Categorized | Fiction

Man Made Monsters Review

Posted on July 6, 2006 by Matt-M-McElroy


Available at Amazon.com

Written by Mad Marv

“Monsters are Real!” claims the ad copy of this collection of horror stories from Crypto-American Press. Mad Marv tells us about zombies and other monsters created by science and technology throughout the book. Five short stories and a mix of “Recipes” featuring how-to guides for creating golems and other creatures from myth and legend (each with a short story of its own) make up this book.

The first story, Overtime, was difficult to finish reading. It actually stopped me from completely the book a few times. It is a “zombie” tale with a few new twists and normally I’m a big fan of just about anything zombie related. This story, however, just doesn’t work. The characters have little depth and while plenty of plot hooks are presented, few of them are fleshed out in any real detail. I wasn’t sure I wanted to complete the book if it was all the same style…

…then I skipped ahead to check out the Recipes for Disaster.

These short “guides” for creating monsters are fun reading and hooked my interest once more. They combine myth and legend with short fiction that really entertains the reader in interesting ways. Want to create your very own golem? Check out Recipe #1 Golem Under Glass. Want to become a monster yourself? Read Recipe #4 Monster Mash and take your pick. The Recipes for Disaster are a great addition to the book, adding content and short stories that are worth reading.

As far as the rest of the fiction in Man Made Monsters goes, I was a little leery at first. Although after reading a couple of the Recipes for Disaster I gave it another shot and am happy I did. Mad Marv has some very entertaining stories in this collection. Two of them are particularly worth mentioning.

The Hypno-Chondriac is probably the best tale in the book. It features a protagonist with plenty of quirks that develops over the course of the story into a fully fleshed out character. This tale also has some underling commentary on the state of society and its dependence on medication for every little ache and pain that afflicts us.

Mosquito has one of my favorite lines in the entire book:

“All right, go ahead. I can see you’re dying to spill the details of your diabolical plan. Let’s have it.”

Mosquito could easily be adapted into a fun action/horror movie for the Sci-Fi Channel or some other outlet. The main character is likeable and the “bad guys” are corrupt and deserve what they get. An all around fast-paced adventure that compliments The Hypno-Chondriac in style and energy.

The writing style throughout the book is very direct and could probably have used another round of editing to fix a few style issues, but overall the stories presented in the book are a fresh way of looking at modern horror. This is definitely an author to keep an eye on and I’m looking forward to more fiction from Mad Marv…

Reviewer: Matt M McElroy

Tags | , , ,

Print This Post

Leave a Reply

Email Newsletter Sign Up

Click Here to Sign Up for FlamesRising.com's Weekly Newsletter.

You will receive horror and dark fantasy updates, news, and more once a week!


11 Tales of Ghostly Horror

    Reviews Wanted!

    The new Review Guidelines have been posted on the Flames Rising website. We are currently seeking a few good reviewers to help us expand our collection of horror and dark fantasy reviews. RPGs, fiction, movies, video games and more are all welcome on the site...

    What do you get out of it?

    Beyond helping out fellow Flames Rising readers by letting them know what you think of these products, we're giving away some pretty cool stuff. Regular Reviewers can earn free products to review, which is their to keep after the review is submitted to the site.

    Note: We are especially looking for folks interested in reviewing eBooks (both Fiction & Comics). We have lots of great titles in digital format and even get advance copies sometimes.

    Use the Contact Page to submit reviews or let us know if you have any questions.

    The Devil’s Night WoD SAS

    Free Devil's Night | White Wolf