Even though this was way out of my normal reading gene I loved it! I did find myself rooting for ‘The doctor of death’ Mainly in ‘Each Dawn I Die.’ Vic was a player who purposely went after young naive virgins and then broadcasted their humiliation on his website. They had to face the shame of their mistake while he profited from it and moved on to the next naive virgin. That is until an angry encounter with an old lady that turned his life into his living hell he could not escape from, literally. He got exactly what he deserved. Not all are about ‘The doctor of death’, but they each have a very clear message that none of us can escape death.

In ‘Wrongside Tavern’ at first I was confused as to what Hank did, but as I continued to read the story I started to understand what he did. He had no real remorse for the human lives that were taken by accidents he was involved in. I had to admit that I literally laughed out loud when he tried to run from the girl and fell over a wagon. In the end though the victims got their justice even if it took them dying first to get it.

I was drawn in by each story and the twisted endings. I especially enjoyed ‘Woodshop Math’. At first I thought ‘Oh great another weak girl’, but Sam impressed me. I am glad I kept reading and didn’t miss out on this. She didn’t resort to revenge on the bullies that tormented her, but she gave those jerks what they deserved and the fact that she did it to protect her best friend Tyler not caring about what she would face was very touching. It not only showed her strength, but how deep their connection went. Mark Tullius did a great job with this one in my opinion. This was very well done.

Those were just a few stories that are apart of this collection. There are many more that are just as entertaining as these three. For instantes there’s one about an artist who paints death in all its gory details. There’s many more like this and it’s hard to just chose one or two to write about. They all have to do with death on some level or another. It’s not always those that deserve it that get it either.

This is a fantastic and thought provoking collection of short stories that surprised me at every turn. Mostly dark horror stories, but all of the stories are a vehicle for Mark Tullius to showcase his skill at writing and bringing his imagination to life.  I look forward to reading more from Mark Tullius.

Pages: 236 | ISBN: 9781938475184