Title: Five Slices of Fear
Subtitle: A Connoisseur’s Hoagie of Horror
Author: Josh Hickman
Publisher: Polyester Press
ISBN: 1939197473
Pages: 237
Genre: Satire / Short Stories / Humorous Fiction
Reviewed by: Arnold Carreiro
Pacific Book Review
I was only a few pages into author Josh Hickman’s Five Slices of Fear: A Connoisseur’s Hoagie of Horror, when I realized that I was in for a quintet of chunky joke-a-second horror-esque stories with a sense of humor which falls between Looney Toons and Blazing Saddles- I’m sad to say that they just don’t make ‘em like this anymore!
As a creature feature enthusiast, I showed up for the smelly, hairy, grotesque, fear-inducing screeching of the ruby eyed Morggyll as it stalked the deepest and darkest backwoods of Maine, (A beast which incidentally sounds more like a mortally wounded shrew than anything else!), but I stuck around for the wit, silliness, clever twists, and my deep-seated appreciation for good ‘ol slapstick comedy. Five Slices of Fear is a “Hey! You got your otherworldly abomination in my Three Stooges!” sort of deal, and it works far better than you may think!
It tickled me to no end that Hickman kept me on the edge of my seat as the plot steadily edged closer and closer to the creature’s inevitable appearance, while forcing me to smirk, cackle, and smirk while rolling my eyes as I cackled at the deluge of slick jokes and sly references that hardcore monster mashers like myself will absolutely appreciate.
The other four not-so-terrible-tales are a riot too (I have a soft spot for cryptids- so sue me!), and throughout the onslaught of Lovecraftian puns, creepy killers, and non-stop jokes, I couldn’t stop from thinking how Five Slices of Fear would’ve been a cult-classic comedy if it was adapted to the big screen in the 70’s or 80’s. If you’re the kind of ghoul who appreciates timeless humor and a successful stab of horror satire, and your bookshelf shows that you have a craving for the creepy, this collection of “short-ish” stories are well worth taking a break from the dime-a-dozen zombie apocalypse to have some honest-to-Cthulhu fun.
I give Five Slices of Fear: A Connoisseur’s Hoagie of Horror a perfect Star Rating- a must read for creepy creatures with a funny bone.
