05/02/2026 - Danielle's Dark Corners

Happy Saturday! I don’t have a cute intro today. These books are far too good to even come up with something cheeky to say. Let’s just dive in. Enjoy!

CANDY DISH

by Mattew Lutton

“cacophony”

Lutton isn’t new to me as a person, but he is new to me as an author in the sense that other than perhaps in an anthology, this is the first time I really sat down and read one of his books and now a review. It’s funny how this one in particular came to be. I sometimes make posts and ask authors and readers to comment books that they would like to see more eyes on and Lutton has always commented this book in particular. I also remember a time when we were joking around, and he said that the word “cacophony” was used quite a bit. I have a weird thing with the word (lol), so I'm like, okay, we’re going to count how many times it’s in this. I was expecting it to be a double-digit number. But out of ten short stories, and over 100 pages, it was only in there TWICE! Ok—onto the review!

As mentioned above, CANDY DISH is a collection featuring ten short stories. I will be the first to admit that collections usually aren’t my thing, and because I go into books blind, I had no idea that this was a collection. That being said, I was absolutely blown away. Collections usually take me a while to get through but I read this one in less than a day. EVERY SINGLE STORY hit exactly how it was intended. The most impressive part to me is Lutton’s ability to tell such wild and horrific tales in ten pages. Like, some of these stories would typically be stretched out to 100+ pages on their own, and had Lutton done that, I would’ve been thrilled based on his writing style, but this man possesses the ability to curate horror using a limited amount of words, and it was really something that has now made me a huge fan.

These stories are all different in their tone and pacing and themes, BUT the writing style is one that is unique to Lutton, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's really just reiterating what I said above but in different words.

I highly recommend and encourage everyone to take a chance on this collection. It’s perfect if you’re new to his work and it’s perfect if you're familiar with his work (I assume, lol). I foresee this collection ending up on my top reads list for the year, and I am really excited to dive more into Lutton’s work.

Synopsis:

From the demented mind that brought you stories in 10 Drink Minimum, Matthew Lutton has filled the bowls with junk and loaded the dishes with razor blades and cough drops with 10 new gross, scary and f*cked up tales of terror.

Available on Amazon. Get it here.

THIS IS FOR JAZZ

by Zach Graham

“Things had gotten real. My anxiety was high, but I had to stay cool. There’s a lot of work to do, and it all must get done today. It’s the only way it’ll work. That’s partially why I wanted to do this alone. I didn’t need any potential distractions.”

THIS IS JAZZ ruined my entire life. This book is heartbreaking to the core. It’s poetic justice. And it is absolutely amazing.

This one is hard to write a review for because there’s so much I want to say but also so much I don’t want to say so it doesn’t ruin the reader’s experience. THIS IS JAZZ gave me 13 Reasons Why vibes, but if the plot was more about the main character taking revenge on those who wronged them. But it goes so much deeper than that. The FMC and MMC have the most incredible development. The story is told in a way that you're fully immersed and need to swipe that Kindle again and again to see what will happen next. BUT it’s also super heavy, so at times I definitely needed to take a breather.

There’s an alternative ending, too which I was super excited about… only to have it completely ruin my entire being as well. I mean this in the best ways possible because sometimes you need to read a book that is just going to absolutely destroy you. And this was the one for me.

It’s a tough read given the subject matter, but the payoff is worth it, and I cannot recommend this book enough. I am honestly shocked that it isn’t talked about more and would really love to see that change!

Synopsis:

The things people will do for the ones they love is an admirable quality, but when the person you love the most has been wronged in the worst of ways, it’s sometimes shocking to see the lengths someone will go to in order to attempt to right those wrongs.

High school should be about living life to the fullest—making friends, having relationships, and attending parties. This is the norm for Connor and Jazz, an upperclassmen couple at Larson High School in west Tennessee. The two of them were the happiest of couples until recent events shattered their world and turned them down a dark path.

When it became clear that local law enforcement wasn’t going to do anything to punish those responsible for what happened, the two vengeful teenagers decide to take matters into their own hands. Along their journey, the murderous couple uncover shocking details that reveal why Jazz became the target of such a heinous and unforgivable crime.

CONTENT WARNING: This book contains scenes depicting extreme violence.

Available on Amazon. Get it here.

OVER HIS DEAD BODY

by Jessa Riot

“As a self-proclaimed expert on my inner workings, his profound analytics would surely save me if I only ever listened. Astoundingly, he seems to lack the ability to direct that talent towards himself. I suppose it’s much easier and more poetic to just be so broken that there is no hope. So damaged the conscious choice is made to no longer bother with what you have inside.”

OVER HIS DEAD BODY is exactly what I needed in my life. This book had me in a chokehold from the first page. One thing I love about Jessa Riot is how much you can tell she puts into a book. The formatting is always superior. Even the author’s notes before and after. Right down to the playlist that is curated specifically for certain chapters, etc., and the writing? Riot has a writing style that is absolutely intoxicating. It has a poetic feel and even in the more depraved moments, it reads beautifully.

This is an author who I think is probably one of the most underrated in the community. I have now read four books by her, and the styles have been different, but they also hold the unique style that only Riot possesses. As I said above, it’s poetic in nature. Make no mistake though, OVER HIS DEAD BODY has ALL the triggers and is absolutely depraved and vile, but holy cannoli is it told well.

Not only do I recommend everyone grab this book and hyping it the hell up, but I also recommend everyone go and grab multiple books by Riot and binge-read them until your heart is finally content. It’s worth it. I promise. I have literally read 150 pages of her writing in one sitting. I am currently about to start a 500-page book by her as well and have a feeling I will move swiftly through it. Trust me on this one. Read this author.

Synopsis:

Sometimes before you throw the whole man away, you have to spend some time with his corpse and reflect. Sometimes you have to go with the flow, however dark it may be and wherever it leads you. Sometimes a woman’s screams are valid. A journey of two bodies, one alive and one dead, this story explores the blurred lines between love, sex, life, death, and what it means to be human. Over His Dead Body is a raw, macabre waltz of abstracts, swirling emotions, and love that won’t stick.

Available on Godless.

Also available on Amazon.

RICH PEOPLE $HIT

by Eric Williford

“Show me someone who dies with no haters, and I’ll show you someone who never experienced life.”

“Many contradictions come into play when one attempts to define what is known as Hollywood. It’s a weird amalgam of artists, hustlers, elitists, wannabes, nepotism, and self-care mysticism. If you try to wrap your brain around all these things at once, you’re liable to go crazy.“

“There’s a very good chance the poodle and the gun-toting koala aren’t really here and the dead flamingo shrooms have something to do with this.”

“Concerned Citizens Auction. It’s hosted by the LAPD. All the money goes to curing erectile dysfunction in pandas.”

I will not even come close to pretending. This book review, in particular, has been haunting me for a week and is the most intimidating one I have ever done. Why, you ask? Because I have never in my life read something like it in the indie horror community and it is the most impressive thing I have read in a really freaking long time. There are NO words that I can say that will ever do this book the justice it deserves, but I shall try.

RICH PEOPLE $HIT was such a good time to read. It is beyond unique and super diverse. The writing style is such a vibe and smooth to read, I have no idea if that makes sense, but I hope it does, lol. It takes on black culture and Hollywood at its truest but weirdest forms. Hollyweird, if you will. The dialogue was impeccable. The characters were phenomenal. The storyline was fantastic. The writing style, which almost felt like a playwright, was off the chart. The uniqueness overall was out of this world.

This book contains a sentence that is THREE PAGES long. Not three kindle swipes. THREE PAGES if you were reading the physical copy. One sentence. No punctuation. It’s absolutely bonkers. It reads like butter. You don’t cringe. You sit there and wonder when it will end, but don’t want it to end, and then you’re just mesmerized to the point of staring at the wall blankly for a solid ten minutes and question everything you’ve ever known about reading and writing. Insanity.

I could write a literal thesis on why I think this book should be read by every single person in the community. But that would be too lengthy and really, I'm just going to throw a Hail Mary and hope you trust me on this one. I REALLY need everyone to go to Godless asap and get this book, and we really need to be talking more about it as a community, because holy shit. Yeah, it really is like that.

Synopsis:

A desperate filmmaker meets with a mysterious investor. $hit gets weird.

Available on Godless.