Kitchen Sink Gothic - 10 months down the line

It's now ten months since the most ambitious project from Parallel Universe, Kitchen Sink Gothic, was published. The anthology contained the following stories:
1964 by Franklin Marsh
Derek Edge and the Sun-Spots by Andrew Darlington
Daddy Giggles by Stephen Bacon
Black Sheep by Gary Fry
Jamal Comes Home by Benedict J. Jones
Waiting by Kate Farrell
Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black
The Mutant's Cry by David A. Sutton
The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne
Up and Out of Here by Mark Patrick Lynch
Late Shift by Adrian Cole
The Great Estate by Shaun Avery
Nine Tenths by Jay Eales
Envelopes by Craig Herbertson
Tunnel Vision by Tim Major
Life is Prescious M. J. Wesolowski
Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull

Order Direct  from us

trade paperback: 
amazon.co.uk   £8.99
amazon.com  $11.99

ebook:
amazon.co.uk  £2.99
amazon.com  $3.05

We are still considering a second volume of stories. In the meantime...

Here are some of the reviews Kitchen Sink Gothic has received so far:

Stuart Conover gave Kitchen Sink Gothic a great review on the Hellnotes website.

"In Kitchen Sink Gothic, David and Linden Riley have put together a dark and gritty horror- and humor-filled anthology which was an absolute blast to read. In its pages there are 17 stories with a Gothic tint to them which focus primarily on the working class. It is a twisted mix of tales that if you were to read the descriptions one by one wouldn’t seem to fit together and yet the Riley’s have proven they know exactly which story works with the next.
While not every story is a gem, there isn’t a single failure in this book that makes me feel any of my time was wasted. As long as you’re in the mood for the strange and insane, that is.
An interesting line up with some names you’ll probably recognize if you read a lot of horror and speculative fiction as well as some that you won’t. The table of contents includes:
“Daddy Giggles” by Stephen Bacon, “1964” by Franklin Marsh, “Derek and the Sun-Spots” by Andrew Darlington, “Black Sheep” by Gary Fry, “Jamal Comes Home” by Benedict J. Jones, “Waiting” by Kate Farrell, “Lilly Finds a Place to Stay” by Charles Black, “The Mutant’s Cry” by David A. Sutton, “The Sanitation Solution” by Walter Gascoigne, “Up and Out of Here” by Mark Patrick Lynch, “Late Shift” by Adrian Cole, “The Great Estate” by Shaun Avery, “Nine Tenths” by Jay Eales, “Envelopes” by Craig Herbertson, “Tunnel Vision” by Tim Major, “Life is Precious” by M. J. Wesolowski, and closes out with “Canvey Island Baby” by David Turnbull.
The more interesting reads for me included “Lilly Finds a New Place to Stay” which revolves around Lilly….finding a new place to stay. Only, things aren’t ever quite that simple now are they? Next up is “The Sanitation Solution” where one man’s bitter war with his ex makes for quite the disgusting read. Finally, in “Envelopes” we’re given a different look into the world of the occult."

Top Customer Reviews on Amazon.co.uk

4.0 out of 5 starsElbow deep in the kitchen sink!

By yralban on 22 Sept. 2015

Format: Kindle Edition

A worthwhile collection, if a little patchy in parts. But some gems; particularly "Derek Edge and the Sunspots" and Kate Farrell's "Waiting" - understated with a bitter twist in the tale.

Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 starsVery good quality

By N Martin on 1 Oct. 2015

Format: Kindle Edition

Really enjoyed this collection - the writing is of a high standard and some very unsettling stories. Definitely worth a read!

Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

By sandra k chung on 26 Oct. 2015

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

Thank you

Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse

Top Customer Reviews on Amazon.com

5.0 out of 5 starsThe Edge of Weird...and it's Amazing!

By Cristina Isabel on January 24, 2016

Format: Paperback

There are 17 amazingly written stories that sometimes left me on the edge as I was reading. Some were weirder than others and some had those what-did-I-just- read moments. Each of them were unique in their own way and I loved every one of them. For me, the top 3 that I read over were, Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black, Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull and The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne.

Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 starsWeird and Wonderful

By MissScarlett on January 20, 2016

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

As always, I liked some of these stories a lot more than others, but there were none I didn't like at all. Some were rather mystifying to me, such as "Derek Edge and the Sunspots" "Up and Out of Here" and "Nine Tenths". "The Sanitation Solution" was ok but frankly didn't so it for me. My favorite of the lot was "Jamal Comes Home" with it's echoes of the Monkey's Paw at the conclusion. Also excellent were, in no particular order, "Black Sheep" "Lilly Finds A Place to Stay" (permanently) "Waiting" and "Envelopes" If you like horror and/or speculative short fiction, you can't go wrong here.

Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 starsit is that good.

By Michael Hanson on October 17, 2015

Format: Paperback

I just read the anthology "Kitchen Sink Gothic" and yes, I was blown away. As a title interpretation, I can respectfully call this Working Class Gothic, as it is a strange and Gothic journey into the lives of the ordinary folk of our world, and not the social elite that populate much of literature's history. And it is here that Kitchen Sink Gothic's charms lie. As a grab-bag of different tales, some surprise with their deviousness, and others shock with their arrogance, but all of them, each and every story in this clever and tasty collection, is sure to entertain. Heck, I think I'll pick it up and read it a second time now. Yes, it is that good.

Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 starsBlue Collar Noir