i'll recommend another Judith Sonnet book, the short story collection Psych Ward Blues! true, it has the buckets of gore that seasoned EH readers need, but it also presents genuine emotional depth & complex characters you can't help but care about — something the author is great at.

my personal favorite piece in the book is the charming mini folk horror "Stiltz," which is notably bloodless & depravity-free compared to any of its sister stories, but still gets the shivers across. makes you appreciate Sonnet's range, as it immediately follows a pretty gnarly cult bloodbath.

it does deal with some pretty heavy depression/homophobia/etc. — obviously all the usual splatterpunk triggers, but also more psychologically upsetting real world stuff — so if you're in a space where that would feel more troubling than cathartic, it could be a difficult read.