Colorado horror writer Michael Picco’s Evvy-award-winning Corpse Honey is a collection of short stories, self-described on the cover as “a banquet of gruesome tales.” In reality, the stories are generally less gruesome and more psychological. Spooky season is the perfect time to enjoy them.

“In Unison with a Dying Earth” is the story of a vampire abandoned by her sire and dreaming of him as she passes the years consuming any who come near. “Isle for One” addresses the risks of technology, even when it’s for something as simple as a digital holiday.

Michael Picco

“On the Other Side of the Sky” provides a satisfying view of the afterlife for those who have committed evils in life by bringing them together in a waiting room, and “Dispossessed” answers the question of what happens to people after they’ve been possessed, their demons exorcised.

“Mortimer the Maus” plunges us into a child’s nightmare at a shady amusement park where the title character isn’t what’s expected, and “Under My Bed…Where the Lower Things Crept” addresses another childhood fear. If a child gets moved into their dead grandmother’s room to make room for a new sibling, what might they face in the death room?

“It Ain’t No Raspberry Beret” follows a man with a brain tumor on his final mission to take out a band of Neo-Nazis, asking: if punishment is no longer a question, what might a man do to defend his ideals?

“The Island” is about two men who find themselves as castaways on an island where there are no people but that doesn’t mean there are no inhabitants. “The Popelick Goatman” brings a cryptid—a mythical animal that may or may not actually exist— to life on a frightening night.

Picco’s description and exquisite wording are strong. He’s able to draw the reader into each story and plunge them into the setting immediately. Overwhelmingly, the characters are regular people of varying ages who find themselves in bad situations. A few of the stories deal with post-apocalyptic settings, and several apply modern settings to folklore. Overall, satisfying moments illustrate the price of evil, assuring the reader that the world will provide karma where it’s most needed, but that this doesn’t always entail a happy ending.

The standout stories are “The Bark Men” and “The Topielec,” showcasing Picco’s strengths, providing the most emotional connection for the reader. “The Bark Men” is a folk tale that shows the lengths one will go to bring loved ones back, whether human or animal. Picco takes us into the innocence of childhood loss in a story with shades of Stephen King’s Pet Semetary, accentuating the desperation felt when it comes to losing a pet or family member, leading to questions of mortality. “The Topielec,” one of the rougher reads, establishes a sense of horror and danger immediately, creating a baseline for the story to come. The story weaves Bosnian folklore with the lives of modern people who’ve followed a path of violence and ethnic cleansing, both conquerors and conquered. Ghosts of the past lurk in modern times, Picco seems to say, for those who watch and listen, and violence is often answered with violence, even if it takes years to manifest.

As a horror author, Picco has focused largely on short stories, though he also has a novel out. He’s had stories published in over 20 anthologies. Before Corpse Honey he published Scenes from the Carnival Lounge, another collection. In addition to his writing, he’s an artist. He designed the cover of Corpse Honey, which won second place for cover design and first place in horror fiction in the Colorado Independent Publishers Association Evvy Awards.

Corpse Honey is an enjoyable collection of stories that get to the heart of humanity and pain, bringing a mix of terror and torment to the forefront.