The Skinner Effect
After university authorities observe a gruesome experiment that psychologist Dr. Stanley Burrows performs on rats, an experiment during which one of his graduate student assistants is injured, Dr. Burrows and his only loyal assistant, Edward Pine, accept exile from the academic world and embrace new supporters who want them to do different sorts of experiments on human subjects. Dr. Burrows has limitless resources to develop innovative processes for behavioral conditioning that achieve extreme outcomes. He programs his subjects with violence so they will commit violence. Spurred by conclusions drawn from the thinking of radical behaviorist B.F. Skinner, he will use his subjects to demonstrate not only the bloody extremes for which he can program a “human” but also a new understanding of “the human” susceptible to programming.
Read a SAMPLE! (Caution: graphic content)
“The Skinner Effect by L. Andrew Cooper is not for the faint of heart… a complex psychological experiment wrapped in an extreme horror disguise… fans of extreme horror will love this book.” –JG Faherty, author of Hellrider and The Malthusian Correction
“This novella is 84 pages of pure blood-soaked madness… I loved how the characters changed… I enjoyed this one and will never look at a plate of meaty sauce the same way again! Be ready for the blood parade on this one!” –Christina Rangel Eleanor, The Voracious Gnome (Read the full review!)
“The Skinner Effect by L. Andrew Cooper is an enthralling and brutal tale of dark psychological experimentation gone horrifically as intended. Cooper’s use of language is absolutely exquisite. The combination of sophisticated writing and graphic brutality makes for immersive and impactful reading… a must-read for splatterpunk aficionados, especially those looking for something outside the norm.” –Lisa Lee Tone, Bibliophilia Templum (Read the full review!)
Order The Skinner Effect at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Kobo, and especially Godless!
If the enclosed spaces, extreme body horror, and twisted psychology of The Skinner Effect appeal to you, also consider L. Andrew Cooper’s novella Miasma.
June and Michael, already tense from the problems in their marriage boiling over during a trip out, return home and find a strange smell in their house, which they trace to something yellow, fog-like, and rising in the basement. Whatever it is, it makes them lose consciousness, and when they wake, their world has become different. Threatening. Violent hallucinations tap into marital tensions and blend imperceptibly with the real world, which becomes more nightmarish as others in the house—first Frank, their ex-military basement tenant, and then their children, teenage Rachel and eight-year-old Anson—show signs of mental derangement along with grotesque physical reactions to the gaseous invader… Read more!