Lullabies for Suffering: Tales of Addiction Horror

By: Caroline Kepnes, Kealan Patrick Burke, Gabino Iglesias, John FD Taff, Mercedes M Yardley, Mark Matthews

Narrated by: Linda Jones

Lullabies for Suffering: Tales of Addiction Horror

The table of contents includes:

• Kealan Patrick Burke: Sometimes They See Me
• Caroline Kepnes: Monsters
• Mark Matthews: Lizard
• John FD Taff: The Melting Point of Meat
• Gabino Iglesias: Beyond the Reef
• Mercedes M. Yardley: Love Is A Crematorium

Addiction starts like a sweet lullaby sung by a trusted loved one. It washes away the pains of the day and wraps you in the warmness of the womb where nothing hurts and every dream is possible. Yet soon enough, this warm state of bliss becomes a cold shiver, the ecstasy and dreams become nightmares, yet we can't stop listening to the lullaby. We crave to hear the siren song as it rips us apart.

A powerful list of talent has woven tales featuring the insidious nature of addiction - damaged humans craving for highs and wholeness but finding something more tragic and horrific on the other side. You're invited to listen to these Lullabies for Suffering.

©2020 Mark Matthews (P)2020 Mark Matthews

Loved it

Excellent collection revolving around addiction
From a chance meeting at a bridge to a heartbreaking tale of two childhood soulmates this holds your attention till the very end
Fantastic narration from linda like always
Dark stories that will stay with you highly recommended
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

Great insights from different points of view.

Each story is dark in its own way. Some darker than others. They each leave a deep impression impression. The sense of helplessness the vice each story portrays is terrifying. Mercedes Yardley’s story was my favorite. You see the beginning to end of hope and desperation.

Heartbreaking and terrifying

Each story was very different and all were tough reads. The narrators were good. The last story broke my heart.

Haunting and Heartbreaking!

Heartbreaking, haunting and memorable, these LULLABIES FOR SUFFERING will stay with you for a long, long time.

Here we have a collection of 6 novellas, all of them from authors I've read before, so I was eager to start listening when my request to Audiobook Boom was approved.

Kealan Patrick Burke's SOMETIMES THEY SEE ME: When the lives of two addicts collide and interrupt suicide attempts, you know the story won't end well. Stories of addiction rarely do.

Caroline Kepnes' MONSTERS: This novella features Ms. Kepnes' excellent writing style and despite the addictions on display within, I couldn't help but come away from this tale with a feeling of (misplaced?) hope for the last two standing.

Mark Matthews' LIZARD went off the rails almost from the get-go. All I can say is I felt so sorry for almost every character in this story. I have been reading Mark's work for many years now, because he writes about addiction from a place that he really knows. I think his experiences make his work that much more powerful and poignant.

John F.D. Taff's THE MELTING POINT OF MEAT talks about a different kind of addiction, but that doesn't make his story any less difficult to read.

Gabino Iglesias' BEYOND THE REEF was my favorite tale in this collection because it was just so damn different from the others. Not only is this an addiction tale, but it also has a distinct Lovecraftian feel to it that I just adored.

Mercedes Yardley's LOVE IS A CREMATORIUM broke my damn heart. First with its depiction of family "love" between a father and daughter, but also a dark study of that crazy love that happens to some of us in high school. What would one teen do for another to help them escape a terrible home life situation? Was that the right thing to do? Of all the dark tales here, this is the one that made me cry. Neither of these kids started out with bad intentions-she left because of her dad, and he left because he loved her. What happens to them? You'll have to read this and see, but be sure to have some tissues nearby.

The narrator, Linda Jones, is one with which I was not familiar prior to listening to this collection. She's terrific and brought these tales home with humanity and care.

Overall, this is an incredible collection of stories from authors that are currently the best in the business as far as I'm concerned. Some names are bigger than others, some are more famous than others, but every one of them can write the hell out of a story and that's exactly what they do here.

HIGHLY recommended!

*Thank you to Audiobook Boom for the audio version of this book which I freely chose to review.*

A solid offering of dark addition tales

“We crave to hear the siren song as it rips us apart.”

Sometimes They See Me By Kealan Patrick Burke - It’s not blood. It’s paint. I needed red.

Monsters by Caroline Kepnes - She wants to slide. She doesn’t want to stick.

Lizard by Mark Matthews - Seduced by a sweet lullaby full of promises but finding only suffering.

The Melting Point of Meat by John F.D. Taft – I saw everything. Each time I saw more clearly.

Beyond the Reef by Gabino Iglesias - Smells like cigarette smoke, wet carpet and broken dreams.

Love is a Crematorium by Mercedes M. Yardley - The darkness is deep and horrific and hungry.

A solid offering of dark addition tales and not downer in the bunch. These stories are cut with pure pain and suffering, blood and the bleak. Disturbing and tragic stories that compliment each other while retaining their own uniqueness.

love is a crematorium

I'm a man. a pretty tough man I like to think. I never get sad about stories or movies. I have a wife and daughter. I work in a factory. I love horror! but Love is a crematorium made me cry.haha never has anything in the realm of fiction made me do that. I felt like a baby crying but couldn't help it.lol I hope you get this book and I hope you listen to it. especially love is a crematorium.

Beautifully written

I love that the chapters interlink and how easy all of the new tales flow within the book. The seriousness and honest depiction are very powerful and moving. Loved it!

A solid collection with a lot of variety

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

The concept of 'addiction horror' seems like an odd theme for a collection, especially due to the volume's low story count. I went in expecting a couple thematic repeats and at least one story retreading the same territory another in the volume had already explored, but surprisingly there's none of that here - the selection is excellent and each piece explores the theme in a completely different way. There aren't really any bad stories here but several shine far brighter than others, particularly 'Monsters', which has some of the strongest character writing I can recall in a short.

Horrific in the best way

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

I always love a good collection of short stories, especially when the genre is horror. But I’ve found that these horror collections tend to be a hit or miss, with miss being the usual outcome. However, Lullabies for Suffering proved to be a breath of fresh air. I can honestly say I loved every single one of the stories.

Each story is unique and each brings its own methods of shock and horror. I believe my favorite of all was the tale about the addict who was asked to assist with a favor for his drug dealer. That one actually gave me nightmares.

I never felt bored or lulled by any of the events and the narrator was good too. I may go back and listen to this one all over again, something I very rarely do.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book in it’s entirety. So if you’re scanning reviews, looking for that deciding factor let this be it. Go ahead and get it. You won’t be wasting a credit, or your money.

All too real and horrifying.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this collection of stories centered around addiction. Some horrors are just a little too real and this collection falls into that category. I loved every story in this collection as many of them were written by some of my favorite authors. I loved this collection, but some of these stories were hard to read. They were just soul-crushing in the ways they depicted addiction and the effects that addiction had not only on the addicted, but on all those around them. If the story can suck you in and make you feel everything that the characters are feeling, then you know it’s a good story. That is what this collection did to me. My favorites had to be by Kealan Patrick Burke and John F. D. Taff. I have loved everything I’ve read by those guys and I’ve read a lot by them. Gabino Iglesias’s story was a fun one to read with a different take on addiction. I think the most heart-wrenching stories for me were “Lizard” by Mark Matthews and “Love is a Crematorium” by Mercedes Yardley. Both of those stories will just wipe you out with the heartbreak of broken lives that they portray.

There is not a bad story in this collection. All of the authors are world class storytellers. Visceral reactions await all who dive into this collection, but man is it worth it. Definitely a collection that hurts so good. My suggestion would be to go do something light-hearted and fun after reading this collection to take your mind off this real-life horror. Enjoy.