| Title | : | ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1736953249 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781736953242 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 210 |
| Publication | : | First published January 6, 2022 |
This monster stalks the pages of ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK, in which sixteen horror writers explore fascism's many terrors: police wielding strange bioweapons against the public, white supremacists annihilating their enemies through dark magic, and TV personalities vilifying all who defy the rising fascist tide.
But these stories are resistance: Nazi-killing demons, Confederate-slaying witches, and everyday people punching fascists in the teeth. Among the gore is a glimmer of hope that one day this monster will return to its grave and never rise again.
ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK Reviews
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From right-wing influences in the Swedish black metal scene, to hidden bodies of a dictatorial regime somewhere in Spain, to remnants of the Third Reich in Latin America, to systemic brutality, bullying and violence of the police institution, to white supremacy in the US today, to a young girl who sees confederate ghosts – Antifa Splatterpunk consists of short stories about fascism in many facets and about people who stand or try to stand against it, embedded into great horror.
I wish this were not an anthology but a regular magazine and they would publish stories like these weekly, I would totally read them regularly. -
Yes, I'm the editor, and yes, I have a story in this anthology. But the book also includes brilliant words from sixteen other people, so I feel perfectly justified giving a five-star review. ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK RULES!
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With a street date of January 6, 2022, Antifa Splatterpunk releases on the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's failed fascist, white supremacist coup attempt to overthrow the US government and replace our democracy with his brand of puerile, racist authoritarianism. In positioning this book for such a weighted day in recent American history, editor and contributor Eric Raglin incidentally finds himself doing far more to hold fascists accountable than the current American government that so recently came under assault and the House Select January 6 committee currently investigating the attack on the US Capitol.
As the title of this anthology leaves little to the imagination, it should come as no surprise that Antifa Splatterpunk collects a broad range of 16 stories united by the shared theme of exploring fascist and antifascist attitudes both historically and in present-day, and delivering upon racists, bigots, and fascists their most richly deserved punishments in gloriously grotesque fashion. I won't discuss all 16 stories here, but below are some of the standouts and personal favorites.
Gordon B. White opens the anthology with his exploration of the concept of bad apples in the police force with "One of the Good Ones, Or: It’s A Gas." It's a crackling opener involving a fresh young beat cop’s moral quandary as he’s roped into a back room “interrogation” involving Vietnam-era mustard gas. Framed like a joke with its “A cop walks into a bar” set-up, this one’s serious as a heart attack.
"The Book of Veils," by Keith Rosson, is, in a word, badass. Bloody, goopy, a bit of body horror, and white supremacists getting all they deserve in the middle of a Portland protest makes for a marvelous read.
Author M. Lopes Da Silva uses "Hostile Architecture" to explore anti-homelessness laws and the way city government deliberately do all they can to punish the homeless. Readers are presented with a Los Angeles covered in spikes, vertical, leaning benches, and once-flat patches of lawn that have been replaced with rocks and boulders, and relentless roving squads of police to endlessly harass the itinerant. This is a city where, for the homeless, the right to sleep has become forbidden, and in the case of our narrator, sleep deprivation has given way to madness. "Hostile Architecture" is a potent, and at times righteously delirious, look at laws and othering run amok.
For me, the absolute high point of Antifa Splatterpunk came in Ana E. Robic's "The Chad Show." This highly satirical (and highly likely) short pulls out all the stops, moving at the rapid fire clip of a tommy gun as it skewers deplorable Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Chad is very much in the Tucker vein, and we're introduced to him as he violently and viciously mutilates himself on live TV, all the while blaming liberals for his self-inflicted punishments. To make the deal even sweeter and more on point, this sequence of unflinching, over the top body horror is accompanied by the in-story musical backdrop of "Your Body Is A Wonderland." Robic's clever mash-up of words (bonus points for her crafting the phrase "pelvic holocaust") and synthesis of ideas kept me laughing out loud the whole way through, while also sadly realizing it really is only a matter of time before Fox News segments literally turn into level of violent self-flagellation in an concerted effort to "own the libs." I'll mourn the day Robic's predictions inevitably come true, but for now it's an absolutely perfect, and perfectly wild, work of zany, bloody craziness.
"Blood & Honor" by Sam Richard turns toward a former fascist seeking repentance against those he's wronged. Richard digs deep into the effects hate can have on the racist soul as Phil recounts his personal history, and more and more grotesqueries from both the past and present are brilliantly revealed. It's a grim, heavy story, which makes John Baltisberger's "Box of Teeth" the perfect dessert-like follow-up with its fun, goopy creature-feature sensibilities. We're treated some richly vivid kills as a monster is unleashed in an Argentinian nursing home where the Nazis who fled to this country following WWII are living out their last days.
Jonathan Louis Duckworth spins a fantastic and constantly engaging yarn in "Lutznau's Opus." The writing here is absolutely absorbing as our narrator, a woman hiding in a vault for the Nazi soldiers sent to round her up, tells them the story of her and her dead brother's past, and the discoveries her brother made as a soldier fighting in the first World War. Antifascist occult horror makes this an immediate winner!
Joe Koch's "Bride of the White Rat" is an intriguing exploration of the ways in which fascism thrives, viewed through the lens of a woman living with her far-right boyfriend who subjects himself to torture and humiliation in preparation for the violence he is sure the left will inflict upon him one day, as well as the history of the filming of the Nosferatu remake and the deprivations inflicted upon the film's rats. Koch relies a lot on allegorical othering, antisemitic imagery, and the ways propaganda brainwashes people into doing and accepting the unthinkable. This one's a dense, potent read, and I love the way it makes use of film history in the wake of WWII to drive its messages home.
Horror and politics have been comfortable bedfellows for as long as the genre has been around, and Antifa Splatterpunk is a terrific showcase for horror stories with potent messaging that allows its authors to wear their politics on their sleeves, loud and proud. In times of political distress, horror can provide a safe outlet to explore our fears about the present and future, as well as some much needed catharsis. And let's face it, after the Trump presidency and Republican's (for now) failed attempt at overthrowing democracy, whilst in the midst of an ongoing plague, we all need and deserve a release. And if it's a release that sees fascists and authoritarians getting slaughtered, well, the more the better, as far as I'm concerned. Antifa Splatterpunk is the potent reminder we need right now that the only good fascist is a dead fascist. -
'Antifa Splatterpunk' edited by Eric Raglin.
Raglin has put together something very special here—Antifa Splatterpunk is definitely worthy of your time. This collection of sixteen intense, beautiful crafted stories by authors from around the world addresses the multifarious, fucked-up face of fascism with a cerebral punch.
Peculiar anger-inducing bio-weapons, satanic white supremacists weaving dark magic, police brutality, hungry rats, threatening infrastructure, ghost-snorting necromancers—there is so much to enjoy (and fear) in this horror-themed anthology and I very much hope there will be an AS part 2 in the future.
My favourite stories are the opener, ‘One of the Good Ones, or: It’s a Gas!’ by Gordon B. White (an excellent tale shining a light on police brutality with a bunch of great twists), ‘The Chad Show’ by Ana E. Robic (straight up splatter), and ‘Bride of the White Rat’ by J. Koch (their prose is pure poetry).
I review with truth, I am fairly well educated but a few of the pieces did go over my head—parts of this anthology are exceptionally heavy duty and rightly so, it aims and succeeds in addressing serious issues—but I still found something to enjoy in each story and finished the book in two intensely fierce sittings. It's a challenging read.
Laugh in the repugnant face of fascism, down with fascists, bigots and zealots—buy this book, it will definitely entertain and may hopefully make you think. ‘Antifa Splatterpunk’ is intense, important, and hopeful—a world without fascism would be a beautiful place. -
This Book Kills Fascists...Violently and Creatively
Antifa? What is it exactly? Is it a movement? A clandestine organization? A Boogeyman invoked by the right wing media? I must admit that when I hear the term I'm hazy on the true definition. Sometimes I hear it and I think of a bunch of protesters dressed in black with bandana covered faces, protesting in Portland or Berkeley. Other times I hear antifa and it brings to mind the root word, antifascism. And with the definition that that implies, shouldn't we all be a little bit antifa?
When Woody Guthrie strapped on that guitar, the one that read "THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS", and sang "all you fascists bound to lose" and we sang along, weren't we antifa?
When we cheered for Indiana Jones on the screen and Captain America on the page when they punched Nazis, weren't we antifa?
When Chuck D told us to "fight the power", weren't we antifa?
As with antifa, splatterpunk (a horror genre that came into prominence in the early eighties) is another compound word that can be broken down into its respective parts. With splatter, we tend to think of that which splatters: blood and bodily fluids and viscera. With punk, well we think of that punk rock spirit, an anti-establishmentarianism, a call to action against those in power that oppress the minority. In other words, splatterpunk is a genre that is antifa to the bone.
Eric Raglin's new anthology Antifa Splatterpunk is thus a match made in heaven with the marriage of these two worlds. Here is a collection of seventeen tales that espouse the spirit of its namesake.
The stories of Antifa Splatterpunk are a varied lot, spanning decades, countries, and sub-genres. From Nazi Germany to modern day Portland, from a playground in the South to a death-metal scene in Sweden, all of fascism’s ugly heads are examined (and split open).
Favorites in this collection include Gordon B. White’s, “One of the Good Ones”, a short that has all the feel of a crime story told from the cop’s perspective. Staccato sentences propel you through this gritty tale of a cop bar and a behind-the-scenes look at a new anti-riot weapon they are testing. “Red Brick” by Cynthia Gómez is a chilly suburban ghost story, and takes a slightly more nuanced approach with its main character, exposing how even a well-meaning family man can be complicit in fascism. “Ay Carmela” by J.V. Gachs is another good one with a helluva opening line and a unique setting, taking place in the past and present of Spain, where a decades-old debt is paid.
You’ll wonder just how in the hell Jonathan Louis Duckworth manages to fit all that he does into his tale “Lutznau’s Opus.” From the trenches of WWI to Nazi Germany, he slathers on squicky family dynamics, grotesque imagery, a haunted film, and cosmic horror. Fantastic stuff.
For me, two stories were the creme de la creme of this collection, “The Pig-Men’s Mud Motel” by Patrick Barb and “The Bride of the White Rat” by Joe Koch. “Motel” is a masterclass in style, voice, ideas, and structure. Lots of twists and turns and full of quotable lines (‘Every life’s sacred? Nah. Sometimes death’s sacred as fuck.’), I loved this one. The journey to the titular motel and what we would find there filled me with dread.
Meanwhile, “The Bride of the White Rat” combines a toxic and codependent relationship, a memory of George Orwell’s Room 101, true film facts, and a hallucinatory second-person narrator, into a phantasmagorical concoction that you won’t be able to see the bottom of.
Not only did I thoroughly enjoy this book, but I was also left with a list of many new authors to check out. I’ll be on the lookout for more! -
Splatterpunk isn't a genre that greatly appeals to me; I love horror fiction, but I'm rarely delighted by gore. Most rules result in exceptions, though, and ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK seems to be one of mine. It turns out there's something immensely satisfying about a big horrible messy gross splatter when it's made up of fascist garbage, and this collection leans into that satisfaction as far as it can go.
I'll admit that I'm the kind of coward who reads books like this with one hand in front of my face like I'm watching a movie I know is about to get gory and I'm scared I'll have to look away at any moment. Many of these stories contain scenes of carnage so vivid and visceral they feel burned into the backs of my eyelids. This is not a book for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach, but if you dream of rolling with punk necromancers and punching Nazi trash so hard they're propelled directly through the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead (see Caias Ward's wonderfully wild story "Snorting Ghosts in the Cause of Anti-Fascism", possibly my favourite story in the anthology) well, this is definitely a book for you.
Fans of contemporary indie horror may recognize many of the names in this book's TOC. A few of my recent favourite writers of weird and terrifying fiction make gruesomely effective appearances here (Gordon B. White, Donyae Coles, Joe Koch, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, and anthology editor Eric Raglin). Extreme horror still isn't really my cup of tea, on the whole, but this book does what it does so well that even a coward like me found a lot to enjoy. -
Let's be real: it's been a terrible last few years for many reasons. Full of anger and sadness and pent up emotion. There are many things in this world I have no control over and that's just a fact. But for once, reading about assholes getting their just deserts reminded me of why we keep fighting. And that there are good people out there ready and willing to help. All of these stories are powerful in a way I cannot articulate properly. But just know I feel revved up and ready to kick some ass
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Awesome collection of stories. A good mix of splatter and psychological horror. One of the rare anthologies where there wasn't a single story that I didn't enjoy.
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I loved this anthology. Every story was either very good or excellent. Instead of being overly invested in gross out tactics, the stories have actual depth and the writing shines.
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This is my first experience reading an Antifa themed horror anthology, and I am beyond impressed with the unique interpretations of the contributors.
The writing within these pages is authentic and relatable as they expose important aspects of both historical atrocities and the politically toxic trends plaguing many aspects of today's society. They are graphic and visceral but, despite the splatterpunk theme, not simply displays of gore for gore's sake. These stories are unapologetic and important — each is a lesson crafted beneath the dark cloak of an engrossing tale. The characters are well defined, the style of each contributor different, and the storytelling phenomenal!
I loved the wide variety of stories, but my favorites are listed below:
One of the Good Ones, Or: It's A Gas!
by Gordon B. White
The Book of Veils
By Keith Rosson
Box of Teeth
by John Baltisberger
Lutznau's Opus
By Jonathan Louis Duckworth
Bride of the White Rat
By Joanna Koch -
As is the case with all anthologies, I didn’t love every story. But this collection might be the first I’ve encountered in which I at least liked every single story. Each was unique, well-written, and satisfying in the way this anthology seems meant to be. I had a visceral, somatic reaction to each story in the collection, sometimes in uncomfortable ways. And that’s the point. That’s what made me keep reading, giddy to move on to the next story and the next exploding racist corpse. The next empowered victim impaling a hurtful bigot on a flag pole, through the ass (wait until you read that one!)
Of course, there were a few stories that stood out among the others. Here’s a rundown of a couple of my faves:
Gordon B. White’s “One of the Good Ones”
The first story of the collection was also one of the most highly immersive for me from the start, even in the frigid Midwest winter I read it in. The damp stuffiness of the bar, Drea the bartender’s scent, a ‘mash of juicy fruit and Nicorette.” The shift in meaning the title takes is quite interesting, forcing the reader to question what “one of the good ones” might mean exactly. To us, to the main character Johnny, to his shit-kicker colleagues? The set-up is certainly not subtle, but the payoff sets the supremely satisfying tone the stories that follow will, for the most-part, take.
Max D. Stanton’s “The Four Magi”
The descendants of confederate soldiers involved in dark magic have their horcruxes destroyed by antifa witches. I literally shouldn’t need to say anything else. Go read this one, right now.
Ana E. Robic’s “The Chad Show”
Tonally different than the other stories in this collection, I found “The Chad Show” to be the funniest story in the book. We glimpse an episode from a night-time broadcast by Fox News personality ‘Chad Spears’ in which the anchorman decries “Liberals! Democrats!” and other leftists, acting out the bodily harm he claims these shadow groups are inflicting on him. As ‘antifa’s’ attack gets worse, our poor Chad suffers, screaming at the “degenerate progressives” that are tearing him apart as he literally does just that. The Dear Santa letter as an afterword killed me.
Joe Koch’s “Bride of the White Rat”
My personal favorite, and one of the only stories to give me a nightmare in years, Joe Koch’s disturbing tale is well-written, disgusting, and experimental in all the right ways. The tale of a disintegrating relationship and the lengths one partner goes to prepare for ‘when the libs come to torture him’. I’m sure there was also an extra layer of humor in finding the psychotic main antagonist of the story shares my name. But intercutting passages describing the horror the rats on the set of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu suffered is a striking move, and the image of the caged Kyle with a rodent hanging clamped from his face has stuck with me above all the other gore and tossed entrails this collection contains.
Donyae Cole’s “Capture the Flag”
A punch-you-in-the-teeth metaphor that, while one of the pieces in this collection which runs a little lighter on the gore and splatter, hits hard and fast. It’s a perfectly rendered little tale about a girl named Skin encountering monsters for the first time, and it is a powerful end to this incredible collection.
As I said earlier, all the stories in this one are great. A rotating cast of villains are maimed and slaughtered throughout, and while it might be a bit extreme for those unfamiliar with the splatterpunk genre, you don’t have to be a participating Antifa member to enjoy these works. A selection of stories that are horrific, compelling, and strikingly contemporary. -
An entire short story collection about fascists getting killed in hilarious/spooky/gross ways? Sign me up. If this was a monthly feature somewhere I'd subscribe.
Like any short story anthology, it's uneven and I liked some of the stories more than others. "Ay Carmela," "Lutznau's Opus," and "The Chad Show" were highlights for me, but honestly, every story had at least something going for it (dead Nazis).
More of this please. -
Wow, this was definitely an interesting read and my first introduction into the "Splatterpunk" subgenre, but I am glad I checked it out. Some stories were better-written (and easier to understand) than others, but it all made a pretty solid compilation of stories. More niche? Yes, possibly, but still a decent read regardless.
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Much like many Americans, the rise of Donald Trump to the presidency made my worst nightmares of America come true. His rhetoric and policies have pushed the country’s Overton Window so far to the right that, even now with a Democratic president in the White House, the cruelty and barbarism of the Trump White House have become normalized. Christian theocrats have grown emboldened, and, as I write, the legitimization of racism, transphobia, and homophobia is being legislated and legalized in several states. As the old saying goes, America’s rise in fascism indeed comes in a Bible wrapped by an American flag.
Antifa Splatterpunk, edited by Eric Raglin, comes at the exact right time. Its stories are gruesome, gory, and morale-pumping. Not a single story can qualify as “bad” or “lower-quality.” You really cannot go wrong with the apples in this orchard.
Read the rest of the review here. -
Can I just say how satisfying it is to read story after story in which Nazis, bigots, and racists get theirs in horrific ways? So well deserved.
One of the Good Ones; or: It's A Gas! by Gordon B. White ⭐⭐⭐.5
The Book of Veils by Keith Rosson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hostile Architecture by M. Lopes da Silva ⭐⭐⭐
Red Brick by Cynthia Gómez ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Four Magi of Motakwa County by Max D. Stanton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Pig-Men's Mud Motel by Patrick Barb ⭐⭐⭐
The Chad Show by Ana E. Robic ⭐⭐⭐
Snorting Ghosts in the Cause of Anti-Fascism by Caias Ward ⭐⭐⭐
Beak by Sarah Peploe ⭐⭐⭐
Blood & Honor by Sam Richard ⭐⭐⭐
Box of Teeth by John Baltisberger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lutznau's Opus by Jonathan Louis Duckworth ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bride of the White Rat by Joe Koch ⭐⭐⭐
Ay, Carmela by J.V. Gachs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Til the Sun Wheel Turns No More by Eric Raglin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Capture the Flag by Donyae Coles ⭐⭐⭐⭐ -
It's not like fascists are people
A collection of stories with a pretty obvious theme!
Here's my thoughts about each story on offer:
- One of the Good Ones, or: It's a Gas! A group of violent cops decides to test a gas to solve the city's problems, more problems arise. A great way to start with a bleak and shamelessly violent tale about how far will a regime and its police force would go. And can a single, decent person make a difference? I really enjoyed this one, it gets relentless once the action starts. 4,5*
- Book of Veils A white supermacist gets a weird occult book request from a strange man; can the man be trusted? And what's this book about? I liked how mysterious the book was and the usual "don't play with occult stuff" moral to the story. The ending felt a bit bare but was satisfying considering the people involved. 3,5*
- Hostile Architecture An homeless person follows their bizarre visions, leading to violence in a city that isn't welcoming to vagrants. A weird but worthy ride through a series of outlandish and vicious scenes; it left me wondering whether there's something supernatural at play or if it's simply a mental illness driving their actions. 3,5*
- Red Brick An ICE agent tries to protect his family from a stranger no one else seems to acknowledge. Again I'm left wondering, is the man going mad or is something out of this world haunting him? You'll never know, but this poignant, powerful tale is the best in the collection. 5*
- The Four Magi of Motakwa County KKK and antifa clash for control of a city using magic. A refreshing take on an historical fight between factions, it feels pretty basic though. There's lots of magical action, and that's fun to read, but it needed some depth or introspective punch to truly shine. 2*
- The Pig-Men's Mud Motel An entire police department resigns, occupies part of a city and starts a bloody regime in it. Enter our protagonists attempting a rescue inside the occupied zone. I liked the way police brutality is spun with horror and weird crazyness to produce an engaging and disturbing story. The ending left me wanting for just a page or two more though! 3,5*
- The Chad Show A conservative TV host takes his show to the extreme to protest leftist oppression. Bizarre and kinda funny as you read through the bloody antics presented here. I see where this is making fun of how extremists often represents themselves as victims and exaggerate things but apart from that there's not much else here. 2*
- Snorting Ghosts in the Cause of Anti-Fascism A fight between black blocs and fascists spills into another reality once a strange powder is used by one of them. A fairly dark and outlandish story, this one really aims to drag you through different worlds. It's fun, very original and the violence presented is satisfying. 3*
- Beak What starts as a photo op to fake an antifa assault quickly descends into horror as the people involved experience weird symptoms. I honestly found this kinda hard to follow, and it left me with many unanswered questions; still its crescendo of dread and revulsion was truly interesting. 3*
- Blood & Honor Two relatives reminisce about growing up with their fanatical families, then a dark confession brings dark secrets from the past. This one starts slow and seemingly lacks purpose until it turns around and punches you in the gut with a revelation that's a bit too close to comfort when compared to real events. 4*
- Box of Teeth An old woman in a nursing home harbours a dark secret, one that'd suddendly turn deadly. Lots of body horror in this tale of old revenge, it's a simple affair overall but its creepy antagonist was truly interesting. 3*
- Lutznau's Opus A jewish woman, hidden inside a vault, entertains the gestapo that's trying to open it so they can get to her. This one felt a bit ponderous and slow as it's all monologue detailing lots of stuff, it slowly gains traction once the supernatural elements start pouring in though. 3*
- Bride of the White Rat A couple preparing for whatever "the libs" might throw at them has to deal with unexpected consequences after a rat bite. Weird, creepy and deals with some truly grim themes. I liked it overall, but I must confess I am not sure what exaactly happened, nor what the ending is about. 2,5*
- Ay, Carmela Spanish Civil War, a mother has to make a terrible decision to ensure her daughter won't forget the horrors of war. What a great story, it's truly touching at times and the main character is terrific. Truly shows how the consequences of war can last through generations. 5*
- 'Til the Sun Wheel Turns No More A blood magic ritual against a nazi music band goes out of control. A fairly straightforward "nazis getting killed in creative ways" tale, it provides entertainment but the somewhat plain ending felt a bit subdued and forced. 2*
- Capture The Flag What if racism was an hideous, infectious force that only a few people could see and confront? I really liked the concept of this one and this short story truly packs a good punch and an interesting heroine in its few pages. 3,5*
Final thoughts: The theme might at first make you think all the stories will be about straightforward fights between antifa and fascists, or fascists getting killed by horrible things; but you'll be pleasantly surprised to know there's more on offer here.
While the book contains a fair amount of the uncomplicated stuff mentioned above there's quite a few gems that truly shine and make it an easy recommendation for horror fans. Even the stuff I've enjoyed less was ok overall and suffered simply because it was too simple or cryptic for my liking.
Please note all my reviews follow Goodreads' descriptions of their star ratings, so 1=did not like 2=was ok 3=liked it 4=really liked it and 5=it was great! Story collections are rated by rating each story individually and taking an average of all results. -
This collection was flawless. Every author brought their A- Game. Overall this was an amazing and eye opening read. I laughed, I cried and even got spooked along the way. Truly a masterpiece filled with talented authors. The overall theme of vengeance was done in such a tasteful manner that you rooted for the narrator no matter what. Some highlights during my read would be :
Red Brick by Cynthia Gómez
Blood & Honor by Sam Richard
Box of Teeth by John Baltisberger
Ay, Carmela by J.V Gachs
& the closing story
Capture the Flag by Donyae Coles
Eric did a fantastic job curating this collection and editing these stories. I am in awe of his talent. Very enjoyable. Five of five! Can’t wait to see what else Eric has in store! Also, I’m really looking forward to reading more from these authors. -
A lot of Antifa, more or less of Splatterpunk. Here you find payback in a lot of gruesome ways, more or less impactful. I must say that those stories concerning nazism directly were more recursive than the others. Of special note are The Chad Show and Box of Teeth: those were splatter to their bitter end, the most gruesome of the whole book. Overall a very enjoyable anthology of polically charged gore.
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An unfortunately relevant book of 16 stories on the theme exactly as described by the title: Antifa Splatterpunk.
The only knock I would give the book is that it includes several stories from the perspectives of fascists/nazis/white supremacists. I'm sure it's plenty of peoples cup of tea to read horror with protagonists you absolutely despise and be excited to see what terrible fate befalls them. However, I was personally looking for protagonists I could root for to fight against these types, so some of these stories took me out of the excitement a bit. I spend enough time in real life being encouraged to be sympathetic to and see from the perspective of bigots that it's not particularly an enjoyable escape for me.
That said, every story was still well-crafted, intriguing, and worthy of upholding the title. My favorite tales included:
"The Four Magi of Motakwa County" by Max D. Stanton, whose story centering the perspective of four Klansman proves that there's an exception to every rule. This story is so clever, riffing off of KKK hierarchy of a "Grand Wizard", with so many well done points and engaging plot lines that it makes my favorites even though it centers the racists' perspectives.
"The Pig-Men's Mud Motel" by Patrick Barb, an absolutely filthy and disgusting tale turning the common insult of referring to cops as "pigs" into something far more literal.
"Box of Teeth" by John Baltisberger, a supernatural horror that condemns passive acceptance of bigotry as much as it does active participants.
"Lutznau's Opus" by Jonathan Louis Duckworth, which I'm not sure a description can do justice of. A bit paranormal, a bit surrealist, and all completely satisfying.
"Ay, Carmela" by J.V. Gachs, a supernatural revenge story that brings a big sigh of relief.
"Capture the Flag" by Donyae Coles, which wins the award for THE BEST ending line in this anthology. -
There is no single silver bullet to combat the ever-growing monstrosity of fascism in our midst, but editor Eric Raglin has offered a balm to these horrors with ANTIFA Splatterpunk. This anthology brings together a diverse and talented group of writers to deliver sixteen original antifascist stories guaranteed to ease the ache of living in this timeline.
The tales told in ANTIFA Splatterpunk deliver a wide range of emotions from the chilling to the absurd, but no matter the tone, each of these stories packs a literary punch strong enough to send the toughest skinhead sailing to the pavement teeth-first. A cop’s plan for “crowd control” backfires with terrible results in “One of the Good Ones.” In “Ay, Carmela,” an old woman exacts a terrible revenge on her family’s killers with an offering of blood; while “Red Brick” paints a picture of how “just doing your job” can have haunting consequences.
Read the full review on
phantastiqa.com -
This anthology is full of scary, disgusting, horrifying, and incredible stories, all of them thought-provoking and memorable. Each story feels like an entire different take on the theme, showing the pain fascists bring to our community in sick ways. I loved this book, and everyone should read it because the stories are entertaining and diverse, written by a talented group of authors who did an amazing job crafting tales that will stay in your mind after finishing them. It also works as therapy, as a way to feel like fascists are getting what they deserve in gruesome and horrible ways. Definitely one of my favorite books
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Okay, I absolutely ADORE this concept. Excecution? Less. I was confused through most of the book. Most stories were so fucking vague..
HOWEVER! There were a few exceptions. I loved 'Til The Sun Wheel Turns No More and Box Of Teeth. Ay, Carmela was very beautiful, and I also quite enjoyed Blood & Honor. These were very well written.
The book overall isn't very extreme, which was a letdown. I was hoping for some detailed gore.. -
For someone just getting into splatterpunk this seemed like a good place to start, to have something with a message and other times just fascists getting what they brought onto themselves. It's an easy read, with varied writing styles and story structures, and most are strong stories. I would highly recommend this to get into splatterpunk as a genre, it has a good variety in levels of horror and gore, or if you just want to feel like others understand your frustration with the world.
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This is truly an hidden gem that I found by chance while looking up one of the authors of another anthology, The Book of Queer Saints.
Most of these stories are uncomfortable (though some made me smile as well). This is indented. It’s a book that let us reclaim some power in a world where fascism is again advancing at top speed, and I really needed it.
Only one of the stories was lacking in terms of writing style imo, but I’m not going to single it out. -
Fantastic Anthology. A lot of stories i really liked. Some stories i liked the ideas even when i was a little disappointed in other ways. For a book with a unifying theme of fascists getting killed, it is surprisingly, and i suppose despairingly, diverse.
That said: Ay Carmela by J.V.Gachs is one of the best things i have ever read. Buy the book for that alone, and all the other content is a nice bonus. -
Awesome, consistent anthology of stories about the psychology of fascism, and the physicality of punching their faces off their faces. The more supernatural stories appealed most to me, but Eric Raglin did an amazing job as always editing a collection of diverse and top notch stories, with bad guys whose getting stomped you have zero guilt about.
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You know the ones. The fascists who use their badges or maybe what little political clout they’re hoarded to hurt your community. Torment your residents, drain your community until there’s nothing left, nothing but a vicious cycle that ensnares your youth, a bear trap so they can be victimized over and over? Well, in this book they get theirs. And it’s wonderful.
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Hard (I had to stop several times because some of the stories —like Sarah Peploe's chilling "Beak"— were almost too graphic for me to handle), but very satisfying. I love me a strong opener, so “One of the Good Ones” by Gordon B. White hooked me from the start. J. V. Gachs' "Ay, Carmela" was a great representation of Spain's ongoing struggle against the remnants of Franco's regime.
