The Spooky Sh*t Show - Derek Trautwein

In Derek Trautwein's "Spooky Sh*t Show" anthology, two exuberant hosts introduce five short stories of horror, comedy, and downright silly fun. After a bit of audience participation to warm up the crowd, attendees experience the first story, 'American Gothic Chew,' a tale of two overall-wearing hillbilly brothers bonding over a shared love of jerky. In the second story, terrible childhood memories surface and induce fear in a bound captive strapped to a chair. Although the sounds and monsters were fake, the fear and terror in the performance seemed natural.

Improv comedy and scares meet in the third story as characters in a horror house production deal with interruptions and rude language. The strange perspective continues in the fourth tale as a ventriloquist puppet tells their life story. The anthology concludes with an account of the Salem witch trials, which cleverly connects a curse from the gallows to modern-day feminism in an ironic twist.

Fans of "Creepshow" will appreciate the campy horror comedy of "The Spooky Sh*t Show." It does the genre justice.