This was a quick and enjoyable read. It read like a series of interlinked short stories and I really liked that. I think that format freed each part to be as weird as it wanted to be without having to commit to an overarching theme and left the reader to just go along with it. I like this kind of kooky horror that is moody but not gory. I looks like this is a series and I'm glad because I would like to read more about this world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doom Fiction for an audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is labelled Bizarro Fiction on Goodreads and I am in complete agreement.
Filled with multiple stories all relating to the Tower this was a well written , if not bizarre, story of different people and their relation to the tower. A bit disturbing but so weird that knowing the grossness is unreal makes it tolerable to listen to. I think I would have enjoyed this more as a teenager.

Recommended for those people who can stretch their minds.

This was a strange book, the first in what is a very strange series.
The Tower in question is Eighth Block, filled with mad people and madder things happening (think Clive Barker writing an episode of Coronation Street but set in a tower block). We have two people insisting dark matter needs to be vaccuumed out of the sky and that the radiation in the block's walls is turning them mad. We then meet a paranoid pair of friends, who find cameras in their homes and their attempts to trace them back to source leads to bloodshed. All in all, a strange but very well written short book.
i received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Three interconnected tales of the residents of the Eighth tower. A place where radiation is in the walls, everyone is crazy in some manner, there is no way to leave, and something is alive inside.
Weird little book. Interesting in its its own way but not something I would normally read.
Thanks to @netgalley for allowing me the chance to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

A horror novella set entirely in one apartment building (Eighth Block Tower, hence the title) featuring an eccentric cast of strange individuals affected by their environment in peculiar ways. "Hypnagogia" was the standout section but that's probably because it appealed to my sensibilities the most. For example, there is religious devotion & horror, codependent & unhealthy homoerotic relationships and unreliable narrators. It's the shortest section of the three but had the greatest impact on me because of the dedication to its own insanity AKA its commitment to legitimising the general delirium all inhabitants of Eighth Block Tower suffer from -- physical decay to match mental decay. Throughout the novella there is also a clear sense of the residents being trapped and the existential horror of knowing for certain that no one can ever leave this place is incredibly claustrophobic.

My least favourite section, "The Invalids," is also the longest (around an hour or so) which unfortunately negatively impacted my overall rating of this novella since it's such a significant portion. The "final girl" elements with Samantha are great – she has a lot of rage and fear built up in her and the way it explodes into violence is very satisfying. However, I soured on the story as soon as the killer and their intentions were revealed. It felt cheap and homophobic to boot.

The ending is interesting in its own ways. For example, the hallucinations are in stark contrast to the rest of the story in its descriptive language. The story takes on an intense high stakes atmosphere towards the end during the sequence on the roof involving a kaiju-like monster (big monsters, I love). The relationship in this one is my least favourite, it feels weak and flaccid compared to the earlier chapters. Although I don’t see any chemistry between Norm and Samantha from “The Invalids” at least they are friends and go through intensely traumatic experiences together to forge that friendship. The relationship in “Under Green Brain” lacks something substantial – something to solidify their feelings for one another as solid. Despite it all, I generally enjoyed the vivid imagery on display with this section. It’s clear that the author is talented at his craft. The repetition of the word “radiation” and the temptation it represents was delightful. I could really sense the devotion the protagonist had for keeping his sanity despite his impossible circumstances.

While I have qualms with the narrative, I can’t fault the narrator – he did an amazing job. I enjoyed his work narrating another one of the author’s works (Fight Tub) and he outdoes himself here. Even as I cringed at moments I found unsatisfying or offensive I was still pulled back in to keep listening because the narrator’s voice is so captivating.

Thank you to the author for making his work publicly accessible and to NetGalley for hosting it.

The was just so trippy. It was a wild ride from beginning to end. It was like a hallucination dream. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. If you are a fan of the weird and horror, check this one out. I will be picking up the next one. Thank you to NetGalley and Doom Fiction for the audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

This author writes some of the weirdest stiff i have ever read, yet I am totally into it. I love that they're nice and short, and quick to get through. If they were full 350+ page books, I would probably feel a little lost, but since they're short ( and not so sweet), I find it easier to suspend disbelief and just go with the flow. Rating 3.5/5


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun novella/short story collection. The stories all functioned as stand alones but tied together nicely as a collection,

I loved: the narrator, the atmosphere the author created, and pretty original ideas
I didn't love: the constant use of "said" or "asked." These were heavily relied upon and made the writing feel clunky. The use of the word "invalid" felt ableist.

I think this collection would be fantastic in graphic novel form.

The Tower by William Pauley III is BRILLIANT! With superb and frightening plot points, I was so surprised to read very well-developed characters for a short story, From the first page, I fell in love with Pauley's storytelling and writing style. This novella blew my hair back and all I want to do is read this author's back list.

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.

A great horror novella.
Loved this tale of chills, fear and delightfully creepy terror.
It could be futuristic or it could be happening right now!
Lock your doors, turn on the lamp and settle down for a fantastic fright.
The audio version is superbly narrated if you choose to be listening in the dark.

This is my first time reading this authors work. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was comically strange, but not so much that it was corny or incomprehensible. A nice blend of bizarre and an actual story line.

There were a few overly gory scenes, which isn't my usual cup of tea when it comes to horror, but they were fairly brief.

I really enjoyed the dynamics between the female and male characters. The author did a good job portraying the creepy way that we can often be in relationship with women we are attracted to, while not having the female characters ignore it and fall for the man in the end.

There is a good chance that I will check out the rest of the Bedlam Bible series after reading this.

I am glad I picked up Fight Tub first. If I had read this one first, I don’t know if I would have continued on with the series. Having seen where it goes and where Pauley’s writing, I am going to finish up the books that have been released. I am compelled enough.

TW: Murder, use of c-word, sexual harassment, animal death, gory scenes, domestic violence, language, bullying

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Something is happening to the residents of Eighth Block Tower... There's radiation in the walls. Salt covers the hallways. The food and water are poisonous. A giant green brain pulsates under the roof, pumping electric venom throughout the apartment building. The residents are trapped and losing their minds. Sanity is a myth. Sickness is life.
Release Date: January 9th, 2022
Genre: Horror
Pages: 80
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The plot sounds ridiculously weird and creepy
2. Loved the narrators voice
3. Loved that once Norm dies we switch to Samantha's pov

What I Didn't Like:
1. Radiation said way too many times for such a short book

Overall Thoughts:
Dude I loved this short novella. I got the book from Netgalley and listened to the audiobook - the narrator had such a wonderful voice. I loved this book was absolutely absorbed by the story. I loved all the different pov's from the people in the tower. I am simply obsessed to start the next book and see where we go from what I just learned.

Final Thoughts:
I thought the story reminded me a lot of Welcome to Nightvale in that "creepy things are happening but you don't know" kinda way. I will definitely continue reading what the author has to write.

Like I said I listened to the audiobook and it was wonderful. The sounds change and there's creepy voices. Just a magical moment.

Recommend For:
• Fans that like Welcome to Nightvale

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow this was such a great book! It was fun, weird and creepy at times. A lot of crazy things going on in the Eight Block Tower and I’m so excited to dive right into book two.
Highly recommend this fun little book!

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

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 3,4 rounded up to four, better than expected, looking forward to reading more.

The Tower is the first book in the "Bedlam Series." I wasn’t sure what to think of this book. It was a little trippy, like what all the movies portray an acid trip to be like. But it was also a little confusing.

Although a novella, the book seems to be split into 2 separate stories. Both take place in the “Eighth Block Tower,” which is more or less an apartment building with radiation in the walls. At least that’s what the inhabitants say. The inhabitants themselves are strange. Some might even say "radiated" or "mutated." They are too weird to leave, even if they want to.

The first story is about a killer who starts killing the women of the building. The twist at the end was weird and a little off putting.

The second story is about someone who works at a meat facility located at the apartment complex (also somehow strange). I didn’t really get the point of this story. The ending is weird and also confusing.

I read some reviews on Goodreads that said there was a third story...but actually I'm not sure what that one was...

What I did like was the futurist atmosphere of the place. But this also left me with unanswered questions. What was the outside world like? What was society like? Why were these people at this building? There were so many interesting elements of this story that weren’t explored. I'm giving it 4 stars despite the confusion because it was just so damn intriguing, the writing was good, and the idea was imaginative.

Hopefully, my questions will be addressed in the next book, which I definitely will be reading.

I think it takes a special writer to get me to vibe with them when it comes to stories like the ones in here. For those who do not know, this is actually another multiple story book with an overarching theme and this may be my favorite one so far.

I just happened to see this on netgalley and jumped on the chance to listen to it.

So in here we have the star of the stories, The Tower. To be honest, I am not absolutely sure what the tower actually is. Is it a place controlled by other people? aliens? demons? or is it just filled with people who need a lot of help?

Regardless, this is a place one does not want to live in, but everyone needs to remember that poor people are people too, even when it comes to living there.

Conner's narration was superb. I loved the way they narrate and will happily listen to anything they want to read.

This book was so funny, I found it hard to get into at the start, but it is worth sticking to it as things soon start to get interesting and gory. I would recommend it for horror fans!

Wow! This was a weird, wild ride. So creepy. This book is the first of a series called the Bedlam Bible and I can’t wait to read more. Radiation and crazy people in an apartment is just and cool as it sounds. While this is a short book, there is so much going on.

I love the idea of a building causing its inhabitants to lose their minds due to something akin to radiation poisoning. It's the kind of paranormal that might actually happen in real life.
The stories weren't interconnected only because they're set in the same place, but also by chronology. Not all the characters know each other, yet they recognize each other as belonging to the same place: they see the same madness reflected in the stranger, or what could become the same given some exposure and enough time.

➡ Hypnagogia - ★★★★★
I always love some good old god-killing.

➡ The Invalids - ★☆☆☆☆
I didn't like the lifeless clones being called invalids; I could get that it wasn't what was actually meant to be, but that's an ableistic slur used on people with disabilities and that's how it sounded like.
Ah, and here she is, the (hysterical) pick-me girl.
And let's not talk about bad it was for the only gay character to be treated badly, for his "love interest" to be disgusted by him, and then to jump to him voluntarily sacrificing himself to save the love interest and his love interest. Bury your gays.
It isn't representation if it's always bad representation.

➡ Under Green Brain - ★★★☆☆
I was surprised on how it started with an element that was there just where the latter left; it felt well interwoven/intertwined with a section from the first story as well, even though they weren't truly the same story: was there an unreliable narrator, or maybe more?
Hallucinations, fever dreams, sentient grey matter and kaiju... what's there not to love?
Except, of course, I didn't like the female character. Looks like she's only there to play the damsel in distress and make one character feel like the hero.
It seems that whenever there's a female character I'm not going to truly like the story, and that's a shame. It also feels strange that until now I've met three of Pauley's female characters and they managed to feel wrong in different ways.

As seen (listened, really) before, Connor Brannigan cannot help having a talent for drawing you in and holding you in the story until the very last second. He could narrate my shopping list and make it interesting: after all, he already manages to keep me awake on the morning train.