Holy shitballs, folks. Joshua Hull’s Mouth is one wild-ass ride into the depths of weird, absurd horror. It’s like someone slipped LSD into your favorite horror movie and then let a rabid badger direct it. When I saw this was written by the screenwriter of the trippy cosmic horror flick, Glorious, I was immediately sold. Strap in because this is going to get messy.

Our tale begins with Rusty, a washed-up drifter whose life is about as stable as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. Rusty inherits a dilapidated farmhouse and a pet named Mouth from a guy he barely knows. Now, if you’re thinking this pet is a cute little dog or maybe a goldfish, think again. Mouth is a goddamn hole in the ground with teeth—yes, teeth—that eats everything in its path.

Rusty’s first encounter with this hellhole is pure comedic horror gold. He stands there like a deer in headlights as the ground rumbles and growls beneath him. Hull’s description is so vivid and funny.

Feeding Mouth becomes Rusty’s daily nightmare. He’s got a map and a set of half-assed instructions from Wayne, the previous owner, who thought it was a good idea to leave a live, flesh-eating pit to a complete stranger. Mice are the main course, but anything that doesn’t look down gets chomped.

Then enters Abigail Cates, a teenage horror junkie with more curiosity than a cat on crack. This girl is a relentless pain in the ass but in the best way possible. She follows Rusty home from the pet store because she knows something’s fishy—or, in this case, fucked. When she discovers Mouth, her reaction is priceless. It’s like she found the holy grail of horror and her golden ticket to the loony bin all at once.

Hull’s portrayal of Abigail and Rusty’s dynamic is brilliantly chaotic. Rusty, who’s not too socially adept, tries to keep Abigail from finding out the truth. He fails spectacularly. Their interactions are filled with dark humor and witty banter, making them a dysfunctional yet endearing duo.

Things take a turn for the darker when Abigail spills the beans about the “Dillsboro Death Dealer,” an urban legend about a psycho who fed his victims to a pet monster… awwwwww shit! This revelation shifts the story from a horror-comedy to a twisted mystery thriller. The backstory of William Reed, Mouth’s original owner, adds a whole new layer of fucked-up to the tale. Reed’s descent into madness and his gruesome feeding habits are both horrifying and fascinating.

Hull’s balance of horror and humor is absolutely perfect. The narrative is peppered with moments of dark comedy that providing relief with from tension. Rusty’s deadpan reactions to the increasingly bizarre situations are hilarious. His writing is to the point, all fat has been trimmed resulting in a lean, satisfying meal.

Mouth is a darkly comic exploration of desperation, redemption, and survival. It’s a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously but still manages to deliver genuine scares and heartfelt moments. It’s gruesome, weird, hilarious, and utterly original.

This is definitely a running contender for the best piece of horror literature I’ve read so far this year.

Tenebrous Press
Published March 15, 2024