Cruel Works of Nature Is Illustrated Horror Perfection
I was lucky for once and won a Twitter giveaway by UK based horror fiction author Gemma Amor for her signed book Cruel Works of Nature. I loved the cover (illustrated by Mark Pelham, the inside illustrations are done by Amor), but I did not know what to expect inside the book, hence this is my first Gemma Amor read. After reading her collection, I can say that Amor’s book is one of if not the best, indie books I have ever read in my life.
The stories in Cruel Works of Nature are darkly captivating, unique, creepy, and repulsive in the best way possible. Sometimes in collections, we find one or two duds or stories we don’t care much for, this is not one of those. Every single story held my attention, piqued my interest, and kept me wanting to know what’s going to happen. Dull moments were not present in this book. And each story is accompanied by one of her amazing illustrations.
I don’t want to spoil too much, so I’ll just tell you what to expect in these creepy tales: experimental greenery (no, not drugs), a creepy jack-in-the-box, dead bodies washing up on shore, a sinister ghost, a woman who ends up possessing a unique power, mutant spiders (shivers dramatically), crazy animals, a mad scientist, a monster, a Christmas horror, and a heartfelt story with some scares called “The Sketchbook”.
First off, let me just say that I hate spiders. Okay? Alright. Well, I can’t even watch movie scenes with spiders in them or go near the spider decorations during Halloween. And although Amor’s story “Scuttlebug” is about huge, mutated spiders that made my skin crawl, I couldn’t stop reading it. That was how I knew for certain that she is a very talented writer.
What I love about Amor’s writing in Cruel Works of Nature is that she writes similar to some of my favorite authors such as Stephen King as far as tone and delivery go. And although I love reading horror, I also love comedy and dark comedy. Amor is not only good with the scares, gory images, and creepy scenes, she’s also great with her sense of humor, and it is the right amount to have.
If you are going to purchase a book as a gift for yourself or someone you know, please consider Cruel Works of Nature by Gemma Amor. I promise you that you will be coming back for more and waiting for what she does next as I already am doing.
You can check out her website HERE and purchase the book HERE!
Don’t want to miss anything on the site? Sign up for our newsletter HERE
Want more spooky reads? Just search below:
