Book Review; The Black Farm by Elias Witherow

Earlier this month, I read the extreme horror novel The Black Farm by Elias Witherow and today I'll post my review of the book.

Description from Goodreads

After the loss of a child along with a slew of agonizing misfortunes, Nick and Jess decide to end their lives. Unable to cope with the misery that fills their days, they commit one last act together and die in loving relief.

But when Nick wakes up, he soon realizes that death isn't the gentle darkness he expected. Panicked and horrified, he struggles to understand the twisted abominations and hellish world he's now trapped in.

Driven by desperation and a sudden will to survive, he sets out to find Jess and is unable to cope with the thought of her having to suffer through the terrors this new reality holds.

But nothing could prepare him for the nightmares he found...nothing could prepare him for The Black Farm.

My Thoughts on the Book

I've read a few extreme horror and splatterpunk novels over the years, so I knew they're extreme (hence it's called extreme horror), but damn, was it necessary to have that much violence against women, rape included, to make it extreme? Also, in regards to that, I doubt Jess would be too keen on having sex with Nick after she got raped, just saying.

While the author managed to do some decent worldbuilding in The Black Farm, I felt the characters were too one-dimensional and flat caricatures, and not in a good way. For instance, the only non-white character was a Black deadbeat drug addict from the projects. Like, come on, do better. It gives off the same shitty vibes as with the two female characters in this book, Jess and Megan, who's sole purpose is to get raped by the monsters and saved afterwards by the so-called "good guys".

Another issue I had with the book was that it gave off the vibe that anyone who commits suicide deserve to be tormented/punished in the afterlife. It gave off privileged vibes and separated from the issues of for instance suicide and the previously mentioned trauma (like rape). Even if this is an extreme horror novel, there's some things one should thread carefully around to put it that way. The last thing people with suicidal thoughts and/or a history of suicide attempts need is that sort of vibe in a book.

Would I recommend this book? No, I wouldn't. There's other extreme horror novels out there that's way better than this one.