Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2025

10. The Spook Who Sat By the Door by Sam Greenlee

A radical thriller that remains relevant to this day. 

9. Moju the Blind Beast by Edogawa Rampo 

A surreal, extreme novella by one of Japan's most fascinating authors.

8. Wild Turkey by Michael Hemmingson

This was a modern noir with a lot of unexpected twists. I couldn't put it down. 

7. Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

A classic, intense novel of growing up lesbian and gender-fluid in the 20th century. 

6. Welcome to Your Dreamtime by Norman Spinrad 

This is the anti-Ready Player One. A sharp, creative satire of how mass culture and corporate IP are increasingly colonizing the imagination. 

Full Review

5. Left Hand by Paul Curran

One of the strangest and most visceral experimental works I've read.

4. I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett

Percival Everett remains a favorite. This was was a hilarious, entertaining satire of race and identity in America.

3. The Tunnel by Russell Edson 

I'd read a handful of Edson's poems, but this was my first full book of them. It didn't disappoint in the least. 

2. We'll Never Be Fragile Again by Thomas Moore

I maintain Thomas Moore is one of the greatest working authors at the moment. This book was an absolute gut-punch. A heart-breaking meditation on love. 

Full Review

1. The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay 

This is releasing early 2026, but I had a chance to read an early copy. It's an amazing read. A unique take on the Gospels and the early life of Jesus told in a thrilling story with well-crafted, tight prose. 

Full Review

Honorable Mentions

Red Flags: Stories and Other Disturbances by Charlene Elsby

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin

I Live In Hell by Mike Salinas

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

A Condescending Wound by Benzo Monroe 

RELEASE DAY: The Dinner Show and Other Consumptions

 

A vacationer finds himself suddenly alone in a tourist city. A tabloid journalist makes a horrifying discovery about a famous pop star. A woman joins an eating challenge reality show that turns deadly. A vengeful ghost haunts a poem.

This is just a sample of what's on the menu in this serving of a dozen morsels of horror cooked up by the amazing mind of Ben Arzate.

 

"Arzate's America is much like ours, dangerous and twisted, except there's something...off. If you think you can escape, it's too late. Just try to stay on the beaten path. You'll make it. Probably." - John Bruni, author of Tales of Questionable Taste

 

"Ben Arzate showcases his prowess in the Horror and Bizarro genres with inventive-as-hell body horror, truly scary, slow-burn found footage, and fun with form, like his text message account of the apocalypse. His collection is bleak and lonely some places, terrifying in others, with his signature dry, dark comedy showing up exactly when needed.

 

Arzate is a trope-crusher. Anytime you think a story might sound familiar, he tells us all why he’s the one to tell this particular tale, and each time, he proves you haven’t read one quite like this before. Feast your eyes on this one. It’s one wild-ass ride!" - Lauren Bolger, author of The Barre Incidents

 

"The Dinner Show is a literary smorgasbord of Transgressive and horrific stories. These stories show a wide range of Ben's talent. From crafting Clive Barkerian nightmares to haunting pieces that drag at your soul. Reading this collection is like stepping into a world parallel to ours; one that's covered in a grimy film, distorted by a layer of static.

Ben Arzate writes the kind of stories I love to read; strange, atmospheric, and fantastic!" - Matthew Vaughn, author of Bowery

 

GET THE EBOOK ON GODLESS.COM NOW

New Piece at The Cattle

Over at The Cattle, I have a new prose poem entitled "A Quiet Place to Work" up. 

Read it here.

RELEASE DAY: Bizarro Circus of Madness, edited by Riley Odell

 
Today the Bizarro Circus of Madness comes to town. This features my short story "The Garfield Phones from the Ocean." There's some great authors in this, and I'm very proud of my own story. 

Get it on Amazon Kindle here.

New Piece at Blood+Honey

I have a new short prose piece up at the Blood+Honey online lit magazine. It's called "The Job Interview." I think it's a very funny piece. 

Read it here.

RELEASE DAY: Gravel on the Path

 

 

Two men escape from prison, but find themselves lost in the nearby woods. When they come upon a gravel path, they hope it'll guide them to freedom. However, the path seems endless. What if it takes them somewhere far worse than any prison?

This short story is my latest on Godless. It's based on a nightmare I had and I think I conveyed it very well in the story. 

Get it on Godless.com.

Top Ten Reads of 2024

Another year passed, so it's time for another top ten. 

Keep in mind, these are the books I read 2024. They weren't necessarily released in 2024. 

10. Siren Promised by Jeremy Robert Johnson and Alan M. Clark

An early novel from one of my favorite artists in collaboration with a great artist. The story is surreal, touching, and thrilling, and the artwork is gorgeous and disturbing. 

9. Ripcord by Nate Lippens

Full review here. 

8. Inside Peyton Place: The Life of Grace Metalious by Emily Toth

I've found the story behind the author of Peyton Place more compelling than the book itself, and this is the definitive book on Grace Metalious. 

7. Violent Faculties by Charlene Elsby

Full review here.

6. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy 

I never thought I would put a celebrity memoir on a top reads list, but this was excellent. It's easy to see that writing was McCurdy's true passion. Her story is sad, compelling, and insightful. 

5. The Northern Caves by nostalgebraist

A unique horror novel published only online in which a group of forum members attempt to decipher the mysterious final work of a YA fantasy author. This hit a lot of things I enjoy like Web 1.0 nostalgia, nerding out over difficult literature, and unexplained horror. 

Read it here. 

4. Deliver Me by Elle Nash

A grim and grimy novel about a woman's failure to carry a child to term. A beautifully and relentlessly dark read.  

3. Erasure by Percival Everett

A hilarious and tragic story about a frustrated creative career, racial identity in America, and coping with loss. I became an instant fan of Percival Everett's work after reading this. 

2. The Brave by Gregory McDonald  

Full review here.

1. Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

Full review here.

Honorable Mentions

In the River by Jeremy Robert Johnson
Dr. No by Percival Everett
The Horror by Seb Doubinsky
Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan
The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai