I am definitely in my unhinged era, and this book was no exception! Sabrina and her family move into a new house and she starts seeing and hearing things that she cannot explain. She wonders if she is going crazy, if the kids are playing a prank on her, or if her house is haunted. This was a super fun read and completely unhinged.

Judging by the title of this one, I was really expecting this to be a collection of dark horror but what I got instead, was a more serious tone. For the first story, I do love a classic haunted house story so knew I'd enjoy this novella from the start. Unfortunately, I couldn't really relate or get behind the characters which made it hard to fully engage myself into the plot since I didn't really care what happened to them. But I do like how it kept me on my toes with the twists. The rest of the short stories were fun and creative and a great collection I would recommend to any spooky horror readers out there.

I had previously read Man, F*ck this House when it was in novella form, and some of its imagery had stuck with me as some of the scariest I have ever read, so I was eager to read the other short stories, and they did not disappoint. Asman delivers the scares with this collection!

3.75 stars

Love love love Brian Adnan
I read Man F*ck This House a couple of years ago and became a quick fan. As with all short story collections you’ll have strong ones and ones you maybe dont love as much. I love most of these and will definitely buy the collection once it’s published.

I'll be honest, my initial impression of this collection wasn't a good one. I really did not enjoy the title story, nor the one that immediately followed (Beware the Hurlyburly). I found them mostly boring, with the title story feeling much too long for what it was.

But.

The rest of the stories? Highly enjoyable. Usually for anthologies I just focus my review on the few I really liked but there aren't many in the collection so I'll go over each:

Man, F*ck This House - too long, with characters I didn't care about. The ending was good though, and went off the rails in the best way haha

Beware the Hurlyburly - a take on the Slenderman murder a while back... I don't always feel gross reading stories inspired by real events but this one upset me a bit. I just don't know what I think of it truly but leaning towards dislike. I really enjoy urban legends generally so I was initially torn but, yeah, I've also read a lot on the Slenderman murders, which are also deeply upsetting, and this one was just a little too close to truth.

Seven Years - probably my favorite of the bunch, honestly. It's a modern urban legend and a fun story at that. I really liked this one and one of the few I wish had been just a little longer.

In the Rushes - a truly spooky ghost story. I was reminded of Bora Chung's The Frozen Finger from her Cursed Bunny collection, which I really enjoyed. This one got me as it's a "sunny" horror story.

Razor Bill - tied for my second favorite story, this is another fun urban legend set in an old wild west town, which is one of my favorite ghost story settings.

Line of Sight - tied for my second favorite story, this one is one I'd happily read a full-length novel for. I wanted more at the end. I really, really enjoyed the suspense leading up to the reveal and the reveal was fun. I hope Asman writes a sequel for it for his next collection! I don't want to say much more because it's a short story and I don't want to spoil it.

The Tire Swing - an exceedingly scary story, probably the scariest story in the collection, and another urban legend like story. I really liked the atmosphere in this one, as it kicks off pretty quickly and keeps up the spooks really well. Everything is just unsettling.

An overall cool collection of short horror stories that, in the end, I am glad to have read. A few of these will stick with me for a while. I really, really want more of Line of Sight lol.

This is a great collection for fans of "sunny day" horror and urban legends.

3.5, well written and fun. I enjoyed the horror referenced sprinkled throughout, and the characters felt real and engaging.

Man, Fuck This House

Went places I never saw coming. It was surrealistically bonkers, but in mostly good ways. These characters were irredeemable, however and didn’t garner much empathy from me, especially Damien. He was vile through and through. Overall, a unique take on the haunted house trope, and one worthy of your time.

Beware The Hurlyburly

I loved this little story. It creeps me out when things can only be seen through the lens of a camera, through a mirror, through a picture, etc, and this went to work on my exploiting my fears. I have the most vivid image of the Hurlyburly in my mind, and that’s from the brief time we spent with him over these 32 pages.

Seven Years

See last story for how I feel about things you can only see in the mirror. This wasn’t as good as Hurlyburly, but it was a quick, enjoyable story nonetheless

In The Rushes

I always knew you couldn’t trust cyclists, especially the undead ones. Do you think they have to wear those silly cycling outfits even in the afterlife?

Razor Bill

Don’t use outhouses, and definitely don’t summon outlaw spirits from them if you have to use them. That’s basically what I get out of this story. I liked this one a lot. It packed a big punch for such a small package.

Line of Sight

A King-esque swerve to the left and into a crime, police procedural drama, only not nearly as effective. This is the worst of the bunch by far

The Tire Swing

Doppelgänger zombies whose power originates from an old oblong-shaped tire swing. As wild as that premise sounds, it was quite compelling and even somewhat believable. It taps into primal fears about losing control over oneself, and it hammers that home repeatedly. This was spooky fun

I had already read and loved Man, Fck This House so I was excited to read the other short stories. They were all just plain fantastic. Brian Asman is a master of the short story.

I’ll be honest—Man, Fck This House (And Other Disasters)* had me with the title alone. It’s bold, it’s chaotic, and it hints at exactly the kind of unhinged horror-comedy ride I was hoping for. And let me tell you, it absolutely delivers.

This book is like moving into a haunted house with a middle finger raised the entire time. It’s fast-paced, messy in the best way, and completely self-aware. From the jump, you know you're not in for a slow, atmospheric creep-fest. This is more like if a haunted house story got drunk, screamed at the walls, and then punched a ghost in the face.

The protagonist has such a sharp, cynical voice that you can’t help but root for her—even when things go completely off the rails (which they do, spectacularly). It’s not just about hauntings; it’s about what happens when you're already at your limit, and then the house decides to make things even worse. There’s something cathartic in how the story leans into chaos without losing its grip on character or stakes.

I also appreciated how the book balances the absurd with some surprisingly sharp emotional beats. It’s not trying to be profound, but somehow, it still manages to land a few punches to the gut between all the blood, mayhem, and supernatural weirdness.

What a fun collection of short stories! While my favorite was the first story that lends its title to the book, I found them all to be highly enjoyable. Perhaps it’s my bias for the first story, but I felt the later ones (particularly Razor Bill) to be less engaging, but that’s not to say the story was bad by any means. I tore through this collection in a single day. Asman does an excellent job of creating tension within the limited pages. Part of that is also due to not adding a single sentence or detail that was unnecessary to telling the story, which I can really appreciate. A very good read and I hope to add this to my physical library when it gets published!

This was a pretty decent read, but I think the earlier stories were definitely stronger than the later ones. My favorite was The Hurlyburly!

Thank you Brian Asman, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Fast paced and wild ride from start to finish! I thought this was a good read and really enjoyed it! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc of this book!

3 stars

I had read the opening novella in 2022 and, at least for now, entering the ISBN number bring up the same book, even though this volume has six short stories included. For me “The Tire Swing” was the stand out short story. These were overall good.