The Place in Between

by Steven Rage

A new 3 novella collection of the darkest, grittiest, gruesome fiction to ever be released by LegumeMan Books.
Three cuts of bizarre hardcore horror from the macabre mind of the grim Reverend Rage. Three sordid tales of demons, revenge, botched suicide, organic narcotics, torture, halflings, freaks, vampires and a post apocalyptic society coming apart at its seams. Three trips to the dark side that'll leave you reeling... yet unable to look away.

Genres: Horror

236 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2010

About the author

Sep 19, 2010 Nick Cato 'The Place in Between" review:

The three stories presented here are tied to an apocalyptic underground community known as The Harbor (two take place post, while the title tale goes down before all hell breaks loose).

In 'Blood and Bubblegum,' we're introduced to some seriously strange characters who are involved in an ever-growing organic narcotics trade, including protagonist Juan and a fecal-demon that lives in his rectum. This is by far the weirdest entry here, and features a fresh look at vampirism.

'Th ...more The three stories presented here are tied to an apocalyptic underground community known as The Harbor (two take place post, while the title tale goes down before all hell breaks loose).

In 'Blood and Bubblegum,' we're introduced to some seriously strange characters who are involved in an ever-growing organic narcotics trade, including protagonist Juan and a fecal-demon that lives in his rectum. This is by far the weirdest entry here, and features a fresh look at vampirism.

'The Place In Between,' shows that a revenge story can be done in a fresh manner: Del's wife Luci is having an affair with her drug supplier, Sancho. Sancho and Luci eventually manage to get custody of the invalid Del, and Sancho uses this as payback time from their navy days (apparently Del had done something to ruin Sancho's career). The story becomes an extreme torture tale, one that made me wince a few times...but Del manages to turn the tables via a Faust-ish deal with a demon. Rage also gives another fresh spin here on ghosts, making this a perfect blend of hardcore horror and bizarro goodness.

In the final piece, 'Bad Notion, Traveling Potion,' we return to The Harbor and learn more about The Good Doctor (responsible for creating drugs and mutants) and his created servant, the scene-stealing hybrid man/chimp, Tugmunkee. This one was a bit of a chore to follow, but in the end Rage brings it all together. While some people in the bizarro community frown upon stories centered around drug use, this one works as the "tripping" scenes are just a side-note to the real weirdness.

THE PLACE IN BETWEEN is gross, disgusting, funny, horrific, and disturbing, yet at the same time it's quite entertaining. Rage writes with his conscience thrown out the window (that is, if he had one to begin with), yet unlike some more extreme stuff I've read, he actually knows how to WRITE a story around the grue. I'm keeping my eye on this guy as he truly lives up to his last name.Book 29 & 78 of 2010: You Morbid Westphal by Steven Rage
by Rhonda Wilson on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 8:17am

YOU. Yes, “you”… are a poor soul in the hospital on your last legs. And as it is, you’ve “given birth” to one of the most horrible “people” ever possible…

MORBID. Born from “your” rectum, Morbid dispatches many other patients in the hospital in extremely horrendous and painful ways. However, the main suspect of these murders isn’t Morbid, but instead…

WESTPHAL. Living with his ghost step-dad, Sammy, and his pet aborted fetus, Chip, Westphal works as a night shift nurse, getting stuck with all of the worst patients. All those that no one else wants to fool with. Just to get through the day, Westphal has to dope himself up with the strongest narcotics possible and that doesn’t always help make things easier.

These three characters, as well as a host of other interesting “people” make up Steven Rage’s You Morbid Westphal. Both the characters and story format are unique- Rage has created a one-of-a-kind voice with this novella, which has enough story to fill a full-length book. A large chunk of the story follows Westphal day-to-day as he suffers through many horrendous tasks at work, in his dreams, and even just trying to obtain more drugs along the way.

As soon as I read the final chapters of this book I was ready to re-read it. I ended up waiting a few months before doing just that, but after a

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won it, I won it *Does Happy Dance*

Many thanks to Reverend Steven Rage for selecting me as one of the four finalists to get a free autographed book. I felt truly honored as this was my first time winning a first reads contest.

Ok, now on to my "brilliant" review...

This book takes place mostly underground at The Harbor, in a post-apocalyptic time, after the cataclysmic events have taken place and wiped out a large portion of the human population. It's split up into three stories, which feature some of the same characters and flow nicely together.

My favorite character is The Good Doctor. He has salt and pepper dread locks and likes to create haflings and strange organic narcotics in his Hell's Mouth Determining Hospital The story of his that I enjoyed the most was Bad Notion, Traveling Potion in which his latest narcotic Crosstown Traffic takes on a life of it's own, with an outcome that you wouldn't believe even if I told it to you.

My second favorite story from the book is Blood and Bubblegum this is the first story and by far the most bizarre. This one also features The Good Doctor and his narcotic trade is booming. Humans Mary and Juan (who has a shit monster living inside of him named Morbid) want in on the dealing. However, they must first find The Good Doctor and the nocturne, Pilate, to see if they can get in. They bring Blood and Bubblegum to sweeten them up. The ending of this story comes out of left field and left me wondering what the fuck just happened. Trust me, you'll never think of vampires as sparkly and nice ever again.

The final story is the title story The Place In Between I want to say this one takes place before the Cataclysmic Events happen. Del and his wife Luci have one messed up relationship and things get really out of hand when Sancho sends Del pictures of his wife's latest affair, with him. Del believes a bullet to his brain will be the answer to all his problems, however, it's only the beginning of his time wedged between life and death. During this time, Sancho tortures Del relentlessly and horribly. All Del wants is to recover enough to seek revenge on them both. His prayers are answered when an adorible girl-demon shows up with silky-sweet promises of revenge. This is when the story takes numerous dark twists and turns and the ending is crueler than you could ever imagine.

Reverand Steven Rage is an excellent story teller and fits the elements of bizarro, horror, and sci-fi nicely into these three stories that have some of the best characters I have come across yet. These stories will make you laugh, scare you, and make you stay up all night reading in bed with a flashlight, so don't say I didn't warn you.

[Matthew Revert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grim fiction for grim times.

[Donald Gorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading steven rage is a little like being a mother who ran out of diapers even though you're locked in a room with a baby who has been living on nothing but 5-alarm texas chili. sure, there are times when you want to puke, but you can't help loving the baby anyway. yes, rage is still gruesome, sickening, twisted, gross, horrific, morose, profane, disgusting, morbid, blasphemous, shocking and repugnant. but these are not the only compliments i can bestow upon this promising new author. but we'll get to that bit later. the 3 short stories that comprise this book are pure rage. the first and last story bring us back to that familiar setting, the harbor. these stories have all the requisite characters and elements that you would expect if you've read steven's earlier work. there are vampire drug lords, addicts, whores, demons that crawl out of people's rectums, perverted sex and all the dregs of society in the darkest of dark settings and situations. they are well crafted extensions of his earlier work, and there is even an effort to tie some of the stories together. visiting this setting again was a blast! he really did have something to add that was compelling and kept the pages turning as often as it kept your stomach turning. he even threw in a few surprises like an artificially created chimp-man and a sexy chicken or two. the first story relies a lot on the modern street venacular again, while remaining intelligent and creatively devised. the last two stories were not so dependant on modern slang, as the lead characters were not the sort of (shall we say) 'sludge' that would need to speak that way. this allows a more clear visage of rage's ability to exhibit a writing prowess that is more accessible to a wider audience. the harbor stories do give rage fans a lot to be thankful for in expanding the previous stories with bizarre, twisted putridness. yet, my favorite story by far was the title story in this book. that is because rage steps away from the harbor and explores a new setting with a whole new disturbing set of circumstances. i truly believe that if rage continues to grow and expand and explore new horizons (especially in new settings), he can reach his full potential as a great writer. much as before, there is an intelligence to this dude's work. his gift as a storyteller is being more finely honed in this work. the fact that he has spent time working in a hospital is apparent, and it comes through in his stories. i can honestly say this is my favorite of anything i have read from him thus far. he's getting dangerously close to getting a 5-star review from me.....and that's not easy to do when writing something that is so far removed from 'ordinary literature'. so to sum up.....yes, this has all the disturbing, grotesque, alarming, horrible elements that you'd want to see in 3 strories by rage...it also has all the fine storytelling.....and he is growing and improving as a writer. i recommend this collection of stories, but i also recommend that you (metaphorically) stock up on diapers first. if he keeps expanding his horizons, he will be a supurb voice and visionary for our dark, backward, malevolent times...even if he remains the pessimistic, ignoble saint and demented sick ticket that we all know and love.

[Mindy/fangedmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew when I entered to win this book that the Reverend Steven Rage had a unique writing style. This was affirmed when I received a message from him. Not a message, a warning. A WARNING? Yes, a warning. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. I really did. He was letting me know that this was not your everyday horror writing. This book goes beyond that. I was good with this. I really was. I had read his bio & read up on his other work. I was ready for whatever he was sending me.

OR WAS I? Hehe...about half way through the book, I said to my husband "This book is DISGUSTING. It is disturbing & gross". He said "then why are you reading it"? Me: "because it is good"! WTF right? (NOTE: Yes I stayed up one night until about 3:00am to finish the book. What does this say about me???)

Honestly, I really did enjoy the book. It was the kind of horror that makes you go WHAT? It really is.

I love the fact that overall, it is not the type of horror that makes me feel like someone is standing behind me, or is lurking outside my house, waiting to slaughter my whole family. The Reverend has a super imagination. Not sure where his writing comes from but it would sure be cool to meet him in person (ok I admit, a little scary too)!

The middle story was good. I am not a huge fan of backwards writing but it was good. The last one of course was my favorite. Just when you think it cannot get any stranger, it does get stranger & you have to keep reading because you know that it will keep getting stranger.

I will admit I was a little worried letting this book sit out. I did not want my kids to pick it up or ask questions. They did not thank goodness. I would hope that anyone that reads this book makes sure they are highly medicated, over the age of 18 or locked up somewhere. (just kidding).

I give this book 4 stars because I honestly feel it deserves it. Not something I would read everyday but it was a nice change for me. Well done Reverend!

This was my first book that I read of 2011. How cool is that?

[Steven Rage · Rating 5 out of 5]

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