Deep down we all know the truth. Of all the monsters—big or small, Terran or otherworldly—humans are the worst. Our capacity for cruelty, violence and moral corruption far exceeds that of any fantastical creature. 

With this in mind, editor Chuck McKenzie has curated an awesome science fiction collection of short stories highlighting mankind’s brutish nature. Humans are the true monsters, he says, more real than anything in the universe.  

Humans from Earth!! begins with a sliver of human charity in a story by Daniel Fox called “Home Care.” A woman rescues a wounded space alien stranded in the woods near her house. “Do you like cookies?” she asks the odd little creature in the most motherly way possible. 

The story takes a Misery-like turn when the former nurse starts abusing her patient. She binds him to a surgical table and starts flaying him. She has her reasons, of course—twisted as they may be. 

The remaining stories in this anthology don’t contain even a glimpse of human kindness. The history of Earth is written in blood, says author Mia Dalia in her story “Toxic.” It’s amazing we haven’t killed each other off yet. Something inside of us is inherently evil in ways that are unknowable. 

Occasionally, humans experience some well-deserved payback for their monstrosity. For example, “The Future is Golden” by Anthony Ferguson is about an alien race gifted to humanity by a powerful race from another world. 

At first, these Serak are treated like lowly cattle. But later, humans discover their hidden sexual charms. The creatures’ bodies contain a range of orifices that emit a certain hypnotic aphrodisiac quality. Those lucky enough to experience intimacy with the Serak obtain a state of pleasure so intense that it borders on pain—“a high more euphoric than the finest of Earth’s illicit drugs,” says the author. 

As such, the Serak are eventually groomed for prostitution, taught to walk upright, have their flesh molded by the finest surgeons into objects desirable to the human eye and instructed in the ways of the bordello. There is one particularly special organ, situated near the Serak’s navel region, that affords the most exquisite pleasure of all giving off a charge like the humming of the universe itself. 

The Earth is doomed, however. The Serak are not hookers from outer space at all. “We aren’t gifts for your sexual pleasure,” reveals one alien prostitute to her human lover. “If you know anything about your history, we’re more of a Trojan horse than anything else.”

Beyond these excellent stories, my favorite contribution in Humans from Earth!! comes from Liam Hogan. “The Fallen God” features an alternating narrative that bounces back and forth between the lobster-like inhabitants of a planet called Loferre and a marooned astronaut from Earth. 

The astronaut is (willingly or ignorantly) ignoring all first-contact regulations, and the Loferrians are intently studying their god who fell from the sky. The astronaut’s actions are a textbook example of what not to do upon first contact, and a military tribunal comes to the sad conclusion that Earth will never be able to repair the damage done to the social, intelligent, but pre-technology alien race.

[ Humans from Earth!! / Edited by Chuck McKenzie / First Printing: February 2026 / ISBN: 9781923391093 ]