As horror writers, we wonder about our true intentions. We create justifications for the disturbing work we create. Is there a deeper metaphor for the violence and depravity? Or do we enjoy hurting our characters and disturbing our readers?
These are questions the reader should ask when reading Paula D. Ashe’s short story anthology We Are Here to Hurt Each Other. Her justification for the stories she writes is a simple one: “…people’s pain is valid” is what she writes in her outro. And she definitely goes to lengths to hurt people in many ways. Ashe goes to places where very few writers are brave enough to go to; this book explores topics such as the typical murder and gore, but also necrophilia, incest, and more.
I reviewed Ashe’s short story “The Mother of All Monsters” and absolutely loved it. I connected with Ashe on Twitter and she sent me an ARC of her short story collection. Even though her stories put you in a dark place, Ashe seems delightful and I thought it was very sweet that she sent me this ARC.
As far as the anthology is concerned, the stories are all shocking, but Ashe writes her morbid tales in a beautiful manner. I liked every story here; there are some I like more than others and some I wish were longer or shorter. But overall, I highly recommend this short story collection – especially if you’re looking for shorts on the disturbing side.
I will go ahead and mention what I think of each story. I won’t give away any spoilers, but serious trigger warnings across the board.
Aspects of Emptiness
I fell in love with this story. There’s so much mystery in this one story alone.
I also love the disturbing start of this story. “Go into a room with a mirror…dim the lights…now stare at yourself…at some point, you’ll start to ‘unrecognize’ yourself.”
This is a killer way to start off the short story collection.
Carry On, Carrion
This story continues from the first one. We see more from “The Man With the Face of Teeth” (I hope this is a character who will come up in more of Ashe’s work) but he’s still such a mystery.
This one is more disturbing than the last. A woman who was living her normal life meets Face of Teeth, and now she’s completely changed. And she becomes more disturbing than you could ever expect. The Man With the Face of Teeth, and his followers, have an uncanny intrigue to them and influence others…in the worst ways possible.
My only complaint is that Ashe didn’t go as far with this story as I would have liked. Who is The Man With the Face of Teeth? Why is he doing this to random people?
All the Hellish Cruelties of Heaven
This one is interesting but perplexing. There’s a lot going on here. We first learn about a number of dead bodies and meet a woman who does…well, quite disturbing things to homeless people. The woman has a strange fascination with the murders and goes to great lengths to discover who the killer is.
There is more to this story than this, but I think this story is a little too dense. This is a story I struggled with and had to re-read it quite a few times, even now I’m not understanding all of the details. It is an interesting concept but it isn’t one of my favorites in the collection.
Grave Miracles
There’s a lot of poetry in this collection. I had to be honest, I’ve never been the biggest fan of poetry. I always expect something to happen. But with the disturbing imagery that Ashe offers us, I can’t help but enjoy her poems — especially this one.
Ashe does tell a little story in her poems, which is something I appreciate. But the language she uses in this poem is what gets me. How descriptive everything is, like “licking the fluids from the brain.” You’re still able to place yourself in the character’s shoes, making this poem even more unsettling.
Exile in Extremis
I love the new trend in extreme horror fiction where stories aren’t limited to chapters. We can now write stories as emails, text messages, and even social media posts.
Ashe takes a stab at this trend with “Exile in Extremis.” The story follows two characters: a writer (Elle) and the editor of a magazine (David). The story starts out with emails and moves on to online messages. The editor is contacting the writer about a graverobber story she published, and what follows is…intense.
You not only learn more about the crimes that Elle wrote about, but you also learn more about who Elle really is. I like how the story gets progressively creepier, and the fact that all communication is digital makes this story even more relatable. This is one of my favorites in the entire book and you can’t help but get close to both characters, even though Elle is really sketchy.
Jacqueline Laughs Last in the Gaslight
I absolutely loved this one. Ashe takes a different approach to the Jack the Ripper case — and the killer is the last person you would ever suspect.
However, the story doesn’t focus on the murders as much as you would expect. Actually, it focuses on a newly married couple who try to introduce the Whitechapel denizens to God.
I also like how Ashe almost wrote this as if it were all taken place in the time period. While the language she uses is beautiful, it doesn’t take away from the horrors that this story will unfold. The grimy Whitechapel district, the violence, and the depraved people who frequent there.
Even so, you can’t help but wonder if life is really that much different now. The juxtaposition of people living in poverty, resorting to criminal activity to survive, and those who have money, who live safe and sound in their homes and wear clean clothes — until they stumble into Whitechapel or a similar district. Sure, Jack the Ripper may not be stalking your hometown, but the horrors still remain the same.
I won’t give too much away because the reader has to be surprised by Jack the Ripper’s true identity, but the direction that Ashe takes with this classic story is so interesting.
Because You Watched
One thing I have to give Ashe is she covers unspeakable topics, such as c***d abuse, that so many authors are too afraid to tackle. But Ashe does so in a way that doesn’t victimize the characters. Instead, she speaks with so much emotion to where you feel for the characters, even if they do horrendous things after the abuse.
This story is the perfect example. We meet two siblings: Taze and Marissa. The two discovered their sister, Lily, gave birth and she wants to see her siblings. This should be a wonderful thing, but Lily is crazy. As such, the two have no idea what to expect.
From here, Ashe tells a story of abuse, family, and how the siblings live their lives as adults. We see how abuse can destroy a family, but also how it can tear apart siblings. And these three will re-live some of their worst nightmares — that is if they live.
A Needleshine Litany
This is another example of Ashe divulging in topics that “go there.” However, she doesn’t go into intricate details. You know what’s about to happen when the man sets the little girl on the dusty couch in the abandoned home. Then the man takes out the surgical bag with the instruments, and you know what’s about to happen. Or, you think you know what’s about to happen. All I can say is, that little girl is more dangerous than you would expect.
The next story is “The Mother of All Monsters,” but you can read my review for that one. All I can say is I absolutely loved it and it’s one of my favorite stories in this whole collection.
The Witness
This is another poem. As I stated previously, I think my problem with poetry is it doesn’t follow a story. I always expect more to happen and to come to an understanding of what it all means. This is an example of a poem where I don’t come to that conclusion.
The poem is twisted and disturbing. Ashe uses vile language to describe the dreadful scene. But I’m left with more questions than anything. Still, the poem is beautiful, even if it is morbid.
Bereft
This is by far one of my favorite stories in this entire collection. I read so much extreme horror to where I’m pretty desensitized. But this story challenged me.
We meet two sisters. You learn that one sister, Angeline, is dead. The other sister, Anessa, visits Angeline’s body in the communal living home where she’s living.
Even though Ashe describes Angeline’s room as cheerful, you know something is wrong. Other than the fact that she committed suicide, why would a woman who’s nearly 40 have toys and children’s books?
What happens next is Anessa dealing with the grief of her sister’s death…in an absurd way. When she commits…those actions, you can only wonder why she’s doing this. Then, the memories of their childhood flood the pages. What the reader learns is both women have their own issues that stemmed from their childhood.
When reading this story, ask yourself if Anessa was helping her sister or only hurting her more.
Telesignatures From a Future Corpse
This is the last story in the collection. It was very promising, but I feel this story went on too long. While the ending was interesting, it leaves you with more questions than answers.
We first land on a crime scene on the beach. One of many, as the detectives hint. The children all died horrible deaths. Such brutal crimes in their small town? Who wudda thunk? Of course, the killer perfectly concealed everything. The police know they only have so long until this elusive killer finds another victim.
There are details that are beyond the police. For example, they discover the killer kept the kids alive for a couple of months, though they were all in fine health before their deaths. They also have no idea where or how the killer even abducted them.
But then the story gets…odd. The whole story falls apart after a massive accident. This is when a lot happens and it’s tough to keep track of all of the details. Even after re-reading the story, some details make more sense, but I still wonder how everything is connected.
All I can say is that this is more than the classic whodunnit murder story. Ashe turns this child murder nightmare into something out of this world.
Where Can You Buy We Are Here to Hurt Each Other?
You can buy We Are Here to Hurt Each Other on Amazon.