Jeezus… Violent Ends was a god-damn wild ride. Gore? Yes! By the gods, yes. Cruelty? Tons. Nausea-inducing on the page graphic scenes? Yep, check. Sounds like all we need for a splatterpunk experience. Stark goes a step further. He makes things real. Too real. Stark has seen things, witnessed events and this is what makes these three stories even more harrowing – the link in between the real and fiction. When I read Stark’s afterword, I’m pretty sure it was like the 4th story in the book, except entirely real. So, Violent Ends? The book comes with all of the hazard warnings, trigger warnings, a simple “I’m telling you. This is a warning.” warning. Do NOT approach if you have a sensitive stomach, you can paint vivid images in your brain based on someone else’s word, you take offense to members of society being offended, etc, etc. Sirens blaring, red lights flashing, a audiovisual assault of the senses – Turn. Around. Now.

If you’re still hanging about, thinking – It’s okay. I can do this. I’m so going to read this book. Then by the gods, do buckle up for this descent to the depths of the very worst society has to offer. And you know what? The wild ride will be over way faster than you’d imagine. Violent Ends reads so fast! Stark writes neatly packaged stories, without waffling on yet still managing to give the reader everything. I have said it before, I will say it again, writing wholesome stories with less words is a skill.

“Spring-Heeled Jim”: a 30 something page story about Jimmy, which unravels slowly at the start, giving the reader a sense of “something’s not right” off the bat. Nothing about this story is nice. This story does make you wonder about how evil is born, is it within us from the very first breath we take or does it sprout and grow because evil is done upon us? Is it a mix of both? The fact is, once evil exists, there is not a damn thing that can be done to stop it. The host and the evil within will stop when breath stops. I might be waxing slightly poetic about the subject matter of this story, but make no mistake, this story is nasty throughout. Think serial killers, street thugs without a guilty conscious, vicious human beings with intent to do harm. Some die in the most gruesome ways, some continue to walk among the crowds. But the deaths are so damn graphic you can hear the bones cracking off the page.

If you’ve read A Hot Dose of Hell by Stark prior to Violent Ends (or if you go vice versa), you will recognize a couple of characters. Whilst the moment of recognition was “oh, heeeey!”, I think it can be called far from fucking pleasant.

“Bigmouth Strikes Again”: Whilst I enjoyed all three stories for the clever approaches and writing skill, particularly, I have to say, this one was my favorite. It simply had so much cause and effect happening, the story was travelling down the hill like an 80 kg tractor tire, no stopping it, destructing everything on its path, and once it stops, and the dust settles, and all is silent, and the thing that had just ripped through everything living and breathing, it holds for a beat, expecting a huge round of applause. In this story, a great evil is unleashed due the selfish ambitions of a soulless human being. A lot of people get hurt. A lot. And it’s a god-damned mess, because once folks start to flee for their lives en masse, they don’t give a fiddler’s fuck at what cost. Again, Stark describes and demonstrates the human nature at its most nastiest side. The most selfish side. And all for… THAT ending. I laughed. Out. So loud. Because…

Imagine the idea of an ancient evil, having been stuck for a millennia, to finally be freed and ravaging through flesh and blood like the literal definition of starvation. Big plans to make Hell on Earth... only to find out, that's he's redundant! Because humans have successfully created hell on Earth all on their own. Imagine being the MOST feared demon ever... like ever-ever, only to find out, no one is scared of you anymore! What a twist! It's packed with nuance on humanity.

Anyway… this story made me really nauseous. Like, truly, awfully nauseous. And it’s rare that horror has this effect on me, because usually I keep my awareness about me where the line in between reality and fiction runs, but this story takes the cake. Ugh, my worst nightmares were described in painfully disgusting detail.

As far as some keywords about this story? Think of a redundant church, think of sin, a business man, a nightclub, hundreds of people wanting to party, an ancient evil, drinking, hunger, dying. Dying, dying, dying. Some of the notes I took during reading this story were as follows: LOL! DUDE! EW! Stark, I bet you had to watch some TOWIE to create that dialogue, sorry. DUDE! MEAN!

“Nowhere Fast”: This story started out so sad. I was so pissed off and sad. You know, some people are just through and through evil. They’re psychopaths and no amount of trying to show them the way or rehabilitation is going to change them. So, truly, how does a society live this knowledge, that there is always danger from people who are simply, inherently horrible? It saddened me a whole lot finding out that yet again, Stark has drawn inspiration from real life experiences and events.

The story does take unexpected turns, however. There is a marital spat in the story as the Herbert couple is introduced and naturally, what they seem to be arguing over is beyond anything you actually think it is. I had a very set thing in my mind. And I was so wrong. Again, well done, Stark! Caught me there!

When in the first story the lines were slightly blurred into the morally grey area of who deserves to die for being evil, in this one, our bunch of evil-doers get served the sweetest revenge. Heck, I think it would have been a waste of opportunity for Belial himself to emerge and simply chew ’em up 😉 (IYKYK)

Yes! A lot of nuance from the characters, yet again. A lot of uncomfortable moments. A brilliant ending to this story, and perhaps even to this trio of stories. Maybe it’s meant to give all of the living some hope. There is something out there that can fight this evil after all?

Stark doesn’t just witness the world around him, he observes and absorbs and lives it. Maybe this is why these real stark horror stories are born. To reflect back, to process, to purge. Yes, damn it, Stark’s horror is so incredibly disgusting at times, it’s so incredibly horrific, but he also writes some of the most human characters and the reading experience is always a delight in a technical sense. So, yeah, if Stark writes it, I will read it.