| Title | : | Blood \u0026 Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror by Women and Non-Binary Writers |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1838391592 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 190 |
| Publication | : | First published September 22, 2021 |
Blood \u0026 Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror by Women and Non-Binary Writers Reviews
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Sometimes, I get a big box of special chocolates, and they are all different flavors...there are normally a few I chuck away because I don't like them ( coffee flavor and orange creme, bleurgh)
Anthologies always remind me of boxes of chocolates. I buy a lot of collections and there are usually a couple of stories that are the equivalent of those chocolates.
I don't want to say too much about individual stories in this book, but they were all absolutely stunning. Every single one. There were no coffee or orange cream tales.
Right from the first story, it was as if someone had reached inside my chest and punched me in the heart. It was wonderfully disturbing. Then, the book only got better or equal too. There wasn't a single bad one. I read the kindle and now I'll get the paperback and read it again.
This is absolute horror at its finest. If this collection is not on the bookshelves of all horror fans, there is no justice in the world. -
With the spooky season just around the corner, I was in the mood to be freaked out and boy, Blood & Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror delivered tremendously.
Written by women and non-binary writers, the anthology contains 21 unsettling short stories about the female experience with their bodies with themes that are too sensitive, taboo, and controversial to be openly explored in any other medium.
The anthology combines horror with various subgenres including but not limited to gothic, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Despite the fantastical and speculative elements in the subgenres, it’s still likely that readers may nonetheless recognize themselves or find someone they knew in at least one of the stories at some point. Some stories will strike a chord with those struggling (or struggled) with eating disorders, self-image, overworking, and pressure. Some stories will resonate with mothersーnew, old, almost, hoping. Some with experiences of abuse, assault, and harassment.
The stories in Blood & Bone are disturbing, gruesome, and downright uncomfortable precisely because they are grounded in realism. In fact, the anthology attracted my attention for several reasons, but mostly because I am a woman and I live in a society where I am taught to be uncomfortable in my own skin and capitalists profit off my flaws and deepest insecurities. This anthology was just calling me and I just knew I’d love it. After all, nothing’s scarier than seeing yourself in a horror piece.
I waited for a story to fail my expectations each time I finished one, mind blown and bone-chilledーfortunately, it didn’t happen. It wouldn’t be fair if I say it did at one point, because while I have subgenre preferences, each story is still unique and stands out in its own way that extends beyond subgenres.
Moreover, the writing styles of the authors involved were creative and phenomenal. There’s plenty of great quotables from this anthology! Personally, I think this is one of the biggest reasons why the anthology felt so outstanding to me. Simple concepts become more memorable because of the way they were written. Some endings you thought you guessed weren’t necessarily confirmed because it was vague in a good way and in the right amount. And some stories needed to be read more than once not only because it was ambiguous, but also because the writing was beautiful, and because the execution was so well done, so of course you had to read it again for the experience.
Best read in a not-so-full or a not-so-empty stomach, Ghost Orchid Press’s latest horror anthology might leave you not only disturbed and uncomfortable, but also haunted by questions about girlhood, motherhood, and beauty among others. At best, it will also make you respect, empathize with, and appreciate all the women in your life a hundred times more for their courage, sacrifice, hard work, and for the horrors they have to deal with daily.
If you’re a woman yourself or identify as one, my hope is that reading Blood & Bone will likewise remind you to be kind to yourself and to your body. -
An excellent collection of body horror! Lots of really strong stories in here but some of my favorites were:
“What Goes Down, Must Come Up” by Evelyn Freeling—hands down my very favorite in the collection. Riveting and heartbreaking tale of bulimia, it’s worth getting this collection for just this story.
“Milk” by Sally Hughes —As someone who became a new mom during the pandemic and struggled with breastfeeding, tgis one hit deep. And loved the ending so much!
“First Harvest” by April Yates—really unique take on body horror that I absolutely loved and really well-written characters
“The Globe” by Cecilia Kennedy—Anyone who’s struggled with body image will relate to this one and the moments between the mother and daughter had me tearing up
Definitely recommend this anthology. From the first story, I was hooked and read through the entire thing over one day! -
“If we were to create a new body out of disparate human parts, what would inhabit it?”
This book intrigued me by its riveting cover – the artwork is stunning, and I was curious to read about body horror from a diverse group of writers. Having read other books from Ghost Orchid Press, I knew the publishing house strays from the conventional and surprises in new ways. And Blood & Bone didn’t disappoint at all!
Since the contributors are women and non-binary writers, the stories explore femininity and the female experience. The body horror is visceral and the authors dig deep into controversial ground and sensitive topics. Topics addressed include breast feeding, bulimia, slavery, witchcraft, liposuction, varicose veins, abduction and rape, plastic surgery, food cravings, emetophobia, pregnancy, rescue operations and social media across myriad genres from science fiction to historical fiction, poetic verse and out-and-out gore.
Body horror, as the genre suggests, includes horrific acts done to the body, as well as the horrors we put our bodies through. It’s hard to choose a favorite because every single story is outstanding in its own way. Kudos to editor A.R. Ward for meticulously selecting these pieces that made it to the final collection. Blood & Bone is not only a wonderful book in itself, it serves to make readers aware of writers to look out for. They’re just all so brilliant!
There are content warnings at the start of the book, so readers can discern their level of comfort while reading each of the stories. The beauty of the writing is that every story is left to the reader’s interpretation – the writers address themes without telling us what to expect or assume; they don’t break things down but let the reader become part of the story and find resonance in our own way. Blood & Bone is a collection that can be read more than once, and present something new and different each time. One of my best books of the year!
For the detailed review, quotes, and individual author mentions refer to my blog post here:
https://tomesandtales365.wordpress.co... -
Blood & Bone was an instant preorder for me when I spied it on my Twitter feed, firstly because it was an anthology by ‘Women & Non-Binary Writers’ which is always going to be something that I want to read more of. That and the fact that it was an anthology of body horror. I don’t read as much of it as I should, considering how much I love it. It’s fascinating, but what I really love about is the sheer scope and potential of what can be explored. Bodies are pretty weird at the best of times, and at the worst of times… I just love seeing that explored, and Blood & Bone promised so much and I knew from the moment that I read the foreword that this was going to be a book for me.
‘You’re here because at some point in your life, you’ve marvelled at and been horrified by the human body. You’ve looked at your own with suspicious eyes, wondering when it’s finally, inevitably, going to betray you. You’ve poked it and pulled it, questioned it and been questioned by it, and found that neither modern science nor philosophy can give you any answers.’
As with any anthology of short stories, there were some that I enjoyed more than others, some that didn’t resonate quite as strongly. However, there wasn’t a single story in this anthology that wasn’t striking. Beyond the body horror and various other genre elements that are woven throughout the collection, these stories ask questions. Uncomfortable questions. Necessary Questions. Blood & Bone is an exploration of identity, of girl/womanhood, and of expectations internal and external. In some ways, some of those questions and the answers were more horrifying than the body horror itself because it had anchor points in reality, although the two were twined together, and perhaps that was why this was such a hard-hitting book.
It must be said that this is not an easy read, and it shouldn’t be. This book doesn’t shy away from difficult topics including abuse/assault, eating disorders, body image, instead it shines a spotlight on them. There is a warning at the front about the content of the book, and a list of content warnings by story at the back so that you can avoid any story that would be too much and while it wasn’t something I looked at until the end, it is something that I appreciated seeing. And I have to say that everything about this anthology was done with care and consideration, and I think the fact that the authors were women or non-binary themselves was an absolutely essential part of this collection, and that it wouldn’t have had the same impact if it hadn’t been. There is an understanding and care, and relativity woven throughout these stories, even though they are all individual in topic and approach and creator, and it works to create a cohesive whole.
The writing was phenomenal across the board, and that is another reason why this anthology resonates so much because the writing takes the horror – both body and every day – and brings it to life. There were stories in this collection that had my skin crawling and shivers going down my spine, and others that created a visceral echo of what I was reading. And there was one story that had me needing to put the book down for a little while because the reaction was so strong. I loved the variety in approaches that were taken, and how even in ones where it felt as though you knew where the story was going, you were always satisfied, whether surprised or not. Some of the endings are deliberately vague, others very definite, and both held the same kind of impact. And this anthology has so much re-readability, not just because of that variation in detail – there are definitely some stories that need to be read again because of that ambiguity, but the collection as a whole has you wanting to read it again just to savour the writing.
There really wasn’t a weak story in the anthology. However, some of my favourites were ‘Written on Her Skin’ by Nico Bell. This felt much shorter than some of the others, but it was a hammer punch of a story – exploring how people speak to and about women and is a perfect example of that real-world horror paired with body horror. If people could see this story brought to life, would that change things? Probably not, but it should and I think this one, in particular, will linger with me for a while. ‘First Harvest’ by April Yates, was possibly my favourite (if I was forced to choose one), there was just something wonderfully, eerily beautiful about the entire story, and it left me both satisfied and longing for more. ‘Siphonophore’ by Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin was a perfect way to start this anthology and really leaned into the body horror, but also the sense of self and reclaiming of the body, and this was another one where I had to pause and just take time to think it over. Another one that really stood out was ‘Gastric’ by Caitlin Marceau, which again tread that boundary between real-life horror and body horror, and explored body image and gaslighting – and it was raw and painful to read, and made me so so angry because it was so believable. While ‘What Goes Down, Must Come Up’ by Evelyn Freeling was the story that gave me the most visceral reaction, and just the sheer imagery of this one has stayed with me since I read it.
Blood & Bone is a beautifully written, impactful anthology and it would be a disservice to just call this a horror anthology. Yes, body horror is a core (and wonderful) component of the book, but this collection marries that horror with many other genres and weaves in the many horrors that can be found in real life, creating unique, powerful stories that will linger long after the reading. A perfect read for the spooky season, for anyone who enjoys body horror and the questions it asks, just be prepared to feel everything as you read it. -
Blood and Bone is a powerful, unsettling anthology that tackles the taboo ‘body horror’ subjects of body dysmorphia, eating disorders, infertility, abuse, rape and more in a collection of beautifully written, hard-hitting tales. The book’s description warns of the need to approach with an open mind and a strong stomach – and that’s absolutely right. Some of the tales are extremely gruesome, others disturbing in their realism. All of them pack a punch. Most anthologies have one or two weaker stories but this one doesn’t. Purely personal highlights are What Goes Down, Must Come Up by Evelyn Freeling, the heart-breaking First Harvest by April Yates, and the utterly brilliant Written on Her Skin by Nico Bell. I feel mean only mentioning three and send my congratulations to every author featured in this stunning anthology. Well done, Ghost Orchid Press.
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I enjoyed this often shocking, always thought-provoking collection of body horror stories from Ghost Orchid Press. The authors all do an effective job of examining our sometimes-tortured relationships with our own and others’ perceptions of our bodies, the feeling of alienation from self, from the world, and our place (or lack of one) within society. With this generous selection of 22 stories, there will be something for everyone, but I’ll highlight just a few of my favorites.
Siphonophore by Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin is a heart-wrenching twist on one of the most famous body horror stories of all but from a point of view that has been neglected. Difficult and dark subject matter is rendered lyrical as we listen in on the thoughts of a science experiment who yearns to regain some bodily autonomy and goes about it in a most unusual way.
Thicker Than Water by Kristin Cleaveland is folk horror at its best about a family of women cursed with an unusual gift. “People said maybe the ladies with the blood rain just had too much trapped in their heads, like glass jars filled past the threads and all the way to the brim.” Love this metaphor that envisions the sorrows of women made tangible in a form that invokes the idea of the taboo and hidden menstrual cycle made all too manifestly visible.
Milk by Sally Hughes is an effective Gothic ghost tale centered around new motherhood and breastfeeding and the isolation that can come from being stuck at home, responsible for both the living child and, in this case, perhaps the dead as well.
Too Heavy to Carry by Faye Snowden is told from the point of view of a child house slave on a plantation whose owners are dealt a severe reversal of fortune by a mysterious, perhaps even magical stranger. Seething with rage at the horror and injustice of slavery, tension builds and builds in this one until the final satisfying payoff.
Knit, Purl by Nicole M. Wolverton turns the unlikely horror subject of knitting into a grotesque craft project with imagery that will stick with you. I love stories that turn the seemingly innocuous into something super sinister. I’ll never look at yarn the same way again!
Harrow by A.J. Van Belle is a moving sci-fi meditation on what it means to be human. A non-binary being isolated on a distant planet faces a crisis that makes them re-examine their own place in the universe. Some lovely worldbuilding and philosophical musings with just a touch of ambiguity about how reliable our narrator is make for a memorable tale.
This is just a taste of what this anthology has to offer. I was so impressed with the variety of subjects and voices. This isn’t body horror just to gross you out. Every tale has a deeper message that makes you want to take a moment to ponder the complexities of living within our sacks of flesh, blood, and bone in this fragile and often harsh world. Definitely recommend for fans of the more cerebral side of the body horror genre.
(As you might expect from a book about body horror, there are a lot of potentially triggering topics in these stories so check out the list in the publisher’s book description to be forewarned. They also provide a story-by-story list at the end of the anthology if there are particular triggers you wish to avoid.) -
This was pretty intense!
Like most anthologies, there were some stories I preferred more than others but overall this was everything I look for in a body horror story.
I loved how fat phobia was discussed in this and it brought the very real discussion on how fat people tend to be talked over by people in their lives, "diet culture" and how even doctors can be dismissive about their very real health concerns (women as a whole tend to go through this way too often).
I found some new fave authors in this anthology and look forward to reading more of their work -
In a local library challenge this was recommended as a read by a non-binary author. It's creepy as hell. If you're in the mood for a horror- like a feel it in your soul kind of horror, this is it.
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Fairly meh but there were a few stories I really liked.
•Thicker Than Water by Kristin Cleaveland
•It Won’t Be So Bad by Varian Ross
•What Goes Down, Must Come Up by Evelyn Freeling - this was probably my favorite story. It frames bulimia as an abusive relationship and I think it was done pretty effective
•Bloom by Alice Austin
•Julie by Victoria Nations
•Written On Her Skin by Nico Bell -
A collection of gruesome, shocking, and devastating short stories - I was hooked on the tricky mirror held up by several in the collection, all tied into the value we place on our physical selves. A great anthology.
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According to the website TV Tropes, body horror is horror “involving body parts, parasitism, disfigurement, mutation, or unsettling bodily configuration, not induced by immediate violence,” which may give you an idea for what’s in store within the latest anthology from Ghost Orchid Press, Blood & Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror by Women & Non-Binary Writers. Most of the stories in this anthology hit the above threshold definition of body horror, with few exceptions.
In the Foreword, Alex Woodroe mentions, “One of the greatest things about body horror is that it’s unlikely anyone reading this anthology right now is doing so by accident. You know what you want.” I have to hand it to Woodroe, going in to this anthology I had expectations for the types of stories that I would encounter, and I wasn’t let down. Being an anthology about both women and bodies, I expected tales of pregnancy, motherhood, self-image, identity, and troubled relationships. This anthology delivered on all of those expectations.
{Full text of this review can be found at The Horror Tree:
https://horrortree.com/epeolatry-book...} -
"You're here because at some point in your life, you've marveled at and been horrified by the human body. You've looked at your own with suspicious eyes, wondering when it's finally, inevitably, going to betray you. You've poked it and pulled it, questioned it and been questioned by it, and found that neither modern science or philosophy can give you any answers.-
Far beyond just stomach turning terror, modern Body Horror lives on the edge of where our anatomy meets technology in stories that, ultimately, are nothing short of personal essays about our relationship with our physical selves."
A wonderfully diverse set of imaginative, explorative, and captivating tales of Body Horror, through a feminine and non-binary lens. There is strong diversity in the brands of body horror ranging from monsters, revenge, historical horror, infection, and sci-fi alternate realities with ample social commentary, gender politics, and exploration of things like motherhood, loss, abuse, body image, societal expectations for women's bodies, and medical disconnection on women's health issues (especially with men trying to tell women what they should do with their bodies) among many others.
Some tales are tragic and telling cautionary tales, some are righteous and oddly empowering among the blood-soaked and degeneration of their bodies. It's definitely gory, grotesque, and vivid at times, but nothing you can't handle if you have dabbled in even regular horror, let alone Body Horror.
There were a few stories that didn't have me quite as riveted, but nearly all of them invoked something in me and most were incredibly viscerally poetic, cathartic, and fascinating. I appreciated while there is a lot of range in the sub-genre of Body Horror and subject matter, there is a connective nature in these stories, rather than feeling like they were disjointedly throw together. That makes a huge difference in how an anthology holds up, the parts powering the statements and importance of the whole.
Blood & Bone is an evocative, reflective, and effectively horrifying collection of Body Horror, a sub-genre that is underutilized in my opinion and even more so by women and non-binary voices. -
A bit hit and miss for me, but that’s the risk with thematic collections in which authors often come at similar points with radically different approaches.
Standouts for me were Siphonophore by Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin; Too Heavy to Carry by Faye Snowden; Blessed Art Thou Among Women by Vashelle Nino; Knit, Purl by Nicole M. Wolverton; Written on Her Skin by Nico Bell; and Harrow by A.J. Van Belle.
There is some absolutely lovely and devastating writing in these stories and there are no real clunkers here. -
Not only is this book written by female and non-binary authors, but most of the stories have themes of the female experience and I loved this. Between the real-life horrors that women face and the female rage in these stories, I was hooked. A few of the stories that really stuck out to me were:
It Won’t Be So Bad - Varian Ross
Too Heavy to Carry - Faye Snowden
Skin Deep - Petina Strohmer
A Rotten Thing - Nicola Kapron -
A collection of body horror that fans of the genre will be sure to find something they like therein. Some of the stories were gruesome, others just unnerving. Definitely keep content warnings in mind especially if you have issues with fatphobic body horror or eating disorders.
I recommend this book to anyone into or interested in body horror in general. -
One of many anthologies, this one was body horror by women and on binary writers. The story I couldn't read all the way through (hard scan through) was Knit, Purl by Nicole M. Wolverton.
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Literal nightmare stories. I could have skipped a few, but Bloom has stuck with me for days 🥀
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This was such a good anthology! So diverse!
Some of my favorites:
Gastric by Caitlin Marceau- a woman takes the advice of her husband and male doctor and has a device installed which makes her unable to eat. She’s still hungry (therein lies the horror) but unable to keep anything down. The last paragraph is particularly horrific.
Written On Her Skin by Nico Bell- a woman deals with unwanted attention, abuse and out and out violence from men, but with a twist. All of the various names a woman is called are being painfully etched on her skin for all to see.
Knit, Purl by Nicole M. Wolverton- this has some truly inventive body horror and had me looking away to compose myself. A woman decides to continue knitting a quilt, finishing it up where a dead woman left off. Including using the special dye the woman created. Varicose veins play a prominent role, so if you’re squeamish, trigger warning.
Great body horror written by women and non-binary authors. I definitely recommend! -
Broadly, I thought this collection was excellent. My responses varied from mild distress through to an active need to stop reading what I was looking at so I could recover for a while, a fact which is undeniably positive for a book of this nature.
I think my absolute favourite was Clipped Wings, and I particularly appreciated that it took a break from the ongoing themes of Weight Anxiety and Pregnancy/Motherhood to explore a different part of the feminine experience.
And that brings me to my main bugbear with this, and the reason it's not a 5/5: I felt like there could have been more variety in the fears, anxieties and issues represented in this book. If I'd taken a shot for every reference to Pregnancy and Childbirth, I'd be too intoxicated to move. And I get it- I find the idea of procreation as horrible as the next trans guy, but there are other things for women to be afraid of. In focusing so hard on that, and Weight Loss, I feel like they missed an opportunity to feature a wider range of female experiences. Still an excellent collection of stories that absolutely succeeded in its goal.
