The Slob has received critical praise and as a result, has been nominated for the 2021 Splatterpunk Awards! By the end of last year or the beginning of this one, I discovered Aron Beauregard. His stories were very extreme, but really good, and I knew there was something special about his writing. Then I read THE SLOB, and it blew my fragile and sensitive, ever-loving mind to pieces. This is a meaty read for sure. I didn’t think things could get any worse for poor Vera after The Slob, but then her crotch goblin Harold was born. Christ almighty, what a revolting creature. I loved revisiting Vera and Daniel as they embarked on their horrific, emotional journey together. Not gonna lie, I even shed a tear or two at one point. The entire plot is her entering the house of The Slob, and then being tortured, brutalised, humiliated, and sexually assaulted in the most horrific ways. Her child is aborted in a way that I can’t even describe here. At first we experience her own destruction, and then he moves onto her ‘roommate’ who is similarly subjected. They try to escape, and find even more corpses of women in a barn, each with their own ‘imaginative injuries’. Both women have their own dedicated rape scenes, and objectification is taken to the extreme with one woman’s “oral lips being sewn to her lady lips.” The amount of effort and time that is spent during these scenes describing everything in intimate detail – from The Slob’s genitals to the woman’s injuries – shows an obsessive approach to this violence. Everything else in the book is simply filler from one torture scene to the next. Don't usually Reread a book so close from reading it the first time. Read it in January this year but I just got book two.

the Slob by Aron Beauregard | Goodreads Son of the Slob by Aron Beauregard | Goodreads

THE SLOB opens with a kidnapped woman suffering trauma so we know, upfront, what we’re getting into. If all this author does is describe the brutality of innocence of a baby dying, being murdered and women being sexually abused and maimed let alone a scene about gay men dying? Homophobia too? Brutal and author clearly needs some therapeutic help but instead delves into his writing… Yes, ultra extreme in terms of the level of violence and sexual activity, but those aspects of the read just felt like much needed natural and essential elements which were required to enhance the pleasure and enjoyment of reading about such a grisly, gruesome and utterly grotesque despicable humanistic encounter. But what if someone wasn't there just to celebrate and have fun? What if the extravagant isolated destination was chosen for a more nefarious reason than assumed? What if someone at the ceremony held a dark secret? One that would see those in attendance slaughtered and humiliated in ways so nightmarish, they're beyond imagination. What if most everyone at the celebration had unknowingly attended a Wedding Day Massacre? I finally did it. I finally found something that made me want to cry and puke at the same time. This book is extremely brutal and there are so many trigger warnings. Also, don’t eat while reading it. It won’t end well.

Personally, I was more interested in the commentary of war and the mental health critique. They actual marry beautifully (if anything can be called beautiful in that novel.) The psychiatrist was infuriating to say the least, his inability to actually see what Vera needs versus what he WANTS her to accomplish. More needs to be written like this. Not only Vera needing help, but Daniel as well and the inaction that leads to dire consequences. War, I’m excited about the possibly continuation of Morris’s story. The bar has been set. For any of you who feels the violence and depravity is the most important part of the story, you need to read this book to learn about character development - because when the reader cares for the protagonist, they can FEEL the bad things happening. Aron Beauregard has written an excellent sequel to The Slob. I highly recommend it to splatterpunk readers. This story is rich in description. The reason why I rated it a 5 star. It was repulsive and vile and yet. I couldn’t stop reading it. There were moments of tension that were built up so well that I was sitting on the edge of my seat. Vera is not sharing her bed with her husband Daniel anymore. In fact, they rarely even talk, even though they still live in the same house. He can’t get over the trauma of having lost his own unborn child because of the disgusting deeds The Slob did to his wife. And he can’t forgive Vera for keeping the son of The Slob.

Aron Beauregard | Goodreads Playground by Aron Beauregard | Goodreads

In my review, I mentioned that it will be the story which sets the bar for extreme stories from then on. The Reread was definitely not "enjoyable" at the horror aspect as it's extreme gore and violence towards women and a lot of trully terrifying this happens. But I think the start was a great beginning as I got very invested in Vera, why she is so obsessed in cleaning and her life before the slob. It was a gruesome bit even in there buts it's when she meet the slob it truly begging. I should feel bad for Vera, with all she endured at the hands of The Slob and her life in this book. But I was kinda mad at her. She chose to have Harold but she didn't love him.I believe a lot of thought was put into this with the creative story that was developed, twisted elements and ending in revenge.