Body Horror and Nightmare Themes Explored in ‘The Tooth Collector’
Horror fans drawn to body horror, folk horror, and psychological terror will find The Tooth Collector disturbingly unforgettable. This body horror dental nightmare comes with grotesque imagery reminiscent of Junji Ito’s macabre storytelling and the creeping dread of The Ritual by Adam Nevill, blending folklore with flesh. It explores grief, fear of the unknown, desperation, and unsettling supernatural folklore—all wrapped in a horrifying legend that lingers in the dark.
Like Paul Tremblay’s psychological nightmares (The Cabin at the End of the World), this story leaves readers questioning reality. Fans of Clive Barker’s visceral horror (Books of Blood) will appreciate the grotesque detail and raw terror. If you enjoy gruesome horror books with deep psychological scars, The Tooth Collector will leave its mark—one tooth at a time.
Want more? Check out LOOK AT ME and The Mirror for more unsettling horror reads.
This is a thrilling read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can’t wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.
Fun, fast, spooky. I only wish it was longer. I have to wonder is this based off of a myth? Mr. Black kept me in my toes that is for sure. I’m excited to read more of his work.
As some other people have noted in their review, this is a little hard to follow. It was kind of scary, but I wish I could have known what was real and what was a dream.
The damn tooth fairy done changed. Forget about the tooth under the pillow, sleep with one eye open. If you’re not into heebees, don’t stick around for the jeebees.
This was my first Hash Black work and I enjoyed it, finding the overall writing very good. The story was moderately creepy (I do love creepy), with mild body horror. As others have mentioned, there were some parts of the story that I found a little confusing, or the scene descriptions not quite detailed enough for me to adequately picture what was happening. This sort of thing takes me out of the story as I’m reading, and if there were fewer of those scenes then I’d likely have given this story 4.5 or 5 stars. If I were editing this piece, that’s where I’d spend my time fine tuning. Still, Hash Black is a good writer and this story’s concept is creepy enough that I’ll definitely give his other stories a try!