One Bloody Thing after Another

By: Joey Comeau

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

Jackie has a map of the city on the wall of her bedroom, with a green pin for each of her trees. She has a first-kiss tree and a broken-arm tree. She has a car-accident tree. There is a tree at the hospital where Jackie’s mother passed away into the long good night. When one of them gets cut down, Jackie doesn't know what to do but she doesn't let that stop her. She picks up the biggest rock she can carry and puts it through the window of a car. Smash. She intends to leave before the police arrive, but they're early.

Ann is Jackie’s best friend, but she’s got problems of her own. Her mother is chained up in the basement. How do you bring that up in casual conversation?

"Oh, sorry I've been so distant, Jackie. My mother has more teeth than she’s supposed to, and she won't eat anything that’s already dead."

Ann and her sister Margaret don't have much of a choice here. Their mother needs to be fed. It isn't easy but this is family. It’s not supposed to be easy. It'll be okay as long as Margaret and Ann still have each other.

Add in a cantankerous old man, his powerfully stupid dog, a headless ghost, a lesbian crush and a few unsettling visits from Jackie’s own dead mother, and you'll find that One Bloody Thing after Another is a different sort of horror novel from the ones you're used to. It’s as sad and funny as it is frightening, and it is as much about the way families rely on each other as it is about blood being drooled on the carpet. Though, to be honest, there is a lot of blood being drooled on the carpet.

©2010 Joey Comeau (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

A visceral story of love, death, and other things.

A very memorable horror/non-euclidean story, a bit hard to follow at times. but worth a solid read or listen.

the narration seems very dry at first but it grows on you and becomes more appreciated as the story continues. especially when following multiple characters.

Joey Comeau has a signature writing style which can be all over the place, but in a constantly refreshing way. when I first read this years ago it really lent itself to my inability to stau focused on things for too long. the characters are written well, it's all very relatable, and I'm only left wanting more of his writing as opposed to just more of this story.

not what I was expecting.

it's a good story it's ending just seems not finished. when it ended I was surprised I liked where everything was going the characters everything and then boom it was done and I didn't even know it.