The Hunger

by Johnny Worthen (Editor), Callie Stoker (Editor), Terri Baranowski (Editor)

THE HUNGER will consume you.

They say some only hunger for food, while others only hunger for love. But have they ever encountered a different kind of hunger: the insatiable, unstoppable appetite for fear?

Feast upon 24 never-before-published stories and poems fresh from the darkest minds in Utah's horror writing community. Sample the succulent flavors of dread and despair in these terrifying tales of ravenous zombies, piggish parasites, cannibalistic neighbors, and so much more.

When we crave the unnatural, there is no loyalty. There are no rules. There is only... THE HUNGER.

Not for the faint of heart, The Hunger: A Collection of Utah Horror is sure to satisfy your craving for something that will keep you up at night. Devour it... before it devours you.

270 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2018

About the author

Johnny Worthen is an award-winning, best-selling author of books and stories. A Utah Writer of the Year. Trained in modern literary criticism and cultural studies, he writes upmarket multi-genre fiction, symbolized by his love of tie-dye and good words. “I write what I like to read,” he says. “This guarantees me at least one fan.”

Johnny is best known (so far) for his award winning, nationally acclaimed, best-selling young adult novel, ELEANOR, THE UNSEEN. It is a great book and if you haven’t read it, you need to. Johnny’s debut novel, the adult occult thriller, BEATRYSEL along with its companion story DR. STUART’S HEART explores the darker sides of love and Magick.

CELESTE, THE UNSEEN BOOK 2, continues Eleanor’s story as she tries to maintain a life in Jamesford, while distant events and local suspicion conspire to threaten everything. DAVID, THE UNSEEN BOOK 3, sees the powerful transformative conclusion of this awarding series as Eleanor learns her past and builds her future.

Johnny’s entry into mystery with THE BRAND DEMAND won a Silver Quill Award from the League of Utah Writers in the best novel category, while, his genre-bending comedy noire, THE FINGER TRAP, introduces Tony Flaner, a flawed slacker every-man detective who can’t throw a punch but can slay a room with sarcasm.

Johnny's short stories appear in a number of anthologies including the Dark Fiction LITTLE VISIBLE DELIGHT (The Point), Utah Horror, OLD SCRATCH AND OWL HOOTS (Keep Sweet), IT CAME FROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE (May 15th), Utah Fantasy, SECRETS & DOORS (A Thousand Secret Doors), HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT (The Lost Curse of the Witch's Nest) and the limited edition commemorate Salt Lake Comic Con anthology HEROIC: TALES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY (The Grape Whisperer).

Johnny lectures and teaches about writing and life whenever anyone will listen. He edits professionally for Omnium Gatherum, a dark fiction press. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife, sons and a cat.

Reviews

[Michael Darling · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be fair, I am one of the authors of this book. My story "Feasty-Feast" was even (briefly) recommended for a Bram Stoker award. Those things are nice in justifying the time spent as a writer but there are several stories in this collection that could just as easily have been recommended. I'll let readers find out for themselves which ones set a sharp, canine tooth to the bone. As a second disclosure, I rarely recommend books unless I feel they deserve five stars. Not all the stories will be five stars in a given collection but the ones that caught me by surprise here carry the anthology to a fine benchmark.

[Daniel Yocom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The range of topics around the title theme, The Hunger, is broad enough to appeal to just about every taste of horror consumer. There will always be a favorite, and one that just didn’t go down right. But, as they are placed together, they make a good menu.

The Hunger does contain some stories parents might not consider suitable for their younger eaters. Young adult diners may have already encountered some of the ideas presented and I leave that to the discretion of the adults managing their diets.

The authors include some with collections of short stories and books already on the market to new ones earning their earliest publications. It is a nice mix of established flavors and new tastes. All fit in well and are stories fitting with the theme of the completed work. This isn’t a vanity work, but a collection highlighting talented Utah authors.

I’m glad I picked up a copy of The Hunger at a recent event in Salt Lake City. After satiating the pangs welling up from the depths of my being, I am looking forward to trying some of their other servings. I am also looking forward to the after dinner discussion with friends to find out which ones they enjoyed the most.

For complete review https://guildmastergaming.blogspot.co...