Book Review: How To Make A Monster

Raveena Reed, stage name Raven Red was a drop-dead gorgeous stripper. She was the fulfiller of fantasies. A walking dream. She could be all that men wanted her to be. For the right price. And to her, it was just as simple as that.
Booze, men, drugs and debauchery were her daily routine. She snorted, she smoked, she sucked back anything she could get her hands on and the casual observer would think it all went down with the job. Because being this kind of a disgusting monster comes with the territory when you're in Raveena's line of work.
But Raveena hadn't always been the monster she eventually became. And the booze and drugs... they were the only thing that kept the dark thoughts away.
Until one day when Raveena goes too far and is forced to face them head on.

For her heartbreaking story and the gripping way her pain jumps off the page, this tale gets a full 5 star rating from me. In the loveliest shade of red.

How to Make a Monster - Way no.1 - through nightmares and the dark things we harbor within ourselves. - poignantly rendered by this author here, in a way that will make your hair stand on end through vividly described scenes worthy of the creepiest horror movie.... The awesome kind, when you just KNOW shit's about to happen and you SEE the creepy coming and yet you cannot help that 'OMG'-reaction when it really does! Because of an awesome cinematic style that this author nails.


Story no. 2 - Spray Paint will provoke a completely different reaction. And yet, just as strong as the first. Or perhaps even stronger.



'We often forget our own sins when we have the chance to judge the sins of another.'
This is what lies at the core of this story. One about jealousy, racism and hate.

Everett Obada was one of a handful of blacks in the small town of Courtville. Despite being a lot more light skinned than the others, he would never be light enough for the town, no matter how much his mother insisted racism was a diminished thing. And one cannot help but get angry at the injustice and bullying he has had to face at the hands of those who call him 'nigger' or disguise their racism with mirth.
And yet, Everett is lucky. Because he gets to call one of the most beautiful white girls of the town his own. His girlfriend had ditched one of the richest and coolest white guys for him. And that was something neither the town nor the ex boyfriend would forgive.
Payback is given in the form of a fully trashed apartment, complete with a whole range of obscenities spray painted all over the walls. And Everett is bound to remember every single detail that had led to this.

Anger and hate are difficult to suppress, and one's own guilt is so easily disregarded when faced with that of another! A wrong step taken in anger and a single can of spray paint left behind in spite - these two little things turn more than one life upside down and shed a gory light on the real monster of this tale.
5 spray painted stars for a story that got under my skin. One that will remain with me for a long time after.

Story no. 3 - Casper


You can find my full review for it here

Story no. 4 - Choke me Hard is one that will make you reflect about all the different types of love out there.



Hard. Harsh. Violent. Sometimes this is love. Between two broken people, in their own fucked up broken way.

Love for a partner, love for a friend and ultimately, love for one self.
The last thing Freedom expects after telling his two best friends that he plans to propose to his girlfriend is to hear the word “no”. Not from her, but from them. The problem? The men he hopes to make his groomsmen are about to tell him exactly what his wife-to-be would like best on their wedding night.

This is the story in essence. But what the blurb doesn't tell you is what lies behind it all. Not one, but several ways to turn a perfectly normal human being into a monster. Addiction as the main culprit is laid out here by Dimaro in his usual straightforward way. Addiction of different types and degrees. Uncommon perhaps and very difficult to understand, but real addictions nonetheless. Ones that turn good people into monsters in the eyes of others. And reading this we just have to wonder at the reasons behind them.

But there is more here. This is a story of love after all. How far are we willing to go for the love of a friend? How much backlash are we willing to take from the one we need to bear a bad news to? When we know we're adding more cracks to something already so clearly damaged!?
Because 'it takes genuine love to go headlong into a situation knowing that you will have to bear the full brunt of someone's pain, their anger, maybe even their blame.'
And then you might end up always doubting and wondering. What if your interference has been the last drop? And what if it had been better to not say anything after all? Then what makes a monster after all.

4.5 stars for a masterfully outlined conundrum here.



Story no. 5 - Daily Special gives us another addiction. But this time, it's one we have all heard about. The addiction to fame. And sometimes, the obsession with fame can top that of any other. After all,

'The scariest monsters are human beings and what we will do to each other.'



Hubert Jenkies was an addict, a junkie, a man of continuous craving. Not for drugs or booze, but for fame. He wanted to be the most famous chef in the world. Alas, his cooking was only mediocre and despite managing to make a somewhat famous name for himself as well as own a little hotel, our Hubert couldn't be content. He wanted more. And he wanted it to the extent of obsession. But what will he do when his wish is fulfilled? And will he be willing to pay the price?

Creepy, bloody and hair-stand-on-end horrifying at times, this story will set into the spotlight how low human beings can sink. And I absolutely loved it! Not only because it features even the Red Raven from our first story, but because of the tale itself. Dark, imaginative and absolutely brilliant, this Daily Special is one in which Dimaro serves you several of the blackest shades of the human soul. And he pulls it off like a charm!

5 special stars for a story you will remember long after turning the last page.

Story no. 6 - The Man in Cell Number 6 is one worthy of a kickass episode of 'The Twilight Zone'



Everyone carries around his own monsters. And this tale here is a perfect example.

Bars and a bright light were the first 2 things the Man in Cell Number 6 noticed upon opening his eyes. He was in a cell and had no memory whatsoever of what could have led him there.
Alone and seemingly forgotten, wondering if he hadn't been left to rot in a timeless cell for a crime he could not remember, the Man - because he doesn't really have a name yet - is slowly overwhelmed by hunger, thirst, desperation and despair. And worse - withdrawal is hitting him hard.
The Man had been high and drinking very often. Practically daily to be more exact. So going cold turkey all of a sudden was quite a bit more than he could handle. Delirium Tremens is ravaging his body and this author did a brilliant job describing it here.

From the hysterical laugh of one who understands his mind is falling to pieces; to that thin line in between madness and sanity - being just sane enough to know that there is something wrong, but not crazy enough to stop giving a fuck. - It's all masterfully laid down.

The Man desperately wants to remember what led to him ending up in the cell. But, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for; it may not be quite what you were hoping for.
Caught up in nightmarish hallucinations worthy of the creepiest horror movies, The Man in Cell Number 6 reveals the ugliest parts of not only himself but also many others.
And then that end!!! I'm telling you people! Twilight Zone at it's best!!

5 red light stars from me.

Story no. 7 - Girl 22 is another one that's difficult to read, because of the message it conveys.

'Rather than being able to have a healthy relationship with our own sexual imagination, we're driven into some dark corners by shame and embarrassment and guilt, and those dark corners breed all sorts of monsters.' - Alan Moore

Here Dimaro exposes in his usual direct 'rip the band-aid off the festering wound' way, a surefire proof way to become a horrible monster while driven by three of the most common human feelings: shame, embarrassment and guilt.
A.J. Diovelli is, in his own words, 'not a nice guy'. With the occasion of his 30th birthday he set himself a certain goal: to have meaningless sex with 30 women. Why? Because he's an idiot is what I would have said. An opinion he himself voices after going through girl number 25.

A.J. was determined to get to 30. His conscience be damned and consequences be damned too.... apparently.
But girl 22 had sort of put a hamper in his lucky streak. Something she had told him had set an unbelievable weight on A.J.'s shoulders. Something that he was trying his best to NOT think about and miserably failing at. And here is where you have to wonder: what if?! What if he had thought about it? And why?! Why is there so much shame, embarrassment and guilt involved?
If he manages to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room or crashes headlong into the stuff he so badly tries to NOT think about, I'll leave that for you to find out. But I bet you will NOT see that end coming.

5 dark stars for a story that shocks, challenges and provokes the reader to look deep down inside, regardless of how uncomfortable that may be. Because there may be dark corners within each and every one of us.

Story no. 8 - Footprints In The Dust was perhaps the most difficult to read for me. Not only because of a raw and graphic rape scene it describes, but also because of the pain, suffering and sorrow it so eloquently and compellingly depicts. 

There is so much hurt in this tale, that it will make you wanna scream at the anguish of the victim. Because each time she thought she had gone through the worst of it, every time she thought that things could not possibly become more unbearable, she was exposed to a knew form of torture.
'It's incredible how the memory of an evil done to you can be even more painful than the deed itself.' And Dimaro has an unbelievably poignant way of expressing it.

I will not tell you a lot about the plot of this story, because I do not want to spoil. But know that it's a journal. The journal of Alexandria McAllister, who was witness to the end of the world.

She goes through hell and her journey is one wrought with unbelievable pain and suffering. Not at the hand of monsters. But at the hand of men. And I was moved beyond belief by her emotional journey. Living on the brink in between life and death; wishing either for one or the other. Her fear and terror were downright crushing. And perhaps because of that, her resolve was utterly inspiring. Which resolve, you ask?
The resolve soldiers have when they understand their time is up, and they refuse to go out with anything other than their dignity and pride.

This one gets 5 dauntless stars from me!


Sometimes monsters can be more horrible than monsters.
- Rick Riordan
And Felix Dimaro has a heck of a way of pointing it out!

How To Make a Monster - The Loveliest Shade of Red is a MUST READ for each and every one of us out there. It is a shocking reminder to every human being out there, that we can ALL suddenly veer down the path towards monstrosity.
We never really know which side of the line between humanity and monstrosity we are truly on. We all must balance on that thin knife edge at times, tilting to either one side or the other.
And this anthology clearly shows you, it can go both ways!

Check out this book and more of Felix I.D. Dimaro here.