Garden of Fiends

Tales of Addiction Horror

De: Mark Matthews, Kealan Patrick Burke, Jack Ketchum, Jessica McHugh, John F.D. Taff

Narrado por: Rick Gregory

The intoxication from a pint of vodka, the electric buzz from snorting cocaine, the warm embrace from shooting heroin - drinking and drugging provide the height of human experience. It's the promise of heaven on earth, but the hell that follows is a constant hunger, a cold emptiness. The craving to get high is a yearning as intense of any blood-thirsty monster.

The best way to tell the truths of addiction is through a story, and dark truths such as these need a piece of horror to do them justice.

The stories inside feature the insidious nature of addiction told with compassion yet searing honesty. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental deaths, and some of the most incredible names in horror fiction have tackled this modern day epidemic.

"A Wicked Thirst" by Kealan Patrick Burke

"The One in the Middle" by Jessica McHugh

"Everywhere You've Bled and Everywhere You Will" by Max Booth III

"First, Just Bite a Finger" by Johann Thorsson

"Last Call" by John FD Taff

Torment of the Fallen" by Glen Krisch

"Garden of Fiends" by Mark Matthews

"Returns" by Jack Ketchum

©2017 Mark Matthews (P)2017 Mark Matthews

Freaked me out!

This book was absolutely terrifying at times. The spiders!!! OMG! The book was also very sad. I actually felt bad for the addicts and what they go through mentally. The stories deal with all types of addicts and are all pretty creepy! Great collection of scary stories from some great authors. Rick Gregory did an excellent job with the narration, even making it sound a bit creepier at times. Loved it!

Addiction Is Utterly Terrifying

4.5 out of 5 stars

Each story really held it's own in this book and really made for some terrifying (and sometimes almost too real) depictions of what addiction is like.  I've had friends who have died from overdoses due to addiction and it's not easy to watch.  I cannot imagine living it (but I can a little better after reading this).

I wasn't 100% sure what I was getting into when I first picked this book up.  I thought it was just another horror anthology, but I was dead wrong.  This is a collection of stories about addiction told as if they were a horror story (which they basically are).  You are no longer in control of your body -- the addiction is.

I will tell you this about Garden of Fiends -- it wasn't easy to finish in one sitting.  Not because the stories weren't good, but because they were too good.  They were so brutal and brutally honest that I found myself having to stop after each one to digest exactly what happened and how I felt about it.

Adding to a well-done collection of stories was the narration by Rick Gregory.  This is the first audiobook by him I've listened to and I loved it.  You can tell that Gregory has worked around, with, and through narrators for a long time because he really understands the nuances of what telling a great story are.

Overall, an enjoyable collection of short stories that easily could have been standalone stories.  I'm glad that Matthews put them all together though because I got to read them all in one spot.  After finishing this I went and hugged those who are close to me.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook, this has not affected my review in any way.

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Good stories, great narration...

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed all these stories. a very compelling listen. The narrator did a great job performing them.

Anthology of Addiction Horror

OMG!! This is one insane horror book. It contains everything disturbing about drugs to alcohol, I cannot pick out a favorite. Stories that are sad and creepy to ghosts. Recommend to anyone who enjoys brutal human horrors with good narration. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you!

Terrible narration, decent stories

The storylines seemed interesting, but I honestly struggled to focus on any of it because his narration is so disjointed. His voice is eternally flat and he has a bizarre cadence that adds huge gaps in the middle of sentences to where the statement just does not flow properly at all.

I couldn’t even finish listening to the book.