First published back in February of 2025, issue fourteen of ‘Splatterpunk Zine’ was compiled and edited by Jack Bantry, offering up another bloodbucket full of A5 black & white pages, packed with more stories, articles, reviews and interviews of uncompromisingly violent horror and gore.  The zine was made available for purchase via Bantry’s ‘Splatterpunk Zine’ website.

Editorial – 1 Page
Splatterpunk Zine’s Jack Bantry opens up the zine with a brief look back at the origins of Splatterpunk and onto its evolution to what he calls the 4th generation of the subgenre. With a quick warning against the use of AI, Jack signs off his editorial intro with a humble thank you to the contributors who made the zine possible.

Get Off Our Lawn – Adam Millard – 6 Pages
Cooper and Micky had set their tent up in a field at the very bottom of a hill, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. A sign declaring ‘No Camping’ wasn’t a concern to them. After all, who brought fines against the homeless? What was the point, they were penniless! They’d ended their day with booze, just like they did every day. However, when Cooper woke to find his companion gone from the tent, he started to worry. It wasn’t like Cooper to just up and leave. If he’d gone for a piss, then why couldn’t Cooper hear the faint splashing close by? It was whilst Cooper was pondering this that the tent doors were flung open and the naked form of King Charles III moved into the open mouth of the tent, wrinkly grey testicles swinging in the open air, cackling like an escaped lunatic…

Oh, how I long the maniacal imagination of Adam Millard. His work is so often bursting with almost bizzaro craziness, spliced with a madman’s sadistic drive. Furthermore, there’s that undeniable undertone of true Splatterpunk to his work. Rebellious, over-the-top Splatterpunk mixed with a hefty leaning towards the perverse. This story being a prime example.

Here we have a sort of modern-day reworking of George and Lennie from ‘Of Mice And Men’ (1937), who are out camping, with one going missing and the other being confronted by a naked maniac sporting a latex mask of our beloved king. It’s got a sort of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1962) vibe to the lunatic-like violence exhibited. Furthermore, the ending is a hand grenade of black comedy shoved down your boxers. This one’s just ball-bustingly bloody good fun.

The story includes a full-page illustration by Dan Henk.



Easy Pickings – Candace Nola – 6 Pages
Randolph didn’t live well, nevertheless he lived on his own terms. He supplemented his meagre income as the live-in janitor at a residential complex by robbing the elderly folks who lived there. Of course, his job gave him easy access to all their apartments. It gave him the opportunity to see what these crumbling old folks had squirreled away in their musty old rooms. A perk to an otherwise shitty job. However, his latest venture up on the third floor had ended in the old biddy having a heart attack. Scared to death as they say. Another casualty of his side profession. Hopefully this little issue won’t cause a problem for all the other easy pickings…

Splatterpunk Award winning author, Candace Nola offers up a sinister little short of cowardly robbery which leads to a delightful serving of grisly comeuppance. Almost a condensed reworking of Shaun Hutson’s ‘Compulsion’ (2001), the tale sees the instantly dislikeable character of Randolph gradually pile-up layer upon layer of loathsome qualities, until we’re at the point whereby we just wanna see the bastard get it in the neck. It’s that classic feeling of damn justifiable retribution that has us grinning from ear to ear. An easy win for a writer, but no less rewarding for reader. That said, Nola’s delivery of the story is superb. A finely crafted downtrodden voice which delivers the tale’s purposefully coarse narrative, until that eventual oh so splatteriffic finale. Nola certainly can deliver.

The story includes a full-page illustration by Robert Elrod.



Can’t Be Tamed – Bridgett Nelson – 6 Pages
Chardy was lonely. This whole dating lark was getting to her. The latest date had been absolutely soul destroying. Her date clearly wanting to be away the minute he’d laid eyes on her. When she got back to her apartment afterwards, she’d sought comfort from her three pets – her snakes. Of the three, her Axanthic Ghost Python – Reaper – was her favourite. Feeling low, and her monthly menstruation only amplifying matters, she’d climbed into bed with Reaper wrapped around her, tired, upset and just wanting the day over with. Sleep overtook her within minutes, only to be gradually woken with an intense orgasm, bringing her whole body to a surging climax. Slithering between her pale thighs, Reaper’s blood-caked serpentine head revealed itself. Fuck! This didn’t really happen, did it?! It was so wrong, but then again, Reaper felt, so, so, so fucking good…

Holy Christ on a bike! Over the past twenty-to-thirty years, I’ve churned my way through an absolute tonne of extreme horror, Splatterpunk, body horror, and weird, twisted shit. But this one got me winching. Fuck, is this some messed up shit right here. It’s not necessarily the premise of the piece that messes with your guts. It’s more in Nelson’s execution. In her first-person delivery of this mindfuck of a story. I’m aware I’ve already sworn more times than I generally ever do in my reviews. But if a short story deserves to have the emphasis of such language to describe it, then this one does! Is this bestiality?! Pretty sure it is. But that’s only the start. Nelson pushes on with the moral corruption, plundering deeper and deeper into the gut-churning nastiness. Deeper into a dark cavern of taboo and twisted body horror extremity. Hats off to Bridgett Nelson, she nearly fucking full-blown grossed out this long-time reader of extreme horror. So yeah, the DLS skulls awarded for this short are a reflection of that absolute achievement.

The story includes a full-page illustration by Jim Agpalza.



A Weekend With Uncle Bill – R.J. Daly – 12 Pages
Ever since Jamie Tisdale started at high school, he’d been tormented by three particular bullies. Parker Miller, Allie Anderson and the worst of them – Megan Murray. Three fucking bitches, who’s mission was to make Jamie’s life a living hell. However, before his suicide, Jamie’s dad had installed in Jamie a strong moral code – don’t hit women or girls…ever. It was a principle which Jamie abided by, even to this day. Even despite the pain and suffering these three bullying bitches projected upon him each and every fucking day.

Today had been one of the worst incidences. They’d bloodied his nose, kicked him in the groin, yanked his trousers down, and stomped on his lunch. Returning home after school, Jamie’s mother couldn’t face leaving her son alone for the weekend whilst she worked a double shift. He’d have to stay with Uncle Bill. Jamie’s uncle was certainly rough around the edges, but he was still family. Besides, Uncle Bill might be able to help Jamie with his problem. He might just have a solution to finally sort these three bullying bitches out, once and for all…

A thick slice of violent comeuppance. Oh, doesn’t it just make for the most satisfying read?! It’s really no spoiler to say that’s exactly what we have here. You can guess that from the outset. When poor Jamie’s being beaten and humiliated by these three nasty-ass girls. However, where the story really excels with the gritty, uncompromisingly brutal depiction of the bullying, designed to get the readers helpless blood boiling, and then with the utterly over-the-top delivery of said comeuppance. For this latter part, author R.J. Daly really goes to town too. We’re talking the sort of dark imagination for revenge that you might see from the likes of Matt Shaw. It ventures into the far-fetched, but that only adds to the ferocious joy of the piece. Yes, offerings of violent comeuppance are often seen as ‘easy wins’. But the standout offerings are those that step outside of the norm. Blend imagination with finely chiselled delivery to achieve the most impactful effect. With this Daly’s absolutely nailed it. Quite simply this one’s a fucking good read.

The story includes a full-page illustration by Denis Privezentsev.



Up The Splatterpunks! (Or We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now) – Sean Leonard – 2 Pages
Punk rock drummer, author, and horror reviewer, Sean Leonard, is back again, here with an article about bringing back the punk in Splatterpunk. Honestly, this article is one which I’ve felt is a long time coming. As an avid reader of the original wave of Splatterpunk back in the day (yeah, I’ve got a few years behind me now), it’s a subject I’ve pondered and returned to, on more than a few occasions.

Leonard starts off his article referencing author Wrath James White’s recent call to action. Fighting back against the avenues most of us wish society wasn’t slowly venturing down. Use your art…your writing, as a weapon to fight back with. Bring back the punk in Splatterpunk!

After this, Leonard does what he does best, gives us a mouth-watering lowdown of cult underground movies which absolutely meet the Splatterpunk ethos, but also sound frigging awesome. Essentially, we have a handful of synopses for underground indie movies which put the punk back into splatterpunk.

The whole article is a solid slab of everything that is Splatterpunk. You know…I almost wrote “true Splatterpunk” when I wrote that last sentence! But then realised what an elitist knob I’d sound. But hopefully you know what I mean. Aside from all the other insanely good pieces in this issue of the zine, this article alone is worth you getting a copy.

Interview – Robert Essig – 2 Pages
Jack Bantry interviews US based author Robert Essig, asking about what made him become a writer, and which author Essig would choose to read on an isolated desert island (great question). Bantry then asks where Essig got the idea for ‘This Damned House’, what Essig’s ‘Starter Kit’ is all about, the general reaction ‘Baby Fights’ received, and his favourite read this year. Essig finishes up detailing his favourite horror writer and finally how 2024 went for him.

Book Reviews – 2 Pages
The Bug Collector – Wrath James White
Lot Lizard Stew – Chuck Nasty
Benjamin – Aron Beauregard & Shane McKenzie
Quarantine – Aaron Lebold
Every Night In The Bone Orchard – Judith Sonnet

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