Title: The Things He Heard

Author: Matt Shaw

Publication Date: November 25, 2022

Number of Pages: 68

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Independent

Genre: Horror

Synopsis:

A tragic, violent

The boy didn’t have cancer. He had something else buried deep within which he named “his Cancer”. Others didn’t know it was there, even though he tried telling them. Instead, they said he was “fine” and being “silly” and “melodramatic”. Even when his anger turned to frustration and streams of tears, they continued to say he was okay. He knew he wasn’t though and, the more they doubted him and didn’t listen, the more the “cancer” grew.

He could feel it inside and, it scared him. He knew that, one day, it was going to explode. What he didn’t know was who would be caught up in the explosion.

From award-winning author Matt Shaw, the author of Sick B*stards, The Octopus Trilogy and Roe V. Wade.

Personal Thoughts:

Rating: 💫

🚩TW: Mental illness, self harm, violence

In this novella, we follow Ben, a boy who has been dealing with mental illness and claims to have been hearing a voice that tells him to do bad things. He calls this voice his “cancer.” When he raises this to his parents, they don’t believe him. Not because they ignore him on purpose, but because multiple tests have shown that he does not have cancer.

This was such a disturbing read. It’s saddening how this book ended and it made me realize even more that not everyone who seems to be happy or fine is in fact happy or fine. And that any form of mental illness should never be neglected by anyone as ignoring it will never make it go away. The best course of action will always be to accept and ask for help.