First published back in April of 2025, Welsh author David Owain Hughes’ ‘All the F*cks’ was a 10th Anniversary Special Limited Edition hardback publication of the author’s novel ‘Man-Eating F*cks’ (2016). Along with the novel itself, this deluxe edition also includes a collection of previously published short stories, a comic strip, and a brand-new novella, all from the ‘Man-Eating F*cks’ series.

The special hardback publication was published through Hellbound Books and was limited to just 100 hand-numbered and signed copies.

Author’s Introduction – David Owain Hughes – 2 Pages

Hughes starts off this gorgeous omnibus edition with a short introduction in which he explains his inspiration for the series, most notably Guy N Smith’s pulp horror classic ‘Cannibals’ (1986) along with Wes Craven’s ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ (1977). The introduction is written in Hughes’ usual no bullshit, 100% unpretentious voice, making it in itself a delight to read.

Eat What You Kill: Foreword – Tara E. Smith – 5 Pages

Following Hughes’ introduction, we then have a superb foreword from Guy N Smith’s daughter Tara Paulsson (nee Tara E. Smith). As you can imagine, Tara’s foreword makes more than a few references to her father’s pulpy titles. Tara also explains how she first met Hughes, before talking about the gory entertainment found within Hughes’ novel and how Smith’s legacy lives on in this new breed of pulpy writers. It’s a fabulous foreword, properly whetting the readers’ appetite for the madness and mayhem to come.

Man-Eating F*cks – 186 Pages

In the outback of South Wales, the police have been getting increasingly concerned about the disappearance of teenaged Chloe Griffiths. However, this isn’t the only thing concerning the local law enforcement. There’s been some highly unusual activity reported in recent months around the picturesque South Wales area.

There’s a perplexing list of missing persons, along with livestock and horses having gone missing from local farms. Not to mention the apparent sightings of strange, green-skinned individuals, fleeing the scene, or lurking in the dense woodland around the Wales.

These sporadic and increasingly worrying reports eventually come to a spearhead on the isolated Ogmore Mountainside, when a car breaks down and the family along with the RAC rescue driver all go missing. But it’s what the detectives find in the woodland close by which escalates the terror. The dismembered body of one of the missing persons.

Unbeknown to the authorities, a cannibalistic tribe have settled down in the isolated Welsh woodlands. Ancestors of Alexander Sawney Beane, they’re an ancient breed who’ve survived for generations on the woods, hills, coasts and any other deep dark place they can find to hide. They’ve travelled the length and breadth of the country over and over.

Their existence is one of murder, rape and incest. However, the tribe are getting desperate. Their numbers have been depleting to the point where their murderous activity has started to get noticed. Which has driven the cannibals to a daring attack…a gig at the local live venue where ‘665 The Neighbour of the Beast’ and ‘Raining Spears’ are set to unleash a killer live set.

In the audience is Detective Inspector Huw Davies’ eighteen-year-old daughter. She’s the only thing in the detective’s life that keeps him going. And now she’s missing. Taken by vile abominations who will stop at nothing to ensure their tribe’s existence continues.

The Welsh Hills will run red with blood…

Here we have what can only be described as the Welsh version of Jack Ketchum’s classic cannibal novel ‘Off Season’ (1981). Author David Owain Hughes hasn’t tried to hide the fact that he’s basically rewritten much of the premise, only uplifted it from the Maine outback to unleash a new round of cannibalistic savagery within the picturesque rolling Welsh hills and woodlands.

The homages don’t end just there. We also have more than a few references to ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ (1977) including a scene that’s pretty much plucked straight from the movie. But it’s all done in a respectful, horror fan tribute kind of way. Passion for the genre within its feral veins.

Anyway, going back to that first and point of reference, there really is so much in this book that draws from ‘Off Season’ (1981). The setup, the way the cannibals have existed and almost migrate from one place to another. It’s a feral lifestyle, almost cultish in its raw existence.

Alongside our cannibal pals, we also have a thriller-esque thread to the story. It’s involving North Wales’ cocaine baron who’s seeking revenge on the tribe of cannibals for slaughtering his wife and two daughters. So, this drug lord, Mr Gibson, has hired a hitman to track down the killers and deliver some cold hard justice. Of course, said hitman is a tough-as-nails black guy named Lawrence who’s been on their trail for a year now. Through Lawrence, we get a thick slab of grit and explosive action, which we all know Hughes absolutely thrives upon within his tales.

Another thread of classic Hughes entertainment that’s utilised is with the secondary character of Derek – a sleazy postman with a Gollum-like split personality. Now, Derek is your textbook Richard Laymon style perv. A deviant whose pent-up sexual frustration has led to a dark, dangerous incel type of persona to manifest. And this loner-with-a-boner has his seedy eyes set squarely on the novel’s protagonist, eighteen-year-old Storm.

That leads me on to another key point about the book – the large and varied cast of characters that Dave has brought into the mix. The cannibals have a whole family of flesh-hungry fucks, all sporting classic David Owain Hughes names – from Zombi and Gunter (the horror easter eggs are strong with this one), to the lesbian lover sisters Eight-Ball and Cue-Ball, and a whole host of other cannibal members in between.

We also have a side story (and mini-love arch) with the band members of the rock support act ‘Raining Spears’ whose gig becomes a ferocious bloodbath when the cannibals rock up to deliver their own wild show. 

As you can imagine, being a David Owain Hughes novel titled ‘Man-Eating F*cks’, this tale absolutely packs in the violence and the over-the-top 1980s style gore. A sort of ‘Cannibal Ferox’ (1981) brought to the woodlands of the rolling Welsh hills.

There’s rape and visceral gore a plenty. As such, characters come and go like the cast from ‘The Walking Dead’. But at the forefront of the chaos and all this rampaging, marauding horror, we have a father and daughter, whose lives have been split apart by the cannibals. The sheer desperation of D.I. Huw Davies to rescue his daughter becomes the driving force for much of the second half of the tale. A force that sweeps you up and pulls you along with it.

So yeah, for a lowbrow, over-the-top uber-violent and uncompromising cannibal read, look no further. It’s ‘Off Season’ (1981) in the Welsh valleys. Chaos and bloodshed aplenty. Honestly, you’ll fucking love it!

Tinseltown Island – 62 Pages

Tinseltown Island was every kids’ dream come true. The happiest, most Christmassy place on Earth – or your money back! You’ve heard of Christmas Island, kids, well this place is the real deal! Where everyone’s dreams come true.

For Timmy the trip to Tinseltown Island would be the most exciting event of his young life. He was going there with his parents, Shane and Kim, to spend an extended weekend on the remote island during the run up to Christmas. They’d been taken by helicopters to the island’s offshore location, somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Alongside them was a handful of other families, all eager to spend the next few days in the island’s magical grounds.

However, the island has a past which isn’t mentioned on any of the marketing material. Many hundreds of years ago, long before Mr Cringle saw the potential in the land, the island was said to have been inhabited by a fierce tribe, lost to the world, who lived and bred for decades. It’s said they originally lived off the fruit of the land but began hunting wildlife and later anyone who trespassed. Some say the tribe are still there.

Meanwhile, Shane and his family’s first evening spent on the island isn’t quite what they’d expected. Yes, the setup is every bit as festive and magical as they’d hoped. But Shane had noticed something not quite right about the staff. Why would the security personnel need to carry guns at a children’s theme park? Why were the other staff acting as if they’re in some sort of trance? Each with exhibiting vacant, unwavering and impassive eyes.

Their time on the island is about to turn ugly. A weather report shows a snowstorm moving in, with temperatures set to drop to a critical level. Such a harsh freeze would cut off all heat and power to the compound. But there’s worse consequences to such a disruption.

Behind the frozen bars of a cube-like prison, the savage woman’s sharpened teeth break into a grin. A terrifying need for blood-soaked vengeance burns deep within her heart. Now is the time they’d been waiting for. Now is the time for the man-eating fucks to take back their homeland…

Ho-ho-ho, have we got a blood-drenched, high-octane man-eating fucks read here! This brand spanking new addition to the Man-Eating Fucks series is one action-packed and gory as hell novella, which doesn’t take its foot off the accelerator from the moment the family land on this so-called magical Christmas Island where all your dreams come true. Not exactly dreams per se, more like frigging nightmares!

Of course, we have our favourite cannibal tribe now living on the island. Headed up by Storm – yeah, she’s back and she’s now head of the breed! – what follows is a wild and utterly over-the-top pulp horror, which mixes a Winter Wonderland style reworking of ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ (1964) with the gory violence of Hughes’ cannibal series. Oh yes, this novella doesn’t take itself too seriously at all, mixing in an almost ‘Futurama’ vibe to the plot and backdrop, only with the savagery and bloodshed ramped up a few thousand notches.

Suspend all notion of disbelief guys and girls. This one’s wacky as fuck. But that’s half the fun with the story. We’ve got robots on the rampage ala ‘Chopping Mall’ (1986), cannibals roaming the isolated island, subzero temperatures shutting off all power, highly trained assault squads trying to defend the compound, and murder and mayhem every step of the way.

Trust me, this one is as jam-packed and outrageously entertaining as it sounds. Hughes is in his element, giving us some festive cheer splashed with gallons of blood and the gnashing of cannibal teeth. Just don’t try to unpick the novella too much, especially with timelines and how this all came together. It’s just not that sort of party. Instead, sit back and settle in for one fucked-up, rollercoaster of a wild Cannibal Christmas ride!

Twin Jesters, Bridgend – 20 Pages

They were after Owen. Chasing him through the darkened streets of Twin Jesters. Taunting him as he fled through the shadows and side streets. Their harsh, raspy breathing and low snarls mocking him every pounding step of the way.

Owen knew he had to get beyond the boundaries of Twin Jesters. What he’d discovered about the town needed to be told to others. A history steeped in violence and bloodshed. But this was more than just whispered memories of a grisly past. The legend of the two psychotic jesters, Ddu and Coch, who’d once brought murder and mayhem to the town, was not mere folklore designed to scare young children. Their reign of terror lived on. And now the streets were alive with the chaos and carnage that Twin Jesters had once been born into existence from.

Owen had a story to tell. A warning. A desperate last message before it was too late…

This is a wild story. It’s pure unadulterated David Owain Hughes through and through. Mixing faux-Welsh folklore with the fucked-up imagination of this wacky oddball author, creating a legacy about lunatic jesters who’d once terrorised a community with their lust for murder and mayhem.

Yes, it’s completely over-the-top and wildly far-fetched. But then that’s the remit Hughes so often sets himself. Let imagination run rampant and let the bodies start falling. Of course, there’s this wacky crossover between comic book style villains and gory carnage. That 1980s sweet spot in horror, where just about anything fucking goes. That’s Hughes’ playground. Where his messed-up horror flourishes. And we see that in abundance here.

The short story was first published within the ‘Postcards From The Void’ (2018) anthology and then later became Chapters 7 and 8 within the third novel in the series ‘Man Eating F**s: The Legacy’ (2019), only with an additional section (a handful of paragraphs) tagged onto the end of the short story to wrap it up with and the first-person perspective of Owen, modified slightly when integrated within the novel.

Experiment Of An Ancient Breed – 22 Pages

It had been sixty years since the incident in Bridgend when the pack of cannibals who’d been living in the woods went on a bloodthirsty rampage. For two years the cannibals had laid low before the tribespeople attacked again. One woman who’d been snatched and impregnated by Skull remained, looking after the tribe’s offspring. Over the years that followed, the breed had grown. Incest was a way of life for the cannibals. And now they were many once again.

Liz, the sole manager and proprietor of the Lamb and Flag pub, was a direct descendant of the tribe. She’d kept her family hidden from the eyes of the world. Fed and looked after them. And given them the opportunity to kill.

But one man had uncovered her secret. The death of his son led him to the doorstep of the cannibals. And now he wanted revenge. It was time the man-eating fucks paid for the blood they’d spilt…

Oh, this one’s pure unadulterated David Owain Hughes through and through! It picks up the story some sixty years after the events of the first two books, with the remaining cannibals now hidden away within our very communities. Of course, they’re existence is uncovered and what follows is a plot of vengeance that last decades.

For a large part of the short story, we follow the owner of this pub, where our lone vigilante quietly observes this tough-as-old-nails proprietor. Then we’re suddenly flung headfirst into an escalating sequence of violence which leads to a brutal and wildly gory showdown. It’s absolute carnage, blending the guts and gore of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (1974), Ketchum’s ‘Offspring’ (1991) and Hughes’ own novel ‘The Rack & Cue’ (2017).

The change in pace within the story is purposefully and utterly jarring. It works so damn well, knocking the reader of their seat with the sudden ferocity of the piece. A spiralling of violence and mayhem, that explodes into a free-for-all of cannibalistic savagery. As I said, this one’s textbook David Owain Hughes. A hellishly fun read for your entire inbred family to enjoy!

The story first appeared as a bonus short story within the second novel in the series – ‘Man Eating F*ckers’ (2017) and later became Chapters 4 and 5 within the third novel in the series ‘Man Eating F**s: The Legacy’ (2019).

An Ancient Breed: A F*cks Comic Strip – 10 Pages

Despite what the local residents said, he knew the cannibal breed were hiding out within the apartment block. He’d tracked them down through the woman who kept them safe and hidden. Now it was time for justice. He wasn’t worried about his own life. He knew he had to do this. Break in and reap bloodthirsty revenge on those who’d claimed so many innocent lives. It was time the cannibal breed paid for their sins…

Here we have a short comic strip adaptation of the short story ‘Experiment Of An Ancient Breed’. Well, the majority of the story anyway. Unlike the original short, the comic version starts out with Tokyo contemplating his next move. Then within a matter of a few frames, he’s inside Liz’s apartment and taking on the cannibals. Yeah, it’s not identical to the original short, but the general thrust of the story’s the same.

The accompanying artwork is absolutely superb. The illustrations are high quality with plenty of graphic gore splashed across the pages whenever the story calls for it. The comic strip is black & white, however, it doesn’t suffer from this. It’s a fast paced and action rich adaptation, that jumps straight into the action without a moment’s thought.

The comic strip was first published within Hellbound Books’ comic ‘Bound For Hell!: Issue 1’ (2019).

Afterword – Jonathan Edward Ondrashek – 1 Page

US author Jonathan Edward Ondrashek ends this special 10th anniversary edition of the book with a short afterword where he praises Hughes for the blood, sweat and tears the author puts into his work, as well as pondering if perhaps Hughes secretly wants to try out cannibalism himself? A short but very fitting concluding few words for what’s altogether a spectacular release of Hughes’ pulpy cannibal tale.

The hardback omnibus runs for a total of 321 pages.

© DLS Reviews

Other ‘Man-Eating F*cks’ instalments:

• ‘Man-Eating F*cks’ (2016)
• ‘Man Eating F*ckers’ (2017)
  
• ‘Man-Eating F**s: The Legacy’ (2019)
  
• ‘All The F*cks’ [Limited Edition Omnibus] (2025)