Reviews tagging 'Death'

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: Stories by Harlan Ellison

48 reviews

martyrbat's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, and Kidnapping

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

lowclasswarrior's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I read through the whole collection. I can definitely see this writer being very divisive for people. 

All the stories are quite dark. The titular one in particular is forlorn and grotesque, even downright chilling at times. AM is a very compelling villain. I can see how this story has influenced the scifi genre in its infancy. 

There’s an overarching theme to all of his stories: highlighting the underlying darkness that is human nature. That being said: most of the women aren’t portrayed fondly. Sexual violence and name-calling are common. They're very much written by a bitter man scorned. However, these misogynistic men aren’t portrayed as likable either. If anything, it reads like a nihilistic and forlorn man projecting his self-hatred onto women. 

To reiterate: these stories are divisive and misogyny is the dividing line. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

cry1ng_eel's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

the literal definition of: “what the fuck is going on.”

Though that’s on me for listening to it whilst driving and being in traffic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

meenot's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

thegreatbigben's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Wow, this short story was amazing. I chose to read it up because I kept seeing people online characterise the main antagonist as one of the most evil characters in fiction, and they were right. The writing perfectly catches the sense of cosmic terror without being classic cosmic horror. The story is so well-written and detailed that I could readily see its frightening nature, which is ideal for someone like me because I love to visualise everything. It's crazy to imagine that this piece was first written in the 1960s. If you like sci-fi and horror, you'll love this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Violence, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death, Sexual assault, and War

The story contains explicit and vivid details of terrible physical and psychological torture, including disturbing body horror and a long scene involving a suicide, all perpetrated by the malicious AI, A.M.. The story also includes mild representations of violence and ongoing psychological pain, as well as descriptions of cannibalism that are disturbing but not gory. There are also small instances of sexual assault, references to a global war that precipitated the apocalyptic setting, and small mentions of death and dying, all of which contribute to the story's dark and oppressive tone.

deeity's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

okay OTHER THAN the misogyny (cuz it really threw me off, wtf man) this is a good story. i love the premise, i love the audio narration, and i love the vibes. the concept reminds me of Roku’s Basilisk. i used to think “pshh i’ll just die if that happens, idc” but apparently someone changed the idea to the basilisk torturing you for eternity instead of just killing you. now, delving into what life could be like being perpetually tortured by a god-like AI, i don’t really take the idea lightly anymore

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

arllo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and War

juju_432's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I don't need a mouth to Yap

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

abicaro17's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is just as good as everyone says it is. As a group of humans are kept alive by the sentient robot that destroyed the world, they're tortured by endless life, lack of sunlight, and AM themself. It's a horrifying take on technology and human nature but it's necessary and a fun short read. Also Harlan Ellisons voice is worth a listen anyways! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

pennepasta's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis