Satan's 3-Ring Circus of Hell [Paperback]

Disgusting, tasteless, repugnant..."Satan's 3 Ring Circus of Hell" is all of this. It's also pretty damn funny and a riot to read. The book is the brainchild of writer Robert Steven Rhine and a whole host of talented artists such as Tim Vigil, Steven Bisette, Frank Dietz, Hilary Barta, Jeff Gaither, and many more. This is a collection of horror and horrific stories and one page illustrations. At first glance one may think they are inspired by old Warren Mags like Creepy, but the level of gore hints at perhaps being inspired more by Eerie Publications magazines like Horror Tales and Tales from the Tomb, not to mention modern day splatter films.

Right out of the chute the book pounds the reader with morbid ferocity and oodles of slimy, sticky gore, but often infused with a dark sense of humor. "Separation Anxiety" with art by Frank Forte tells the story of the freak show sisters of Satan, a pair of conjoined twins, one a beautiful woman, the other a small, goblin-like beast. Their affair with the tattooed man goes awry when he wants to separate the pair.

"Bone Soup" was a favorite of mine with gorgeous art by Joe Vigil. Set sometime in old Eastern Europe during a great famine, a mysterious visitor to an inn decides to cook up bone soup. But he needs to acquire all the ingredients first: Bones, tongue, liver, heart...

A truly ghastly story of revenge is "The Roast" as hundreds of victims of botched cosmetic surgeries get their just revenge on the doctor who disfigured them, turning this tribute into a true roast!

"The Haunted Hood" is an outrageous story of the Braddock Downs Housing Projects filled with Hos, pushers, pimps, gangstas...and things much worse. It's a wonderful slapstick horror farce. "Fungus Among Us" with art by Nenad Gucunja is another favorite about a little boy who is unwilling to part with his foul, odorous sneakers that he used to score the winning goal in a soccer championship game. His mother learns the hard way that she should never throw her son's stuff out!

In addition to the stories there are some hysterical parodies of old comic book ads such as for the box of mini-plastic soldiers, Sea Monkeys, etc, and there's even a little bit of anti-Bush humor tossed in for good measure.

It's a wildly ghoulish ride from beginning to end and I highly recommend it for horror fans.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Do you consider yourself a completely sane and reasonable human being yet seek out the most depraved videos on Youtube.com, proudly admit to ogling human roadkill at freeway pileups and find un-PC humor often quite hysterically funny? If you're like me and this description fits you to a T, then you'll find Satan's 3-Ring Circus Of Hell to be very shocking. Shockingly funny that is. This generously thick-paged graphic comic book features dozens of wickedly black-humored tales of insanity and mayhem. Robert Rhine is the devilishly witty ringleader of this literary madness. His biting humor leaves welcome marks in your flesh that take a long time to heal, much like a hickey. In addition to also being a Rod Serling impersonator as well as best friend and confidant to the Prince of Darkness, he is the editor of Girls And Corpses magazine and various other 'Satan' comic books. The stories in Satan's 3-Ring Circus Of Hell are illustrated by Rhine's horde of evil minions who happen to be some of the finest and most creative graphic artists around: Frank Forte, D.W. Frydendall, Eric Pigors, Mike Sosnowski, William Stout, Tim Vigil, John Cassaday, Tone Rodriguez, Hilary Barta, Spain Rodriguez, Jim Smith, Vincent Waller, Alan M. Clark, Frank Dietz, Shannon Wheeler, Steve R. Bissette, Alex Pardee, Steven Mannion, Joe Vigil, David Paleo, Frankie B. Washington, David Hartman, Bryan Baugh, John Howard, John Watkins Chow, Matt Howarth, Jeff Gaither, Mark Covell, Jacob Hair, Gak, Nenad Gucunja, Joe Bucco, Kevin Colden, Steve Cobb, Rich Longmore, Rafal Hrynkiewicz, Steph Dumais, Aleksandar Sotirovski, Clay Henss, Alastair Fell, Omaha Perez and Norman Cabrera. So hang your good taste on the coat rack, have a seat and enjoy a nice evening of wickedly sick and twisted humor.

In the wrong hands, gore is just nasty. In the right hands, it's *really* nasty. These stories are funny and so far over the top that I got a nosebleed. It's weird to laugh out loud as you're looking at images of intestine baloon animals, but I did. Rather than analyze what that says about me, I'm going to assume that my reaction was normal and that you'll feel the same way. Enjoy!