Parallel Hells

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Lipless Grin: 3 stars, kinda funny? Like what an asshole that father is. Do I know the meaning behind it? No. Do I know what the queer rep is? Also no I loved some of the stories in this collection, I liked others, and I’m pretty sure I’m not smart enough to understand a few.

Ingratitude: 3 stars, genuinely creepy as hell, mother of the year award goes to "Mother", this would have been the perfect excuse to have an aroace character in your collection In this deliciously strange debut collection, Leon Craig draws on folklore and gothic horror in refreshingly inventive ways to explore queer identity, love, power and the complicated nature of being human.REVIEW - Okay here we go. This is a queer themed collection of fantasy horror stories that vary in length and creepy factor - and which I absolutely loved. The differences between the stories kept things fresh and there were several times when I was left wishing for an entire novel to delve deeper into the characters and story 😍 it’s so cool to see so many examples of spooky, and while I had several favourites within the volume there wasn’t a single story I didn’t find interesting and unique. It also helped that the writing was really lovely and flowed so well 😍 In the thirteen darkly audacious stories of Parallel Hells we meet a golem, made of clay, learning that its powers far exceed its Creator's expectations; a ruined mansion which grants the secret wishes of a group of revelers and a notorious murderer who discovers her Viking husband is not what he seems. The short, twisted tales collected in Leon Craig’s Parallel Hells have a laconic elegance that’s both chilling and pleasurable’ Financial Times

This deliciously strange debut collection draws on folklore and gothic horror in refreshingly inventive ways to explore queer identity, love, power and the complicated nature of being human. Unfinished and Unformed: 1 star, confused about the queer component of this, also uncomfortable and inelegant Irresistibly strange and inventive, Parallel Hells is a collection of dark and delightful stories that blends folklore and gothic horror with a contemporary twist. The short, twisted tales collected in Leon Craig's Parallel Hells have a laconic elegance that's both chilling and pleasurable' Financial Times

Read this book if you: Enjoy playing imaginary games in the woods, you want revenge on your ex, you think doing ritual sacrifice in a graveyard is cool actually, you enjoy Nordic mythology Real rating- 4.5. Probably shouldn’t have been reading this at 1:30am now I don’t wanna sleep hahaha full review to come!

I’m so glad that spooky queer books seem to be more abundant these past few years as I’ve definitely found a new favourite genre. I recommend this to anyone who likes dark and macabre books or to anyone who fancies trying something new since there are so many different tales to sink your teeth into. In the thirteen darkly audacious stories of Parallel Hells we meet a golem, made of clay, learning that its powers far exceed its Creator's expectations; a ruined mansion which grants the secret wishes of a group of revellers and a notorious murderer who discovers her Viking husband is not what he seems. But as well as this, these stories also make you ask really interesting questions. One of my favourites was called "Hags", about a demon that after hundreds of years of being alive has refined their diet down to one thing. They feed on shame. You have this story telling you about the demon's past, their relationship with their friends, their guilt over lying and presenting themselves as a human to people they've genuinely come to like, and then talks about shame as a negative emotion. If it's removed is that always a good thing? Is it right to decide that it's ok to remove something negative from somebody else's life without consent? Is this a story in part about acting in other peoples' interests as YOU see them, and then making a choice not to do that? These stories I think are really multilayered. stars so I'm being generous and rounding up to two. I think I'm the wrong kind of queer for this book. This is really only for those who think horror is based on apathy, alcohol and drug abuse, sex (including kinky stuff) and a general dislike for any and all people, because aside from the disdain most characters feel for their fellow characters and the horrifying sex scenes, this isn't scary. No Dominion: 4 stars, I actually really liked this, it feels personal somehow and is realistically upsetting

raw pork and opium: 2 stars, I liked the 2 parallel perspectives up until the girl had sex with her friend because he suddenly had boobs and then told him that she did not want him and was the other part a metaphor for how gay the two men are for each other? I will never know. 3 stars taken off because this read like a bad fanfic of The Secret History which is already a bad fan fiction of If we were villains (yes I know TSH preceded IWWV and no, I do not accept criticism on this statement) The short twisted tales . . . have a laconic elegance that's both chilling and pleasurable' Financial Times A golem discovers its powers far exceed its Creator’s expectations. An ancient creature, who feasts on the shame of modern-day Londoners, struggles to fit in with friends they will long outlive. And an Oxford historian discovers an antique tome that may help her overcome her academic rivals. Whenever I read short story collections and I see themes recurring again and again I always wonder whether that is a conscious choice by the author and something used to deliberately tie the collection together, or whether that cropping up in stories is just reflective of the authors' life experiences and who they are as a person. Let me know what you think about that in the comments. There were a couple of things that kept jumping out at me as overarching themes.