DOGS by Mike Sullivan is a brutal and terrifying tale filled with violence, confusion, and some perfectly timed and bone-chilling barking.
Content Warnings for:
Death of a parent, dog bites, suicide, injury detail, blood, violence & more.
Let’s dive in!
My Thoughts on DOGS by Mike Sullivan –
Returning to his parent’s house to attend a funeral for his mother who had recently passed, this man just wants a hot shower and to mentally prepare himself for what’s to come. But just moments after entering the house, his parent’s dog gives him a wicked bite, though it’s not satisfied with just a bit of drawn blood.
From there, the story takes off on a terrifying rush for safety as the man realizes that something is very wrong.
With a short opening that centers around grief, readers are already set on a path of dread from page one. But that dread very quickly pivots into the dread of what is to come as the horror comes barreling at us.
The author does an amazing job with the action scenes here. Not only does each scene have the perfect amount of description to show what’s happening, but the author also touches on what the character is feeling and what they’re thinking! This uncomfortably, but brilliantly, forces the readers into the main character’s shoes each and every time, starting off with the scene with the very first bite.
My Favorite Passages from DOGS –
“Something’s wrong with the dogs.”
Sometimes bad things happened on beautiful days. It made Tom wonder: Was it all simply a game of chance? Or were the gods just twisted motherfuckers?
His head felt like it had been harnessed into one of those pneumatic paint shaker machines at Home Depot for a few hours.
My Final Thoughts on DOGS –
I had SO much fun with this read. It has everything I look for in short and brutal horror novellas; an awesome main character, a bit of grief, a terrifying premise, great description, intense action, and lots and lots of blood.
I’ve been bitten by dogs a couple of times, the most traumatic of them being a bite from a German shepherd (not her fault!) and a little terrier (100% that dog’s fault). Luckily, nothing nearly this bad! But boy did this plot bring up some memories! What an absolutely terrifying premise; the biting is bad enough, but the brain power from these dogs as well… Phew.
If you’re sensitive to stories about dogs, tread very lightly here!
Thanks for reading!
And a shout-out to Mike for sending me an awesome signed copy!
My apologies again to the author for accidentally ghosting him after he had reached out to initially offer to send a copy last September! I’m so sad I didn’t see the message until I recently went to thank him for introducing himself to me while at a meet and greet with Paul Tremblay in Exeter! I’m so glad we finally connected!
As curious as I am about this one, I’m gonna have to pass because I am still dealing with PTSD from losing Cass. Before we knew how sick he was, he must have been masking it but would out of the blue jump on Apollo and Mr. Barb and I would have to intervene. Apollo always came out unscathed but Mr. Barb was bit in two places on one occasion and I got pretty seriously bit twice – once his canines going all the way though my palm and another almost breaking my wrist. I still adore that dog and he didn’t mean to hurt me but I’ve still not mentally recovered and am smart enough to know this book may cause me to spriral. I am glad you enjoyed it though.
Aww yeah, definitely not one for you for quite a while! <3 So sorry you went through that. It's the most upsetting when you know it's not the dog's fault for snapping.