The Rictus Grin and Other Tales of Insanity

A Collection of Eleven Short Horror Stories by Erica Summers

By: Erica Summers, Rusty Ogre Publishing

Narrated by: Erica Summers

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A collection of eleven twisted and terrifying tales by extreme horror author, Erica Summers. Including stories of gripping psychological horror, cosmic, bizarro, body horror, and extreme.

This chilling collection of short horrors includes the following stories: Tines, Feed the Machine, Derailed, In the Blood of the Martyr, Painted in Vermilion, All the Same Color on the Inside, Sated, Take a Breath, Secondhand Kiss, Two Lip Garden, & The Rictus Grin, PLUS an introduction by Chisto Healy, author of Two of a Kind and The Gateway in Apartment 8 and author's notes on what inspired each story.

©2024 Erica Summers (P)2024 Erica Summers

Such a breath of fresh air!

The way Erica flawlessly weaves through multiple sub genres in this collection is absolutely mesmerizing. I enjoyed every second and can’t wait to dive into more of her works. Not to mention how GLORIOUS it is to be read to by one of your favorites. I was pleasantly surprised when pressed play and heard her lovely voice.

Creepy and exciting!

This is a fantastic book of creepy short stories. Each one is fabulously different! There is horror, thrills, exciting and disturbing stories! All of the stories are very well written and the easy to read!
I really enjoyed them all, but a few stand outs are: Derailed, The Rictus Grin, & Painted in Vermilion.
It’s amazing that a lot of these stories were created out of personal experiences from the author.
Erica Summers is also the narrator for this book and did an exceptional job! I was super impressed from A-Z with the book and then the superb narration!
At the very end of the book, Erica gives the reader/listener a great discussion on how many of these stories came about.
Erica is quickly becoming one of my must read authors!!

Well thought out interesting stories

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I’m a fan of horror and I’m pretty picky about it but this girl delivered! She narrated it herself which I enjoyed. I didn’t like the other narrator as much, didn’t seem as genuine (narrated as a guy’s voice but the heart wasn’t there.) These stories had a twinge of Stephen King about them. Well done! I’ll look for more of your books in the future.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Great short horror stories!

I loved this collection of short horror stories! I zipped through it in one day. There was such a wide array of storylines and characters, some gross, some creepy, some outright scary!

So good!!

Absolutely fantastic collection of short stories. Summers dabbles in various horror genres with this collection, and I love the diversity in her writing style. Like always, her written is beautiful and descriptive. Honestly, I don't know how someone can make beautifully written sentences dripping with gore, but she does, and she does it very well.

A few of the stories really stuck out for me. The first one being Derailed, this story was so intense! After reading her authors note, I love it more. Another one is In The Blood Of The Martyr, creepy church and cultish vibes will always be my jam. I just adore this trope. I, too, grew up in a religious
home, and so this resonates with me. All The Same Color On The Inside is a lot of fun too! I agree completely with her authors note that more people should read Goop horror ( Inside Out by Gislason is fantastic, so definitely check that out, too!).

I've highlighted three of my favorites, but I can say with complete honesty that there wasn't a story in this collection I didn't like. Erica Summers is an insta-read author me ( still working through her older works), and if she isn't for you, she damn well should be.


I also greatly enjoyed listening to this narrated by the author herself, after all know one knows the story quite like the author. This is easily one of my favorites and I am happy I was able to read it and also experience the audiobook.

enjoyable writing style

3.5 I enjoyed the writing more than the stories. My favorites were Tulip Garden (The Mother) which was clever psychological tale, and Sated, which was very very similar to a story from tales from the crypt in the early 90's