Vile Things: Extreme Deviations of Horror

By Ramsey Campbell

Comet Press presents the ultimate collection of extreme horror with 15 unspeakably gruesome, cringe-worthy, and sometimes disturbingly hilarious tales. and above all else an entertaining and damn good, fun read. The stories, most of which are previously unpublished, include a wide range of subjects: the Jersey Devil, zombies, sadistic Nazis, insatiable ghouls, perverted fishermen, a cult of Basilisk, tequila worms, and much more!

Authors include: Ramsey Campbell, Graham Masterton, Tim Curran, Randy Chandler, John Bruni, Garry Bushell, Ralph Greco, Jr., C.J. Henderson, Z.F. Kilgore, Sean Logan, Angel Leigh Mccoy, Jeffrey Thomas, C. Dennis Moore, Stefan Pearson, and Brian Rosenberger.

"This book is a definite for any extreme horror fan. Full of terror, sex, and gore, I don't recommend this for the faint of heart or for a light read at a beauty salon." --Fangoria

"But dismembered members aside, there are no cheap gross-outs here; even though the focus is clearly on the vile and unpalatable these don't feel like stories that were written with the sole purpose of being labeled 'extreme horror' or to merely revel in their graphic, gory descriptions. Simply put, Vile Things is every deviant horror fan's wet dream." --Rue Morgue

"Vile Things is one of the stronger horror anthologies I have come across in some time, its theme literally appears to be centered around creatures, topics, or situations that are so vile it would send a shiver down your spine. It includes stories from both established and newer horror authors, and some of the stories are more extreme than the usual fare." --Monster Librarian

• Language: English
• Publisher: Comet Press
• Release date: Dec 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9780982097946

Ramsey Campbell

Ramsey Campbell has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Grand Master Award of the World Horror Convention, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Association, the Living Legend Award of the International Horror Guild and the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Reviews for Vile Things

[dagon12 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book left me very mixed. Initially after reading the first few stories, I was disgusted and dreading the rest of the book as juvenile and/or pure gross-out attempts. Then I got to "Maggots" and I found something that spoke to me, something that was enjoyable. It actually had characters that were interesting. It relied on more than cannibalism and deformed rotting bodies, which was ironic because "Maggots" made heavy use of cannibalism and deformed rotting bodies. But the story wasn't about the gross-out; it was about survival and doing what is necessary. Then the next two stories were equally good and I thought maybe it was only a bad start to the collection. Unfortunately I then ran into another stretch of poor to acceptable stories. By the end, the whole book followed that pattern of some good followed by some really bad. I suppose that it is no different than any other collection where you expect to find some good stories, some bad stories and what you hope will be some great stories. Maybe the difference here is that the bad stories include both poorly written stories and gross-out stories. Below are the stories that stood out as better than the rest. Oh, needless to say, the stories in this collection are really extreme stories and not for a casual horror fan."Maggots" by Tim Curran - A French soldier in Napoleon's army during the French invasion of Russia must decide how far he'll go to survive. And some thing helps him to decide."Coquettrice" by Angel Leigh McCoy - A man falls in love and then finds out that his girlfriend is using him as cover. The story read to me as a modern and deviant spin of ROSEMARY'S BABY."Sepsis" by Graham Masterton - A young couple who are in love have problems separating themselves. While many stories in this collection were gross, this one really had me tasting every last drop and bite. And cringing the whole time."The Devil Lives in Jersey" by Z.F. Kilgore - A detective labeled as the "occult detective" in his department moves to a small town to help straighten out his teenaged son. Unfortunately the detective finds a new set of supernatural problems. I think I like this story more for the potential than for the reality. There are a lot of elements which were barely touched. The characters have depth potential but are a tad underdeveloped. And the action whips past too fast. This 25 page story should really be expanded into a 200+ page novella or novel and it could be really good!"The Caterpillar" by C. Dennis Moore - After moving back to his hometown, a man starts to care for his cousin's quadriplegic daughter who he then discovers is changing even more. The ending is potentially beautiful or scary, depending upon your interpretation.