heyfarahey's review
3.0
This favourite local author of mine is a freaking sick psycho.
I find the stories very interesting compared to the Dark Highways, which mostly revolved on marriage story. Hard Core deals with various background stories - domestic abuse, children's birthday parties, tattoos, Bibik, love and evil-cult stuffs. Grotesque and hauntingly gore. Vey puke inducing, jangan baca sebelum atau selepas makan. However, the story structure and character developments are under-developed and it's too fast paced - I didnt notice this when I was reading Dark Highways, probably because I was still young at that time.
My favourite stories are - Our Dad's Girlfriend, Cans, The Tourist and The Grim Facts of Anita Z.
I find the stories very interesting compared to the Dark Highways, which mostly revolved on marriage story. Hard Core deals with various background stories - domestic abuse, children's birthday parties, tattoos, Bibik, love and evil-cult stuffs. Grotesque and hauntingly gore. Vey puke inducing, jangan baca sebelum atau selepas makan. However, the story structure and character developments are under-developed and it's too fast paced - I didnt notice this when I was reading Dark Highways, probably because I was still young at that time.
My favourite stories are - Our Dad's Girlfriend, Cans, The Tourist and The Grim Facts of Anita Z.
mobyskine's review
3.0
The after-effect of reading DARK HIGHWAYS making me getting another book by Megat Ishak. "Not for the squeamish" it says at the back but honestly the squeamish was bearable to me. I love the thrilling disturbing and gory narratives, think the author did well with this collection too. Few stories that caught my attention:
Magic!
Horrific revenge story although you could guess on the twist, still it gave me such horror and nervousness. Remember to always pay up when you hired someone for a service/work. Karma bites horrendously.
Our Dad's Girlfriend
Disturbing, might a bit creepy too. Love that it combined technology and gruesome stuff. Well engaging characters.
T
he Things I Can Do To You With A Crowbar
Uncomfortable and grisly narrative but weirdly appealing. The most squeamish out of all.
Cans
This was slightly playful (?) and creepy at the same time.
U-Turn
Love the idea of dream sequence and parallel dimension. The sudden ending making me wanting it more.
Most twists were expected but perhaps the writer's enthralling way of presenting his stories making it more enjoyable to me. Fast-paced narratives (most of it) also I love the diversity of ideas although some were common, it was still intriguing.
Magic!
Horrific revenge story although you could guess on the twist, still it gave me such horror and nervousness. Remember to always pay up when you hired someone for a service/work. Karma bites horrendously.
Our Dad's Girlfriend
Disturbing, might a bit creepy too. Love that it combined technology and gruesome stuff. Well engaging characters.
T
he Things I Can Do To You With A Crowbar
Uncomfortable and grisly narrative but weirdly appealing. The most squeamish out of all.
Cans
This was slightly playful (?) and creepy at the same time.
U-Turn
Love the idea of dream sequence and parallel dimension. The sudden ending making me wanting it more.
Most twists were expected but perhaps the writer's enthralling way of presenting his stories making it more enjoyable to me. Fast-paced narratives (most of it) also I love the diversity of ideas although some were common, it was still intriguing.
crackedspines's review
3.0
3.5/5 stars
Holy shit. "Weird" doesn't even begin to describe this book. This has got to be the most insane, gruesome collection of short stories that I've read. And I fucking love it. My favourite is probably the tattoo one, because what the heck was that?!
Of course, there were some stories that I didn't quite enjoy, hence the rating, but one thing's for sure, this is definitely not for the weak-hearted. Personally, I'm okay with gore, although I'm not the biggest fan of it. But still, I found myself grimacing at the more brutal and bloody scenes.
All in all, an interesting read. Looking forward to more psychotic stories by Megat Ishak!
Holy shit. "Weird" doesn't even begin to describe this book. This has got to be the most insane, gruesome collection of short stories that I've read. And I fucking love it. My favourite is probably the tattoo one, because what the heck was that?!
Of course, there were some stories that I didn't quite enjoy, hence the rating, but one thing's for sure, this is definitely not for the weak-hearted. Personally, I'm okay with gore, although I'm not the biggest fan of it. But still, I found myself grimacing at the more brutal and bloody scenes.
All in all, an interesting read. Looking forward to more psychotic stories by Megat Ishak!
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