Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2

By: Wrath James White, Tim Miller, Bryan Smith, Tim Waggoner, Alessandro Manzetti, Jasper Bark

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Year's Best Hardcore Horror Volume 2.

Not your mama's best-of horror annual.

This year brings 22 more in-your-face stories that break boundaries and trash taboos, transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says).

Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex, and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect. Some of these quieter tales offer the listener some time to recover from the more disturbing ones preceding.

Table of Contents

Michael A. Arnzen "55 Ways I'd Prefer Not to Die"

Jasper Bark "Bed of Crimson Joy"

Christa Carmen "The Girl Who Loved Bruce Campbell"

Marvin Brown "The Field"

Adam Cesare "Please Subscribe"

Matthew Chabin "Father of Dread"

Jose Cruz "American Gods, American Monsters"

Andrew Darlington "Coming of the Darkula"

Paolo Di Orazio "The Contract"

Stefanie Elrick "Mother's Nature"

William Grabowski "Out Hunting for Teeth"

Sarah L. Johnson "Little Sister, Little Brother"

Eric LaRocca "Miss_Vertebrae"

Alessandro Manzetti "Kozmic Blues"

Tim Miller "Backne"

Alexandra Renwick "Redux"

Bryan Smith "Implant"

Jeremy Thompson "The Hallowfiend Remembers"

Tim Waggoner "A Face in the Crowd"

Wrath James White "Ownership"

Stephanie M. Wytovich "On This Side of Bloodletting" & selected poems from "Brothel"

Full list of authors includes: Stephanie M. Wytovich, Paolo Di Orazio, Sarah L. Johnson, Adam Cesare, Michael A. Arnzen, Jeremy Thompson, Stefanie Elrick, Eric LaRocca, Wrath James White, Tim Miller, Bryan Smith, Tim Waggoner, Alessandro Manzetti, and Jasper Bark

©2017 Comet Press (P)2017 Comet Press

Not for the faint of heart...

Would you consider the audio edition of Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2 to be better than the print version?

Definitely. Listening to the story helped develop it better in my mind's eye. With this topic, it is always best to be able to visualize the story. There is some pretty rough stuff in this book, but there was a lot of imagination to accompany it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

This is an anthology. There were several characters in several stories that were captivating so it is hard to narrow down to one. There were several stories that didn't really make much sense to me though, so the characters in those were a bit too abstract.

What about Joe Hempel’s performance did you like?

Joe Hempel's performance is quite remarkable. One would imagine it would be difficult to create so many voices for so many characters, yet he does it well. He was able to differentiate the voices so much that you didn't feel like you were listening to the same story over and over. Well done.

Who was the most memorable character of Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2 and why?

Again, this is an anthology so it is hard to choose. There is a character named Grace in a story set in a post apocalyptic world. She was probably the most memorable because of how her story ended. Can't say much more as I would be spoiling the plot for future readers.

Any additional comments?

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

Too Much Flash

There were A LOT of flash-fictions in this collection. Probably would’ve been better if they were spread out and announced as flashes between the longer stories. Fewer flashes in the next edition please. If any at all. The choices seemed a bit overthought as well. Definitely some gems in here though.

freaky

overall fun, some was a bit hard to follow. all were very graphic. interesting journey

Good Anthology

This is one of the good anthologies around but enjoyed volume 1 more. It does contain disturbing, sexual, gore, bizarre and even a ghost. It was hard to choose one favorite one as I could pick out several and leave that for you to decide. I always enjoy Tim Miller, Adam Cesare, and Byran Smith and found a couple more authors I’m going to check out Recommend to anyone who enjoys short horror stories. . I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you!!

Lots of Creepy Stories, NO SPOILER REVIEW

Collections are always nice because they give me the chance to tune into authors that perhaps I don't know. This is a nice collection of creepy stories written by a variety of authors. I recommend this for anyone that enjoys horror and wants to find new horror writers to enjoy. It's also a great way to commit to listening to a new writer without getting into a 10 hour book. These stories are short with a little something to please any fan of horror.

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

Not sure if its really my cup of tea?

Would you try another book from the authors and/or Joe Hempel?

Hmmm hard to say since its a ton of different authors. The Narrator was decent, could have used a little more feeling when telling the stories. S

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Bunch of different stories. Some good, some not so good. Though I would definitely put the first story somewhere else than the beginning of the book. Wasn't a fan of the style and it was hard to get through.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Joe Hempel?

He was a decent narrator, needed a bit more acting out of characters though in my opinion.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It would be one hell of a dark anthology. Not sure I would. I don't mind gore or violence in books, but some of this just felt like it was to shock the listener. I didn't feel scared or creeped out really.

Mixed bag of horror stories

Any additional comments?

With such a large volume of short stories, it's inevitable that readers will enjoy some more than others. Also, as the editors explain in their forward, the definitions of 'hardcore' and 'horror' are different for everyone. Thus, there were a number of stories in this collection that I didn't find appealing because they didn't meet my personal definition of either of those terms.

I'm ambivalent, also, about the other part of the title: 'Volume 2'. I think, subconsciously, that I'm predisposed to like this stories slightly less because they didn't make it into 'Volume 1' --- a part of me figures that the cream of the crop is in Volume 1 and these are the 'B-side' stories that didn't make the final cut. That's unfortunate, because sometimes the B-sides are just as good as the A-sides (I'm thinking of Pink Floyd's album 'The Final Cut' which, I've heard, includes songs that weren't considered to be good enough to be added to 'The Wall'. Ironic, because many of my favourite Pink Floyd songs are from 'The Final Cut'.)

My favourites in this collection were "The Field", "Redux", "Little Sister, Little Brother", and "Bed of Crimson Joy". I also liked "Ownership", but I think I would have liked it better if it were a longer story. That way, I could understand the characters, the supernatural context, and the significance of the missing book better. Also, in terms of negotiating safe, sane, and consensual bdsm scenes, I've always had the understanding that there's a difference between a hard limit and a soft limit. In this story, one of the characters calls something a hard limit even though it turns out to be a soft limit. The main character ignored the hard limit and the submissive character allowed the scene to proceed anyway. A very minor thing, but it actually was what turned me off most about the story.

I've listened to other audiobooks narrated by Joe Hempel before and typically enjoy his narration. However, I didn't think this was one of his better projects. Some of his pronunciations were off (for example, I always thought that "Redux" was supposed to be pronounced as "re-ducks", not "re-do"). Also, some of his character voices weren't especially effective for me in this audiobook. I'll definitely listen to him again in the future, based on my enjoyment of some of his other audiobooks.

I provided my opinion in exchange for a complimentary copy of the audiobook from the author, narrator, or publishers.

Worth the listen

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Although NSFW, this book was fun. Each story gave different outlooks and with it being different authors there is something for everyone. It has a few triggers, and so when it says not for the faint of heart it meant it. My favorite had to be Mother Nature. It was a fantastic look at human evolution.
If you like blood violence sex creepy things, it's worth reading.

Bob @ Platypire Reviews

​*I requested and was granted an audible code for this audio edition*
This. This is not for the faint of heart, y’all. It’s a deliciously macabre collection. I was super into a lot of them, and started off making short reviews of each story, but only got through 3. Sorry! Part of the reason I like audio books is so that I can do household chores, drive, go for a walk or jog, or go fishing while I listen to the book, so I wasn’t able to keep track. I WILL give you the few I did get, though! With no further ado:

Chapter 4 is AMAZING. I think it was called Gods and Monsters. The Editor’s dogged obsession was intriguing to listen to, and I did not see that twisted ending coming! Very well done, and super creeptastic. Quite possibly my favorite of the entire collection.
Chapter 5, Mother Nature, is trippy. It’s very well written and puts me in the mindset of a fever driven nightmare. I liked it!
Don’t remember what chapter this one was, but it was too much for me. Not the gore or language, but the sex got too violent for me. Not saying there was anything wrong with it, and it felt well written, but I ended up skipping the ending because I’m a wuss lol.
Overall, this is a mixed bag. Some murder, some paranormal, some BDSM, all horrifying and beautiful in their own rights. Some weren’t exactly for me, but I’d be hard pressed to find a collection that WAS made up entirely of books any one person loved. And even the ones that weren’t up my alley were well written and I knew they were good.

The narrator did a wonderful job, he seemed to know all of the stories and had a steady pace. Nice voice and tension, as well.
If you like horror, REAL horror and tales from the darkest corners, if you can handle gore, terror, and short servings of all of these – and if you are over 18! – I would definitely recommend this for you.

Bob says: 4 Platypires!

One of the best

The whole series of book are the best. I come go back to them again again. Thanks for the Year's Best Hardcore Horror books there great !