I liked how it was broken up into three short stories that were all connected. The second one, Invalid, was my favorite as the characters were likeable! Excited there is a second one.
Bizarre, creative science fiction with monsters and insanity.

audiobook ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher

The Tower is a collection of short horror stories all taking place within a building and its bizarre residents. Each story slowly unravels the truth about the building. While the characters experience the horrors of hidden cameras, brain matter and killers, the readers are left trying to decipher what was real and what was fake.

The book is a perfect blend of fast-paced weirdness, haunting moments, and humour. I really enjoyed listening to the stories and got through it in one sitting because I just couldn't stop listening. My favorite story was the first one called "Hypnagogia" but it was the shortest part. I would have loved to read even more about the two characters and their radiation hallucinations about fishing and God.

Overall it was a great collection of stories and I'll definitely be reading the next books in this series to see even more of the Towers residents.

The Tower is a collection of three stories taking place within the same building. I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure what I read, and I'm not entirely sure I'm supposed to know...it must be the radiation.

For me the first story, Hypnagogia, fell a bit flat. That is, until seeing these characters again in the final story from another characters POV and, for some reason, I found myself appreciating not only the first story but the whole book even more. Perhaps, i was just unsure what to think of this bizzare world? I was really drawn into the second story, The Invalids, and I absolutely loved the final story, Under the Green Brain. Like The Dude's rug, it really tied the room together so to speak.

All in all this was a really odd collection of stories and the more I think about the weirdness of them, the more I find myself liking them, and wanting to read more.

I'd like to take a moment to note that I listened to the Audio version of this book and I loved Brannigan's narration so much. They do a fantastic job of capturing the vibe of this story.

The inhabitants of Eighth Block Tower are experiencing an alarming phenomenon. The walls are contaminated with radiation, and salt is strewn about the hallways. The food and water are also toxic, and a massive green brain throbs beneath the roof, releasing a venomous electrical current throughout the building. As a result, the residents are confined and gradually losing their grip on reality. Sanity is a mere illusion, and illness is the norm.

This was such a fun and quick read! Narrator did an amazing job with bringing the story to life and I found the plot to be highly original. My favorite story was definitely the second one, such a crazy concept. The other two were okay in their own way.

The Tower was a mind bender splatter punk. There's a reference to White Fuzz by the author, that at first I didn't catch. I'm glad I read White Fuzz first, so I could catch the reference. I like how both books are set in the same building, and tie together. This book was twisty and dark, just like I like it.

There's an unknown murderer supposedly killing women in the apartment complex, weird cameras showing up mysteriously in tenants' apartments, and creepy doppelgangers causing confusion and leading to mayhem.

Towards the end, it was a little hard to follow, but overall it was an enjoyable, quick little read. Thank you for the ARC.

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This story is about the Tower, a perfect place to live? Definitely not! The internal environment is toxic. Horror’s abound. The listening experience on the other hand may raise your spirits - the audio version is the perfect way to experience this book. Thank you to Doom Fiction and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Audiobook ARC in exchange for review.
I actually read book two in this series before this one, though I don’t think it matters because they are not linked whatsoever. Out of the two, I preferred this one but still was not completely satisfied. I had hoped for each individual story to be tied up a little neater, I always found myself thinking that there was no conclusion. I enjoyed some of the twists and they for sure are unique. I did not connect with any characters though.

'The Tower' is a strange novella/collection of three short stories, and I don't mean that in the context of the genre that this book is labeled as--the synopsis declares 'The Tower,' the first in a series of stories/books called the Bedlam Bible, as 'strange fiction,' and some other reviews have called it 'bizarro fiction.' I would say that's a very accurate description of the kinds of tales contained within, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Bizarre/strange fiction in general has a lot of plot points, characters, and dialogue that seems absurdist to those who read it, but it seems coherent as well--even if one character is talking to another character in a made-up tongue while its eyes are melting out of its face, and the other character responds while gnawing on the leg of a freshly dead corpse, pus leaking out of its mouth, it makes sense in a way that stories normally do. There is a point to the story overall, and its characters do things within the story that furthers the plot, action, and devices written within.

This collection doesn't necessarily do that. It instead mashes together three stories under the banner of one setting (the eponymous Tower), and tries to make them all loosely fit together. Based on the description of this book, I thought I was getting the adult version of Wayside School, a successful (albeit juvenile) example of strange fiction, but this was not of that ilk. These stories contained residents pondering their fates and killing one another and eating the remains of other residents, and they did so in monotonous ways that seemed to provide no action to the stories within, or they did things that were so completely different from sentence to sentence that they made no sense.

One thing I have to note here is that I listened to the audiobook version of this book versus reading it, and maybe that's why I found myself constantly pausing the story, rewinding a few minutes, and listening to it again, trying to understand where one story ended and another began, and learning how they were all connected with loose plot points. The stories contain residents trying to rationalize their failing bodies, figuring out if the Tower is a living, sentient being, murdering fellow residents for dinner purposes, and attacking those outside the building with weapons that may or may not exist. It was hard to follow at times, and the horror aspects of the stories seemed to be secondary to the overall attempt to make the stories so gross and ethereal and 'out there' that they didn't congeal well at all.

On the positive side, Connor Brannigan, the voice narrator of the audiobook version, does a great job with what he's given. His voice acting is tremendous, and his intonations, pacing, and overall delivery made listening to the audiobook much more enjoyable than it would've been otherwise.

The stories contained within were just enough to keep me reading to the next entry of the series, but, if you are going to dive in the Bedlam Bible, be prepared for stories that don't necessarily make sense, flow logically one to the next, nor provide any kind of overarching cohesion.

Thanks to NetGalley, Doom Fiction, and William Pauley III for the digital audio ARC of The Tower in exchange for an honest review.

I liked that this was fast-paced and that while the stories were about separate characters, they were still connected. This was a quick tense horror/sci-fi audiobook that kind of reminded me of the Are You Scared? videos and Stephen Graham Jones' Night of the Mannequins.

This book was pure insanity. Pure lunacy. This book makes the readers question what is real and what is a hallucination. There were certain aspects of this story where I laughed out loud and other areas where I was definitely uneasy. The author, William Pauley III, has a creative writing style; it is very original. The Tower was an odd yet easy story to follow due to the author’s creative flow as they were clear and easy to understand. This story would have been to convoluted if their writing style wasn’t as stellar as it was. If someone wants a different original story to listen to this story is certainly worth the listen. The narrator made this story more enjoyable as well.

#Netgalley ARC

This is an amazing novella. Part horrific horror, part comedy, this had me laughing and saying WTF all at the same time and I loved every minute of it. The short stories were all different yet, intermingled together, and so very entertaining. The characters also were all very well developed, even if they had a short part in the whole scheme of things, I wouldn't even minded if this was a full-length novel, because the stories were amazing and so was the narrator.

I received this book from NetGalley and have to admit that the reason I requested it was because of the genre it was listed as
That Genre is Horror.

THE TOWER starts off slowly but immediately the reader realizes that they are not in Kansas anymore. If you enjoy your horror with Sci-Fi elements, you will probably enjoy this book.

With story elements such as a giant green brain 🧠 and halls that are coated in salt, you know this story is truly strange.

The author may be a bit twisted, but those twisted story elements are exactly what sucks the reader in.

William Pauley III has a terrific grasp on human motivation and a true talent for creating three dimensional characters.

All in all, I enjoyed this trip into the fantastical world of THE TOWER, but I definitely think you need to be in the correct frame of mind to delve into the truly weird when you read this book.

I rate it as 3 out of 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

4.5/5

Thanks Doom Fiction.

Incredibly weird. Incredibly cool. I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like this author’s work. It’s original and different, yet not pretentious or confusing. I usually listen to audiobooks but I read this one in one sitting and was completely engulfed. It’s kinda horror, kinda bizarre paranormal, maybe kinda sci-fi?

Much of what I mentioned in my review of White Fuzz is true for The Tower- the storyline is easy to follow, the dialogue and language is believable and the details are incredible. Again, like with White Fuzz, I won’t go into much of the plot, but I would definitely recommend if you wanna read something different. It’s not your average “thriller”.

4.5 out of 5 stars only because I wish it was longer. However, as I continue the series I’m getting more of Eighth Block and perhaps I should just be patient and continue reading lolllll

well that was one weird book lol. Im not even sure what happened. It wasnt bad by anymeans, just weird. the narrator was good.

This was an odd and confusing 3 part novella. It's classified as horror, but it was not what I expected. The premise of the book seemed really interesting and I was eager to get started, but it just kind of fell flat for me. The residents all have radiation poisoning from living in Tower Eight, so you already know that you can't rely on the characters thoughts or actions. However, I was hoping for soooo much more madness and creepiness. Every time a chapter would end, each containing a different interconnected story, I would think: that was it? There wasn't a satisfying conclusion, and I felt like the stories could have come together better. Maybe they do in the other parts of the series, but this one didn't entice me to read the others. I really think this story could have benefitted from first person narration, which is not something I normally say, to really get a grasp on what the characters were going through.

I will say: the narrator was fantastic and really made the story. I only found one small part to be creepy, and I really think it was due to the voice the narrator chose to portray it. But the author is clearly talented because the language and imagery is well done. Overall, I would give this author another chance (probably not in this series). It's important to support indie authors so if you feel like the premise is intriguing and you have a spare 2 hours or so, go ahead and listen to the audio version and see what you think. (Also - the cover art is fantastic).

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Something is happening to the residents of Eight Block Tower.

This novella contains three short, interwoven stories of the residents of Eight Block Tower in Chicago Illinois. The residents of the tower almost never leave, being shunned by the community around them. Some residents say there is radiation flowing through the walls, mutating and changing the people that live there. One story follows two friends feeding dark matter to their god. The second follows the hunt for someone killing female residents of the tower. And the third follows someone whose greatest wish is for the tower to be destroyed so he can escape from it.

I loved every page of this short book. While there are extremely violent and genuinely upsetting portions of the book there are also sections that are just as funny. I laughed out loud at several points. My favorite story has to be the first one even though that is the shortest in the book. Each story here is amazingly well written. You really get a feel for them and the people in them, despite the general ridiculousness of each story. I desperately want to know more about the residents and more behind the history of the tower in general.

I listened to the audiobook version of this and I recommend that experience. The narrator did an amazing job bringing each of the short stories in this to life.

The stories in this can be a bit intense so I don’t know if I recommend this for the general reader, but I don’t recommend this for fans of horror titles of the appropriate age. This is the second book I’ve read from this author and I’m looking forward to reading more in the future.

Well I will say this, and I've said it before...William Pauley III and Connor Branigan have once again taken me into the world of 8th block and given me a fun ride through it. By far one of my favorites in this series and the way that Pauley's words are given life by Branigan's voice really brings these stories full circle. Highly Recommend and once again my thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a chance to listen to this crazy collection.

This was a very a very interesting read. This is part one of a three part series. Lots or twist, I did not see coming. If you are a fan or horror/thriller books, I think you would enjoy this.

The Tower by William Pauley III was so scary!!! A terrifying bookthat belongs on every horror-nerd's library shelf! I felt so lucky to get a copy for myself! I have shared on my goodreads, bookstagram, and booktok!

Another listen where I wasn't entirely sure what was going on for most of the story, but I just couldn't stop listening! It was awkward in the best way possible.