Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sick B*stards | 2014 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 2 | sickER B*stards | 2014 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 3 | sickEST B*stards | 2015 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 4 | Sick B*stards: Everywhere | 2024 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
The Sick Bastards series is among the most well-known entries in Matt Shaw’s catalogue, and for readers familiar with extreme horror, the title tells you most of what you need to know. The first book introduces a family living in complete rural isolation, cut off from society and all the norms that come with it. What they get up to behind closed doors is the subject of the series, and Shaw presents it without softening or moral framing.
The escalation across the original trilogy is deliberate: Sick Bstards (2014) sets the scene, sickER Bstards (2014) pushes further, and sickEST Bstards (2015) takes things to the conclusion the titles promise. Shaw plays the progression straight, and the books function as a single story told across three volumes. The 2024 fourth entry, Sick Bstards: Everywhere, returns to the world a decade on and expands the scope considerably.
Readers new to extreme horror often encounter this series as one of Shaw’s gateway works, partly because it has a clear narrative through-line beneath the transgressive content. If you want a Matt Shaw series with actual character development alongside the shock elements, Sick Bastards is a reasonable place to start.