Horror Book Review: The Book of Spite: A Collection of Extreme Cosmic Horror Stories (R.F. Blackstone)

Welcome to the Book of Spite. Its pages written in the tears and blood of those unfortunate enough to possess it. The owner, the great and terrible god Ch’ait, hurls it into our realm with no other reason than for its own entertainment.

The book twists, torments, and perverts all who come across it. Including the four tales of love and lost, violence, sacrifice and untold horror found within. Will you be Ch’ait’s and its vile tome of disturbing knowledge’s next victim?

Do you dare open, The Book of Spite?

We did and we enjoyed every minute of it. Every gore-soaked, horror-filled, nightmarish minute of it.

R.F. Blackstone has a talent for writing the bloodiest of horror, the kind that has a certain glee to it. On the one hand his other-worldly nightmarish creations conjure up the likes of Lovecraft but on the other the visceral bloodiness of it all is more akin to Clive Barker.

Every flesh tearing moment, every broken bone and every mind lost to Ch’ait is felt. It’s filled with all manner of dread across the four stories with The Book of Spite linking them all.

The first is The Cabins and sees two detectives investigating a cabin where a massacre has taken place. Connected to other killing frenzies that have occurred, the two men dig deep and uncover a terrifying truth. All hail Ch’ait.

The second is The Outback, a story we reviewed separately a few months ago. Set in Australia, a woman tries to survive a zombie apocalypse while also fighting off human threats too. She trusts no-one until she meets a dog.

Up next is The White Dress, the best of the four stories and also the most stomach churning. In it we see the lengths a man will go for love and how high the cost of his decisions are. Ch’ait enjoys suffering and the Book of Spite is the doorway to him. Be prepared, if you’re easily shocked then this is going to knock your socks off.

Finally it’s one for the metal fans with Metalpocalypse. A death metal band has used the Book of Spite to make it big but of course, Ch’ait demands payment and his prices are very high and very bloody.

This is a short story collection well worth checking out provided you can stomach its intense violence and gore. R.F. Blackstone is such a talent and his other-worldy creations are fascinating to read about.

Pick it up yourself over on Amazon.