'Beheaded' – Guy N. Smith & J.R. Park (The Sinister Horror Company)


I feel a bit sad writing this one as I'm having a blast trawling through Guy N. Smith's back catalogue and 'Beheaded' was the the last book that he was working on before he passed away. There's not a lot more to say than that really; it's sad to know that no matter how many more books of his that I manage to track down, that's the lot now.

The bottom line though is that 'Beheaded' is still another Guy N. Smith (and Justin Park, not forgetting him) book for me to read so that's exactly what I did and... Bloody Hell...

Angela, a gifted potter, wants to follow her dreams, but trapped in an abusive marriage her life is crumbling around her.

Her hatred calls across time, awakening a murderous force that proves to be something far more terrifying than an old man's ghost story.

Bloody Hell. What. A. Read.

I thought I knew what I was in for with 'Beheaded', basically more pulp horror goodness, and while I got loads of that, I got a whole load more as well.

'Beheaded' is what you get when you have two horror authors clearly egging each other on to see how far they will go in terms of delivering both chills and the resulting gore. I know what you're asking and the answer is.... pretty bloody far. Every time I thought they couldn't possibly top what they'd just done, well... They pulled something out of the hat that was even worse. I don't often say this about books but there were bits here that made me feel a little queasy, along with bits that had me yelling 'Don't go back in the bloody house!' at the book. It's a neat , and slightly different, take on your typical haunted house tale and it's exploration of how hate can live on, down the years, has more than a few surprises in store for readers. That's all I'll say here because that ending has to be experienced cold, as it were. Lets just say that I had loads of questions and this was one of the things that kept me turning those pages. There is plenty to get your teeth into here.

A lot of fun to read then, no question about it. I've got no idea who wrote which pieces of 'Beheaded' but it all hangs together very well which is the key thing here. There's no disjointed 'he wrote that and someone else wrote that' and I think that's the biggest compliment that you can pay a book with more than one author. There are no egos here, just two writers out to tell the best story that they can, and I think they do.

'Beheaded' is a brutal read and doesn't take any prisoners. There's a lot more to it than you think though and I had to see how it all ended. I have no doubt that fans of Guy N. Smith will find a lot to enjoy here and I'll definitely be looking for more books by Justin Park.

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