Thank you to NetGalley and Dragon's Roost Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

The book as a meal: Today I was hungry for something different, and it ended with a salty aftertaste

The book left me: Feeling very filthy?

Why did this call out to me?

These two genres combined is something I haven't read yet, so I thought it would be fun to pick up. I had a hope this would please my inner "monster-f'er" 

Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?

Sadly, put-down-able. A lot of the stories blend together and don't do enough to feel different from one another. They also drag for a long time. Although I appreciate the "details", I wish it was a bit more "action" oriented rather than "described". 

Issues:

Very very filthy material that borderlines on the disgusting

Several stories last for too long

Almost every single story feels or reads the same way

Good things:

Dares to wade in water that is usually a little too out there for many

Described in a way that let me "live in the moment" of the stories

How did it feel to read?

It felt like reading something off AO3 with enough tags to break the system. It has "indie author" written all over it (yay indie authors). I was thrown back to a time where I hid my screen away from the door in the fear that my parents would catch me interacting with something way above my age rating. But even when I am old enough and don't have to worry about it, I still felt the compulsion to tilt my phone far away

What mood would I read this in?

It is late at night, I can't sleep becasue tomorrow is halloween, and I need something to get that energy out ;--) 

Where does this fall in my tier list ranking?

Sadly this is a high D tier book. Although I liked some of the stories well enough, it didn't capture me in the way I hoped it would. I might not be the right person to read this book, but I do know some people in my life that would love it

Favorite poems/stories:

Graphite

Bite

The Roses of Heliogabalus

The Leatherman

What they don't tell you about the Mummy's Curse

"Let them watch on, voyeurists of brutal euphoria, and tell me there is no beauty in destruction." 

I LOVED this book. Stories, worlds apart, interwoven by sanguine threads. I was caught in a rapid cycle of disgust, desire, and delight from start to finish. 

It features so many new-to-me authors as well as some familiar favorites.  

If you enjoyed Brute edited by Steve Berman, I bet you'll love this book, too. 

This was my first NetGalley title. Thank you so much for the chance to check this book out for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.