Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology by Eric Raglin

Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology Reviews

• 
  S.H. Mansouri

  My thanks to Cursed Morsels Press for sending me an early copy of this anthology.
  
  Most of the anthologies I read range from 10-15 stories, so when I saw that Shredded: A Sports & Fitness Body Horror Anthology contained 17, I immediately thought, ‘Oh, there are probably some theme-adjacent duds in here somewhere.’
  
  Nope.
  
  And while I did enjoy some stories more than others, I can honestly say, there’s not a single dud in this whole anthology. They all stick reverently to both theme and body horror. Shredded covers wrestling, basketball, football, gym enthusiasts, rodeo clowns, cross-country runners, power lifting, swimming, gymnastics, MMA, hockey, figure skating, yoga, and more.
  
  The stories that really stood out to me, hit me in the gut, were The Swish Heard ‘Round Central Nebraska by Tim Meyer (the format, almost done like a script, was effective, and the story moved like lightning), I’m Gonna Make You A Legend by Brandon Applegate (italics used to great effect here, a nice twist on the bully revenge trope), Don’t Make It Weird by Red Lagoe (a strong voice, super original), Massive Gains by Caias Ward (lots of humor, multiple formats/angles that serve the story well), Blood, Ash & Iron by Charles Austin Muir (masterful, probably my favorite story), It All Comes Back by Matthew Pritt (lean, simple prose, with a strong emotional core, this one hurt), and Avulsion by Madeleine Sardina (masterful in its ability to have a suffering character parallel the world around them, and an ending that goes full circle).
  
  The gems here (and this is just my opinion, what hit hardest to me): Massive Gains, Blood, Ash & Iron, It All Comes Back, and Avulsion.
  
  Cons: Lots of italics, mirror scenes, some story/plot overlap.
  Pros: Story approach/format, gutsy, bold stories, strong voices, great story placement, true to theme and body horror, and, most of all, story length. The length of stories was pitch perfect. I read half of this anthology in one sitting, half in another. It’s a breeze to move through.
  
  Shredded is well worth the price of admission. I highly recommend it!
  
• 
  Raul Reads

  I’ve never heard of body horror so I had no expectations going in & holy moley what a ride it was. This is such an immersive read filled with turns that will leave you wanting to cancel that gym membership. I didn’t expect anything less from Cursed Morsels Press. Such an interesting idea executed so well by the authors in it. A treat for fans of campy horror who enjoy dark humor. Tens across the board.
• 
  Zahria

  Gonna need at least five more volumes of this anthology. All of stories were hard hitters (pun intended) ; sports is a brilliant medium for horror- it is a breeding ground for body horror, psychologically and physically. The queer narratives puts this at ten stars.
• 
  Cassie

  As a former competitive gymnast and current martial artist working up to competition level of fighting, I really enjoyed this sports-themed body horror romp of 17 stories. There's all sorts of creepy stories for a variety of sports from lifting to football to gymnastics to yoga to fighting to basketball, all exploring the limits that athletes will push themselves to for their chosen poison out of a combo of self-driven ambition and competitive yearning to prove yourself to others.
  
  My favorites included:
  
  "I Am the Ring, My Heart Is the Mat, My Bones Are the Ropes" by Nikki R. Leigh, an absolutely heart wrenching story about a terrible betrayal and what it really means to give your body to your sport.
  
  "I'm Gonna Make You A Legend" by Brandon Applegate, a wonderfully spooky story about the horrors of possession and how success comes at a price.
  
  "Don't Make It Weird" by Red Lagoe about being a girl or woman in male-dominated boys clubs and how men are always the ones who make it *weird*.
  
  "Massive Gains" by Caias Ward, a hilarious autopsy of the constant gym culture push to get bigger, bigger, bigger and never settle.
  
  "That Southern Spirit" by Mae Murray about what it really means to be a man and how little that has to do with actually being a "man".
  
  "Flesh Advent" by D. Matthew Urban, an eldricth horror kind of story about a boy who throws himself so thoroughly into running that he completely loses himself.
  
  "A Pain All My Own" by Eric Raglin about how women don't need protected or coddled, only given the chance to succeed.
  
  "Lucky Like Elena" by Alexis DuBon, the gymnastics story I was waiting for about all the ways we lie to ourselves about why others are better than us when we're not able to accept that only one can be the best.
  
  "Our Perpetual Intention" by J.A.W. McCarthy, which took on the challenge of making a gentle, non-competitive sport just as goopy and horrifying as all the sports we typically think of as meat grinders.
• 
  Siobhan

  Shredded is an anthology of body horror stories that are centred around sports and fitness. The stories are a diverse set that cover a lot of different sports and fitness activities (including wrestling, american football, going to the gym, swimming, hockey, yoga, and gymnastics) and a range of ways in which the body horror plays out, helps and hinders. This really stands out, as you never know what kind of story you're going to get next.
  
  I really enjoyed what body horror has to say about sports and fitness, and vice versa. In particular, ideas around having the ideal body for your activity and the lengths people will go to, as well as more monstrous and uncontrollable elements of bodies pushed to their limit. I found both the stories featuring trans men particularly interesting, with one playing off ideas around T but also bear culture amongst gay men, and the other a water-based body horror that at the same time showed quite a sweet instance of a trans guy finding a place in a swimming team. Body horror has plenty to say about different kinds of bodies, but also about who finds a place within sports and fitness, which is something a lot of the stories address in some way or another.
  
  Overall, this is an impressive anthology that will make you wince and laugh, and has a lot to say about the relationships between bodies and physical activity at the same time. Sports and fitness is not a topic I would usually look for fiction about and Shredded was a chance to see that the horror side of the topic isn't confined to the jock getting killed near the start of a horror story.
• 
  Horror DNA

  Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology is the latest from the mind of
  Eric Raglin, editor of
  ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK, exploring a vital part of life: fitness! Sports, fitness, wellness and what human beings do with their bodies. Fitness is the ultimate form of control in oneself; the ability to shape and mold a body towards how a human being feels it should look.
  
  By contrast, body horror is the ultimate lack of control. Something is happening to a human body that should be, and oftentimes one is helpless to prevent it. Combining these two makes for a rip-roaring fun time.
  
  You can read Zach's full review at Horror DNA by
  clicking here.
• 
  Andrés Menéndez

  Shredded is an amazing anthology of sports-related body horror. From Ghosts possessing humans, yoga cults, wrestling fighters with a sick advantage, to a Cosmic horror event. There are so many different subgenres and characters and themes that anyone will find a story they'll enjoy. I loved this book because each tale caught my attention right at the beginning, and once the body horror started, I couldn't stop reading. It's a beautiful and horrific body of work that I can't recommend enough!
• 
  Matthew Pritt

  I breezed through this collection, and as a sports fan, it really hit my interests. Standout stories to me were
  "Avulsion" by Madeleine Sardina
  "Lucky Like Elena," by Alexis DuBon
  "Scale" by Rien Gray
  
• 
  Joseph Dolan

  Very enjoyable short story collection and in the immortal words of Ronnie Coleman, "yeaaaaa buddy; light weight!"