The Wailing Skin: The Skin Room is a chilling story that will make your skin crawl – or peel

 

The Skin Room

Carl Bluesy 

Independently Published, 2026

Ebook, 275 ppg. 

ISBN-10: 1069380814

ISBN-13: 978-1069380814

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You know the expression that if you play with fire you’re going to get burned?

 

That’s exactly what happens to Kenneth in this story, except that he managed to play with fire for a little too long. He enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle of using up women, stealing wives for sexual pleasure just so someone could get a good deal on the luxury cars he sold, and living comfortably in his condo with his wealth. He got away with hurting women for so long, viewing them only as sex objects to conquer, that he lost touch with his own humanity.

 

Well, he gets a good slice of humble pie in this story. The Skin Room by Carl Bluesy is a splatterpunk novel of violence, murder, and tons of gore that will make your very skin crawl. Just be glad you still have it!

 

After Kenneth loses everything and is forced to survive on the streets, he joins the homeless community and, in the process, learns to dispel with his prejudices against the homeless. He keeps thinking “I’m not one of you!” or “I’m not like you!” and carries around this fantasy that if he goes to the police enough times, they will straighten everything out just like that and he’ll be back to sipping cocktails in his condo. It takes some time for Kenneth to adjust to life as a homeless person, and he is fortunate to befriend a couple of people who are kind enough to show him the ropes.

 

Meanwhile, there is a killer on the loose, a killer known as the “Panhandle Peeler,” a serial killer preying on the homeless and skinning his victims. Kenneth tries to remain vigilant to avoid being the Peeler’s next victim, but that lasts only for so long.

 

The title of this book has to do with the type of room that Kenneth is imprisoned in after he is kidnapped by the Panhandle Peeler. What does the Panhandle Peeler do with all that skin? Well, in one case, he creates a whole room covered with it. Literally a room made of skin. There’s quite a bit of blood still on the skins, blood which sometimes pools on the floor of the room, and it is mind-blowing that the skin continues to grow, even over the door to the room.

 

There were many times I stopped reading this book, not because of the graphic scenes of victims being peeled of their skins but because I kept thinking, No way! This is too unreal! The cruelties the Peeler inflicted upon his victims are unthinkable. Only a madman would believe every single thing he does to his victims serves a bigger cause. Make no mistake, a madman is certainly what the Peeler is. And the big reveal near the end of the story is just as shocking and disturbing.

 

But it was my curiosity about Kenneth’s fate that always drove me to pick up this book again to read. Does Kenneth survive? Does he escape? What about the Peeler; will he finally be brought to justice?

 

And actually, what does happen to the Peeler at the end is just as twisted as the rest of this story. Even so, it’s a story I recommend to fans of horror and especially fans of splatterpunk novels. This story is written so well and it’s full of surprises. Where else can you find a novel that describes the removal of a person’s skin in gory detail? Or the best way to remove an eyeball? Plus, there is fruit that isn’t really fruit at all – and filled with a different kind of “juice” to drink. (That pineapple!) Readers will be treated to such passages in this book. Perhaps they will exclaim “Wow!” at the end, as I did.

 

That ending, though. It blew me away.

 

Check out The Skin Room by Carl Bluesy for the most extreme survival story of them all. What would you do to survive? How far would you go? Within the pages of this book, readers will see just what it takes for one man to survive the streets and survive imprisonment by a delusional monster.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Horror So Real: Melancholia is a collection of dark poetry reflecting on real-life horrors

 

Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry

Sumiko Saulson

Bludgeoned Girls Press, 2024

Ebook, 95 ppg.

ISBN: 979-8990327719

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Collections of dark poetry can be about anything. They can be poems that are truly dark and disturbing, or they could be poems of dark things found in the real world. For Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry by Sumiko Saulson, it is both. Here readers will find dark poems of fictional creatures as well as dark poems about truly horrific events and goings-on that are in the real world, both past and present.

 

Not all of the poems in this book are dark, however. “The Doormouse Is Dreaming” is a cute poem. With descriptions of “Blankets and pillows/All covered with down” and “shallow waters puddle-wide.” I can almost picture the Doormouse dreaming while asleep, comfortably reclined on “handknit doilies.”

 

“The Child on the Lawn” was a sad poem to read. It reminded me of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old shot and killed by police when he was playing with a fake gun at a park. This poem is so profound, with lines like “Were there tears in his eyes/When he held his head down?” and “Now he's walking the streets/Though the guilty may hide/Their sanity is unwound/By the sound of his/Telltale Heartbeat.”

 

I loved how the poems “Replika, My Ex” and “Faceborg” explore our addiction with the internet/smartphones. Some of that addiction can be pretty terrifying, and there are no holds barred in these poems. These poems also touch on things many people fixated with this connection to artificial technology would understand.

 

I also liked the poems “The Queen of Death, Perplexed” and “The Melancholic Eye” and “Coachella Ghost.”

 

Many of the poems in this book are about real-life horrors as well as fictional horrors. Some of them are personal, while others are imaginative and dark. All of them are good poems and I enjoyed reading them.

 

Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry is an entertaining, thought-provoking collection of poetry that will leave readers with a sense of trepidation. Some of these poems will make readers think, while others offer reminders of how we cannot allow the injustices taking place in our society to continue. These poems are both haunting and depressing, leaving the reader with a lingering sense that perhaps it is time to do more to create change.

 

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

You Might Think You’re Tough But You’ll Never Be Tougher Than a Farm Girl: Farm Girl is a horror story of what happens when three guys mess with the wrong family

 

Farm Girl

Jerry Blaze

Independently Published, 2026

Ebook, 121 ppg.

ISBN-13: 979-8255819829

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On the one night that the 16-year-old Rowan asks for a chance to get out of town with her bestie to go to a concert, her mother says no. But that doesn’t stop Rowan from going anyway. She sneaks out and takes off with her best friend Libby, determined to have a night of fun. But once she returns home, Rowan finds her mother, uncle and brother bloody and beaten, and her younger sisters crying while hugging each other. Strange men are in her house. Men who look like they are up to no good. Men she knows that she must take care of in order to save her family.

 

The reader gets to read this story from different points-of-view: Rowan, Rowan’s mother Roxanna, Uncle Ralph, and the three men who are attacking Rowan’s family. This change in POV is not disruptive to the reading experience. Sometimes the changed POV happens from chapter to chapter, or in one of the chapters. When it is done in a chapter, it can be a little jarring, but this changed POV helps to move the story forward. For example, in chapter eight, it starts with the character Strozzi (one of the bad men), jumps to Uncle Ralph, then jumps to Barker (another one of the bad men). These changes allow the reader to get a better idea of what the characters are feeling/thinking as a scene unfolds, and these perceptions adds to a reader’s understanding of them.

 

I appreciated how the author shares the background of the bad men in a way that is comfortable for readers to receive. The backgrounds are not provided as info dumps. Some bits of information is shared here and there in different parts of the story. The initial information shared when they first appeared in the story, however, lets the reader know that these three men are VERY bad men with evil intentions. It’s actually a good introduction because it lets the reader know that some seriously horrific actions are about to go down because of these three bad men. (And the author does not disappoint in this regard. Some of the things they do to Rowan’s family made me cringe.)

 

And while this story is short, it’s filled with tension, horror and gore. It’s a real treat for horror fans who love reading stories of bad guys getting their comeuppance. I loved how Rowan uses farm equipment to go after the bad guys. I was cheering her on and loved how she was so brave as she fought them. The surprise at the end made this story all the more enjoyable and it’s definitely a story I will be reading again.

 

Farm Girl is a quick read for horror fans as well as readers who enjoy stories of vigilante justice. I loved reading this YA horror story and I felt it was a good story of how one teenager did what she had to do to save her family. A story of how one teen rises above a horrific nightmare thrust upon her family, Farm Girl is a story that will remind readers that you should never mess with a farm girl.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.