May Cause Unexplained Ocular Bleeding by Nikolas P. Robinson

This book will surprise you. It surprised me. I thought it would be all about gore and insane situations that would either make you gag or wince or laugh. It's so much more. Yes there's blood and violence and a taboo subject, but you also get surprised and given a sense of hope only to have it ripped away. I highly suggest reading the Authors notes when you've finished the final story.

This book will surprise you. It surprised me. I thought it would be all about gore and insane situations that would either make you gag or wince or laugh. It's so much more. Yes there's blood and violence and a taboo subject, but you also get surprised and given a sense of hope only to have it ripped away. I highly suggest reading the Authors notes when you've finished the final story. You'll get a glimpse into the man who is Nikolas Robinson.

Ten short stories, every single one like a burial shroud that, once peeled away, exposes something horrifying and disturbed underneath. There’s humour as dark as Nikolas’ imagination in stories such as Hell is for Rabbits and Horseplay, and genre-bending madness in The Journey and The Worms. The collection culminates in the oppressive and bleak Troglodyte which seems fitting after everything that comes before and is a masterclass in sustained tension. Nikolas’ weighty prose never feels overbearing and his stories are always loaded with original ideas that make him one of the best indie horror writers around.

I really enjoyed these brief bursts of brutality. Many of the stories took turns I did not expect, something that is not easy to do in the short format Nikolas excels in. There is certainly gore galore here, but there is more to these stories. One of the themes that stuck out to me was humans ignoring a problem that is very wrong and trying to act like everything is normal-certainly apropos given these interesting times we live in. Highly recommended!