The proliferation of characters and ideas in the stories is also damaged by the fact that some characters tend to be caricatures. This is especially so in "Narcolepsy." There, retired former Special Forces soldier seeks reconciliation with his ne'er-do-well son in a tale that ultimately leads to them battling radio-controlled zombies and a drug cartel. Neither the father nor his back story rise much above the level of concoction and it is difficult to really care about what happens to him or his son.
The two stories that remain more focused on their theme end up being the strongest. In "The Hypno-Chondriac" we see a pharmaceutical company using a hypochondriac as part of a drug experiment that ultimately creates predatory human killing machines. In "Mosquito," a charitable organization serves as a front for an effort to exploit a disease much like Ebola. This latter story also provides a slightly different slant on the role of man in the creation of monsters. Here, we see more of man's inhumanity to man in an effort to use a naturally occurring disease for social engineering rather than man creating the substance that leads to the monsters.
Interspersed between each story is a "Recipe for Disaster." In each, Mad Marv looks at how various legendary man-made monsters such as golems, mannikins and a homunculus are created and than segues into brief stories involving each. While the mix of history and fiction is interesting, these stories also tend to end abruptly or haphazardly.
There are touches of humor and satire here that tend to work fairly well. Unfortunately, the horror aspect of the book often tends to come off more as descriptions intended to create revulsion rather than a sense of fear or foreboding. Thus, while the stories show some potential, they ultimately fall short. They seem more suited for a pulp magazine than a collected work by one author. Moreover, each could have used additional editorial work in focusing the ideas, strengthening the characters or both.
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