Beneath by Matthew Salinas

So much is packed into these 55 pages.

At Mr. Chuckles, the ball pits have been quarantined while a crew is sent in to see what lurks below. They encounter a self-sustained microcosm of strange fluids and cosmic creatures below the plastic balls and dirty diapers. The reader travels with the group through the eyes of a researcher named Alburn, as he writes in his journal. Alburn starts hearing voices telling him to kill. As they get closer to the bottom, the carnage begins. Honestly, the descriptions of creatures devouring the crew piece by piece reminded me of the famous painting, “Saturn Devouring his Son”.

This was well written and fun to read. It was strange and yet somehow believable. If I had to classify it, I’d say it is a mix of cosmic horror and bizarro. The creature that claims to be an ancient god of which we came from, solidified this as a five-star read for me. And there is a secret about where the balls come from that I won’t give away, because you are going to love it when you read it.