Body Shocks

Starred review from May 24, 2021
Hugo Award–winning editor Datlow (Edited By) brings together 29 spine-tingling tales of body horror to terrify even the most seasoned horror reader. These visceral works take myriad approaches to the genre, but all revel in the grotesque possibilities of the human body. “The Old Women Who Were Skinned” by Carmen Maria Machado is an eerie, cautionary fable about the pitfalls of vanity. Terry Dowling’s stomach-churning “Toother” follows the grim exploits of a serial killer who collects the teeth of his victims. The woman in Kirstyn McDermott’s “Painlessness” feels no pain when injured and makes her living giving men an outlet for their violent fantasies. In “The Lake” by Tananarive Due, a woman metamorphoses into a predatory sea creature. A confectioner transforms his fiancée’s ghost into delectable treats enjoyed by the Parisian elite in Lisa L. Hannett’s grossly gluttonous and deliciously weird “Sweet Subtleties.” Cassandra Khaw’s intense “The Truth that Lies Under Skin and Meat” follows a werewolf who takes distinct pleasure in devouring her victims, much to the dismay of her handler. And Simon Bestwick’s bizarre alternate history “Welcome to Mengele’s” takes readers into a Nazi doctor’s movie theater where patrons watch their sickest fantasies play out on screen. These wholly original and truly chilling tales are not for the faint of heart.