Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2

By: Wrath James White, Tim Miller, Bryan Smith, Tim Waggoner, Alessandro Manzetti, Jasper Bark

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Year's Best Hardcore Horror Volume 2.

Not your mama's best-of horror annual.

This year brings 22 more in-your-face stories that break boundaries and trash taboos, transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says).

Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex, and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect. Some of these quieter tales offer the listener some time to recover from the more disturbing ones preceding.

Table of Contents

Michael A. Arnzen "55 Ways I'd Prefer Not to Die"

Jasper Bark "Bed of Crimson Joy"

Christa Carmen "The Girl Who Loved Bruce Campbell"

Marvin Brown "The Field"

Adam Cesare "Please Subscribe"

Matthew Chabin "Father of Dread"

Jose Cruz "American Gods, American Monsters"

Andrew Darlington "Coming of the Darkula"

Paolo Di Orazio "The Contract"

Stefanie Elrick "Mother's Nature"

William Grabowski "Out Hunting for Teeth"

Sarah L. Johnson "Little Sister, Little Brother"

Eric LaRocca "Miss_Vertebrae"

Alessandro Manzetti "Kozmic Blues"

Tim Miller "Backne"

Alexandra Renwick "Redux"

Bryan Smith "Implant"

Jeremy Thompson "The Hallowfiend Remembers"

Tim Waggoner "A Face in the Crowd"

Wrath James White "Ownership"

Stephanie M. Wytovich "On This Side of Bloodletting" & selected poems from "Brothel"

Full list of authors includes: Stephanie M. Wytovich, Paolo Di Orazio, Sarah L. Johnson, Adam Cesare, Michael A. Arnzen, Jeremy Thompson, Stefanie Elrick, Eric LaRocca, Wrath James White, Tim Miller, Bryan Smith, Tim Waggoner, Alessandro Manzetti, and Jasper Bark

©2017 Comet Press (P)2017 Comet Press

Not for the faint of heart...

Would you consider the audio edition of Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2 to be better than the print version?

Definitely. Listening to the story helped develop it better in my mind's eye. With this topic, it is always best to be able to visualize the story. There is some pretty rough stuff in this book, but there was a lot of imagination to accompany it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

This is an anthology. There were several characters in several stories that were captivating so it is hard to narrow down to one. There were several stories that didn't really make much sense to me though, so the characters in those were a bit too abstract.

What about Joe Hempel’s performance did you like?

Joe Hempel's performance is quite remarkable. One would imagine it would be difficult to create so many voices for so many characters, yet he does it well. He was able to differentiate the voices so much that you didn't feel like you were listening to the same story over and over. Well done.

Who was the most memorable character of Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2 and why?

Again, this is an anthology so it is hard to choose. There is a character named Grace in a story set in a post apocalyptic world. She was probably the most memorable because of how her story ended. Can't say much more as I would be spoiling the plot for future readers.

Any additional comments?

I was given the free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Too Much Flash

There were A LOT of flash-fictions in this collection. Probably would’ve been better if they were spread out and announced as flashes between the longer stories. Fewer flashes in the next edition please. If any at all. The choices seemed a bit overthought as well. Definitely some gems in here though.

Good Anthology

This is one of the good anthologies around but enjoyed volume 1 more. It does contain disturbing, sexual, gore, bizarre and even a ghost. It was hard to choose one favorite one as I could pick out several and leave that for you to decide. I always enjoy Tim Miller, Adam Cesare, and Byran Smith and found a couple more authors I’m going to check out Recommend to anyone who enjoys short horror stories. . I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you!!

Lots of Creepy Stories, NO SPOILER REVIEW

Collections are always nice because they give me the chance to tune into authors that perhaps I don't know. This is a nice collection of creepy stories written by a variety of authors. I recommend this for anyone that enjoys horror and wants to find new horror writers to enjoy. It's also a great way to commit to listening to a new writer without getting into a 10 hour book. These stories are short with a little something to please any fan of horror.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Not sure if its really my cup of tea?

Would you try another book from the authors and/or Joe Hempel?

Hmmm hard to say since its a ton of different authors. The Narrator was decent, could have used a little more feeling when telling the stories. S

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Bunch of different stories. Some good, some not so good. Though I would definitely put the first story somewhere else than the beginning of the book. Wasn't a fan of the style and it was hard to get through.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Joe Hempel?

He was a decent narrator, needed a bit more acting out of characters though in my opinion.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It would be one hell of a dark anthology. Not sure I would. I don't mind gore or violence in books, but some of this just felt like it was to shock the listener. I didn't feel scared or creeped out really.