Malaformed Realities

Thomas M. Malafarina

Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)

Hideous creatures and nightmarish situations abound in Malafarina’s Malaformed Realities.

History tells us that on October 3, 1849 the great master of the macabre, Edgar Allen Poe, was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, Maryland delirious and in grave distress. He was taken immediately to the Washington College Hospital, where he died at 5 a.m. on Sunday, October 7. Poe never became coherent enough to explain how he wound up in such an abysmal condition. There are a lot of theories about his death but no concrete evidence. Maybe he simply lost his way back from those incredibly dark places his writing took him.

Thomas Malafarina can only hope that his own numerous journeys into that land of darkness will not someday take its toll on him. “I would hate to think of myself thirty years from now in some home for the aged and infirm, cowering in bed with the covers tucked tightly to my chin. Would I be too afraid to leave the safety of my covers because the demons, which once only lived inside my mind, had since become as real to me as flesh and bone in my addled condition? I suppose we will have to wait and see,” mused Thomas.

In the meantime, please enjoy yet another journey into the darkest corners of Thomas Malafarina’s mind. This collection is called Malaformed Realities, not just as a clever play on his last name, but because distorting and twisting reality into something it was never intended to be is what he enjoys doing best. “And if in the process, I manage to disturb and frighten you along the way then all the better.”

Stories included in this volume:

When They Come For You
A Love Best Served Cold
MegaSynth RP-1
Brass
Inspector 17
Hear No Evil
Big Frankie
Dinner with Andy and Meg
Cold, Cold Women
If Thine Eye Offend Thee
Homecoming
Passageways to Perniciousness
Storage
Cutaneous Horns
Icehouse
Single Panel
The Brands
Breathe
Tools of the Trade
Zombie Party
And The Scales Fell From My Eyes (A Novella)

Review by Nigel (310515) Rating (8/10)

Review by Nigel
Rating 8/10
Malaformed Realities by Thomas M. Malafarina is a collection of 20 short stories and 1 novella that showcases a nice cross section of the horror genre and all it can offer, from altered realities to zombies, it’s all here including an occult steampunk post WWI world!

As a fan of James Herbert and Stephen King I have always enjoyed a tale that sends a shiver down my spine and this collection does not disappoint. While some of the stories are quite gruesome (A Love Best Served Cold for example… taking necrophilia to the next level; impossible I know but Thomas Malafarina has managed it :) they are not overly gory for gores sake, they are better than that with well written scenarios delivering the imagery, disturbing at times, straight to the mind’s eye. I really liked Big Frankie… remember when you were a child and daren’t put your foot out of the blanket in case something grabbed it? This story brought all that home.

Finally, the novella And The Scales Fell From My Eyes was thought-provoking as we enter the mind of a deluded killer and see the world as he sees it… being chosen and doing nothing wrong.

While such stories might not be to everyone’s taste if you like your horror thoughtful and dark you will not go far wrong with this excellent collection. Well worth adding to the bookshelf of any horror fan.
Nigel (31st May 2015)