is poorly written. No editing, horrible similes, repetitive metaphors. The author relies on shock value and gruesome scenes that are just disgusting without actually being scary instead of actually working on atmosphere and plot. I highly doubt there would be any character development by the end of the book.

I wanted to like this book, and the idea appealed to me, but that's everything there was to it. I rarely stop reading after I start a book, but I have no time nor patience for bad writing, and this book just made me make a shelf titled "unreadable".

[aden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pure trash. The writing is grade A horseshit - Nick is a cheesy edgelord and all the bad guys exist just to do the dumbest shit imaginable so they can be slaughtered by him; women exist to be helpless and saved. Just all around poorly written, emo fanservice.

[Jakob J. 🎃]

Instant high priority.

I never involved myself in the Creepypasta or No Sleep realms of horror. I remember reading Jeff the Killer years back and thinking, this can’t be where the genre is headed. Then there was Slender Man and Eyeless Jack and Ben Drowned and a lot more juvenilia that had me dismissing the world of online amateur horror writing.

But then I started listening to Creepcast, hosted by the YouTubers Wendigoon and Papa Meat. Each episode, they read and discuss a different horror story from online forums.

They have covered a lot of the aforementioned silly stuff, but as I was going through the episodes, I listened to one on a story called Feed the Pig, and it was one of the most visceral, horrific, brilliant, and effective stories I’ve ever heard. I then discovered that that story is the basis for this novel, The Black Farm, and I am reading it promptly.

I’m behind on Witherow and all of the forum-storytellers-cum-published-novelists, but it’s been a while since I’ve been so giddy to dive into a newly discovered writer’s oeuvre.

[MadameD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nightmarish!

Story 5/5
Narration 5/5
The Black Farm by Elias Witherow captivated me. I loved it!
I never read a story like that. This world created by Elias Witherow, is a possibility of what could happen after the end of life.
This story is about Nick and Jess. A desperate couple who ended up in a Nightmarish world. Nothing has prepared them for the horrors that waited them, when they regained consciousness. This concept of life after death, is original, and very well described. Almost all the creatures in the Black Farm, are vile, monstrous, and bloodthirsty. In this place, there are only cruelties beyond imagination and despair. There is no hope, in this place. But, Nick doesn’t want to accept his fate, so he fights with all his might the desperate situation he’s in. His journey through The Black Farm, will changed him forever.
I highly recommend this unique horrific, story!

PS: I modified my 4/5 review and added one star thanks to the second book.
I Love this duet!

[TheConnieFox · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHEW! The Black Farm is a very deep, dark, terrifying, disturbing, disgusting, gory, suspenseful, crazy, creepy, scary, horrifying, sick, twisted and suspenseful book! The crazy thing is, I loved the book. It is original and thought provoking. It made me say WTF am I reading right now so many times, but I could not stop reading it.

Clearly, this book got me in my feelings! The twisting plot! The word building! The suspense! If you love extreme horror, this book is for you! It is not for the faint of heart and comes with a lot of content warnings! The only thing is that I wish the book would have explored Jess more. I wish I could say more, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers! I give this book a 4 out of 5 sick and twisted stars!

[Caleb CW · Rating 2 out of 5]

Be aware, there's gonna be some strong opinions here but they are my own. There are a lot of people who absolutely adore this book who are going to continue to adore this book. As a matter of fact I wanted to love this book. But this was a no for me. I don't even want to review this but here we go.

One word can sum up how this book made me feel... drained. It was a nasty, gory, unflinching mess of depravity to the likes of which I have not seen in awhile. I remember a movie from when I was about seventeen called Necromentia about a guy carving up another dude to save his brother. This book was like that movie and I think if I'd read this back then I would have found it brilliant. This book asked how far you're able to go to save the one you love. The problem is it's less The Odyssey and Inferno than it is gory mess with no substance but death upon death upon death. Trying to outdo it's depravity with every new stroke of the axe. There's rape, dismemberment, rape after dismemberment, killing, killing, killing. Nasty creatures and nasty people with goring that wants to be silent Hill but comes up haunted house with piggy things like the old Twilight Zone episode.

I heard about this novel via word of mouth. They made it sound like it was the most epic and intense piece of literature they had ever read. Intense is a proper description. This book is, ugh. I found a new limit.

The thing is all the shock and gore was done on purpose and it certainly left an impact but not a good one. I can't read this again, not won't, can't. It made me feel tired, sick, and disgusted with the character and in some small way myself. This book is impactful. I know that I'm gonna remember this book for a long time and I don't want to. I wish you better luck than I if you try it, I hope you love it to bits but for me... it's a hard no.

There it is and there you have it.

[Uptown Horror Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book from start to finish. This book will take you on a journey and make you seriously appreciate your life. It is gut-wrenching, grotesque, imaginative and fascinating all at the same time. There were moments that were VERY hard to get through, but I recommend this book to ANY horror lover. The Black Farm gets a rare 5/5 stars from me.

Watch my full review at:
https://youtu.be/la2YsjR6a0M

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Black Farm by Elias Witherow is proof that I can read even the darkest, harshest stories as long as there's a glimmer of hope somewhere within the pages. I'm willing to say this is the most extreme horror book I've read from start to finish. I'm sure there are more extreme out there, but I don't usually seek them out - and I generally don't finish the ones I start. But The Black Farm was much different.

Nick and Jess fell on hard times. They were pushed to their limits and wanted to fall asleep, to never wake again. Nick wakes to realize he's ... alive? He doesn't know where he is and he doesn't know where Jess is. He promised her he'd find her if there was an afterlife. It was his mission to do exactly that. Only he has no idea how brutal the Black Farm is. This is the setup for what turns out to be an amazing, if brutal, read!

Nick is an endearing character. His character was honed through horrible trials. I enjoyed watching the progression of his character growth. The supporting characters (good and evil) are all so vivid. I can still picture each of them in my mind's eye.

Speaking of imagery, I can't forget to mention the amazing world building that goes on in this book! The setting is literally dripping with darkness. It was beautifully ugly and full of fear, hatred, despair. I can't imagine a movie ever being able to depict this world as well as it was painted in my imagination.

Elias Witherow did an amazing job with this book! I read it for a group read in the HORROR or HEAVEN Goodreads group. I tend to be a slower reader, so I started this one a few days early. And, oops. It was so good, I actually finished it before the month even started!

Five gore dripping, blood soaked, pig snouted, pus oozing stars from me.

[Brooke 𝜗𝜚]

I can’t do it. I got up to chapter 5 & I had enough. The torture & rape scenes were too much for me to handle mentally. Thank God I had Nancy along with me on this journey through literal hell. I’ve decided that I prefer my horror to be campy, psychological, & I can handle gore— to an extent. This one just wasn’t for me. 🫤

[Maxwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dude, this book is dogwater. The happy ending wasn’t even good because poor Jess has to live with a guy that openly admitted to being happy about her miscarriage. I have a LOT of thoughts so I’m just gonna go in with a list.

1. Every character is white except for one, and that singular black character lived in “the projects” and died of an overdose, had a baby mama, and was an absent father. That’s gross stereotyping.

2. Every bad character is fat. The pig born, Ryder who runs the church, Pudge…every one of them is characterized as disgusting, sexually corrupt, and their bodies are described in nauseatingly anti-fat terms. Can we please stop using fatness as a scare tactic in horror?

3. There are literally two female characters and they both suck. Jess is a thin, perfect blonde who eternally forgives and accepts Nick despite him being a horrible partner. Megan has no personality except to further the plot a little bit and make Nick look like a better person. Seriously, a whole island of people and only two women speak? Hello??

4. Nick generally just sucks. I’m a big fan of unlikeable/morally grey/non-hero narrators and it makes sense that he would be hard to like but seriously he’s not even funny. He had like one chapter of regretting his life choices and then went back to being a careless, impulsive wanker. Also he’s super overpowered and generally acts exactly like how you would expect a redditor’s self-insert character to act.

5. It’s kind of gross that throughout the story it’s implied that people who die from suicide are disgusting and deserve punishment. Seriously, Witherow must have done minimal research if any about trauma, suicide, drug use, abuse…if you’re gonna use those real life horrors in your story, you absolutely need to do research and ideally talk to real people or read first hand accounts. The whole thing came off as very privileged and separated from the reality of the issues discussed.

6. In a similar vein to the previous issue, a lot of the narration and commentary felt really out of place and try-hard. The random paragraph-long tangents about pain or love or whatever just demolished the pacing of any good scenes. The musings about love are better off staying in Witherow’s notes app and the metaphors were usually a stretch.

7. Going back to the insensitivity…I don’t think the author has ever had sex in his life. After a miscarriage, more than likely being sexually assaulted by literal monsters, and then receiving a confession that her lover was glad to lose their baby, Jess has sex with Nick on the forest floor. Literally 10 minutes after being freed from the place where she was assaulted. Not to mention Nick was sexually assaulted as well (which he never mentions after it happens). I seriously think Witherow has never felt the touch of a woman and it shows.

8. For a simple one, this dude really needed to do some editing before he decided his final draft was done. Self-publishing is very valid, but dude…there were GLARING typos, the kind that grammarly or regular spell check should have caught. Do better.

9. Every character’s dialogue sounded the same. All the same cadences and phrases, for every character. On that same point, the use of the F word was super gratuitous. I personally swear like a sailor but there’s a time and place and dropping the F bomb in every order speaking line wipes out its impact completely. I also don’t think Witherow gets out a lot because the characters don’t speak to each other realistically at all.

Okay, I have more reasons that I’ll probably regret not putting down later but the takeaway is that I am never trusting Tiktok to recommend me horror books again. Honestly I’ve read a dozen fanfics ten times better than this crapshoot of a book and they didn’t cost me any money. Save yourself the headache and skip this one.

[nark · Rating 4 out of 5]

"your humanity only holds you back from getting what you want."

✦ i don't know what i expected from this book, but it wasn't this. this story was truly so unique and unpredictable. i really had no idea on what would happen next or how it would end.
✦ a very interesting take on purgatory. trigger warnings galore. the brutality and the fucked up shit that happens in this is truly unexplainable. you just have to read it yourself lmao.
✦ i really enjoyed this overall. i also just found out that there's a second book! i am definitely very interested in reading the sequel.

[Dead Inside · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If he loves us so goddamn much then how can he abandon us?….It was you who abandoned him.”

Emotional turmoil.

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Holy Moly Batman, this packs quite the punch". So I am pretty conflicted with regard to this novel. In fact I almost DNF'd it for my own reasons but in the end I am so glad I did not.

This is an extreme horror novel and it starts out fast and furious. We are introduced to Nick and Jess right off the get go and we learn their lives have spiraled out of control to the point they have decided to commit suicide. They are not religious in any way and are just hoping that if there is an afterlife they can just pleasantly be at ease in it.

Yet after committing suicide we learn that the Devil and God were not sure how to deal with suicidals and that they go to a world called The Black Farm. The Black Farm is not quite hell but in seeing what happens to the suicidals I dare that anyone reading this book tell me how hell can be worse than the Black Farm? What happens to the suicidals here, men being raped, women being raped, both being eaten etc is just nuts and again I ask how can hell be any worse. The Black Farm in my mind claims to be some purgatory where if you are raped and eaten and killed you are simply reborn to go through it all over again. Like Wow! So let me state right off the bat that I have had someone very close to me commit suicide and I know the religious aspects of suicide and that everyone is against it. Caveat here though in that the Canadian government was to introduce legislation in March 2024 allowing for assisted suicide for the mentally ill. It was pushed back but they are going through with it but need to tweek it. I can't even fathom this as I know for medically assisted suicides the patient has to see 3 psychiatrists to be cleared for it. How can you clear a mentally ill person for suicide when they are mentally ill? Like I'll believe this bill comes to pass when I see it but with our govt I think it may just be a way to wipe out the homeless who are mentally ill. I honestly believe that factors in this ridiculous bill.

So back to suicide and the afterlife. One of my favourite movies is What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams in it. This movie depicts suicidals as being in a dark purgatory. Again suicidals just can't be left alone? Now I love the movie but again not sure this is how suicidals would be treated. Like I just hope that a God who claims to be so forgiving would have some pity on these people and give them another chance. At least that's what I hope for for my loved one. So you can see that the concept of the Black Farm just goes against what I hope because no one knows what really happens in the afterlife.

So once at the Black Farm Jess and Nick learn that they are really in a hell of some sort. And what a crazy world the author Elias Witherow has created. God and the Devil co created this world and put a crazy monstrous pig in charge. Yup a pig. And God and the Devil watch over this world making sure that the pig does not escape its boundaries and what it was intended for as the pig is kind of a god in charge of running this place but he needs to be in check. It's kind of hard to explain but it is quite the read. And I totally get why it is so popular with Extreme horror readers because it is punch after punch from the get go. Another reason I almost DNF'd it is that the author really gives no hope to Nick and Jess until chapter six which comes at page 83 of a 310 page book. The things that happen to all the suicidals fits right in with extreme horror but I just did not like that the suicidals were painted the way they were. And note that the relentless hell of the Black Farm does not ease up after Chapter six but we finally do get some hope :)

So Nick goes through life on the Black Farm and dies only to be reborn into it. He has not seen Jess but she is his priority. He wants to save her and get out of the Black Farm. I should say that i thought the author did a great job with Nick's conscience as to the suicide pact he and his wife Jess did. The author gets into the reasons why they had so much despair and one of the main reasons is a miscarriage. Yet Nick is so obsessed with Jess that he wants no one, not even the baby, competing with him. Through Nick talking to himself we learn he is quite a selfish character and now he has a lot of guilt to deal with too.

Also I will again state that the Black Farm as created by the author is quite a unique world with various checks and balances and so many obstacles and characters preventing escape. It was kind of fascinating to see but clearly not all believable. Very imaginative and unique though.

So with Nick's rebirth into the Black Farm he is desperate to find Jess and get out. I won't get into much of what happens but the last third of this book really turned and in a very good way. The ending is incredible and sets up for a sequel. This was part of the Extreme Gore Whores group read and through our discussion it is clear that the sequel will be quite interesting as many who have read it commented on it. I can see so many takes on the sequel as Nick did a lot of wrong to the representatives of the Devil and God himself. Will they not have repercussions for him even if he escapes the Black Farm? I am so looking forward to the sequel.

So if it wasn't for my issues with the suicidals I'd rate this 3.5 but am knocking it down to 3 stars. Again I think true extreme horror fans would just eat this book up the way the pig eats up suicidals, lol.

[Pisces51 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reprint of My Review Of "The Black Farm" which I read earlier this year [2024]. I loved the book and found it to be refreshingly original.

THE BLACK FARM [2017] By Elias Witherow
My Review 4.5 Out Of 5 Stars

I do not often feel this way, not because I am at all arrogant (if anything I am the opposite), but I do have confidence in my self-expression on paper when it comes to book reviews. I might have lost it (that confidence) with this one.

I went into reading this novel with no expectations. I have not read anything by Witherow and I had not taken the time to investigate the content of the book.

The novel starts out on a melancholy note. A couple are figuratively in the pits of hell and in a very dark place that neither of them can see an exit. Nick and Jess decide to end their lives. They have the means to carry the suicide pact out painlessly. Pills, of course. Neither are handicapped by religious beliefs or fears of the hereafter. The pair just want to go to sleep and escape the grip of grief and depression. The pivotal factor was Jess losing their baby after which she became inconsolable, and she did not turn to Jess in her miasma of pain and hopelessness. Jess in turn could not survive another day without the woman he loved who was now but an empty shell.

And so, it goes. I personally knew a couple who made a suicide pact years ago. It goes without saying, at least in my own experience, that I have no knowledge of what awaited them on the other side. But I do know that they expected a sweet nothingness.

In this novel of extreme horror, they both wake up on The Black Farm. Ostensibly God and the Devil were undecided about the “suicidals” and gave “The Pig” his Black Farm for them to drop to its ground like crimson sluices from the sky. The Black Farm was created for the poor souls on earth who ended their own lives. The Pig was put in charge of the place with some modicum of monitoring of his deplorable goings-on.

The author creates the entire scope, landscape, and environment of The Black Farm. Is this called “world-building” in fantasy novels? The reader can “see” this place in technicolor, Witherow is that talented and meticulous. Nick and Jess do not immediately “find” each other after they are dropped from the sky into this outlandish island where Hell itself would be a preferred outcome to me.

I loved this book, and I will be damned if I ever forget it. The reader is exposed to egregious abuse and torture levied at Nick when he arrives. Many men would be broken and remain there forever. Nick, however, has ingenuity to spare. He kills himself in an innovative manner and then is restored to square one falling like a gob of burgundy snot from the sky. Then he heads out to find Jess and what he runs into next, namely a cult who worship “The Pig” and assist him to breed the isolated few Pig-Born who survive to the humans. That was not even the bad part. Nick is looked upon by the cult as suspicious and he must meet Ryder, the member with the most authority. Nick walks in and smells the most awful odors and looks upon a morbidly obese man who even Dr. Now would say you have to lose 500 lbs. before we even discuss a way forward. There is a woman in his room who is chained by the neck and living in filth. What happens next will pull a trigger for a lot of readers. I was so damn shocked all I could think was that this book is a horror masterpiece.

Frankly I took tons of notes on this novel to track the rapidly changing threats and surprises that were all worse than the last one you managed to stagger through. All I can say is that you have miles to go before you sleep in this long saga of terror x 10. The plot is so imaginative, horrific, and shocking. The author deserves kudos for such facility with description, such imagination in creating another tangible place that is not earth and is not Hell.

I am well aware that this review is less than cohesive. Reading this novel “The Black Farm” simply blasts your sensibilities into smithereens, it is totally different that any extreme horror I have read, and it is unpredictable so that as a reader you have no idea what is going to happen next. The ending was a brainchild of the otherwise doomed Nick and Jess. The strategy that they carried out together was either going to fail miserably or give the two of them another chance.

I need to cut this review at this point before I start rambling about “This happened…and that happened…” This book hooks you with joint treble hooks and keeps you on the line until the last word of the last page. The pace is not only relentless it surprises the heck out of you as you are flailing along keeping up with the action.

The most original plot, the most descriptive prose that describes another dimension perfectly, the most extreme horror you will need in any one book, and a pair of young people you can root for against staggering seemingly impossible odds. This novel needs to be on your TBR list.

THE MOST INTENSELY DISTURBING AND EXCITING BOOK I HAVE READ THIS YEAR

[SpookyCurious · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not having been a fan of the No Sleep version of the Black Farm, I slept on the book until a friend convinced me to give it a try, and holy shit, I'm so happy I did. Witherow created such a dreadfully fascinating world filled with hideous monsters and torments that were so brutal it was almost hard to get through. It's an odd take to call such a depraved and twisted story fun but here we are!

[TheBookWarren · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.50 ⭐️ (rnd 🆙) — This is another novel not in any way for the reader whom is perhaps.. squeamish or even a minute amount carrying some faint of heart. Again — As seems to be the way with me recently — these dark, confronting, violence-infested tropes keep finding me.. but I’m not complaining, these deeply disturbing novels challenge the reader in a way no other style of novel does. The Black Farm is an exceptional paragon for what I’m calling extreme-horror or psyche-gnawing-suspense, in that it is never really gratuitous without bias. The hellish violence and dark dark sadness serves as a labyrinth for the reader to work through in order to get to where the author wants you, vulnerable in a very delineated form. It means you are then suitably filleted enough to induce your own cognitions on the granger questions of life itself.

Elias Witherow’s The Black Farm is a brutally terrifying, sui generis vision of horror—a disquieting, visceral journey into a nightmarish purgatory that shreds conventional boundaries of fear and moral decay. This is not a horror novel in the casual sense; it’s an existential descent, a morbid exploration of human depravity and damnation set against the bleak, abominable landscape of the Black Farm itself. The narrative follows protagonists Nick and Jess, but Witherow’s true main character is the Farm—an infernal, sentient purgatory that feels almost sentient in its cruelty, meting out torments with a capricious, yet calculated, sadism.

Witherow’s prose has an almost primordial energy, a stark yet poetic exactitude that feels viscerally grounded yet eerily transcendent, as if each sentence is steeped in the murky despair of the Farm’s fetid soul. The Black Farm is less a novel and more a rite of passage, each chapter another step deeper into depravity. The atmosphere is thick with latent dread, an omnipresent sense of nihilistic menace that seeps into every word, creating an ambiance both hypnotic and hellish. The Farm itself is a landscape where physicality and psychological trauma are inseparably entwined, and as Nick and Jess encounter a series of grotesque denizens and mind-bending challenges, their own humanity is pushed to its breaking point.

What makes The Black Farm extraordinary is Witherow’s uncompromising commitment to the story’s grotesque verisimilitude. He does not pander to easy horror tropes or shallow scares; rather, he revels in the macabre, constructing a setting that is not only horrifying but profoundly unsettling in its philosophical implications. The inhabitants of the Farm are not just grotesque; they are embodiments of the human condition in extremis, each one a twisted reflection of our basest fears and hidden desires. Witherow’s ability to craft such complex embodiments of horror is, quite simply, a tour de force.

If there’s any shortfall in The Black Farm, it’s perhaps that the relentless darkness may be overwhelming, the narrative so densely packed with terror that it verges on overindulgence. Yet, in a novel that intends to unearth the very marrow of human dread, this relentless pace feels oddly appropriate. The Black Farm is a place where hope is anathema, where each encounter offers a twisted mirror to our own soul.

For those willing to face the abyss, The Black Farm is an indelible journey, a harrowing odyssey that redefines the possibilities of horror. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but for those who dare, it is a haunting, unforgettable experience.

📖The Quotes📚

“They were in a single file formation and the head of the group swung something from a chain in front of him like a pendulum. I squinted and realized it was a skull. The top of the head had been caved in and filled with burning coals.”

“I begged not to wake up. I knew what awaited me on the other side of the calm nothingness I found myself floating in. I willed the seconds of still silence to stretch on forever, a soothing notion of numb euphoria. But that wasn’t what The Black Farm demanded of me”

[Corrina Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!! Just WOW!!!!
This was an absolutely epic read!! One of my best reads ever! This was such a unique take on what happens when you die!! It was like reading a really vivid nightmare and it got right inside my head, creeped me the fuck out, horrified me, broke my heart, and stayed with me, haunting me, for days, even when I wasnt reading it!! A very powerful and intense book! From the extremely emotional opening chapter, to the madness, mayhem, and brutality of the rest of the book, I was completely hooked!! I also felt for the characters, which made it quite an emotional read for me too!!
Awesome!!!!
5 pigborns from me 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷

[Ck78 · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wild ride into madness! The Black Farm opens with a brooding bang and is pretty unrelenting for the next 300+ pages. For some reason this book reminded me of Silent Hill/ Lord Of The Rings. The fantasy, open world, and characters were fascinating. Elias Witherow has big expanded vision and has fun with all the unsettling scenarios, and imagery. I’ll definitely be dipping into the sequel soon, hopefully very soon.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is the kind of book that makes me glad that I can’t easily picture things in my head (I can do it, but I have to close my eyes and put serious effort into it). I read somewhere that the inability to visually recall images reduces a person’s feelings of disgust in general, because we aren’t troubled by random uninvited images of disturbing things we’ve seen (or pictured) in the past. With that being said, and as a person who is not easily disgusted by anything, this book is freaking gross .

I’m usually not a fan of over-the-top nastiness because it just feels shocking for the sake of being shocking, and not because it contributes anything to the plot (I’m talking to you, Chuck Palahnuik). This is one of the rare cases where the gore is used effectively. The queasy feeling I got from the beginning was well placed and forced me into the MC’s horrific experience.

It’s paced well, it’s written well, and it’s structured well. And OMG it’s a wild ride! But consider this your warning label for some extreme nastiness ⚠️

[Gohnar23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books read & reviewed: 1️⃣3️⃣2️⃣🥖4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣


╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗


5️⃣🌟, the better suicide prevention PSA advocacy campaign eme lol
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗

Fourth book in my 24 hour read-a-thon in sunday but i still normally slept and ate


FANTASY???
SPLATTERPUNK???
ON THE SAME BOOK??? HELLO??? THE IDEA IS SO UNIQUE AND EXECUTED SO PERFECTLYYY UWU, the world building is beautiful too! We get Nick discovering how the black farm operates and how the many ways all the suicidals have their own hierarchy-ish, their 'cult' , the chase towards higher power and the inevitable choice that all of them will have to take..You can easily visualise and imagine all descriptions and all the 'worse than hell' elements that the black farm contains. All of this all in a very gore filled and disturbing piece of literature that is definitely doesn't feel like it's written by an edgy 14-year-old.


Nick's character development is to dieeeeeeee for,. Love truly does get the lst laugh at the end.
This is like a totally better way

I think i'm tired from writing too long book reviews so

THAT IS ALL,. GOODNIGHT, THATS WHERE MY 24-HOUR READ-A-THON ENDS 🌟

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Date Read: Sunday, March 23, 2025
Book Length: 85k words: wow today is all about averaged size novels in comparison to Aron Beuaregard where a single book can literally be a size of a single ao3 fanfiction which is 10,000 to 20,000 words
Disturbingness scale: the suicide prevention hotline recommended me this book (for legal reasons that is a joke) out of 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ potatoes 🥔: 8️⃣7️⃣

My 46th read of splatterpunk march ✨

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*Pre-Read✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

@Uswah thank uuuu for the rec

[Andrew Rules · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got about a quarter into this before deleting this from my e-reader. Was this written by a 15 year old? It came across as amateurish and slight. Rambling passages that were in dire need of an editor, weak attempts at creating pathos with the suicide and depression sequence - i felt nothing and no sympathy for these two people supposedly at the end of their rope and undergoing unimaginable hardship, going into cheap horror "thrills" that came across like something like a reddit post or piece of bad fan fiction.

Terrible, don't bother

[▪️ᖇITᗩ▪️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a page turner. I enjoyed it even though it was gory and disgusting which I usually don’t read. Definitely will want to read the 2nd book soon.

Thank you my lovely Ayanna for recommending this to me💋

[Richard Alex Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy splatterpunk immensely when it's written well, which is why I was so disappointed by the implausible plot holes after 55%.

The first half is brutal, bleak and compelling, but ultimately becomes an average thriller when it could easily have been 5 stars by retaining realistic storytelling mechanics.

Warning: this book is extreme and shocking, so please avoid it if that's not your thing.

A certain amount of plausibility can be discarded because of the waystation setting in hell and how subjective that is, as Nick, the main character, goes through extreme suffering: he and his wife's suicide, their subsequent reincarnation, and endless physical and traumatic pain. He gains the ability to bounce back quickly from setbacks, which helps to boost the story along instead of reflecting and considering too much, making for fast-paced and realistic action.

The Black Farm is a gem of a book for the first 50% and could have been a masterpiece in its genre in the right storytelling hands. And then it went pear-shaped for reasons I try to explain.

Until the midway point there was no way of telling which way the story would unfold, but then became predictable as the author kept his foot on the peddle for the sake of thrills.

Below are the gaping plot holes:



# The ensuing battle after Jess was rescued. Nick gets fatally stabbed by a blade to the shoulder, causing the fight to effectively end, but somehow, summons his inner berserker powers to rise off the floor and defeat his foes. Cheesy, but not the end of the world.

# After the battle, Nick and Jess forget their injuries and find a clearing in the woods to have sex.
To emphasize how silly this is, they wake up the next morning, rested and satiated from their lovemaking. The wounds still hurt but gradually start to become less severe due to the powers of love?

# Nick and Jess get to the rendezvous point at the exact moment the boat sets out, who jump on board after gathering supplies and head to safety. The homemade raft is watertight, solid for four people to rest and sleep, and rowed at incredible Olympic competition speeds when in danger. Let's not mention the mortally wounded shoulder!

# After Nick mercifully commits suicide and reincarnates, he finds himself on a path confronted by Pudge and his homemade shotgun, which Nick commandeers for himself to use later on against his foes, like finding a magic powerup in a video game before confronting the main boss.

# After killing his foes, Nick eats the one sent from heaven so that he now has pure flesh and blood to repel the evil of the Pig! This includes projectile vomiting down Jess' throat so that she also gains this pure attribute.

# When the Pig eats Nick and Jess, Jess has her legs bitten off at the thigh, yet grabs hold of Nick and urges him on for one last push. You can do it, Nick, I'm not hurting at all!



The whole book is based on vulnerability - you're in hell with no way to escape or survive - leading to inevitable death followed by reincarnation to relive the hellish experience over and over again, which is what made the book so fantastic at the start: observing how much suffering characters could take against impossible odds.

It then becomes a superhero comic, with characters able to withstand insurmountable odds and turn into legendary badasses in their own right.

It's a pity that an extreme story with such carefully constructed rules of engagement and survival then becomes corny, dumb and predictable.

Think about it this way: The 120 Days of Sodom doesn't work as a book, nor Hogg by Samuel R Delany because of how desensitized you become after about 20%, which is what happens in The Black Farm to a lesser extent but in a more dynamic way, and whereas the aforementioned books become repetitive and boring, The Black Farm turns into a thriller that's, unfortunately, made out of cheese.

But you have to give this book merit for sheer endeavour, especially if extreme horror is your thing.

I've heard good things about the sequel, Return to the Black Farm, so I'm hopeful Elias Witherow can be more consistent, with better reasoning, experience and less desperation, especially as I've already bought a copy!

[Stu Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Will of the Pig... A truly original nightmare.

This one deserves all the praise It's had and then some! Initially, I was a bit jaded. I thought the story was just going to be one long, drawn-out, torture-porn-slog-fest. I was pleasantly surprised, though! There was a nice twist that I wasn't expecting, that turned this into a major page-turner after the first couple of chapters.

The writing is top-notch! The story is unique, extremely bleak and depressing at times, but still manages to be extremely entertaining. I'm looking forward to the sequel. The audiobook was fantastic, Tom Jordan really managed to immerse me into the dark world that Witherow has created here.

5 Stars.

[Hail Hydra! ~Dave Anderson~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I breathed in the silence and emptied my head of worries. As I was about to close my eyes, I looked out the bedroom window at the night sky. A vast canopy of twinkling crystals glowed down at us, perfect and pure.

In the distance, I spotted a shooting star, a flash of light plummeting from the majestic heavens.

And for a second, I thought it glowed red.