Betty Rocksteady

A voyeur becomes the one being watched, terrifying beasts are stitched together, strange new insects appear, ancient sex gods rise, and an island on the brink of madness falls apart. Betty Rocksteady's debut collection blends surrealism and horror, tearing apart tropes as words bleed and transform down unexpected avenues of nightmare logic.

In Dreams We Rot

Becca Futrell

Content Warnings: As can be figured with the synopsis, In Dreams We Rot is definitely NSFW. There’s a lot of extreme content here & I do not recommend for the faint of heart.

“In Dreams We Rot is like a fever dream” — where is the lie though? Story after story in this collection makes me feel as if I’m diving deeper into a hallucinogenic trip. Betty Rocksteady has an extremely imaginative mind & each of the stories in this collection are memorable & stick out. In fact, there’s a story in In Dreams We Rot that I wish I could forget.

In case you’re wondering which story that is, may I introduce you to These Beautiful Bones? What the what. It was beyond disturbing & I found myself cringing through the entire read. For someone who loves horror, this is not a bad thing whatsoever. The story was so bizarre, very pornographic & layered with so much gore. I probably will never read this story again, only for the simple fact that I can’t unsee what I read.

Other stories in this collection deserve comment and praise; however, doing so will take all day. Tiny Bones Beneath Their Feet is a story that features a colony of 100+ cats. My kinda story, amiright? Something is Coming shows a voyeur become the voyeuree — yes, 100% made that word up & I’m proud of it. Postpartum is a story of a widow who starts creating her own creature through the bones of others. Every single story is completely different than the one before.

In Dreams We Rot is a wonderful collection to read when you’re really looking to be disturbed & have your bones rattled. Definitely not for the faint of heart, so if you have triggers & whatnot this may be a book to stay away from. But other then that, give it a read & let me know what stories gave you the creeps!

In Dreams We Rot

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