This week I have something a little bit different than what I normally review here on UDH, but it's something that horrified me in ways I don't normally experience. With a bonus short story to lighten the mood!
I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy
1. I know this isn’t what you’re used to seeing here on Uncomfortably Dark and I questioned if I should include this here, but holy crap…
2. This memoir is so much more horrifying than many of the books I’ve reviewed before. Why? Because the horrors within these pages are real-life. This isn’t contrived from the sickest of imaginations (authors, you know I love you!), these are heartbreaking situations that a child was put into. There were parts of this book that turned my stomach as badly as “that one part of Playground” – IYKYK.
3. I’m going to liken this to reading Jack Ketchum’s ‘The Girl Next Door’. I realize that book is fictional, but it’s also loosely based on the murder of Sylvia Likens. While the abuse McCurdy suffers may not be as acutely physical, it is certainly as dangerous in a chronic way.
4. As a childhood abuse survivor I typically find comfort and healing in reading fiction about those very themes. However, I learned with this book that reading non-fiction about those things affects me very differently. I had to take a break for a week during this book because it was bringing on some big feelings. I read this back in May and there’s still not a day that passes where I don’t think about it at least once. Which is why I’m putting it here on UDH. I found it to be a difficult read, but still a great story.
5. Please know your triggers if you’re going to read this one. If you, like me, are a glutton for punishment, then please be in a good head-space. I do highly recommend this one even though it was not an easy read. Read safe, Friends!
LOT LIZARDS by Ryan Hyatt
1. This short story (57 pages) is another absolute hit from Hyatt!
2. I’m not exactly sure how to categorize what Hyatt writes, but I’ll call it hilariously accurate dystopian bizarro horror. He has a way of being incredibly up-front about things - ie: car salespersons tend to be sleazy, or at least that’s the stereotype - but in a creatively hilarious way. For this book he does it by making those sleazy salesmen lizard people who kidnap humans for nefarious reasons; this time they’ve messed with the wrong family.
3. Lot Lizards is an incredibly short and entertaining read. If you’re a fan of laughing through your horror and don’t mind a bit of gore, then I highly recommend you stop by Rick’s Discount Auto for a look around 😉
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