My short story collection, Creeping in Reptile Flesh (published by Altair Australia, 2008) has just been reviewed very positively — and dare I say insightfully — by Keith Stevenson for Aurealis #43. Here is the review:
In the Collection shortlist for the Aurealis Awards [earlier this year], there were just two titles, Creeping in Reptile Flesh and Sean Williams’s Magic Dirt (reviewed in Aurealis # 41). In any other year, Creeping would have won.
Robert Hood has been writing chilling, sickening, funny and thoughtful horror for longer than he cares to remember. Creeping in Reptile Flesh brings together some of the best from his twistedly evil mind including three previously unpublished works.
Robert’s writing has many shades. His heroes are often people just like you and me. Beset by the horrid and supernatural, they rise to the challenge or sink beneath the slime. Whatever happens, there’s humanity there, the best of us and the worst of us on show. Some pieces are brain-bendingly philosophical in their intent, like the title work and ‘Rotten Times’ which appeared in Aurealis #27/28, and my personal favourite, ‘Heartless’ (first published in Aurealis #31) which manages to be both viscerally gruesome and a cool-headed debate about whether the ‘soul’ resides in the heart or in the head. Others are funny with a sick (sometimes literally) twist, like ‘The Slimelight and How to Step Into It’ (which you can hear Robert read on the Terra Incognita podcast site at www.tisf.com.au), and ‘Rotting Eggplant on the Bottom Shelf of a Fridge’, and others are just plain weird, like ‘Dreams of Death’. There are many types of horror here to suit many tastes and all of them will please the discerning reader who enjoys good tales told well.
Should this review inspire you to want to read the book, you can buy a copy direct from the publisher or from Twelfth Planet Press’ independent publisher online bookshop.
Creeping in Reptile Flesh (both book and novella) are on the relevant Ditmar Award shortlists, so don’t forget to vote for them if you are eligible.
