The description provided was a little bit off. Martin didn't punish his son for ordering glasses, it actually wasn't even his son who ordered them.

Martin came home from his factory job just wanting to knock back a few beers, (never a full six pack on a week night or else it made the weekends less special) and watch Charlie's Angels. He's annoyed that his son Brian and his best friend Noel are making so much racket upstairs. When Martin goes up to tell Noel he's going to walk him home, Noel shows him the x-ray glasses. He's ordered a pair for himself and a pair for Brian from an ad in a comic book. He tries them on even though Brian tells him all they do is give you a headache, and at first that seems to be true, but the more Martin wears them the more he sees. He soon becomes addicted to ogling women through their clothing, but eventually he begins to see something more sinister. By the time he decides to stop wearing them, it's already too late.
This was a quick, fun read, reminiscent of the stories you would find in the horror comics back in the day. A crazy silly good time.

I received an advance copy for review. ( )

Is it bad when the first thought after finishing this novella was that it was OK, but it would have been even better if it had been gorier? Seriously, most of the time during the story did it feel like I was waiting for everything to go haywire and when it did was it towards the end of the story, so not much carnage. I found the previous short novella in this series, Just Add Water, to be better, more satisfying to read, especially if like me want a story with lots of deaths and bloodbaths.

Now, the story isn't all bad, it not that long and it kept my interest up (despite the lack of gruesome deaths for most of the story) and one could hardly blame Martin for wanting to see some nice naked bodies. Unfortunately, for him didn't it stop there. I also liked the very end of the story. It felt very fitting.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Netgalley for an honest review! ( )

Is it bad when the first thought after finishing this novella was that it was OK, but it would have been even better if it had been gorier? Seriously, most of the time during the story did it feel like I was waiting for everything to go haywire and when it did was it towards the end of the story, so not much carnage. I found the previous short novella in this series, Just Add Water, to be better, more satisfying to read, especially if like me want a story with lots of deaths and bloodbaths.

Now, the story isn't all bad, it not that long and it kept my interest up (despite the lack of gruesome deaths for most of the story) and one could hardly blame Martin for wanting to see some nice naked bodies. Unfortunately, for him didn't it stop there. I also liked the very end of the story. It felt very fitting.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Netgalley for an honest review! ( )

Do you remember those bare-bones hokey horror shows from the seventies and the eighties, the ones that played upon fifties values and aimed at the lowest common denominator by giving us a MC that IS the lowest common denominator?

How about some really cheap made-for-tv horror episodes that were amusing more for the schlock value than the shock value? Do you miss those?

I admit I do, to my everlasting shame. But I don't feel that guilty. Not really. It's comfort food and Shea is great at giving us exactly what we want. No nutritional value at all. :)

In this case, we have a slothful drunk dad that goes on a journey with his new x-ray glasses that really function as advertised, only they're cursed and he can't get them off. Of course, the old complaint about x-ray glasses also comes true when it starts working a little too well. The simple concept even has the horror-moral built in, and I didn't care what happened to the guy so...

Enjoy! Nothing in here except popcorn wish-fulfillment as long as you're a 12-year-old boy inside a sad grown man who just wants to see titties.... gone wrong. :) Amusing for what it is. Please don't expect anything more, though, unless you're expecting a bit of a nice gross-out, because that's here, too. :) In this respect, it's quite a bit better than the made-for-tv horror shows. :) Very modern sensibilities there, at least. :)

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

( )

3.5/5 stars!

The latest installment in the Mail Order Massacres series is Optical Delusion. This time around the action is focused on some X Ray glasses ordered from the back of a comic book. What could go wrong with that?

Mr. Blackstone's son tosses the specs aside because they gave him a headache and they don't work. When Martin Blackstone spots them, he scoops them up and decides to give them a try. What happens next? You'll have to read this to find out!



I enjoyed this novella for the bit of silliness that it was. It's not trying to be the next Crime and Punishment, it just wants to take you along a quick ride of "What if?" Even though I knew going into it that this was a novella, I found myself wishing for a meatier story. Overall though, Optical Delusion did meet my expectations and I had fun with it.

I'm looking forward to Mr. Shea's next foray into the world of mail order mayhem!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Lyrical Underground for the e-ARC!* ( )