This was a fun read from Hunter Shea, another in a long line. Why will creepy men do creepy things at every opportunity? I have not yet read the third entry in the Mail Order Massacres but i am eager.

Optical Delusion is the second book in the Mail Order Massacre series. In this book the theme of a magical item ordered from the back of a comic book continues. Again, I love the time period used. This time its the late 1970’s and all the nostalgia it had, like Star Wars and the various TV shows I watched as a kid. Optical Delusion had me believing in the magical world of mail order coolness. As a kid I always thought those items looked amazing and wished I could get me hands on them! In this story its x-ray glasses and the thought of how amazing those would be. Marty grabs his sons pair that he ordered from a comic book. He can’t believe these cheap one dollar pair of x-ray glasses actually work. The more he wears them the less he can see, or more in some cases. The first drawback is the headaches that come from wearing them. If this was the only problem Marty would be fine with that. Hunter gives us a crazy character who can't resist the urge to see what he can see through. It’s funny to see the variety of items he tries, starting with his wife's clothes. But everything isn’t flowers and rainbows for Marty. He gets more than he bargained for from these x-ray specs. Hunter takes a seemingly innocent pair of plastic glasses and turns them into an item of horror. The story takes some crazy and brutal twist and turns as Marty starts to see more than he imagined he could. I look forward to the next book in the Mail Order Massacre series. Money Back Guarantee here I come!

"Optical Delusion" is the second installment in Shea's Mail Order Massacres novella trilogy and while "Just Add Water" remains my favorite so far, this one was still very enjoyable and a strong addition to the series. Martin Blackstone is a hardworking blue-collar worker who enjoys his time at home, especially if he has a good beer in his hand. His son is given a pair of cheap x-ray glasses by a friend and when he casually tosses them aside, Martin gives them a try just for fun. Before long, Martin is addicted to the glasses. He is initially shocked when he's able to use them as a voyeur on unsuspecting town women, but soon the x-ray abilities deepen and the glasses become harder and harder to remove.

This book is definitely full of blood, gore and is a lot of fun. The main problem I had is that I despised Martin. However, I'm sure Shea intended it to be that way because he is in no way some poor misunderstood character. Throughout the book, I often felt sorry for the people Martin encountered and although I think he had a decent enough relationship with both his wife and his son, I think they deserved better.

"Optical Delusion" is a book which is hard to review without giving too much away. It's a fast read and any horror lover would be missing out if they at least didn't give this series a try. There's one more novella coming up and I already have my copy and am just waiting for the perfect night to curl up and read it.

AMAZING! Gripping and edge of your seat thrill ride!

Hunter Shea has tapped into our childhood for his latest offering of fear. Remember those ads in the backs of comic books? Muscles like Charles Atlas. Sea monkeys. Joy buzzers. Fake ice cubes with a fly in the middle. Gum that turns your mouth black. Oh, and the ever popular, X-ray glasses. I certainly remember them. More specifically, I remember wanting them and my mom saying "absolutely not". Well, what would happen if she did allow me to get those x-ray glasses and after 10 minutes of making my eyes hurt, I tossed them aside only to have my dad pick them up and put them on. And, what if, in between the fuzzy-eyed headache it produced, he saw a glimpse of a girl's panties she had on underneath her clothing? And what if, in desperate attempts to get more than a glimpse or two of what the females looked like under their winter clothing, it caused something else? Something more hideous, more macabre, and it wouldn't let you turn away?

Optical Delusion was a fun ride into every boy that grew up in the 1970s and 80s past and warped it with a Twilight Zone twist and an EC Comic turn. My last couple of reads from Shea have been my favorites. He's honed his chops the last few years and is churning out nothing but quality lately. So much so, that he's quickly become one of my go to writers that can't miss.


5 Victoria's Secrets out of 5


* This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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Since reading The Jersey Devil I have become a fan of Hunter Shea. In this series he is using those corny things you could buy in the back of comic books and twisting them into something horrid. In the first one Just Add Water it was about those sea monkey things (he calls them sea serpents) and I loved that one is was just so cheesy good!

In Optical Delusion it’s about those x-ray vision glasses. Brian has been home from school with the chicken pox and on the first day he can have a friend over his friend brings him a pair of those x-ray glasses he bought from his comic. His dad Martin comes in and sees them and curiosity gets to him so he puts them on. Nothing happens but his head starts to hurt a little, he is about to dismiss them as nothing. Though when he went to take them off he thought he seen something.

Martin thinks he has the greatest thing because the glasses are working. He decides to take them outside for a test and loves what he is seeing, that is unless a man walks into his view. It seems the more he wears them the more he can see but something else is going on with those glasses and soon he is in real trouble.

I couldn’t stand Martin but I don’t think your are suppose to like him and you don’t feel sorry for him when bad things start to happen. It’s kind of like that is what you get pervert…lol. I thought this was an okay story but I think I still liked the first one in this series better. I am curious about the next one called Money Back Guarantee and I will be reading that one soon. 🙂

Review on my blog coming up on August 22nd as a part of a buddy read called Two Bloggers, One Book on http://booksmoviesreviewsohmy.com

Not quite as good as the previous Mailorder Massacre 'Just Add Water', but still lots of fun. This novella begins much slower and takes its time to get into the author's typical horror overdrive mode.
Curiously, I enjoyed the calm beginning much more than the fast-paced but also rushed horror it culminated into towards the end. I wonder if there will be more parts to this series - I sure hope so.

Is it bad when the first thought after finishing this novella was that it was OK, but it would have been even better if it had been gorier? Seriously, most of the time during the story did it feel like I was waiting for everything to go haywire and when it did was it towards the end of the story, so not much carnage. I found the previous short novella in this series, Just Add Water, to be better, more satisfying to read, especially if like me want a story with lots of deaths and bloodbaths.

Now, the story isn't all bad, it not that long and it kept my interest up (despite the lack of gruesome deaths for most of the story) and one could hardly blame Martin for wanting to see some nice naked bodies. Unfortunately, for him didn't it stop there. I also liked the very end of the story. It felt very fitting.

First time reading from this author and I wasn't disappointed. A very fun and entertaining read. I'll definitely be reading more from Hunter.

Another book in his Mail Order Massacre Series, and this one really means business! Well I am old enough to remember the ads in the back of comics that promised things like X-Ray vision glasses, Hunter Shea though has the nerve to ask well what if they worked. Then, the goes a step further and poses the question what if they worked a bit too well?
Great story and action, Fantastic description and thrills galore. Great novella, keep them coming!

Second novella I've read in the Mail Order Massacres series

The first novella I read in this series was JUST ADD WATER, which I actually liked more than this one, and I understand that MONEY BACK GUARANTEE will be coming in October 2017.

These are fun stories that take me back to my childhood years, reading the crazy advertisements at the back of comic books. I always wanted to get the sea monkeys - and it's not just boys that wanted the X-Ray glasses.

This story took me right back to 1978 and the family dynamics of that time. Brian's friend, Noel, got both of them a pair of X-Ray glasses - $1 per pair - out of the back of a comic book. They give the boys a headache so Brian's dad, Martin, decides to try Brian's pair and finds the longer he wears them the more he can see. But there are deadly consequences.

This was a fun, quick, bloody read. But, again, as with the first novella, the synopsis isn't totally accurate. And the last 12% of the pages were taken up with a sample of JUST ADD WATER.

I received this novella from Kensington Books through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

A wild and crazy tell with crazy atmospheric chills. Don't read by yourself at night, or anytime, actually. So many twists and turns it left my head spinning in a good dizzy way!

I really enjoyed this little story, it took me about an hour to read.It was darker than I expected, and I'm not complaining.At first I thought the main character was such a misogynist that I wouldn't care what happened to him, he was a bit of a dick but was also typical of the time this was set in so I should cut him some slack to be fair.I really had no idea where this was going and it was entertaining and fun , and imaginative Good read I would read more by this author .

A good, quick read! Horror with a little dash of humor thrown in. Enjoyed it.

OPTICAL DELUSION is the second novella in Hunter Shea's "Mail Order Massacre" series. One thing I really enjoyed about this tale is how effectively Shea places us in the family-life of the past, by showing us a typical evening at the Blackstone home. Martin, husband and father, comes home from work to his wife (who has supper waiting), and his son playing upstairs. Even the movies he references will give some a sense of nostalgia for this era.

Young Brian Blackstone--having missed a week of school due to the chicken pox--is playing with his good friend, Noel. As a gift, Noel ordered two pairs of "Amazing X-ray Glasses" from an advertisement in a comic magazine. Although the boys are quick to dismiss them as "uncomfortable", Martin tries them on as a joke.

Only they turn out to be anything but.

The best part of this novella was how accurate the characters were portrayed in this time period. The "enhancements" Martin begins to feel are not without their physical side effects though, as the glasses seem to send a physical pain to his brain each time he reaps the rewards of their enhanced vision.

"Eventually, the desire not to wet the sheets like a baby trumped the need to burrow under them and not move a muscle for a few more houses . . . "

As time goes on, the changes begin registering to Martin in different ways. Rather than questioning, he simply "accepts" that his new glasses are showing him a window never before opened . . .

". . . he saw them for what they really were . . ."

The majority of this novella was a fun, fast-paced journey which brings up the question "what if?" when thinking back to all those old comic book advertisements. My only complaint was that the end felt a bit rushed and "anticlimactic" in contrast to the mysteriousness we started out with.

Overall, an entertaining story with some great characterization.

Recommended!

What a diabolical theme! This one was unique to me, and it chilled me to the bone... the best kind of book. Just imagine a pair of glasses that let you see everything, including things you don't WANT to see. And you begin seeing things that are truly horrific. And then you can't take the glasses off... This is definitely a book for those who crave roller coasters and everything macabre!

This was a pretty darn good horror story. I say 'story' and not 'novel', because it was just too short. The author had a fascinating idea - X-ray specs that actually work - and I would have loved to have read more about these glasses. The characters were interesting, if tending a little to one-dimensional, and the descriptions of the X-ray glasses effects were visceral.

I definitely recommend this for lovers of gory horror and quick reads.

What if those X-Ray glasses that they advertised in the back of comic books were real? Martin's son got a pair, but they just make his eyes hurt. When Martin tries them on, though, they work exactly as advertised. He can actually see through clothes, and walls, and furniture. The thrill is worth a little headache, until he starts to see far more than he wanted to. Hunter Shea's Mail Order Massacres are all kinds of fun. The series started with instant Sea Serpents in Just Add Water, now we've got the X-Ray Glasses and, coming in a few months, we get a nuclear submarine. I'm really enjoying this series and can't wait for the next book to come out.

Optical Delusion is a slow build novella that comes off a bit like a trashy uncle at times. It poses the basic question of what would you do if the X-Ray specs you got from the comic book advertisement actually worked and then some. For the protagonist/antagonist, the answer is that he is willing to go further and further since he's a bit of a frustrated husband with a kid and doesn't have the best relationship with his wife. They aren't dysfunctional, just going on middle age with a kid and the usual frustrations. He drinks and smokes too much probably and finds that the x-ray glasses give him a bit of a thrill. But then he starts seeing more and more.

The spiral builds slowly then takes off and it's a doozy of a ride at the end. Shea's writing is a bit dry so it's a blessing of sorts that the story is relatively short - about 50-odd pages. I can't say I connected at all to the main character or what he was going through, so I was a bit pleased by how the book concluded. This isn't the height of literature by any means, but does pack a little bit of a punch and has appeal to a more cerebral horror reading crowd. Just wasn't my cup of tea (or can of beer to be more apropos to the story).

Optical Delusion by Hunter Shea was received direct from the publisher. Hunter is one of the few authors around nowadays that the reader can rely in to have a gory creature feature that spares the inane dialogue or political correctness. Optical Delusion is the second tome that those of us old enough to remember comic book ads of different "wonders," can relate to. What young boy did not fantasize about X-Ray specs that may or may not allow them to see through clothing, or maybe even skin?

4 stars due to the abrupt ending