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Aaron Dries

Dirty Heads: A novella of cosmic coming-of-age horror Paperback – October 23, 2021

by Aaron Dries (Author)

304 ratings

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The story of a boy who dreamed of becoming a man… But dreamed up a monster instead

You’re on the run. Marked. Don’t think about the kid you used to be when you’re homeless and dumpster-diving in the rain. Just eat whatever you find to keep your engine full. Because the shadow with too many teeth wants you tired.

You’re easier to catch when you’re tired.

It has hunted you since the summer of 1994, back when we confessed who we were through mixtapes. When every movie at the video store had dirty heads. You were thirteen and thought you knew who you were. Only the shadow with too many teeth knew you better. It still does. And it won’t stop. Not until you come home.

Back to where it all began.

Part cosmic horror, part coming-of-age monster story, DIRTY HEADS is a terrifying read from the author of HOUSE OF SIGHS, THE FALLEN BOYS, and A PLACE FOR SINNERS

Print length

142 pages
Language

English
Publication date

October 23, 2021
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.36 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0999451987
ISBN-13

978-0999451984
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"To call Aaron Dries anything less than a master of horror is to misunderstand the deftly precise nature with which he can affect a sleepless night. Wielding otherness like a carefully honed weapon, Dries reveals the monstrosities of the mundane and the beauty within the things that haunt. A storyteller like no other, it's a pleasure to be at his mercy."
- Michael Varrati, filmmaker

"Aaron Dries is a powerhouse in horror fiction."
- Kaaron Warren, author of The Grief Hole

"Instead of using ink, Aaron Dries fills his pen with residue that nightmares leave behind on the inside of your skull. If you love horror in its purest, most elemental state, you'll love his work."
- Attack of the Queerwolf! Podcast

"Aaron Dries writes horror that lodges in your gut and heart like shards of glass. Powerfully emotive, confronting, intense, and endlessly compelling."
- Alan Baxter, author of The Gulp

"An artist of the sublime, the surreal and the sickening, who paints with gore and splintered bone richly emotive portraits of trauma and personal tragedy."
- J. Ashley-Smith, author of The Attic Tragedy

About the Author

Author, artist, and filmmaker Aaron Dries was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia. His novels include House of Sighs, The Fallen Boys, A Place for Sinners, and Where the Dead Go to Die, which he co-wrote with Mark Allan Gunnells. His short fiction and illustration work has been published world-wide. Aaron's most recent release is the highly-acclaimed Dirty Heads: A novella of cosmic coming of age horror. Feel free to drop him a line at He won't bite. Much.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black T-Shirt Books (October 23, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 142 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0999451987
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0999451984
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.36 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #354,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,376 in Supernatural Thrillers (Books)
- #13,917 in Horror Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
304 ratings

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Aaron Dries

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Author, artist, and filmmaker Aaron Dries was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia. His novels include House of Sighs, The Fallen Boys, A Place for Sinners, and Where the Dead Go to Die, which he co-wrote with Mark Allan Gunnells. His short fiction and illustration work has been published world-wide. Aaron's most recent release is the highly-acclaimed Dirty Heads: A novella of cosmic coming of age horror. Feel free to drop him a line at www.aarondries.com. He won’t bite. Much.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5

304 global ratings

5 star		36%
4 star		31%
3 star		24%
2 star		8%
1 star		1%

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Mysti

Surprisingly moving

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 18, 2022

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That is one thing i love about reading horror, how you go in expecting one thing and find another. There were parts in this book that broke my heart. Others that made my nose wrinkle in discust. Great book.

One person found this helpful

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Eclectic Reader

“Kindling Weather”

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 13, 2022

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With New Year’s Eve of 2000 fast approaching, Heath Spooner is homeless and has been on the run for two years. He’s “seen things no nineteen-year-old should.” “The boy I used to be would be scared of the person I’d become.” He survives by scavenging through dumpsters and doing what he must to get cash from strangers in order to keep up his strength. Heath has no choice. He is being pursued by a monster—his monster.

Good horror writing tries to scare the reader, but also should get them to feel more than chills and actually think, in my opinion. Aaron Dries’s latest novella, DIRTY HEADS (2021; 142 pp.) does both. He gives readers a terrifying and eventually pernicious killing machine of a monster as well as a main character, Heath, who is both the book’s first-person narrator and on a journey through life the majority of Dries’s readers may never have experienced, but to which they can empathize.

DIRTY HEADS is, in many ways, a different kind of work from the author which is to his credit. The book is filled with ambiguity and is at times almost surreal. It is, to an extent, nearly an experimental example of story-telling. The book is laid out in a variety of fonts (hence, it is important to buy and read a print copy of the book and not an e-book version) and the chapters start at “Twenty” and countdown to “Zero,” a clear indication that the short novel is going to end in a cataclysmic fashion.

Following the opening of the book, Dries brilliantly provides readers a flashback to when Heath is thirteen and “it” all starts. He is a boy who haunts the video stores, perusing the VHS boxes from A to Z, making revised sketches of the cover art in his notebook for the boxes. With a younger sister, Dee, and only a few close friends, Heath lives a good life at home with his parents, but an awkward discovery in the floor of an abandoned truck and later an event with a girl he admires brings to the fore a monster. This is when the “monster” within Heath starts to become both a gruesome, almost cosmic reality, as well as a vivid metaphor for the boy’s sexuality. Although it appears obvious to a lot of his peers around him, and to Heath himself most likely, he is “different;” he is gay—something he has spent a good deal of time denying until he is forced to confront reality by the two events which haunt him. It is also at this point at which Dries gives his readers their most important assignment—they must think for themselves and be able to distinguish between the monster which is trying to destroy Heath and his family and the monster of Heath’s constant hunger and need for self-awareness and acceptance. Sometimes the monsters overlap, especially toward the end of the book.

Also a brilliant metaphor, Dries frequently returns to video tapes and the need (at the time) to adjust the tracking of tapes to clean the heads for a clearer picture (lucky is the younger reader who has not had to experience this kind of frustrating technology). Video tape tracking marks are even used to separate portions of the book (again, buy a paper copy of the book). Heath is in constant need of mental tracking adjustments to try to get a clearer picture of what he is experiencing.

In spite of the need to think and ruminate upon the content of Dries’s book, the prose is beautifully rendered, almost anxiety ridden at times, placing the reader into the sometimes-surreal worlds of the protagonist. The author’s story-telling is fast paced, mimicking the pounding heart-beat of the tale and its protagonist. Equally, his characters are distinctly drawn and very real-to-life.

After a cinematic, graphic conclusion likely to grab readers by the throat, in spite of the novel’s many cryptic, fretful-ridden, and downright shocking moments, DIRTY HEADS concludes on one, single hopeful note. DIRTY HEADS might not be for the horror reader who likes their horror and gore straight-up (no pun intended), without the Daliesque qualities and opaqueness, but picking up DIRTY HEADS is certainly worthy of the challenges the author provides and the rewards it delivers.

2 people found this helpful

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M

boring until the end of it

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 22, 2022

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Everything tied together in the end and was interesting, but it was hard to finish bc of how boring it was until everything went down. I think the author had really good perspective on heaths inner turmoil from being gay, and also his experience being homeless. The monster excerpts were kind of confusing though, I couldn’t understand what he was thinking or saying so it made those chapters hard to read. I found myself skipping over the paragraphs. I also still can’t concept how the monster looks or what it is. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who likes to be captivated and entertained with every chapter of the book. 6/10 because of the interesting ending but I wouldn’t read it again.

One person found this helpful

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Faith Fuoss

a fun spooky little ditty

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 11, 2023

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I absolutely loved this novella. It was fun, exciting, and a quick read. I loved the set up of the countdown chapters, too! I loved the twists and unsuspecting turns this story took. But the best part is the imagery; Dries had me picturing things in such a vivid (horrific) light. Highly recommend if you want a quick scary read.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Interesting but needs more

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 10, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book has some very interesting ideas but there’s so much that isn’t explored. I don’t mind leaving some things to the imagination but it feels like a lot of the book could have been used to develop the characters and creatures more fully Instead of focusing so much on the mundane. Overall a good, short read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

I have a hard time finding books that capture my interest. This is a short book and i found myself wanting to follow the main character throughout after the first chapter. I really enjoyed this and i love how it ended if there were ever a sequel i would be all over it. I liked it so much that I just purchased another book from this author as well~

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Kay

The cover caught my eye, the writing reeled me in

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 6, 2022

Verified Purchase

Amazon suggested this to me and I literally clicked on it for the cover. I was looking for a short read that would suck me in and this was it. Dries has a beautiful writing style, a bit abstract kind of prose without coming across pretentious; I super dig that kind of stuff. The story was both easy to follow and confusing as heck for a bit but it all came together. I enjoyed the 90s movie rental nostalgia and I had to look up and watch that horrific commercial that gets referenced a bit throughout the book and well, yikes is all I can say about that. I would and will definitely recommend this book and will look to read more work by this author.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Alex Pearson

Perfect queer coming-of-age & cosmic horror novella!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 12, 2022

Verified Purchase

This was weird and awesome. DIRTY HEADS by Aaron Dries is a perfect queer, cosmic horror novella that you need. And coming-of-age? Yes, please! Our main character, Heath, definitely struggles coming to terms with who he is, his world full of confusion and frustration. It blends together real bullies and bad people with internal evils so nicely all held together by Dries' storytelling craft. The format + countdown of the chapters only feeds your desire to swallow this story whole in a single sitting. It's thrilling and sad at the same time. And if you love this delicious cover as much as I do, then just wait until you see what else the book has to offer you...

2 people found this helpful

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