When an author cautions me about triggers, I don’t usually think much of it. I read a lot of extreme horror and splatterpunk. I have consumed what some might consider to be worrying amounts of true crime media. I am not saying I am completely desensitized. I’ve read plenty of stuff that makes me cringe and have all kinds of strong feelings, but it is rare that I read a scene that makes me put the book down and really think about whether I want to continue. I’m not going to give a synopsis of each story, but I will say that most of them did not end the way I expected.

The first one that made me WTF was The Art of Seduction. It’s told from the point of view of a fairly mundane man going on about what women are attracted to and how he is none of these things, but he figured out a workaround that has the ladies coming to him. He is somehow a ladies’ man. The last line of this story made me literally laugh out loud. My favorite story is called The Hunger. Cannibal stories are my favorite. And of course this one is not your average cannibal story.

Wilson considers The Barn the darkest thing he has written and will ever write, and it really is plenty shocking, gory, and depraved. But I personally found Shadowed Justice to be far worse, mainly due to one scene unlike any I’ve ever read. I had a nice chat with him before writing this review and I know this one affected him too. It’s always nice to get a peek at an author’s creative process and inspirations. I look forward to reading more of Wilson’s work.