ARA Review by Andromeda Flynn of Disarrhoea

[Andromeda Flynn]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Disarrhoea.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Disarrhoea by Kevin Vodden is novel joining the genre of bizarre fiction, aka strange stories that make you think "what the f-". Each of the 6 tales are unique and often disturbing.


There are 6 stories in total, the first having the title of the book, Disarrhoea , which is about a air contaminant that is extremely disorienting and eventually fatal. It is told as a father's account of the disease and how it effects his family's life. The main thing that didn't make sense in this story is disarrhoea was compared to being called diarrhea, as its a struggle to get to the bathroom so much so, accidents happen; Instead of being an extention of the word disorienting which didn't make sense.


The second, Fearground begins in what can only assume takes place at a carnival or circus, although there is no story line, only a single announcer and his encouragement to enter the deadly attractions. As interesting as the single person commentary was, it didn't make a great story because of it. I need my surroundings described. But it's different for that reason.


Terror Pericolosa is a space exploration tale that follows the explorers of a planet until their fearsome discovery that the planet is inhabitantable, there will never be a population problem, just not a way that would ever be desired. Humanity will go on, kind of. The Matryoshka Loop is a series of waking in a new body as someone else in vastly different environments consecutively. Eat Thy Neighbor is an interview style sort of story about a contestant on a reality tv cooking show where whomever is voted off becomes the next episode's meal or creation. Lastly, Credit Where Credit's Due answers the question, what would an atheist say if they said grace, and what if they were also pets giving thanks before their meal. It's comical and informational of where inventions came from that makes every aspect of pet food enjoyable for all, consumption, viewing, and choosing the right food as well as where it is placed.


I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars due to it being creative and it fits perfectly with bizarre fiction, which isn't usually my taste. For me the stories in the book were often lacking descriptive details of surroundings and of the characters. Only one story contained any character descriptions and they weren't all that in depth or overly realistic. Although that's common in bizarre fiction, it makes it difficult for me to get engrossed within a book. Great originality on the stories, for the most part. Disorrhea is much like any virus or zombie novel except there is no disturbing sickness or flesh eating, just extreme confusion all around. Fear ground reminded me of House of Horrors by ICP or House of a thousand corpses. But there are very few original ideas anymore, so it did differ in both stories, as there are no actual victims even when they are annonce since there are no actual characters. It could just be a man in his attic ranting away with a carnival of torture in his head even though he is standing in a dark room. The lacking details do make the story original and up to interpretation. He could be an airline attendant and the people around him are looking at him like he is insane. It's all up to the reader's imagination.

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