The Rictus Grin and Other Tales of Insanity

A Collection of Eleven Short Horror Stories by Erica Summers

By: Erica Summers, Rusty Ogre Publishing

Narrated by: Erica Summers

A collection of eleven twisted and terrifying tales by extreme horror author, Erica Summers. Including stories of gripping psychological horror, cosmic, bizarro, body horror, and extreme.

This chilling collection of short horrors includes the following stories: Tines, Feed the Machine, Derailed, In the Blood of the Martyr, Painted in Vermilion, All the Same Color on the Inside, Sated, Take a Breath, Secondhand Kiss, Two Lip Garden, & The Rictus Grin, PLUS an introduction by Chisto Healy, author of Two of a Kind and The Gateway in Apartment 8 and author's notes on what inspired each story.

©2024 Erica Summers (P)2024 Erica Summers

Such a breath of fresh air!

The way Erica flawlessly weaves through multiple sub genres in this collection is absolutely mesmerizing. I enjoyed every second and can’t wait to dive into more of her works. Not to mention how GLORIOUS it is to be read to by one of your favorites. I was pleasantly surprised when pressed play and heard her lovely voice.

Grotesque Extreme Horror Stories

A gory collection of short stories narrated by the author with a voice that is soothing for fans of extreme horror. Each individual story is uniquely different, underlying some insanity characteristics through different characters that will keep you on your toes. If you haven’t read Summers yet, this collection is the best dip into her gruesomely detailed stories.

•spoilers ahead•

Tines
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Lynn is having a hard time bonding with her daughter Janice. But when they decide to stay at her father’s farmhouse, ominous things start to begin starting with a hole in the field and a mysterious being named Tines.

Derailed
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After getting in a serious car accident, she returns home to her mother’s house, where she declares war on the vermin of the house. But things escalate when she assumes her daughter is not who she appears to be.

Painted in Vermillion
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Duncan and his father Randall are devastated by the overwhelming horde of odd insects that float above them like a dark cloud. Thinking that was the cause of a lady’s death, his father will realize the horrors his son has started to become.

Sated
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A small burger stand is trying to thrive in this economy when the owner discovers a new meat that comes from health inspectors. This delicacy brings forth new customers, as the owner finds a way to keep the meat coming, even thinking about adding other new items to the menu.

In the Blood of the Martyr
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“Tell them all what Satan made you do, you monster…”
Odessa doesn’t feel like the relationship between her and Ronald is enough, until he decides to do the ultimate choice to be a martyr for her to be cleansed of everything, even after exposing his darkest secrets which changes the way she loves her life afterwards.

All the Same Color on the Inside
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Harold is a racist who doesn’t believe in interracial couples even as one lives across the street to him. But upon hearing that everyone is the same color on the inside, he may find out that is not always the case in this gruesome body horror story.

Secondhand Kiss
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A slow-burn, cosmic horror that brutally switches genres to body horror by the climax. When Thomas finally finds the woman of his dreams, when they share their first kiss, he finds out that she is more than what the eye is showing him and that there may not be much of anything left.

Take a Breath
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“She made it all stop forever. She always was the intelligent one…”
After Larry is let go from his company for doing one small thing wrong, he decides to pursue a hobby in surfing instead of returning to his apartment where he’s surrounded by dark memories. But once out in the ocean, he morbidly regrets his decisions.

Two-Lip Garden
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Every night, Lana tends to her garden during the hours she can't sleep. But upon doing so, discovers skeletal remains in the soil. But her lucid mind has forgotten what she has done when her dementia takes over.

Feed The Machine
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Stuart and Dash have one of the worst jobs. They're the clean-up crew for a morbid crime scene that takes place daily, as volunteers are out through a realistic VR game that ends with your death.

The Rictus Grin
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Two guys trying to host their own demolition show purchase a property for cheap without knowing a sinister presence still resides in the home, feasting on rodents with a permanent grin planted on his face.

Every story in this collection is clever and unique, with a strong sense of dread and gore to your liking. It's not overly gruesome, soft on the gore in ways, but a great selection of creepy tales to curl up with on the couch late at night. A great way to introduce yourself to Summers before diving into one of her full-length novels or novellas. As for the audiobook, her voice matches the ominous stories, soft voices for the extreme reads.

enjoyable writing style

3.5 I enjoyed the writing more than the stories. My favorites were Tulip Garden (The Mother) which was clever psychological tale, and Sated, which was very very similar to a story from tales from the crypt in the early 90's

Not a bad collection

Listened to this one on audio, and it’s actually narrated by the author, which is pretty cool. You can tell Erica Summers really gets the tone she was going for in each story. Some of her delivery made the creepy parts hit harder, and it gave the whole thing a more personal vibe, like she’s telling you ghost stories straight to your face.

The stories themselves are all over the place in a fun way. Some are slow and eerie, others are gory and chaotic. I liked the variety, even if a few of them didn’t totally land for me. Still, her voice adds a lot, especially in the darker and weirder moments.

Overall, it’s a mixed bag but worth a listen if you like horror anthologies that feel raw and unpredictable. Definitely has that “late-night spooky story” energy.

Creepy and exciting!

This is a fantastic book of creepy short stories. Each one is fabulously different! There is horror, thrills, exciting and disturbing stories! All of the stories are very well written and the easy to read!
I really enjoyed them all, but a few stand outs are: Derailed, The Rictus Grin, & Painted in Vermilion.
It’s amazing that a lot of these stories were created out of personal experiences from the author.
Erica Summers is also the narrator for this book and did an exceptional job! I was super impressed from A-Z with the book and then the superb narration!
At the very end of the book, Erica gives the reader/listener a great discussion on how many of these stories came about.
Erica is quickly becoming one of my must read authors!!