As much as I love extreme horror, the genre needs a breath of fresh air. That’s why I always appreciate it when an author takes classic genre tropes and twists them into something different.

Lucy Leitner does just that. She uses satire to unleash the bloodshed, focusing her stories around social media, internet culture, and pseudo-health fads.

Last year, I reviewed Leitner’s short story “Get Me Out of This Shimmering Oasis” after we were guests on Mothers of Mayhem’s Women in Horror panel. I received an ARC of her short story collection, Influence, and decided to feature Leitner again on my website.

As with all of my short story collection reviews, I will break each down by one story at a time. Since I already reviewed “Shimmering Oasis,” I won’t include that review here. You can read my “Shimmering Oasis” review by clicking here.

“They Say the Sky Is Full of Snakewolves”

This is a unique one from Leitner and touches on social commentary I haven’t read much from her work. This is a post-apocalyptic story centering around a man who abuses his lover because she’s…messy?

Leitner fans will love this story because it has that same ridiculous and satirical edge that we have come to know from her writing. At the same time, this is one of her most upsetting stories. Sure, our MC gets near-beaten to death if she spills something, which is pretty out there. But Leitner doesn’t take away from the heart-wrenching and fear-inducing atmosphere of domestic abuse.

Oh, and all this is happening while monsters live outside and devour humans.

Usually, Leitner makes her messages really clear, but there’s a lot to unpack in this story. Does it prove that women are never safe? Or is it an attack on those who believe in conspiracy theories, so much so to where they would rather ignore real problems? Our MC says she doesn’t even know what the monsters look like, or even if they’re really there, but she would rather stay in her abusive situation since it’s still better than succumbing to the monsters.

I also feel this is the story that’s up for interpretation. A part of me feels like Leitner is attacking conspiracy theorists. But no writer will ever mention domestic violence for shits and giggles (or at least I hope they don’t), so maybe a little bit of both?

Either way, the more I read this story, the more I appreciate it.

“Karen”

I think I will agree with all readers when I say “Karen” is the best story in this collection. I had actually been wanting to read it and even bought the Call Me Hoop edition it was in, but I ended up passing over it.

First things first, let’s explain Call Me Hoop and what it has to do with “Karen.” Call Me Hoop started as the series Fucking Scumbags Burn in Hell by Godless founder and author, Drew Stepek. The series starts with “A Little Bit Country,” where you meet Hoop. Hoop is the handler of Hell. In other words, he takes people through their own Hell. Originally, this was Stepek’s own series, and he wrote the first three stories. Then, he decided to take the character Hoop and let other authors play with the idea.

“Karen” is Leitner’s take on the Hoop series, and it’s brilliant.

As anyone on the internet knows, Karen is an entitled woman with a blonde bob, obsessed with Instagram, and develops a hobby for taking people out, whether that’s by speaking to the manager or, in this case, running over everyone with her BMW.

Her main target? Fat people. Because Karen believes that if you can’t live off coffee and run a 5K every morning, you deserve to be dragged by the wheels of her BMW. In addition to fat people, Karen takes out anyone who comes in her way—whether she’s fighting for a promotion at work or is fighting her neighbor.

While the brutality is exceptional, Leitner’s quirky details make this story magical. Karen’s Starbucks order is my favorite detail; if the Starbucks person doesn’t make her half-oat/half-almond six-pumps of syrup frappe, or whatever it is she orders, correctly, then Karen will send a nasty email to the manager.

So, where does Hoop come in? Well, he hand-picks Karen to try out his latest gadget—one where everyone can read her thoughts. And things end terribly for Karen. So terribly to where she’s living in her own Hell.

This story is hilarious and delightfully gory. I’m not even the biggest fan of horror comedy, yet I had fun with this story. My only complaint was how she treated her dog. Just kept her bulldog in the crate until it was time for Instagram photos. I hate people like that.

“The Shoebox Challenge”

“The Shoebox Challenge” is one of my least favorites in this anthology. As you can tell from the title, this story pokes fun at those stupid internet challenges. But this story doesn’t capture me as much as the last two stories.

I honestly find this a problem in nearly every anthology I read. There are some stories that I like more than others.

There’s nothing wrong with the writing; Leitner uses satire and vivid descriptions to make this story comical yet uncomfortable. She also offers details on the panic that these challenges cause, and how they affect society and internet culture as a whole. I thought that detail was interesting since many people don’t consider this.

Overall, this is a unique and well-written story but isn’t cutting it for me. I still suggest giving it a read, since it is entertaining.

“Xorcize.Me”

This is one of my favorite stories in the anthology, but it starts out a little confusing. The inventor of an exorcism AI is featured on a podcast, where he’s being interviewed. The story is a transcript of the interview.

I’m weird about paranormal stories, especially since all the tropes have been written, so I appreciate it when a writer takes a different approach to the exorcism theme. This story is brutal and detailed, but there’s enough comic relief to keep the reader amused.

As I said, this story is about an exorcism AI, so people can perform their own exorcisms without a priest. There are a couple of things I find interesting about this story.

The characters also make it seem like demonic possessions are common. I’m sure all readers interpret this as something else, but I think Leitner has something to say. Passing someone off as “possessed by a demon” belittles Western medicine, psychology, and other issues that are more grounded in reality.

Leitner also covers some demonology, and the guest explains that some vessels behave according to the demon that possesses them. There’s even a part where the creator explains they use machine learning to identify the demon. Again, that sounds like a rejection of modern medicine and psychology.

Xorcize.Me’s owner discusses every detail about the product like it’s nothing, such as the crucifix mechanism and how he came up with that idea. There’s even a part where he talks about the material of the restraints and how he wants the “victims of possession to experience as little trauma as possible.” These details may be minor, but it makes the story read more as a morbid product ad than anything else. I work in SEO and content marketing for a living, so the blend of advertising lingo and horror is very satisfying for me.

But the humor mainly comes in the small details. The banter between the creator and the podcast host makes this story entertaining. The tidbits about social media and technology give the exorcism trope a modern twist. The creator also goes into the business plan, identifying their target market and hopes for the future (such as going carbon neutral by 2026).

Overall, Leitner is able to take a bland product promo and turn it into a hilarious exorcism story. And that’s one of the many reasons why she’s one of my favorite writers now.

“The People Around You”

This one was interesting, and another one I enjoyed more with a second or third read. The story starts with a woman going to the bathroom…and coming out to discover real life turned into the comments section. Her friends all start fighting with each other, throwing insults and eventually start throwing punches. The whole time, our main character wonders what happened while she was in the bathroom.

I appreciate the message that Leitner is sending. If we behaved the way we do in the comments section, real life would be chaos. But you can’t help but wonder if people really mean what they say—and if so, how likely are they to commit acts of violence?

This is one of the shortest stories in the anthology, but it’s one of the more complex ones. It does take a couple of reads to get the full message, so that’s why I suggest going into this one with an open mind. By the second read, this story became another favorite in the anthology.

The Girl With the Lollipop Eyes (Sneak Peek)

This is a brief snippet of Lucy Leitner’s new novel, The Girl With the Lollipop Eyes. I can’t really write a review on it, since I don’t know much about the book except the synopsis and what’s written in the excerpt. All I will say is, from what I read, this story is different.

So far, I’m reading about a private detective vigilante, who wears a Mexican wrestler mask and carries a toaster. With the help of his roommate, they’re trying to prevent people in Pittsburgh from drunk driving.

I have to be honest, I’m not fully invested in the story. From the synopsis, the book sounds amusing and unique, but I’m not as sold from the excerpt as I expected. Still, I would be curious to know where the story will go. The Girl With the Lollipop Eyes is now available for preorder.

Where to Buy Influence by Lucy Leitner

I received an ARC from Leitner’s publisher, Blood Bound Books.

You can buy Influence on the Blood Bound Books website and on Amazon.