From the Obscenely Strange Case Files of Dead Things Mikey: VOLUME 1: The Presumptuous Subtitle

by Joel Farrelly

Hidden away in New Orleans' exclusive Garden District is the home and headquarters of the man known as "Dead Things " Collector of haunted artifacts, connoisseur of the macabre, and expert on every bump in the night. To describe Mikey in his own words, he is "the world's only gay, libertarian ghost whisperer." His card says "paranormal tech support" and his rate isn't cheap. But if you're an oil baron and your operation just awoke a dormant Kraken in the Gulf of Mexico or you're an Internet porn tycoon who simply wants to stop receiving dismembered bodies via a fleet of mysterious delivery drones, then Dead Things Mikey is your best bet. From the creepy weirdo behind the "Memoirs of a Cam-Girl" series comes a story that horror author Sean Seebach (Our Monsters Are Real) calls "The demented offspring of H.P. Lovecraft and Chris Carter. [...] At points truly disturbing, and yet an absolute joy to read."

221 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2016

Reviews

[Mothman With a Pen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf page 28.

Includes Spoilers



I'm extremely disappointed. I was really excited for this book after learning that the author wrote the Devil's Toy Box story. Unfortunately, it became very evident very quickly that the author's writing style is in keeping with what one would expect out of an internet story. And while I do enjoy creepypastas and fan fics, the style you would commonly see in those medias definitely differ from what I expect from a publish book that I paid money for. Perhaps, the individual encounters the main characters were to experience would have been good, but the frame story as well as the character, and dialogue were atrocious.
The pov character is literally the author's self insert, and not in a disguised way, like it's the author and his internet stories like The Devil's Toybox are mentioned. Mikey is... kind of a d*ck, lying to a friend so that she came over half naked to Joel could ogle her, which he did, of course, only referring to her in reference to how hot she was.
I read through one actual horror encounter, which was like 2 pages long, and then the story-teller spontaneously combusts because she was apparently a skinwalker, and Mikey had touched her with a piece of the actual cross that Jesus was crucified on. Then explains they are after him because he pissed off a necromancer. To which Joel replies with a line so cringey, I stopped reading all together. He says, “Okay, hashtag real talk? That DOES sound like an awesome story.” And, honestly, the dialogue prior was not much better.
I did skim ahead to peak at the remaining stories I was not going to get to and discovered a haunted video game, complete with spooky images. So literally a haunted video game creepypasta. It reminded me of NES Godzilla.
I think the author knows how to write short form horror, I think he has a gift for it, which he obviously was what he was trying to do, but obviously fell short.

I would recommend this to fans of creepypastas, but want to pay money for it.

[Dex · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 estrellas (maldita sea, Goodreads, ¿cuándo vas a permitir medias estrellas, como Letterboxd?)

Tenía pendiente este libro en Kindle desde hace un par de años. Me gustó bastante el estilo, aunque la comparación obvia es con David Wong.

No me pareció espectacular, pero me interesó lo suficiente como para querer leer más de Joel Farrelly. Tristemente, creo que salvo por otra historia corta, no ha publicado nada más.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

When's the next one out?

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very strange. Quite funny and dark. Not gay romance.

[Mark Horner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I've always enjoyed your stories and hope you will continue with your craft. Keep up the great work and best of luck.