All the Hearts They Ate: The Beauty in the Wreckage is a story of the struggle for individuality and freedom

 

THE BEAUTY IN THE WRECKAGE: OR THE BIBLIOTHECA TREATMENT: AN EXPERIMENTAL HORROR NOVELLA

Andrew Buckner

Alien Buddha Press, 2026

ISBN-13: 979-8246708750

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Fiorella leaves hearts on the doorstep of houses and everybody who eats the hearts will die. Her plan is to go from one town after another, leaving these hearts on doorsteps for the unsuspecting residents, until everyone is dead and she can create her own world of Fiorellas. But then Fiorella starts to question why she is doing this and if she is being programmed to do this. This changes everything and Fiorella is plunged into a world she no longer understands.

 

THE BEAUTY IN THE WRECKAGE: OR THE BIBLIOTHECA TREATMENT: AN EXPERIMENTAL HORROR NOVELLA by Andrew Buckner is a bizarre story of a young woman who has lost all memory of who she is and her past and only functions by doing what she is programmed to do. What she has been brainwashed to do. It is only when she breaks free – or tries to – that everything turns to chaos. When she begins to rebel against religion and against presidential orders, she becomes a target, and she knows she must do something to save herself before it is too late.

 

Even as Fiorella thinks about what she is doing and tries to change her actions, something called the “Father Figure” tries to stop her. It talks to her through her dreams. I couldn’t help but see this as religion forcing its beliefs and its ways on people, and stopping them from trying to get out of their bubbles and think for themselves. This is reinforced when I later read that the Father Figure’s spiel is ““not thinking and just doing is easier and more comfortable for you.” (page 58)

 

I loved how Fiorella’s love for books inspires her to write her own. On page 53, it reads (in Fiorella’s POV): “Now, I, too, must take up my pen, the mightiest of weapons in this barren warzone of bombs, tanks, and guns we naively call “life”, and fight by writing my memories, carving them for myself as well as for eternity, and dreams habitually, creating in any way that I can, so that the whole world can wake up through words and remember.”

 

I especially liked how she also uses her love for books to find a way to fight book bans. This love for books changes her and gives her new ideas, something the “monster-in-chief” oft mentioned in this story, as well as the “Father Figure,” would not approve of.

 

The Beauty in the Wreckage is a story not only of an individual who struggles to have the independence to think for themselves but also of an individual who wants to be free of an oppressive regime. Readers get to know Fiorella’s world through her stream of consciousness poetry and journal entries. She brings to light our natural desire for self-expression in a world that forbids individuality. Her story is a voice crying out for freedom from the chains her country has her in and one which readers may take heed of to create change in our own country.

 

Five stars

 

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

Dystopian Horror Made Real: We’ll Always Be Here is an anthology of LGBTQ+ horror stories of solidarity and strength

 

 

We’ll Always Be Here: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Horror

Edited by James G. Carlson

Gloom House Publishing, 2025

ISBN-13: 979-8286039685

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We are living in dangerous times. ICE has turned into a modern-day Gestapo, raiding homes and yanking immigrants out of their beds to cart them off to detention centers. Scientific organizations such as the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have lost funding, putting a hold on research that could cure diseases and save lives. And a war criminal has been applauded upon his arrival to America.

 

But the most dangerous thing about living in our country right now is to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community. To be transsexual, homosexual, pansexual, etc. Because the government not only refuses to allow medical care for this marginalized group but it is also trying to erase this group entirely. People in our government don’t accept members of the LGBTQ+ community and they are trying to get rid of them. It is a disturbing and alarming stance the government has taken against the LGBTQ+ community and it has sparked fear, anger, outrage and rebellion among the many people who belong to it.

 

Meanwhile, we turn to literature for escape and possibly even for the imagined forms of revenge we would wish to exact on all the haters. And that’s exactly what readers of the anthology edited by James G. Carlson, We’ll Always Be Here: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Horror, will find in these stories. From stories of the horrifying reality we have in store if Trump’s quest for power continues to go unchecked to those in the community who are fighting back against hate, these stories will entertain, empower, and delight fans of horror fiction.

 

This anthology starts off strong with “The Ghost Girls of Waterbury” by Rebecca Rowland. So many poor working conditions in the past have led to men and women coming down with a variety of ailments – cancer, mostly – and this story captures that in a dark, disturbing way. I love reading historical horror but this story was also a sad one. Those women were probably never compensated for the illness they all came down with as a result of where they worked.

 

“Night of the Living Fascists” by James G. Carlson was an epic story! With the addition of an alien to this story, I started to wonder if this was a nod to the many conspiracy theories that Trump is an alien. And there’s an intelligent cockroach named Bob! LOL I had to laugh over Musk being a zombie in this story and how one character noted that Musk is “on the dumb side.” The horror of Trump’s vision of how he wants to turn America into a country of blind Republican-worshiping followers was unnerving. That’s definitely an America I would hate to live in! I loved how the band members of the rock group Far Left joined the crusade to stop this alternate future from happening. They are likable characters. I loved how the alien tells the group members, “But you still have some serious struggles ahead. But with people like you in the world, I’m sure humanity will figure it out eventually.” I sure hope so. We can’t let this war of hate against the LGBTQ+ community win.

 

I also enjoyed reading “Mile-High” by Bridgett Nelson. This story is a very good example of how gender is fluid, but also a good reminder that we should never settle when it comes to love. Some people who are heterosexual transition to homosexuality even after their marriage. With me, I was heterosexual when I got married but now, after several years of marriage, I am asexual (I had to learn what this is after struggling with it for years!). Then there are some people who are homosexual and are in the closet and they feel like they should do what they are “supposed to do” and marry a person of the opposite sex just to make everybody happy or to fit in. But denying who they are is wrong and will only lead to a low sense of self-esteem and dejection. It could also create a loveless and poor marriage, as happens in this story. (And, yes, I know there are homosexuals who will marry the opposite sex JUST to have children with them then toss them to the curb with a divorce after those people have “served their purpose.”) So in this story, we see what that kind of suppression does. But I love how this story is written! And I loved the ending too. It’s a great story!

 

“Lackers” by Leo X. Robertson was such a bizarre story! What a weird term for people who are lacking parts of their bodies. But the story itself was so interesting to read! It really pulled me in and I was hooked until the horrifying ending!

 

I also loved the story “It’s Still Here” by Angellique Jordonna. It was so creepy! Her description of the monster is spot on and I was reading the escape scene with bated breath. I LOVED the surprise ending!

 

“Ethan is Following Me” by Michael R. Collins is another great story. It was SO creepy! I love reading ghost stories but this one was really scary. The ending left me surprised and speechless!

 

“Making America Straight Again” by Chisto Healy was such a good story. Warning to readers: There is transphobia in this story. It is a bunch of garbage spouted by MAGA (then again, what else do these supporters of our lying, delusional, racist, rapist, homophobic, transphobic, narcissist thieving president ever spout?). Chisto Healy is one of my favorite writers and this story was another one of his excellent works. As much as the transphobia and the MAGA characters grated my nerves and angered me, I really loved this story. Hopefully this story would make people THINK (although I realize that is too much to ask of MAGA), and just hopefully get people to understand that even if we love someone who is the same sex or even no sex, we’re all human beings who feel and care and want to be accepted.

 

And now for something completely different! That’s what readers are in for when they move on to the next story: “Kimmy Gibbler: Glamour Shot of a Switchblade Romance” by Phrique. I loved reading this script! It was hilarious in addition to horrifying. I loved watching Full House when I was younger (never watched Fuller House), so it was an interesting read. Although I gotta admit that I exclaimed “NOO! Not Michelle!” when I got to that part of the story. Still, the story was funny, surprising, and a uproarious blast to the past! The ending was surprising (though not really, if you paid much attention to the TV show) and I loved how it all came together. The spoofs of the characters were off-the-wall, farcical, and absolutely hysterical, especially the one about Aunt Becky. If only this was something we could watch on the screen! (Except for the part with Michelle. Have mercy!)

 

“Taken Away” by Denver Wheeler was another awesome story! So dark and disturbing. (Can you tell that’s my kinda story to read?) Not only do the characters in this story get lost but they end up WAY off the map where people who are “not infected” should not even be exploring. I get it that they were trying to get to a hospital, but it was like they ended up in some other kind of other dimension when they were at a hospital that just seemed so unusual. Like Mel, I was worried about what would happen to her baby. What a horrifying twist it takes at the end!

 

We’ll Always Be Here is an anthology of LGBTQ+ horror fiction that sends a powerful message to the world, a message that says, “We’re here, we’ve always been here, and we’ll always be here no matter what you try to do to erase us.” We will fight back. We will stand strong. And we’ll continue to write our stories, share our experiences, and create our art whether or not our society or our country will accept it.  

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This review is entirely voluntary. I purchased a Kindle edition of this book and was not asked to review it by anyone involved in this book’s writing or publication. All opinions and ideas expressed in this review are entirely my own.

OBJECTION DENIED!: Hearsay is a collection of poems about a chaotic world we're all just trying to survive

 

Hearsay, Anecdotal Evidence in Our Societal Court: Poems

Andrew Buckner

Requiem Press, 2025

ISBN: 9798313679341

Ebook, 57 ppg.

Buy link 

  

 

It's always interesting to come across a collection of poetry with poems reflecting modern times. That’s exactly what I found when reading Hearsay, Anecdotal Evidence in Our Societal Court: Poems by Andrew Buckner. These poems do offer commentary on current political events, but they also reflect on issues we address in our lives as we live in the 21^st century.

 

I appreciated reading the poems about the current political climate. I agreed with all of them, as I do not support our current president or his policies.

 

I often wonder what future generations living in more civilized times (I hope!) would think about the time we are living in now, when we have a farce of a “president” who instead of leading the country, is terrorizing it, attacking it and trashing it. Not only this, but he is abusing his power as the president to either eliminate evidence of his crimes, exonerate himself of his crimes (not to mention escape imprisonment for his crimes!), and try to convince the country that he should not be held accountable for his crimes because he is the president. As I write these words in my review, he is currently trying to convince us all that there are no Epstein files, and that even if there was, he’s not involved in any of that. Because, you know, he’s the president.

 

But I wonder, too, how past generations would perceive our world as we live in it now.

 

I am well aware of MANY people who were critical of the president, such as Reagan, Nixon and Carter. But our contempt for our current president goes beyond his handling of foreign affairs (though we have that too) and his (mis)management of the American military forces.

 

No, our contempt for the president concerns how he wants to erase the transgender community. How he wants to get rid of every single Mexican AND Mexican-American in this country, here legally and illegally, because he hates Mexico so damn much. He also hates the Black and African-American community, as well as anyone with disabilities, since he’s eliminated DEI. There is more, so much more, here. And that’s for another piece. And as of now, he’s trying to convince everyone that he is innocent of ever committing sex crimes against children.

 

And all of these things are not going to pass us by without writers writing about it all. Here, in this book, Andrew Buckner writes about it.

 

And, in fact, he gives readers that glimpse of just how a certain past generation might see the current goings-on in our political sphere, when he writes in the poem “SQUEEZING WATER FROM THE SUN”:

 

“the screen, rocks before these

cave people,

become another propaganda-

-laden, time trap for the future eyes

more vividly realized

than cave paintings

that reiterate its addictive fictions,

some dressed-up as news and others

as ex-reality show hosts who

conned their way into a second

term in The White House” (page 2)

 

Just as I read stories from the past which eerily mimic the times we are living in now (maybe those writers thought writing about those terrible times would keep them from being repeated?), I shudder over how history keeps being repeated (hello, concentration camp in Florida!). In the poem “Dostoevsky 2025,” Buckner points this out with these words:

 

“reading Dostoevsky

i realize

how little has changed

in 150+ years time—

 

the poor are still treated

as if a lack of opulence

their mere existence is

a crime

 

and we’re hopelessly being

punished for the same

crimes

by the same

variations of the same

republican cycles of hate—” (page 4)

 

I also liked the poem “THE RABID FEVER DREAM, REALITY” in that it really captures how reality can be so horrifying. Perhaps this is why parents lie to their kids about good, saintly figures like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny that love them no matter what and will bring good things to them if they behave. But we grow up and turn to different lies – smoking, drugs, alcohol – for an escape from and comfort for the horrors we must contend with in the real world. Horrors which are not going to go away.

 

My favorite poem out of all of these in the book is this one: “UPON HEARING THAT TRUMP HAS BANNED THE TERM “FELON IN THE WHITE HOUSE””

 

Why this one? Because it repeats “felon in The White House” many times and it just goes to show that even if Trump tries to ban the term “Felon In the White House” (which is what he is), we are still going to say it and use it!

 

But these are not just poems critical of the 47^th president and his policies; there are poems also talking about life and survival. About just trying to make it through another day in this chaotic world. I enjoyed reading all of them.

 

Hearsay, Anecdotal Evidence in Our Societal Court is a collection of poems that reflect modern-day struggles and concerns. They speak out against tyranny, capture the ordinary moments of life we so rarely take the time to appreciate, and shine light on important issues. These poems leave readers with much to think about, with various ideas and reflections to show many what they choose not to see.

 

 

Five stars.

 

 

 

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