Well that was the weirdest audiobook I have listened to in a while! Far weirder and grosser than things I usually listen to, but a thoroughly entertaining and well-written book with such an unusual storyline. One I won't forget.

White Fuzz by William Pauley III is book 2 in the Bedlam Bible series. It's so good!
With superb and frightening plot points, Pauley's storytelling, and writing style are superb.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

White Fuzz made me feel a lot of things. From sheer curiosity, through being uncomfortable, across disgust, all the way to one big "aha!" moment. This short story about one night one boy decides to spend with his neighbor girl will forever change him. Definitely it'll change me. I was not expecting anything like that. For a second, I thought it'll be a story about mental illness, but it turned out I was not quite correct. It's worth to check out this audiobook because it's masterfully narrated and easy to follow. The only reason for me giving it strong three stars is the gore and descriptions that turned my stomach upside down. It's a personal thing. If that's your jam, go and check it out for sure!

A night of weird experiences that just get worse and worse. Franklin gets a random text from a woman who coincidently lives in the same apartment complex. He invites her over and insanity ensues.
I honestly had no idea what I was getting into when I picked up this book, but it was filled with weird and strange twists and turns, with an insane twist at the end. It felt like a fever dream. A great short read if you're looking for something different and out of the box (and of course if you don't mind some gore).

I really enjoyed this book. It was intriguing from the first page. Wasn’t expecting that ending. Will be reading more from this author!

So, this has to be lowest part of the series…I hope. I am going to take a bit of a break from the old block for a while. I will give it one more try, say in a month or so. Doing books one and two back to back didn’t help. The ending was something. I love Kafka, but getting there was not really worth it. Still, Pauley has created something unique of that there is little doubt.

1 star
(my worst read of 2023 so far 💩)

Published: 3/21/22
**ARC given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
#NetGalley #WhiteFuzz

Basics
Genre: novella, weird, horror, magical realism
Setting: a putrid-smelling hoarder-chic apt
Themes: trauma, transformation, men are trash

Characters
Franklin (mMC): man who goes to a random woman's apt and gets drawn into chaos
Lynda (fMC): woman who randomly calls Franklin to come to her apt during a possible breakdown

Pros
+ an absolute banger of a first line: "She dissolved just yesterday."
+ unreliable narrator
+ unnatural saliva/mucus/"tasteless honey" (wtf???)
+ putrid smell... like death... is it a body??? It's totally a body, right??? Ooooh did she mummify her relatives??? Love that for her
+ Lynda's mood fluctuates faster than a revolving door... is she having a breakdown or is she manipulating? Suspicious
+ the apt building keeps dumping salt down the middle of the building to kill mold and vermin. "Nothing can live in salt."

Neutral
/ Such cringe thoughts, insta-love, insta-dating (which I hate) BUT a part of me feels like she is intentionally getting in his head and love bombing him to... kill him? Eat him? If not, I'm going to be very disappointed in myself for not DNFing this.

Cons
- Some of the things the MC thinks and says are so cringey I'm embarrassed on his behalf.
- Insta-love vom.
- The MC ogles the shit out of the woman. How many times do we need to hear about her butt and breasts? And was his fantasy of pulling down her pants and doing stuff to her really necessary? Being in his POV makes me feel gross.
- Manic pixie dream girl trope. He sees Lynda as a "unique woman unsullied by the outside world." Meanwhile, she is clearly having issues and rejecting her medication.
- Franklin isn't like other boys ~he likes Japanese fiction and hangs unique decor~
- there are so many gross, gratuitous sex scenes which are half male fantasy (her body is perfect with huge natural tits blahblahblah, his semen tastes sweet...)and half reliving sexual abuse... during the first one I decided to hate finish this so I can review and save people from reading this
- Franklin is a certifiable POS. He realises she's having a PTSD-flashback. Then he tells her he won't get hard if she doesn't undress or help his dick herself. Go die Franklin.
- if her "perfect breasts" are mentioned one more time I'm going to chuck my phone off a cliff
- this is written for guys who can't ever make it with women, real incel energy... there are literally scenes about her being ~so~ interested in his dick. Like c'mon
- final few chapters are just info-dumping the author's explanation for this shitty storyline via Franklin's thoughts
- "She was asking for it."
- "She wanted this."
- I will never read this author again. Yikes.

TW: rape (past), agoraphobia, gaslighting, PTSD, daddy issues, sex during ptsd flashback, incest (flashback), paedophilia (flashback), child abuse (flashback), trauma-induced hair cutting, masturbation with hair, cutting, blood, bestiality (memory), bleeding during sex, suicide

I tried to stick it out longer but I ultimately had to quit on this book. I could not get over the crude and crass writing. The audio narrator was fantastic, I’m fairly certain I’ve hear them before and enjoyed their work. I love horror. The best horror straddles the line between disgust and fascination. This book had zero fascination to combat the disgust. The way the female character was written felt detached and disconnected, like the author was writing on the idea of what a woman was rather than an actual woman. I felt there was so much potential too. It was clear that the female character had a past that affected her severely and her behavior now is a product of her past. That element felt like it could be twisted and manipulated to create fascination, but the story didn’t entice or intrigue me. It felt intrusive to me and made me feel icky.

This is a short horror story in tripartite form and I have very mixed feelings about it. I’m conflicted because I think Pauley’s writing is good and I genuinely enjoyed the style, but I definitely wasn’t the biggest fan of the plot.

This was an interesting take on mental illness, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever read any representation quite like this one. I think this is a book you largely have to make your own opinions on, but I would describe it as disturbing, captivating, and very, very strange.

I can’t stress enough that you check the trigger warnings before reading this, as much of it may be distressing to many readers. 18+ horror readers will love this, I gave it 2/5 stars.

This was insane and I really loved it!
It was entertaining, weird and overall a brilliant story, highly recommend reading it!

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an AudioARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The only negative thing I can say about this book is that I made the mistake of listening to it on the bus. I can tell you firsthand this is one better enjoyed in the comfort of your own home. Alone. Via headphones.

That aside, this book was a bizarre horror masterpiece. I was hooked from the very start, and the intensity just kept growing until the final crescendo which left me with raised eyebrows and my jaw on the floor. Trying to explain the plot of this to my boyfriend was genuinely difficult.

Once again, Connor Brannigan’s narration was brilliant and he really made Franklin come to life for me. I am so glad I got to read this via audiobook as it added so much to the experience.

Thank you so much to Doom Fiction and NetGalley for providing me with an Audio ARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

This was absolutely wild. Our main character gets a call from a random number, a woman who happens to live in the same apartment building as him. She invites him over for wine and some fancy, expensive cheese. Despite his best judgment, he decides to accept the invitation and go over to her flat.

This was chaotic, in the best way I think I can explain. It is raw (and definitely not to be read by under 18s that's for sure!!). This wasn't the kind of book where sex scenes are hot, but rather uncomfortable to read through, so please bare this in mind. Though it has scenes of that nature, this is not (and never felt like) erotica in any sense.

I also found the main female character was a version of mentally ill I have not seen portrayed ... ever I think? I really thought the book was heading in a very different direction due to some of her statements but we ended up with something different entirely!

The narrator did a great job of taking the chaos and making it feel palpable, like I was a fly on the wall watching their interactions and feeling the anxiety creep up and down as various things came to pass. I have to say I hate some of the wording choices in the sexual scenes (I do not want to read the word 'gash' and I certainly don't want to hear it said out loud!) but the narrator did a great job considering the vulgar language - I am simply unused to sex scenes of this nature!

Overall a genuinely confusing ride - I didn't know where this was going to go and it really did keep me guessing up until the very last sentence. If you're into horror / creepy content this is absolutely for you!

<i>I was provided with a complimentary copy of this audiobook by Doom Fiction via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily</i>

I wound up zooming through the last 1/4 of this book. I honestly can't even begin to tell anyone what It was about. I found the constant childish gaslighting back and forth and complete distraction. NOTHING happened that was even remotely interesting. I am a fan or horror, splatterpunk etc. Sex scenes don't bother me ..I've been known to enjoy a spicy book or two. The only think notable that I can remember is the sex and honestly it was just weird. I didn't like the writing style and wasn't a fan of the book I overall.

OK this author could be my next fix to strange and horror stories, but let me tell you something, this is a very strange story, I have listen to three books already and all three are very strange but I think this one takes the prize hahah. if I was a guy I would have run the other way around when meeting Linda, this character, she is very strange and talking with her is like meeting all people in a crazy shelter house, all around her situation and her fears make sense in the end but at the same time we get the feeling, what did I just listened to, yeah it is such a ride, and like all the other stories for me they take place in the same building.

Again I loved the person reading, Connor Brannigan is very good reading this author books, he gives life to the story in a way many can’t, it is like, “ah I need to put the kids to bed, but let me listen just a little bit more while I do this”, hahah, this time we only had two characters a male and a female and Brannigan, did bring the two characters to life, I highly recommend this author and paired with Mr. Brannigan is like blue over gold, is good and worthwhile, the story gets a bit mature, sexual even, with some undertones of sexual abuse, but to tell you the truth I don’t know to what point it is real or not, just try it out and you’ll see, I cant really explain what I thought of it because it would give the ending away.

Thank you NetGalley and Doom Fiction for the free AAC and this is my honest opinion.

Grotesque and absurd but somehow engrossing. There were Lovecraftian elements without the heavy-handed language.

Bonus was that the narrator inspired me to read Kobo Abe!

Thank you to Doom fiction for this opportunity to listen to the arc audiobook. This book and its audio version are available March 21,2023.

This is my rate and and review of the audiobook.

I LOVED IT! The narrator was *chef’s kiss*. The story was proper creepy funny and short. Franklin was trying to be neighborly to a fellow apartment dweller Lynda by going to her place but when weird things begin to happen he invites her to his place and everything hits the fan. Lynda has demons and those demons won’t stop. I really recommend this short horror listen to anybody who wants to be creeped out.

The ending felt like something that slithered out of a Junji Ito story.
In the beginning a single man, Franklin, lives alone and he receives a message from seemingly a stranger, who just happens to live in the same building, Lynda. This mystery woman knows about him but doesn't really know him, he is just as confused as we are, which I think is a fun vessel for a story, just like an unreliable narrator, where they keep you guessing and questioning what is going on.
I'm really torn on my feelings about this book because I really like the climax and ending, I keep flip flopping between 2 to 3 stars, so lets just say 2.5 for now.
I understand there is something going on with her, but there really is something about how the neighbor is written that doesn't sit right with me, and that is why I think the best way to describe her is an unstable dark manic pixie girl. Despite her acting very oddly and aggressive towards this guy, he really goes out of his way for her, between these intense outbursts and sex scenes it had me uncomfortable and not in a good way that (body) horror usually does. Also, at what point do you put your foot down and leave or at least call for help.
It obviously didn't push me so far away that I couldn't finish the story, and I actually do want to check out other works by William Pauley III.

Some trigger warnings that mostly have to do with Lynda: Self harm (pretty intense), Suicide.
Then ones that are talked about or mentioned by characters: SA, abuse, incest, and bestiality (even just mentioning the act did nothing for the story or characters.)

#WhiteFuzz #NetGalley

I was provided a free ARC audio book from netgalley for my honest review.

I'm giving this a 2.5 stars rounded up to a 3. I loved the creepy atmosphere at the start and overall vibe however the constant gaslighting and over description of anything sexual just took me out of the story. Don't get my wrong, I love a good spicy scene and can even appreciate a shock value scene, these just didn't do it for me.

The Good: I actually do enjoy the creepy atmosphere and the writing is something I feel like I could enjoy in a different story. The narration was great as well as the cover.

The not so good: The constant gaslighting and back and forth. I understand it was because it was meant to be a physiological horror but it just drove me crazy, and not in a good way. The over description of anything sexual was just not great.

White Fuzz is as bizarre as it gets. The story is about a loner who gets a mysterious call from a random woman eagerly inviting him over to her house. I won't dive more into the plot to avoid spoilers. All I'm going to say is I wanted to take a long shower after this.

The beginning and ending were my favorite parts of the book. The middle went a bit off the rails for me, and it was definitely a mistake to listen to the audio mid-shift-- but that's my fault. Regardless, good enough story.

(TW: Sexual abuse and incest are mentioned.)

Thank you, Netgalley, for the free audiobook.

I gotta admit I was atrracted to this book by its cover. I completely loved the concept and it made the book look like something I would reaally like. Fortunately, I was right.
This is my first time reading something from William Pauley III and now I know I will continue reading his work. The way he built the story in White Fuzz was incredible. The book provoked a lot of feelings in me, starting from distress, passing through confusion and finishing with amusement.
Franklin's sentiments are completely felt and we are able to experience whatever he's going on by the great narration. Lynda's life is sad, whilst her past was unraveled I felt more and more empathy for her and it also helped me understand her actions. Both characters are so complex and well-built that you really don't need more.
This is a weird story, however, the author makes it very attractive to read and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I read most of it in a single day, and then woke up the next one wanting to continue.
The ending is WOOOOW! I wasn't expecting it at all. Overall I really enjoyed it and if you like body horror subgenre, you are definetely going to love this!!