The Rictus Grin and Other Tales of Insanity

A Collection of Eleven Short Horror Stories by Erica Summers

De: Erica Summers, Rusty Ogre Publishing

Narrado por: Erica Summers

A collection of eleven twisted and terrifying tales by extreme horror author, Erica Summers. Including stories of gripping psychological horror, cosmic, bizarro, body horror, and extreme.

This chilling collection of short horrors includes the following stories: Tines, Feed the Machine, Derailed, In the Blood of the Martyr, Painted in Vermilion, All the Same Color on the Inside, Sated, Take a Breath, Secondhand Kiss, Two Lip Garden, & The Rictus Grin, PLUS an introduction by Chisto Healy, author of Two of a Kind and The Gateway in Apartment 8 and author's notes on what inspired each story.

©2024 Erica Summers (P)2024 Erica Summers

Such a breath of fresh air!

The way Erica flawlessly weaves through multiple sub genres in this collection is absolutely mesmerizing. I enjoyed every second and can’t wait to dive into more of her works. Not to mention how GLORIOUS it is to be read to by one of your favorites. I was pleasantly surprised when pressed play and heard her lovely voice.

Creepy and exciting!

This is a fantastic book of creepy short stories. Each one is fabulously different! There is horror, thrills, exciting and disturbing stories! All of the stories are very well written and the easy to read!
I really enjoyed them all, but a few stand outs are: Derailed, The Rictus Grin, & Painted in Vermilion.
It’s amazing that a lot of these stories were created out of personal experiences from the author.
Erica Summers is also the narrator for this book and did an exceptional job! I was super impressed from A-Z with the book and then the superb narration!
At the very end of the book, Erica gives the reader/listener a great discussion on how many of these stories came about.
Erica is quickly becoming one of my must read authors!!

Well thought out interesting stories

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I’m a fan of horror and I’m pretty picky about it but this girl delivered! She narrated it herself which I enjoyed. I didn’t like the other narrator as much, didn’t seem as genuine (narrated as a guy’s voice but the heart wasn’t there.) These stories had a twinge of Stephen King about them. Well done! I’ll look for more of your books in the future.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

enjoyable writing style

3.5 I enjoyed the writing more than the stories. My favorites were Tulip Garden (The Mother) which was clever psychological tale, and Sated, which was very very similar to a story from tales from the crypt in the early 90's

Not a bad collection

Listened to this one on audio, and it’s actually narrated by the author, which is pretty cool. You can tell Erica Summers really gets the tone she was going for in each story. Some of her delivery made the creepy parts hit harder, and it gave the whole thing a more personal vibe, like she’s telling you ghost stories straight to your face.

The stories themselves are all over the place in a fun way. Some are slow and eerie, others are gory and chaotic. I liked the variety, even if a few of them didn’t totally land for me. Still, her voice adds a lot, especially in the darker and weirder moments.

Overall, it’s a mixed bag but worth a listen if you like horror anthologies that feel raw and unpredictable. Definitely has that “late-night spooky story” energy.