Don’t even know how to explain or talk about my reaction to this book. It is a devastatingly sad novella excellently written and drawings. sad yet a glimmer of hope. Just read it.

It’s rare that a book makes me feel uncomfortable, but Betty Rocksteady managed to do it beautifully with The Writhing Skies. If you ever wanted to know what it feels like to read a nightmare, then you’ve come to the right place. The imagery here is original and evocative in the most nerve-jangling way. Otherworldly body horror is counterpointed, and often overshadowed, by all-too-real depictions of abuse, loss, and co-dependence. Despite its short length, I often found myself closing the book b...

Ever stumble across a book that felt tailor made for your very specific and moderately unusual tastes? Yes, I know that isn't actually the case with The Writhing Skies. Such things would make Betty an incredibly talented, yet equally creepy person with not exactly the greatest business model for her writing career. Also, believing that would mean I am insanely narcissistic and, as I have told the assholes at the clinic far too many times, I am definitely not narcissistic. I'll be fucked if it di...

Haunting, grotesque, body-horror. This was a fun read but I'm not 100% sure I understood all of it, so I'll probably re-read this in the future. The whole thing reads like one big hallucination of sorts and I had no idea where it was going to go. Betty Rocksteady is clearly a very good writer so I can't wait to read more from her!

Something happened while reading THE WRITING SKIES. I sat down with the intent of reading a few chapters before bed, but then suddenly it was 3am and I was on the last page. Where had the time gone, and why did I have this thought rolling around in my head, "What the hell did I just read?"Now I mean that in the most positive of ways. It's raw, it's scary, it's very trippy and very, very gooey.This is the first story I have read by author Betty Rocksteady and it makes me ask, "Where have you been...

Full ReviewThe Writhing Skies is a dark and intense lucid nightmare. Despite the disappointing ending, this novel reaffirms my belief that Betty Rocksteady is one of the most promising new authors working today. I highly recommend this book to horror fans and I look forward to what she comes out with in the future.

I had no idea what this book was about going into it, and I was surprised, disturbed, and unexpectedly delighted. Here is my spoiler-free review.This book is a sort of sci-fi body-horror mash-up. You could also make a case for classifying this as “cosmic sex horror.” Whatever you call it: I am here for it. To be honest, body horror is not usually my thing. I have a high tolerance for gross and weird, but in terms of preference, I like my horror to be more about mood, character, and emotion rathe...

This is a vivid infiltration into a nightmare world that glows with phosphorescent aberrations and insectile flashes. Caught in this fever dream of dread and graphic physical violations is a young girl tangled in an abusive relationship. Her trials to return to a normal world without pain are matched by her emotional turmoil. Horribly beautiful and constantly wrenching, this is a viscerally surreal trip through a ravenously curious and coldly calculating netherworld. The author's wonderful illus...

A note to our protagonist: Oh Sarah. I truly hope for the best after all you have been through. I want to give you the biggest hug and tell you it will all be ok, but I do not know. The Writhing Skies are immense and menacing. Very strange things abound. There is a weird element that remains mysterious. The book is written in a relatable style with 20 black and white illustrations by the author that together convey the characters and their odd new reality clearly and potently. While this book co...

What if David Cronenberg directed, say, Reality Bites, or Slacker, with cut-ins from Girl, Interrupted? Wait, no, that still wouldn't quite get this female-centric cosmic-body-horror novel. The novel gets effectively gross real quick but *still* manages a slow-burn of what-the-hell-is-happening-here? I just had to keep reading. And what twists! Bonus that this little book is gorgeous w/ Betty Rocksteady's own Max Fleischer-eque orignal art--on the cover and on the INSIDE! Kudos to Perpetual Moti...

Betty Rocksteady is an amazing author. I highly recommend reading anything written by her that you can find. The Writhing Skies was an excellent Body Horror story. I loved it in all its goopiness!

Betty Rocksteady’s novella The Writhing Skies (published by Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing) is a short, dread-inducing explosion of hauntingly bizarre — some sexual, some not — occurrences happening simultaneously, leaving you wondering — in a good way — by the end of the story: What the hell did I just read?The sky has eyes and teeth and impossible colors and fireflies are everywhere, and goop and pus and other disease-ridden layers of not-flesh are coating the skin of everyone who’s left....

A gripping page-turner of a novella. By turns creepy, gross and challenging.Definitely recommended if you're into horror that blends a bit of the Lovecraftian with a personal twist.

So, um, what just happened? This book is seriously beautiful, both linguistically and visually. It's heartbreaking. It's heartfelt. It stays with you, leaving you in amazement, bewilderment, and wonder. I've never encountered this atmosphere in a book before, where the horror is so poetic and fluid and visceral and all at once. Highly recommended if you enjoy surrealist horror! Now, please excuse me while I go read everything Betty Rocksteady has ever written. :)

A gross, goopy, disturbing novella from Betty Rocksteady. Much like her prior work, The Writhing Skies reads like a waking nightmare; logic is thin and fragmented, which leads to an even more chilling atmosphere. This is an extreme horror novella, but the 'extreme' elements feel much more personal and traumatic than many other writers in the genre, which keeps it from falling into exploitation. Betty Rocksteady's writing gets better and better and I can't wait to see what she has to offer next.

This review is hosted on my blog at https://uponyourmarrowbones.wordpress..., and I've copied it below. WOW. Go ahead and put Betty Rocksteady’s The Writhing Skies at the top of your to-be-read pile, because you will devour this one (or does it devour you…?) and not be disappointed. It takes a lot for horror literature to actually scare and/or unsettle me. Because reading is such a controlled experience (I can always, you know, put the book down) it can be difficult to elicit the same kind of un...

I don’t know if “enjoy” is the appropriate word, or even “like”, but this is very good book. Love how it throws you right in with no explanation, leaving you as lost as the characters. A gross, hallucinogenic fever dream of cosmic body horror.

I'm an absolute fan for anything Betty Rocksteady puts out, and this novella is proof to why this is. The Writhing Skies is a trip through a nightmare where everything squirms, drips, and tries to enter your body. Rocksteady has truly found the magic of capturing a dream and stapling it to the page, the world is twisted, things morph from real to unreal, you can't trust what you are seeing. Sarah's world becomes a terrible scary place all from one sad decision. In her hunt to find any scrape of

A strange tale that started out weird and only got worse (in a good way). The real horror in this book isn't about what's happening but has already happened. Those flashbacks made me cringe and stuck with me long after I put the book down. Well done.