The Essential Sick Stuff by Ronald Kelly

 

In the foul and fetid darkness, it awakens. Vile, unstable, brimming with ill intent, like pus on the verge of eruption. Repulsive to gaze upon and even more disturbing to comprehend. It reaches out and discovers that the others—its siblings—have abandoned this cancerous womb long ago. Angry and alone, it thrashes violently…tearing, clawing its way from dormancy into daylight…and onto the dark playground of your bookshelf.

Amid these pages, Southern horror master Ronald Kelly has brought together a
loathsome assemblage of stories that cut deeply and expose the raw nerves of
fright and revulsion. Joining his extreme horror collections, The Sick Stuff and More Sick Stuff, is a third installment of yarns both new and old…Even Sicker Stuff.
Combined, they meld and morph, forming The Essential Sick Stuff. Twenty-three abhorrent tales to tantalize and torture the fragile psyche; to cause the stomach
to revolt and gooseflesh to crawl as though something, visceral and alive, lurks just beneath the surface…

I love short horror stories and normally when reviewing a collection I will mention my favorites by name. I can't really do that here because it would end up being a table of contents. I would need to list them all, since they are just that good.  Ronald Kelly is a master of his craft and these 23 stories more than live up to the title. There is indeed some very sick stuff to be found in this book. Spiders, ticks, snakes and otherworldly parasites lurk among the pages and infest unsuspecting characters in the most gruesome of ways.

That is not to say the "sick stuff" is confined to blood sucking creepy crawlies. There are plenty of twisted individuals of the human variety as one man finds out on his way home from the happiest place on earth with his young family in tow, when a simple pit stop veers off into horror and depravity. A winter storm awakens a desire to feast on human flesh, a demonic presence waits to be fed, an evil man gets what he deserves on Halloween in a story that made me think if it were a movie I would have to look away and peek at it occasionally through my fingers, not wanting to miss anything but unable to bear the full scope of horror.  A mother curses the family who wronged her son with grisly, blood curdling results, culminating in an eerie horseback ride that brought to mind Sleepy Hollow in a far darker and more disturbing way.  I may have lost a pound from all the calories I burned due to cringing and squirming in my seat while I read.

5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

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About the author

Ronald Kelly was born and raised in the hills and hollows of Middle Tennessee. He became interested in horror as a child, watching the local "Creature Feature" on Saturday nights and "The Big Show"---a Nashville-based TV show that presented every old monster movie ever made ---in the afternoons after school. In high school, his interest turned to horror literature and he read such writers as Poe, Lovecraft, Matheson, and King. He originally had dreams of becoming a comic book artist and created many of his own super heroes. But during his junior year, the writing bug bit him and he focused his attention on penning short stories and full-length novels. To date, he has had ten novels and eight short fiction collections published. In 1992, his audio-book, DARK DIXIE, was included on the nominating ballot for a Grammy Award.

He currently lives in Brush Creek, Tennessee with his wife, Joyce, his two daughters, Reilly and Makenna, and his son, Ryan (Bubba).