Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Wounds: Six Stories From the Border of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud

A dark Goya style oil painting of the misery of Hell with a caption reading Each Sobbing Plea or Groan of Pain a Supplication to Their Lord Their Bleeding Bodies Were His Portrait Their Wailing Throats His Opening Eye
The Butcher’s Table by Nathan Ballingrud ★★★★★ 
Hideous beauty, confronting and objectionable grace - everything I ever wanted from Clive Barker.  

A edgy studious computer portrait of a young woman with the caption People look so normal on the outside, inside it's all just worms
A black and white photograph of an attractive man with a devils smile the caption reads We're nothing but a nice suit of clothes, waiting for somebody to put us on
The Visible Filth ★★★★☆ 
A bartender finds a cell phone with gruesome images that infect his life and those around him.  You never find out if it’s Heaven or Hell at play but salvation is viewed as a life less ordinary.

The Atlas of Hell ★★★★☆ 
A gangster makes a bookbinder with experience in dark magic go after a map of hell in the Bayou.  If I had not already read one of Ballingrud’s tales of hell this would have been shockingly weird.

A photograph of Madison Iseman in I Know What You Did Last Summer with the caption Your unfilled want Allison the hollow in your heart and the love that goes unanswered is a prayer to Him Your whole life is a hymn to Hell
The Diabolist ★★★½☆
A lonely woman tries to use her fathers dark arts to bring him back.  The love that finds her is not the one she called.

Skullpocket ★★★½☆
A town is taken over by The Church the Maggot.  It’s just as unpleasant as it sounds.

The Maw ★★★½☆ 
A lonely man hires a young girl to take him through hell ravaged lands to find his dog.

I read six stories for an average of 3.9 stars happily rounded to up to 4 stars.
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3 comments:

  1. Graeme RodaughanNovember 9, 2021 at 2:03 PM

    Awesome review, Lena. I've added this to my TBR.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marie's Book Nook RetreatNovember 10, 2021 at 8:13 AM

    Very cool review! Love the images you picked! I have had this on my tbr for awhile - moving it up!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lena LeighNovember 10, 2021 at 12:50 PM

    Thanks guys!

    ReplyDelete

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