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The Throne of Bones
This book won a World Fantasy Award.
"You hold in your hands a book of stories that forced Brian McNaughton to write. Make no I don't exaggerate. There's a reason this book won the World Fantasy Award. The stories inside it are rich, fascinating stuff--creepy and unsettling and phantasmic. Imagine what Tolkien's Lord of the Rings would have been like if Tolkien had tried to tell that story sympathetically from the point of view of the human denizens of Mordor and you'll have the slightest sense of what you're about to wade into--but only just a sense. These stories will make the same demands on you that they made on they will command and compel you, and fill you full of terrible wonder. And when you've finished them you'll find yourself wanting more."--Alan Rodgers
"You hold in your hands a book of stories that forced Brian McNaughton to write. Make no I don't exaggerate. There's a reason this book won the World Fantasy Award. The stories inside it are rich, fascinating stuff--creepy and unsettling and phantasmic. Imagine what Tolkien's Lord of the Rings would have been like if Tolkien had tried to tell that story sympathetically from the point of view of the human denizens of Mordor and you'll have the slightest sense of what you're about to wade into--but only just a sense. These stories will make the same demands on you that they made on they will command and compel you, and fill you full of terrible wonder. And when you've finished them you'll find yourself wanting more."--Alan Rodgers
343 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1997
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3031 people want to read
About the author
Brian McNaughton
39 books76 followersBrian McNaughton was an American writer of horror and fantasy fiction who mixed sex, satire and black humour. He also wrote thrillers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
February 16, 2022
the inhuman ghouls skulk about the graveyard at night, waiting for the humans to depart, scrambling atop the graves and scrabbling for purchase, tearing the coffin asunder, ripping the rotting flesh from bone, slurping up the entrails and scooping out the brains, to relive the memories of tonight's tasty dish. the human ghouls would do the same, their heavy-breathing necromantic fantasies leading them to cemetery and tomb, to play with corpses, to dance with them, to copulate in now-emptied coffins, atop the drying fluids and writhing maggots. the sorcerer makes the dead alive again, he rapes and cavorts with his undead playthings. the living and the dead alike yearn for their one true perfect love, no matter the cost and no matter the body count. the young and the old alike live in the daydreams and nightmares of the dead, turned playthings. adventuresses and noblemen and woodcarvers alike shall be drawn into plots and magic and long-games played by Fate and other unkindly forces. shudder shudder toil and trouble/bodies burn and corpses bubble. and that's the synopsis!
I loved this horrible collection. Brian McNaughton exhumes the mind of Clark Ashton Smith to use as inspiration, his descriptions of a dark fantasy horrorland often voluptuous, a place of magic and monstrosities and little lives just tryin' to live their lives, you know? Don't judge them. McNaughton channels the spirit of Jack Vance in his prose full of dry nonchalance and sardonic wit, in his grouchy and self-absorbed characters trying to figure out who they are, or were, seldom looking at the big picture or the shape of the vaults they've trapped themselves in, rarely noticing paths of potential escape, instead making a home below. I smiled so much at the decadent cleverness, the cheerful audacity, despite the constant gruesomeness on display, the necrophilia and incest, brutality and morbidity, the dank festering horror of it all. a delightful book!
these are sometimes linked stories set in a bizarre and gothic, beautifully detailed fantasy world. I'm glad I didn't read this as a kid, it would have ruined me!
💀 4.5 stars, rounded up 💀
my favorites:
"Meryphillia" - even ghouls need love, but sometimes a good rut will have to suffice. despite my crass description, this was, in its own way, sweetly romantic.
"Reunion in Cephalune" - even the dead need love, but sometimes a good rut will have to suffice. despite my crass description, this was, in its own way, sweetly romantic.
"The Return of Liron Wolfbaiter" - a once-barbaric military gent gone AWOL finds that there are dreams and dreamers and a dead dreamer dreaming dreams that shape and bend reality to his dead will and dreamy mind. this was... dreamy and mind-bending. despite also being as pleasant as leprosy.
"Ringard and Dendra" - a couple on the run are used cruelly by a wizardly botanist; years later, one returns to find their long-lost child. perverse and perversely funny. cruel and cruelly witty. the ending of this one made me sad. :(
Throne of Bones - the titular novella is a story cycle that details the trials and tribulations of various ghouls and members of the nobility and how sometimes the two shall meet and how sometimes the two are one. this had the hallucinatory quality of "The Return of Liron" and the dark romanticism of "Meryphillia" and the merry viciousnes of "Cephalune" and the dark dark darkness of all the stories especially "Ringard and Dendra". the exciting intelligence and imagination on display by the author - delivered with much cheeky wit - really impressed me. his story of a poor lonely ghoul-boy who just wants his mother (and also wants to feast on some rotten organ meat) features multiple perspectives who sometimes turn into each other. watch the rise and fall of various ghoul kings! see a noble house become a house of the dead! watch as human transforms into ghoul that transforms into human that transforms into ghoul! eat and be eaten and so live and die and live again! this is a delicious 5 star tale and one of the best (and most horrible) short novels of fantasy that I've ever read. extra bonus points awarded: surprise - a happy ending!
I loved this horrible collection. Brian McNaughton exhumes the mind of Clark Ashton Smith to use as inspiration, his descriptions of a dark fantasy horrorland often voluptuous, a place of magic and monstrosities and little lives just tryin' to live their lives, you know? Don't judge them. McNaughton channels the spirit of Jack Vance in his prose full of dry nonchalance and sardonic wit, in his grouchy and self-absorbed characters trying to figure out who they are, or were, seldom looking at the big picture or the shape of the vaults they've trapped themselves in, rarely noticing paths of potential escape, instead making a home below. I smiled so much at the decadent cleverness, the cheerful audacity, despite the constant gruesomeness on display, the necrophilia and incest, brutality and morbidity, the dank festering horror of it all. a delightful book!
these are sometimes linked stories set in a bizarre and gothic, beautifully detailed fantasy world. I'm glad I didn't read this as a kid, it would have ruined me!
💀 4.5 stars, rounded up 💀
my favorites:
"Meryphillia" - even ghouls need love, but sometimes a good rut will have to suffice. despite my crass description, this was, in its own way, sweetly romantic.
"Reunion in Cephalune" - even the dead need love, but sometimes a good rut will have to suffice. despite my crass description, this was, in its own way, sweetly romantic.
"The Return of Liron Wolfbaiter" - a once-barbaric military gent gone AWOL finds that there are dreams and dreamers and a dead dreamer dreaming dreams that shape and bend reality to his dead will and dreamy mind. this was... dreamy and mind-bending. despite also being as pleasant as leprosy.
"Ringard and Dendra" - a couple on the run are used cruelly by a wizardly botanist; years later, one returns to find their long-lost child. perverse and perversely funny. cruel and cruelly witty. the ending of this one made me sad. :(
Throne of Bones - the titular novella is a story cycle that details the trials and tribulations of various ghouls and members of the nobility and how sometimes the two shall meet and how sometimes the two are one. this had the hallucinatory quality of "The Return of Liron" and the dark romanticism of "Meryphillia" and the merry viciousnes of "Cephalune" and the dark dark darkness of all the stories especially "Ringard and Dendra". the exciting intelligence and imagination on display by the author - delivered with much cheeky wit - really impressed me. his story of a poor lonely ghoul-boy who just wants his mother (and also wants to feast on some rotten organ meat) features multiple perspectives who sometimes turn into each other. watch the rise and fall of various ghoul kings! see a noble house become a house of the dead! watch as human transforms into ghoul that transforms into human that transforms into ghoul! eat and be eaten and so live and die and live again! this is a delicious 5 star tale and one of the best (and most horrible) short novels of fantasy that I've ever read. extra bonus points awarded: surprise - a happy ending!
May 3, 2021
Update: Upon second reading I can say that I've come to more fully appreciate McNaughton's blend of fantastical macabre, finding it more amusing and even slightly easier to swallow. It truly is a rich pageantry of perversion and depravity, yet buoyed by McNaughton's wit and talent for juxtaposing the unimaginably foul with a sublime droll nonchalance. Raising my rating from 4 to 5 stars!
AHEM.. I'm stopping just shy of halfway. *Maybe* I'll pick it up again later, if and when I'm the mood for something off the charts creepy and depraved. It's a bit of a mystery to me how this won a World Fantasy Award. Unbelievably depraved and perverse, and equally engrossing, The Throne of Bones is very heavy on the macabre and light on the fantasy.
Take your pick of necromancy, necrophilia, grave robbing, murder, rape, incest and maybe a few other horrendously unspeakable deeds that men are capable of. These stories feature every combination thereof. Yet rather than invoking a climate of terror, there pervades a kind of casual familiarity and acceptance, and even levity, in these freakishly gruesome and gory tales. And that, I think, makes them all the more disturbing.
Also, despite comments from others, I have to say that I did not find much reminiscent of Jack Vance's writings here, neither in substance nor style.
AHEM.. I'm stopping just shy of halfway. *Maybe* I'll pick it up again later, if and when I'm the mood for something off the charts creepy and depraved. It's a bit of a mystery to me how this won a World Fantasy Award. Unbelievably depraved and perverse, and equally engrossing, The Throne of Bones is very heavy on the macabre and light on the fantasy.
Take your pick of necromancy, necrophilia, grave robbing, murder, rape, incest and maybe a few other horrendously unspeakable deeds that men are capable of. These stories feature every combination thereof. Yet rather than invoking a climate of terror, there pervades a kind of casual familiarity and acceptance, and even levity, in these freakishly gruesome and gory tales. And that, I think, makes them all the more disturbing.
Also, despite comments from others, I have to say that I did not find much reminiscent of Jack Vance's writings here, neither in substance nor style.
October 14, 2019
Officially the most scary and unsettling book of stories I've read. I had to put it down numerous times. I didn't want to finish it even. This book wouldn't be effective or really anything special if it wasn't written so impeccably well. It was really a kind of sublime I won't revisit again. It's hard to pin down the exact nature of why, but Mr. McNaughton's storytelling abilities by far outrank people way more famous than himself in the field of horror. I've read some gnarly stuff in my time but this one really dug it's way into the bones and settled there.
March 3, 2021
A masterwork of ultra-dark fantasy.
Throne of Bones is a collection of stories all sharing the same history and mythos. The core of the collection – the titular Throne of Bones itself – is a series of interwoven tales revolving around the figure of the ghoul. Though ghouls have haunted western literature ever since the translation of the Arabian Nights into English, appearing in the works of Beckford, Poe, and Lovecraft among others, McNaughton does more to flesh them out than perhaps any other author, exploring their strengths and weaknesses, their hungers and lusts, their peculiar powers, and even the various theories that try – and fail – to explain their existence. The result is a literary treatment of ghouls and ghoulishness so exquisitely rich that it makes other representations look pallid in comparison.
McNaughton’s development of a unique ghoul mythos is only one example of his worldbuilding skills, which are nothing less than awe-inspiring. Throne of Bones provides a cohesive vision of a world of sumptuous decadence, inexorable ignorance, and casual cruelty, where life is cheap and sinister clans of aristocrats lord it over those of less fortunate rank. In its aesthetics and mood it recalls the baroque decadence of Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique and Averoigne stories, and it is not surprising to find that CAS was a formative influence on McNaughton. Nevertheless, McNaughton’s creation is his own, as is his voice, gleefully nihilistic and full of black humor.
The stories themselves are extremely horrific, teeming with visceral and psychological terrors. This is the darkest of dark fantasy – macabre, grotesque, and devoid of any sense of tiresome generic decorum. McNaughton takes you to horrible places with no apologies given. Here we have a rancid world overflowing with necromancy, necrophilia, incest, rape, slavery, cannibalism, and a whole host of unique horrors of McNaughton’s own devising. His unfortunate characters are thrust into fates so twisted and blackly ironic they make Oedipus Rex look like The Truman Show.
McNaughton’s prose is exquisite, his dialogue witty and rich, his characters distinctive and vivid. In terms of genre, this work is almost unique, blending the gothic, the weird, the grotesque, the fantastical, and the mythical into a rich and intoxicating blend the likes of which is very seldom seen. McNaughton has taken the weird and gothic threads of his literary forebears – Beckford, HPL, CAS, REH, Machen, E. R. Eddison, etc. – and added elements of horror so graphic and gleefully obscence one is tempted to label these stories “splatter fantasy.”
It’s hardly possible to praise this work enough. It’s ingenious, pure and simple. Reading these tales, I found myself shocked that McNaughton has not become a household name in the realm of horror, nor even a particularly well-known one. Now that I have finished the book, I find myself frustrated by my inability to give it more than five stars.
Throne of Bones is a collection of stories all sharing the same history and mythos. The core of the collection – the titular Throne of Bones itself – is a series of interwoven tales revolving around the figure of the ghoul. Though ghouls have haunted western literature ever since the translation of the Arabian Nights into English, appearing in the works of Beckford, Poe, and Lovecraft among others, McNaughton does more to flesh them out than perhaps any other author, exploring their strengths and weaknesses, their hungers and lusts, their peculiar powers, and even the various theories that try – and fail – to explain their existence. The result is a literary treatment of ghouls and ghoulishness so exquisitely rich that it makes other representations look pallid in comparison.
McNaughton’s development of a unique ghoul mythos is only one example of his worldbuilding skills, which are nothing less than awe-inspiring. Throne of Bones provides a cohesive vision of a world of sumptuous decadence, inexorable ignorance, and casual cruelty, where life is cheap and sinister clans of aristocrats lord it over those of less fortunate rank. In its aesthetics and mood it recalls the baroque decadence of Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique and Averoigne stories, and it is not surprising to find that CAS was a formative influence on McNaughton. Nevertheless, McNaughton’s creation is his own, as is his voice, gleefully nihilistic and full of black humor.
The stories themselves are extremely horrific, teeming with visceral and psychological terrors. This is the darkest of dark fantasy – macabre, grotesque, and devoid of any sense of tiresome generic decorum. McNaughton takes you to horrible places with no apologies given. Here we have a rancid world overflowing with necromancy, necrophilia, incest, rape, slavery, cannibalism, and a whole host of unique horrors of McNaughton’s own devising. His unfortunate characters are thrust into fates so twisted and blackly ironic they make Oedipus Rex look like The Truman Show.
McNaughton’s prose is exquisite, his dialogue witty and rich, his characters distinctive and vivid. In terms of genre, this work is almost unique, blending the gothic, the weird, the grotesque, the fantastical, and the mythical into a rich and intoxicating blend the likes of which is very seldom seen. McNaughton has taken the weird and gothic threads of his literary forebears – Beckford, HPL, CAS, REH, Machen, E. R. Eddison, etc. – and added elements of horror so graphic and gleefully obscence one is tempted to label these stories “splatter fantasy.”
It’s hardly possible to praise this work enough. It’s ingenious, pure and simple. Reading these tales, I found myself shocked that McNaughton has not become a household name in the realm of horror, nor even a particularly well-known one. Now that I have finished the book, I find myself frustrated by my inability to give it more than five stars.
December 30, 2024
(Updated 12/29/24)
If corpse-eating ghouls lurking within vast necropolises are your thing, then this volume of interconnected ghastly tales from the late great Brian McNaughton should more than satiate you, especially if you don’t mind being revolted every so often. You’ll need a shower after a few of these. Possibly a memory wipe too.
While nearly every story here is stellar (the rest are merely great), I just wanted to say a little something about my favorite entry here, the novelette-length “The Return of Liron Wolfbaiter”, which caps off the collection, and which I revisit every couple years. It’s simultaneously one of the best horror/weird fiction tales I’ve ever read, and one of the best sword & sorcery tales, up there with Karl Edward Wagner’s “The Dark Muse” when it comes to combining and mastering both genres.
What starts out as a seemingly simple narrative of a young woman accidentally being entombed in a crypt while still alive, morphs into an ultra-creepy, reality-bending story that finds the realm of nightmares slowly encroaching on the world of the eventual protagonist Crondard, a barbarian-type on the run and hiding out in a strange, labyrinthine inn after having killed a guard captain. Reality seems to be breaking down around him, and being replaced by something horrific. Who or what is dreaming this? Who’s dreaming him?
Mindblowing. The entire collection is well worth the read, but I find it’s best in small doses, as it can be, at times, almost oppressively dark and depraved. But it’s so well-written, with such evocative imagery and delightfully fiendish characters (as well as a healthy dose of black humor) that I can’t help but be captivated. And the many grotesque b&w illustrations by Jamie Oberschlake spread throughout are a welcome bonus.
Absolutely essential for Clark Ashton Smith aficionados, as the imagination on display is similarly awe-inspiring, if not quite as florid prose-wise. But you best be prepared to get down with the sickness.
If corpse-eating ghouls lurking within vast necropolises are your thing, then this volume of interconnected ghastly tales from the late great Brian McNaughton should more than satiate you, especially if you don’t mind being revolted every so often. You’ll need a shower after a few of these. Possibly a memory wipe too.
While nearly every story here is stellar (the rest are merely great), I just wanted to say a little something about my favorite entry here, the novelette-length “The Return of Liron Wolfbaiter”, which caps off the collection, and which I revisit every couple years. It’s simultaneously one of the best horror/weird fiction tales I’ve ever read, and one of the best sword & sorcery tales, up there with Karl Edward Wagner’s “The Dark Muse” when it comes to combining and mastering both genres.
What starts out as a seemingly simple narrative of a young woman accidentally being entombed in a crypt while still alive, morphs into an ultra-creepy, reality-bending story that finds the realm of nightmares slowly encroaching on the world of the eventual protagonist Crondard, a barbarian-type on the run and hiding out in a strange, labyrinthine inn after having killed a guard captain. Reality seems to be breaking down around him, and being replaced by something horrific. Who or what is dreaming this? Who’s dreaming him?
Mindblowing. The entire collection is well worth the read, but I find it’s best in small doses, as it can be, at times, almost oppressively dark and depraved. But it’s so well-written, with such evocative imagery and delightfully fiendish characters (as well as a healthy dose of black humor) that I can’t help but be captivated. And the many grotesque b&w illustrations by Jamie Oberschlake spread throughout are a welcome bonus.
Absolutely essential for Clark Ashton Smith aficionados, as the imagination on display is similarly awe-inspiring, if not quite as florid prose-wise. But you best be prepared to get down with the sickness.
October 12, 2012
Finished packing for a jolly abroad at 3 am: that’s a preposterous hour to finish anything, too late to sleep, too early to get up. Read a book, then. Never mind that I have my own Pisa book stack teetering over right next to my bed: that’s just, too…..reasonable, and not grumpy at all, one needs to throw ones weight around somehow, at 3 am in the morning. Soooo, kindle download: Brian McNaughton’s Throne of Bones (just to give Mark a chance to redeem himself).
Looks, feels, and reads like a Lovecraft, but on steroids. Idle deep google trawls gets me here:
http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/revi...
where the only horror I feel at this point is that my reading list may quadruple yet again. This is unacceptable. One life is. Just. Not. Enough. Time. I may have to give the list a miss, but then, of course, I read that McNaughton was also paying a tribute to Clark Ashton Smith as well. I read this with a some dismay. On the one hand, I know this guy, and I have, in the past, read and loved every single one of his poems here:
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/...
I’m really, really keen on Clark Ashton Smith: when he talks, I listen. Trouble is, I thought he was a poet. Didn’t know he was in some nefarious trifecta with Lovecraft and Howard writing up his own gorefest. This is how inside out and upside down and at a remove from everyone else and marching to my own drumbeat I can be: I bet most people would probably know Smith as a horror writer and not as a poet at all. Now, I have to read ‘Weird Tales’ as well. The thing is, deep trawls on the net, always come at a steep price, I’m beginning to surmise.
So, the stories: its ghouls, guts and gore, but …intelligent like. (unlike me, obviously). Think William Hope Hodgson and his ‘misty swine faces,with quivering mouth dripping with a continual phosphorescent slaver’. But, the swine Things don’t seem to DO much.Still, it’s a step progression from Lovecraft, where we know there are ‘Things’ but we can’t really see them; they’re just ‘disgusting’ and ‘horrible’. McNaughton gets on this bandwagon then, and now we have action!
Ever made love in a coffin? No? Where you been, then? This is how to do it:
‘In some ways it was a vile experience. Leakage from the corpse had permeated the porous stone, and the coffin trapped the odor…To cup my buttocks with my hands, I had to work my fingers through a film of slime that held unspeakable shreds, and some of them moved……..her pretty bottom was smeared with my handprints in human decay, and as she padded across the room a crushed maggot dropped loose from one flexing cheek.’
Its not all this gross (OK, some bits are grosser). Still, what else is a girl to do at 3 am in the morning? Solid three and a half stars. Its intelligent like, I still maintain.
Looks, feels, and reads like a Lovecraft, but on steroids. Idle deep google trawls gets me here:
http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/revi...
where the only horror I feel at this point is that my reading list may quadruple yet again. This is unacceptable. One life is. Just. Not. Enough. Time. I may have to give the list a miss, but then, of course, I read that McNaughton was also paying a tribute to Clark Ashton Smith as well. I read this with a some dismay. On the one hand, I know this guy, and I have, in the past, read and loved every single one of his poems here:
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/...
I’m really, really keen on Clark Ashton Smith: when he talks, I listen. Trouble is, I thought he was a poet. Didn’t know he was in some nefarious trifecta with Lovecraft and Howard writing up his own gorefest. This is how inside out and upside down and at a remove from everyone else and marching to my own drumbeat I can be: I bet most people would probably know Smith as a horror writer and not as a poet at all. Now, I have to read ‘Weird Tales’ as well. The thing is, deep trawls on the net, always come at a steep price, I’m beginning to surmise.
So, the stories: its ghouls, guts and gore, but …intelligent like. (unlike me, obviously). Think William Hope Hodgson and his ‘misty swine faces,with quivering mouth dripping with a continual phosphorescent slaver’. But, the swine Things don’t seem to DO much.Still, it’s a step progression from Lovecraft, where we know there are ‘Things’ but we can’t really see them; they’re just ‘disgusting’ and ‘horrible’. McNaughton gets on this bandwagon then, and now we have action!
Ever made love in a coffin? No? Where you been, then? This is how to do it:
‘In some ways it was a vile experience. Leakage from the corpse had permeated the porous stone, and the coffin trapped the odor…To cup my buttocks with my hands, I had to work my fingers through a film of slime that held unspeakable shreds, and some of them moved……..her pretty bottom was smeared with my handprints in human decay, and as she padded across the room a crushed maggot dropped loose from one flexing cheek.’
Its not all this gross (OK, some bits are grosser). Still, what else is a girl to do at 3 am in the morning? Solid three and a half stars. Its intelligent like, I still maintain.
November 2, 2010
"Throne of Bones" is a masterpiece of dark fantasy. The book contains a collection of short stories and one novella, all of which take place in the same rich and seedy world of Brian McNaughton's Seelura: a place of sprawling urban secrets and decay, of necromancy and lust, of unfulfilled dreams and star-crossed love. Shades of Jack Vance, Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft are to be found in McNaughton's work, yet he manages to capture a vibrant grasp of humanity in his writing that none of those men were able to touch. These tales are populated by ghouls, sorcerers, pornographers and wanderers -- characters all struggling with the frustrating quest not for magic rings, ancient secrets or the keys to kingdoms, but for purpose in their own lives and a reason to shine among all the other countless lives around them in the urban sprawl. These tales are full of horror and gallows humor, as well as the kind of desperate beauty that occupies the corners of such dark and claustrophobic settings. It's one of my all time favorite books, a tome I savor like a fine wine.
Update: Just as beautiful and grotesque upon rereading a number of these tales. It's interesting to read them again, having learned more about the author's life. For instance, he was apparently estranged from his family and "estrangement" is certainly a quality that shows up in the characters he crafts. These are beautiful tales, but they are certainly not the products of a perfect, happy life. But what art is?
Update: Just as beautiful and grotesque upon rereading a number of these tales. It's interesting to read them again, having learned more about the author's life. For instance, he was apparently estranged from his family and "estrangement" is certainly a quality that shows up in the characters he crafts. These are beautiful tales, but they are certainly not the products of a perfect, happy life. But what art is?
August 26, 2020
Yo.
If William Shakespeare wrote about actual diarrhea this might be what it would sound like. Not the specific subject matter but this is beautifully written shit. These stories are about sex with corpses and eating parts of dead people and sometimes both and its all kind of crazy and hard to explain but overall very very entertaining. The imagination that came up with this stuff is like whoooo doggy. That brings me to a point I would like to make, and that is if you knew someone who talked about the stuff that is in this book you would totally have them Baker Act'd. Imagine someone coming up to you at a party and saying something like, "hey I was thinking the other day about what it would be like to dig up a body and have sex with it and I was wondering what it would smell like and what the texture felt like when you touched it..." I would be like, dude, you are fucking crazy. Probably like a 99% chance of not hanging out with that person anymore if not dropping an anonymous tip somewhere or something. All joking aside this book is very fun and extremely well written. The way the stories all connect and build on each other is nothing short of genius. The author puts so much detail and depth it is something you have to pay close attention to and I'm sure layers would be found upon multiple readings.
If William Shakespeare wrote about actual diarrhea this might be what it would sound like. Not the specific subject matter but this is beautifully written shit. These stories are about sex with corpses and eating parts of dead people and sometimes both and its all kind of crazy and hard to explain but overall very very entertaining. The imagination that came up with this stuff is like whoooo doggy. That brings me to a point I would like to make, and that is if you knew someone who talked about the stuff that is in this book you would totally have them Baker Act'd. Imagine someone coming up to you at a party and saying something like, "hey I was thinking the other day about what it would be like to dig up a body and have sex with it and I was wondering what it would smell like and what the texture felt like when you touched it..." I would be like, dude, you are fucking crazy. Probably like a 99% chance of not hanging out with that person anymore if not dropping an anonymous tip somewhere or something. All joking aside this book is very fun and extremely well written. The way the stories all connect and build on each other is nothing short of genius. The author puts so much detail and depth it is something you have to pay close attention to and I'm sure layers would be found upon multiple readings.
December 10, 2012
Fresh, Disturbing Escapism
I am biased toward enjoying provocative fantasy/horror, and Throne of Bones delivers a pleasantly disturbing escape that is too shocking for young adults. The first tale, Ringard and Dendra, admittedly should prove digestible to many. Less so are the next six stories, which are a connected set (the titular Throne of Bones sequence) and should prove weird and jarring even to mature dark fantasy readers (can you say "ghoul erotica"?). Here, the timid and disoriented may want to leave the book unfinished. But hang in there. With each successive story, the connection between characters clarifies as does the "rules" of being a ghoul. All is consistent. And Bizzare. Excellent. The book won a 1997 World Fantasy Award and remains fresh and daring, even now (2012).
Oddly-placed, but well-done, is a stylistic humor reminiscent of that presented in Cohen Brothers movies (Fargo 1996, Burn After Reading 2008); the situations are so dire and characters so pathetic, that you cannot help but laugh at their choices and predicaments. I was originally hooked by Alan Rogers introductory comments:
I disagree with the Tolkien call-out since it raises the expectation that the book would resemble Sword & Sorcery or Epic Fantasy (this book fits neither sub-genre). The world is medieval, but there is little military or melee action (however, it is decidedly "dark fantasy"). Otherwise, Rodgers' note is accurate.
Abject People/Artists: Many paint the entire book as being "about ghouls." True the Throne of Bones sequence is ghoul focused, but that comprises only 6 of the 15 tales. More generally, themes explore being an abject person, often with regard to being a misunderstood artist. Many characters are artists and it seems very possible that Brian McNaughton was conveying his own ability to create and enjoy dark art (while not being appreciated by others). Examples:
Many more examples pervade the book. Amplifying the artistic themes are a dozen grotesque, full-page paintings from the cover artist, Jamie Oberschlake. Incidentally, he continues to produce disturbing paintings.
No maps or index? I was taken by the promise on the Dust Jacket by publisher Ken Abner (Terminal Fright) that promised that he had a genuine map and promised to published it with additional material at a later date. Sadly, that was claimed in 1997, I cannot find any related sequels for sale, and Brian has passed away in 2004. Jeff Van Dermeer Interview did interview the author in 1999 (available online) and revealed that Brian was not keen on sharing his map:
Ultimately, a map was not critical to enjoy the book. However, an index would have been much appreciated as the names of people and places proved disorienting. When ghouls begin taking the pace of other people, an index would have helped keep me grounded. Brian McNaughton was a great artist. Read this when you feel like everything in your book queue is derivative, shallow fluff.
I am biased toward enjoying provocative fantasy/horror, and Throne of Bones delivers a pleasantly disturbing escape that is too shocking for young adults. The first tale, Ringard and Dendra, admittedly should prove digestible to many. Less so are the next six stories, which are a connected set (the titular Throne of Bones sequence) and should prove weird and jarring even to mature dark fantasy readers (can you say "ghoul erotica"?). Here, the timid and disoriented may want to leave the book unfinished. But hang in there. With each successive story, the connection between characters clarifies as does the "rules" of being a ghoul. All is consistent. And Bizzare. Excellent. The book won a 1997 World Fantasy Award and remains fresh and daring, even now (2012).
Oddly-placed, but well-done, is a stylistic humor reminiscent of that presented in Cohen Brothers movies (Fargo 1996, Burn After Reading 2008); the situations are so dire and characters so pathetic, that you cannot help but laugh at their choices and predicaments. I was originally hooked by Alan Rogers introductory comments:
“You hold in your hands a book of stories that forced Brian McNaughton to write. Make no mistake: I don’t exaggerate. There’s a reason this book won the World Fantasy Award. The stories inside it are rich, fascinating stuff—creepy and unsettling and phantasmic. Imagine what Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings would have been like if Tolkien had tried to tell that story sympathetically from the point of view of the human denizens of Mordor and you’ll have the slightest sense of what you’re about to wade into—but only just a sense. These stories will make the same demands on you that they made on Brian: they will command and compel you, and fill you full of terrible wonder. And when you’ve finished them you’ll find yourself wanting more.” —Alan Rodgers
I disagree with the Tolkien call-out since it raises the expectation that the book would resemble Sword & Sorcery or Epic Fantasy (this book fits neither sub-genre). The world is medieval, but there is little military or melee action (however, it is decidedly "dark fantasy"). Otherwise, Rodgers' note is accurate.
Abject People/Artists: Many paint the entire book as being "about ghouls." True the Throne of Bones sequence is ghoul focused, but that comprises only 6 of the 15 tales. More generally, themes explore being an abject person, often with regard to being a misunderstood artist. Many characters are artists and it seems very possible that Brian McNaughton was conveying his own ability to create and enjoy dark art (while not being appreciated by others). Examples:
In the first tale, Ringard, a sculptor, and his painter wife Dendra, struggle to live in a world that shuns their union. The snipet below captures the protagonists ability to see hidden subjects and the ability of his father to not appreciate that skill: "In every stick I [Ringard] saw hidden shapes, and I became obsessed with revealing them. My father fretted that I meant to ruin him by turning his valuable firewood into whimsies. I perversely maintained that my carvings had more worth than kindling, that they even justified the sacrifice of living trees. Those captive owls and trout were really there. Why would the gods let me see them, if not to set me the challenge of liberating them?" Ringard and Dendra
Then there was Asterial Vendren, a misunderstood writer of horror fiction:"I [Asteriel Vendren, writer] seldom give readings anymore. I am sick of women who scream or faint, men who grumble, "Barbarous!" or "Obscene!", sick of the self-righteous show they make of stamping out before I finish. And half of those who remain, of course, will approach me to ask if I really skinned my mistress to preserve her exquisite tattoos, and might they not call on me to examine the artwork?" The Vendren Worm
And ... the body painter Tiphytsorn Glocque (who continually strives to find unique, brilliant ways to decorate skin) laments as he is arrested and brought before a magistrate for being a lunatic:
"How could anyone understand his Art when they couldn't even see it? " The Art of Tiphystorn Glocque
Many more examples pervade the book. Amplifying the artistic themes are a dozen grotesque, full-page paintings from the cover artist, Jamie Oberschlake. Incidentally, he continues to produce disturbing paintings.
No maps or index? I was taken by the promise on the Dust Jacket by publisher Ken Abner (Terminal Fright) that promised that he had a genuine map and promised to published it with additional material at a later date. Sadly, that was claimed in 1997, I cannot find any related sequels for sale, and Brian has passed away in 2004. Jeff Van Dermeer Interview did interview the author in 1999 (available online) and revealed that Brian was not keen on sharing his map:
JVD: The dust jacket for the book includes an appreciation by the publisher, Ken Abner. He mentions you have a whole chronology and set of maps for Seelura. You didn't want these published with the collection. Abner mentions those items as "crutches." Could you elaborate on why you didn't want the chronology and maps published?
Brian McNaughton: None of that stuff is really finished -- and if it were, I would feel less inclined to write fiction about my imaginary world. A certain sense of discovery is necessary for me. Besides, I feel strongly that the stories should stand on their own. I have to know as much about the world as possible in order to convince the readers that I know what I'm writing about, and that my characters weren't found yesterday under a cabbage leaf. The late Lin Carter deserves our admiration and gratitude for all he did to bring dark fantasy to the attention of the public, but he's the last sort of person I would want messing around with my creations. Maps and chronologies only encourage such people.
Ultimately, a map was not critical to enjoy the book. However, an index would have been much appreciated as the names of people and places proved disorienting. When ghouls begin taking the pace of other people, an index would have helped keep me grounded. Brian McNaughton was a great artist. Read this when you feel like everything in your book queue is derivative, shallow fluff.
July 13, 2025
A loosely-linked collection of short stories (one of which is, itself, a novel-length loosely-linked collection of short stories) in the tradition of Clark Ashton Smith or of H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands stories (especially the more ghoul-heavy portions of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath) but turned up to NC-17.
Contains RDA of three of your four basic necros: -mancy, -phagy and -philia. (n.b. I'm not sure what the fourth necro would be.)
Contains RDA of three of your four basic necros: -mancy, -phagy and -philia. (n.b. I'm not sure what the fourth necro would be.)
June 4, 2017
A very well done collection of 10 interconnected, dark fantasy stories. I typically would not seek out fantasy type reads, but I have been meaning to get to this one for a long time. It was surprisingly funny with plenty of gore and much “darker” than “fantasy”.
Bring out the ghouls!
Bring out the ghouls!
June 10, 2019
A group of interconnected short stories full of cannibals, necrophiliacs, murderers, and monsters. Good times.
May 24, 2025
I don’t write reviews.
And I don’t find writers like McNaughton often. The man is a treasure and The Throne of Bones is one of my favourite collections of all-time. Take the world-building and settings of Smith, the monstrosities of Lovecraft, the wit and humor of Vance, and you’ve got a great starting point. The best thing about this collection is, it gets better and better with each tale. It’s also the worst thing, since I never want the story to end.
And I don’t find writers like McNaughton often. The man is a treasure and The Throne of Bones is one of my favourite collections of all-time. Take the world-building and settings of Smith, the monstrosities of Lovecraft, the wit and humor of Vance, and you’ve got a great starting point. The best thing about this collection is, it gets better and better with each tale. It’s also the worst thing, since I never want the story to end.
July 20, 2020
Imagine Clark Ashton Smith with funny names, over the top swordplay and other shenanigans, a lot more drinking and sex, and less "eldritch".
August 5, 2020
Rich and Rabelaisian, this collection of dark fantasy/horror by a writer new to me was really quite a treat. McNaughton has a remarkable wit, a vocabulary to match, and a dark, ribald, rather grotty imagination that seems to delight in grotesquerie while harbouring a blushing fondness for the sentimental.
The title story (really a novella in length and consisting of cleverly linked narratives) is the most remarkable of the tales here but all are interesting and together they display a varied palette and an author very much in command of his preferred material. From the old-fashioned horror of 'The Vendren Worm' to the twisted sentiment of "Meryphilia" and "Reunion in Cepahlune", as well as the very dark, very high fantasy of the title piece, McNaughton parades his mastery of the fantasy genre while subverting it through his almost splatter-punk grossness. There's nothing dainty here, and although the language is frequently formal, sometimes rather baroque, the stink of mud, and rot, and sex, and death hang over these stories like a very dirty pall. This is fantasy that moves well beyond the courts of kings and ends up in the dirt of graveyards. Probably not to all tastes, but for those who don't mind their silks tattered and their jewels bespattered with muck, this is an immensely entertaining, engrossing book of stories.
The title story (really a novella in length and consisting of cleverly linked narratives) is the most remarkable of the tales here but all are interesting and together they display a varied palette and an author very much in command of his preferred material. From the old-fashioned horror of 'The Vendren Worm' to the twisted sentiment of "Meryphilia" and "Reunion in Cepahlune", as well as the very dark, very high fantasy of the title piece, McNaughton parades his mastery of the fantasy genre while subverting it through his almost splatter-punk grossness. There's nothing dainty here, and although the language is frequently formal, sometimes rather baroque, the stink of mud, and rot, and sex, and death hang over these stories like a very dirty pall. This is fantasy that moves well beyond the courts of kings and ends up in the dirt of graveyards. Probably not to all tastes, but for those who don't mind their silks tattered and their jewels bespattered with muck, this is an immensely entertaining, engrossing book of stories.
February 7, 2010
Very Dark, somewhat sexy, horror thriller. I enjoyed it greatly.
August 7, 2012
This thing just needs to be read.
July 2, 2024
This book was loaned to me long ago with rave reviews and was then lost in the vast pile of books in my study. When I found it again last week, I finally gave it a go. I can understand from an academic perspective why this fellow is lauded as a gifted writer and one of the greats in his genre, this title in particular being considered as foundational for ghouls as Dracula is for vampires. I knew what to expect so the gore was not surprising, and I'm typically not very squeamish when reading. I definitely liked the first story in this collection, a dark fairy tale that felt similar to an Edgar Allen Poe short story, but after that...egad! While I appreciate the internal consistency and writing craft, I've discovered that I just can't hang with ghoul porn. In other words, even the best slasher film is still a slasher film, and I've always preferred a more cerebral sort of horror and suspense. I skimmed a bit of the rest, but had to pass. I'm sticking with Edgar Allen.
April 13, 2012
Inspired by such classics as Smith, Howard and Lovecraft, McNaughton creates a unique bizarre grotesque and spellbinding world populated with the much ignored monsters that are ghouls. This book won a fantasy award, but the author blends genres and there is plenty of horror in here for horror fans. This is a collection of interconnected stories set in an unnamed place and time, yet they are written with fairly modern dialogue and teriffic sporadic humor. Vivid descriptions and good pacing make this a much easier read than say Lovecraft. Plus one gets to find out lots and lots of information about ghouls. This might very well be a definitive volume of ghouls. Also worth mentioning is that every story has one page of original black and white art, which I liked. Very interesting read. Recommended for those who prefer some substance amid the gore.
June 28, 2019
The doctors tale reminded me of Jack Vance’s Cugel. The rest though seemed like r rated Clark Ashton Smith tales.
October 2, 2021
Picked this up on a recommendation for a horror book with strong fantasy elements. The stories are about unfortunate humans who stumble upon or in many cases seek out the kingdom of the Ghouls. Who wouldn't like more stories about ghouls? I was pretty excited getting into it because the writing is really good. However, I became disgusted by the explicit bucket list of sexual depravity (rape, sodomy, bestiality, incest, and of course necrophelia) that seemed to be a part of every story that I ended up not doing a complete cover to cover read. Had all the warty maggot-ridden "poo-poo" deviance been a part of only one story, it would have been "ok" but it quickly breached the limit of what I consider pleasurable reading.
January 17, 2019
"How could such things be?"
Brian McNaughton's World Fantasy Award-winning collection of mordant epic horror tales, The Throne of Bones (1997), is set in a world of decadent cities like Crotalorn (home of the Dreamers’ Hill necropolis), Sythiphore (home of piscine eroticists), and Fandragord (home of evil) where aristocrats, scholars, cultists, poets, prostitutes, barbarians, necromancers, the undead, ghouls, and the like pursue love, art, life, and death. The stories read like a meld of Clark Ashton Smith, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Jack Vance, and Tannith Lee, all informed by McNaughton's voice and vision.
If McNaughton’s work is macabre, with graphic sex and violence aplenty, it is also funny, delighting in the human comedy, especially via dramatic irony (e.g., when a mob thinks they’re rescuing a child from a ghoul), and in the well-turned phrase or the piquant word (e.g., "This apparently caused him to miss a fire or massacre or other popular diversion, for when he emerged in the evening, the street outside his house pullulated with quidnuncs"). His stories are moral, for his anti-heroes receive fitting fates, and honest, for his people face biting truths, as when a ghoul hears from a corpse she's eaten, "I knew life and love and happiness. Now I shall know peace. Will you ever say such things?"
McNaughton’s rich style ranges from romantic beauty (e.g., "Her hair was the color of rain when the sun shines") to gruesome horror (e.g., “The fabric of the real world had parted as easily as an old corpse’s shroud, dropping him into an unknown abyss, and he screamed like one falling as he thrust himself from the reeking heap in his bed"). He writes evocative names (e.g., Vomikron, Asteriel, and Crondard), quotable lines (e.g., “the gods love to bestow useless gifts"), choice similes (e.g., "his unruly mind frisked toward that filth like a puppy”), and vivid descriptions (e.g., “Beyond the Vendren palace, a full third of the sky was gripped by an electrical cataclysm. Dragons of flame writhed among three cloudy continents, whipped above them, exploded behind them. Not a whisper of thunder reached him, and a deformed moon drowsed overhead, but the breeze scurried this way and that in timid confusion”).
Wayne June is the ideal reader for the audiobook, wielding his resonant voice with perfect pace, emphasis, and clarity. His ghouls sound like growling dogs and rasping metal, and he does prime laughs, from a necromancer’s “steam kettle” to an aristocrat’s “eructations of a clogged drain.”
Here is an annotated list of the stories:
1. Ringard and Dendra
"Botany is no field for the squeamish."
Featuring a wood carver with an affinity for trees, a free-spirited aristocratic daughter, an amoral botanical wizard, and a brutal religious cult, the story is appalling and moving.
2. The Throne of Bones
"I want to be a ghoul, don't you?"
The six linked short stories of this novella relate Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ghouls* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). Like his undead, McNaughton's ghouls exaggerate human qualities: beneath our human veneer lurks a ghoul.
2a. Lord Glyphtard’s Tale
"As a child, I was told not to gather souvenirs from the cemetery."
This story has it all: cannibalism, rape, necrophilia, inter-species sex, graphic violence (from mutilation to dismemberment), and an apt climax and resolution.
2b. The Lecher of the Apothogem
“He would fuck the ghoul that tried to eat his corpse.”
An “artist” of dramatic “masterpieces” of rape and torture finally gets to test a popular aphorism in an ironic, fitting fashion.
2c. The Ghoul’s Child
"His hair was yellower than her eyes, his eyes bluer than her vestigial lips."
Gluttoria the ghouless dotes on her baby, while the King of Ghouls schemes to get rid of him. The story is full of point of view tricks (e.g., a woman waking up), dramatic irony (e.g., a fastidious pornographic poet finding love), funny touches (e.g., the child preferring liver to strawberries), and poignant moments (e.g., Gluttoria worshipping the sun).
2d The Scholar's Tale
"I began to entertain doubts about the wisdom of this adventure."
The unlikely Campbellian hero of this scary comedy is "old, fat, and slovenly" Dr. Porfat, a professor of “ghoulology” who experiences outré escapades involving an imbecilic Prince, a creepy Lady, a necromancer and his ward, a talking skull, and a pornographic manuscript.
2e How Zara Lost Her Way in the Graveyard
"This is not my mother!" he screamed. "This is a woman!"
A half-ghoul, half-human lad’s reunion with his “mother”; revelations about the pornographic poet Chalcedor; a reminder to be careful lest what you consume subsumes you; a romance between a resurrected whore and a missing scholar.
2f The Tale of the Zaxoin Siblings
"And I surely was no ghoul."
A bawdy comedy of manners turns into a tragedy of identity as a beautiful lady appeals to “Dr. Porfat” to save her repugnant brother from becoming a ghoul.
3. The Vendren Worm
"My trade is in that foulest of wares, truth."
The public, who conflate first person narrators with authors, believe that a "gentle and forgiving" writer of horror fantasy has murdered his wife (twice!) and sired a son on a corpse. (McNaughton often writes artists and writers as sardonic self-portraits) The comedy turns to horror as the writer learns about a family worm.
4. Meryphillia
"In the presence of wonder . . . spite was impossible."
A ghouless longs to experience human love that her ghoul lover seems ill-equipped to provide, leading to an amazing finale recalling O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi."
5. Reunion in Cephalune
“Death grants no immunity from sunburn.”
This morbidly hilarious romantic comedy sets the paths of a necrophilac necromancer, a versifying pit-fighter, and an innocent newlywed to meet at the gateway between the worlds of the living and the dead. The resolution is exquisite.
6. The Art of Tiphytsorn Glocque
"I'll teach you not to fuchsia my Art, you browns!"
It’s difficult to cause a stir in Sythiphore, but the title character does so, not by purportedly killing his fishmonger father with poisoned fish eggs, but by pursuing his body decoration "Art" with too much avant-garde fervor.
7. A Scholar from Sythiphore
“Like all men, only more so, the Giants were swine."
A skeptical "antiquarian" graverobber greedy for “the coins traditionally placed on the eyes of corpses" receives a deserved revelation.
8. Vendriel and Vendreela
"Lord Vendriel had descended to the crypt to bid farewell, in that wicked man's singular way, to his beloved mother."
To create a wife "who would be both incrorruptible and uncritical,” Vendriel the Good applies his necromancy to robbing the best features of beautiful people, artistic masterpieces, and a perfect spring day. The climax is slimy and meet.
9. The Retrograde Sorceror
"Vendriel the Good believed that he had heard everything."
A fairy tale reading concubine, an illiterate childcatcher, and a jaded necromancer-king go off to see the wizard, an immortal, reclusive, and soul-eating Archimage.
10. The Return of Liron Wolfbaiter
“Things are not what they seem lately.”
With panache an aging Conan-esque mercenary slash amateur philosopher on the run runs into a vengeful aristocratic girl, an uncanny inn, a sardonic Lord, an enthusiastic boarhound, a "philanthropist" necromancer-king, and a dead dreaming poet.
Brian McNaughton's World Fantasy Award-winning collection of mordant epic horror tales, The Throne of Bones (1997), is set in a world of decadent cities like Crotalorn (home of the Dreamers’ Hill necropolis), Sythiphore (home of piscine eroticists), and Fandragord (home of evil) where aristocrats, scholars, cultists, poets, prostitutes, barbarians, necromancers, the undead, ghouls, and the like pursue love, art, life, and death. The stories read like a meld of Clark Ashton Smith, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Jack Vance, and Tannith Lee, all informed by McNaughton's voice and vision.
If McNaughton’s work is macabre, with graphic sex and violence aplenty, it is also funny, delighting in the human comedy, especially via dramatic irony (e.g., when a mob thinks they’re rescuing a child from a ghoul), and in the well-turned phrase or the piquant word (e.g., "This apparently caused him to miss a fire or massacre or other popular diversion, for when he emerged in the evening, the street outside his house pullulated with quidnuncs"). His stories are moral, for his anti-heroes receive fitting fates, and honest, for his people face biting truths, as when a ghoul hears from a corpse she's eaten, "I knew life and love and happiness. Now I shall know peace. Will you ever say such things?"
McNaughton’s rich style ranges from romantic beauty (e.g., "Her hair was the color of rain when the sun shines") to gruesome horror (e.g., “The fabric of the real world had parted as easily as an old corpse’s shroud, dropping him into an unknown abyss, and he screamed like one falling as he thrust himself from the reeking heap in his bed"). He writes evocative names (e.g., Vomikron, Asteriel, and Crondard), quotable lines (e.g., “the gods love to bestow useless gifts"), choice similes (e.g., "his unruly mind frisked toward that filth like a puppy”), and vivid descriptions (e.g., “Beyond the Vendren palace, a full third of the sky was gripped by an electrical cataclysm. Dragons of flame writhed among three cloudy continents, whipped above them, exploded behind them. Not a whisper of thunder reached him, and a deformed moon drowsed overhead, but the breeze scurried this way and that in timid confusion”).
Wayne June is the ideal reader for the audiobook, wielding his resonant voice with perfect pace, emphasis, and clarity. His ghouls sound like growling dogs and rasping metal, and he does prime laughs, from a necromancer’s “steam kettle” to an aristocrat’s “eructations of a clogged drain.”
Here is an annotated list of the stories:
1. Ringard and Dendra
"Botany is no field for the squeamish."
Featuring a wood carver with an affinity for trees, a free-spirited aristocratic daughter, an amoral botanical wizard, and a brutal religious cult, the story is appalling and moving.
2. The Throne of Bones
"I want to be a ghoul, don't you?"
The six linked short stories of this novella relate Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ghouls* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). Like his undead, McNaughton's ghouls exaggerate human qualities: beneath our human veneer lurks a ghoul.
2a. Lord Glyphtard’s Tale
"As a child, I was told not to gather souvenirs from the cemetery."
This story has it all: cannibalism, rape, necrophilia, inter-species sex, graphic violence (from mutilation to dismemberment), and an apt climax and resolution.
2b. The Lecher of the Apothogem
“He would fuck the ghoul that tried to eat his corpse.”
An “artist” of dramatic “masterpieces” of rape and torture finally gets to test a popular aphorism in an ironic, fitting fashion.
2c. The Ghoul’s Child
"His hair was yellower than her eyes, his eyes bluer than her vestigial lips."
Gluttoria the ghouless dotes on her baby, while the King of Ghouls schemes to get rid of him. The story is full of point of view tricks (e.g., a woman waking up), dramatic irony (e.g., a fastidious pornographic poet finding love), funny touches (e.g., the child preferring liver to strawberries), and poignant moments (e.g., Gluttoria worshipping the sun).
2d The Scholar's Tale
"I began to entertain doubts about the wisdom of this adventure."
The unlikely Campbellian hero of this scary comedy is "old, fat, and slovenly" Dr. Porfat, a professor of “ghoulology” who experiences outré escapades involving an imbecilic Prince, a creepy Lady, a necromancer and his ward, a talking skull, and a pornographic manuscript.
2e How Zara Lost Her Way in the Graveyard
"This is not my mother!" he screamed. "This is a woman!"
A half-ghoul, half-human lad’s reunion with his “mother”; revelations about the pornographic poet Chalcedor; a reminder to be careful lest what you consume subsumes you; a romance between a resurrected whore and a missing scholar.
2f The Tale of the Zaxoin Siblings
"And I surely was no ghoul."
A bawdy comedy of manners turns into a tragedy of identity as a beautiful lady appeals to “Dr. Porfat” to save her repugnant brother from becoming a ghoul.
3. The Vendren Worm
"My trade is in that foulest of wares, truth."
The public, who conflate first person narrators with authors, believe that a "gentle and forgiving" writer of horror fantasy has murdered his wife (twice!) and sired a son on a corpse. (McNaughton often writes artists and writers as sardonic self-portraits) The comedy turns to horror as the writer learns about a family worm.
4. Meryphillia
"In the presence of wonder . . . spite was impossible."
A ghouless longs to experience human love that her ghoul lover seems ill-equipped to provide, leading to an amazing finale recalling O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi."
5. Reunion in Cephalune
“Death grants no immunity from sunburn.”
This morbidly hilarious romantic comedy sets the paths of a necrophilac necromancer, a versifying pit-fighter, and an innocent newlywed to meet at the gateway between the worlds of the living and the dead. The resolution is exquisite.
6. The Art of Tiphytsorn Glocque
"I'll teach you not to fuchsia my Art, you browns!"
It’s difficult to cause a stir in Sythiphore, but the title character does so, not by purportedly killing his fishmonger father with poisoned fish eggs, but by pursuing his body decoration "Art" with too much avant-garde fervor.
7. A Scholar from Sythiphore
“Like all men, only more so, the Giants were swine."
A skeptical "antiquarian" graverobber greedy for “the coins traditionally placed on the eyes of corpses" receives a deserved revelation.
8. Vendriel and Vendreela
"Lord Vendriel had descended to the crypt to bid farewell, in that wicked man's singular way, to his beloved mother."
To create a wife "who would be both incrorruptible and uncritical,” Vendriel the Good applies his necromancy to robbing the best features of beautiful people, artistic masterpieces, and a perfect spring day. The climax is slimy and meet.
9. The Retrograde Sorceror
"Vendriel the Good believed that he had heard everything."
A fairy tale reading concubine, an illiterate childcatcher, and a jaded necromancer-king go off to see the wizard, an immortal, reclusive, and soul-eating Archimage.
10. The Return of Liron Wolfbaiter
“Things are not what they seem lately.”
With panache an aging Conan-esque mercenary slash amateur philosopher on the run runs into a vengeful aristocratic girl, an uncanny inn, a sardonic Lord, an enthusiastic boarhound, a "philanthropist" necromancer-king, and a dead dreaming poet.
July 17, 2016
Every so often there is a book that I chance upon which does not hesitate even a bit in grabbing hold of me and shoving me headlong down pathways that I never dared venture.Sure I call myself a fan of horror as a genre but am I deeply read in the genre ? Well since you put it that way...umm..no. Look at the standard props in horror that borders fantasy and there is an outpouring of certain cliches : vampires, werewolves, witches et al which are now no more scary. There was however one such denizen of the night who I had not read much about until this book : the ghoul. And now thanks to Brian McNoughton, I have had enough to last me a bloody long time. Exquisitely and garishly crafted, this set of tales is monstrous to behold !
The author of this book is a twisted literary genius. Allow me to explain : his genius for writing can be easily felt in the way he creates his fictional world and populates it with characters whose jibes at society and its dubious morals is a delight to behold. The throne of bones is one of those central stories of the book around which all the other tales revolve. The stories blend in seamlessly with one leading the way to another, well written and intricately plotted. Now we come to the twisted part and here is where McNoughton outdoes even Lovecraft for his ghouls are hideous monsters. Their lives are filled with cannibalism, necrophilia,incest and murder and the author does not spare any gory details. Every single pore of the stories spit out ghouls and they infest the stories like viruses. Some instances are greatly disturbing and the sex and gore are rather graphic but consider that these are stories about creatures which are closer to beasts than they will ever be to a human being.
The plotting and the writing skills deserve to be applauded but this is an incredibly graphic book. It will perhaps give GoT a run for its money if it ever gets made into a T.V. series (the chances for which are too remote to even contemplate !).
The author of this book is a twisted literary genius. Allow me to explain : his genius for writing can be easily felt in the way he creates his fictional world and populates it with characters whose jibes at society and its dubious morals is a delight to behold. The throne of bones is one of those central stories of the book around which all the other tales revolve. The stories blend in seamlessly with one leading the way to another, well written and intricately plotted. Now we come to the twisted part and here is where McNoughton outdoes even Lovecraft for his ghouls are hideous monsters. Their lives are filled with cannibalism, necrophilia,incest and murder and the author does not spare any gory details. Every single pore of the stories spit out ghouls and they infest the stories like viruses. Some instances are greatly disturbing and the sex and gore are rather graphic but consider that these are stories about creatures which are closer to beasts than they will ever be to a human being.
The plotting and the writing skills deserve to be applauded but this is an incredibly graphic book. It will perhaps give GoT a run for its money if it ever gets made into a T.V. series (the chances for which are too remote to even contemplate !).
December 31, 2016
This is a very shallow, meaningless and worthless book. There are some parts that are interesting, but one can not ignore the fact that this book is not horror, but the most disgusting kind of porn - necrophilia - disguised as horror. And the erotic parts are not just bad, they are extremely juvenile, the kind of daydreaming that you'd expect from a 15 year old, hormone driven boy. From a supposedly 'grown up' author, I expected a lot more. I did not expect a literary masterpiece, not even some decency, no. But at least the kind of thought that befits a grown up man, and not an adolescent, was expected.
August 28, 2020
You can like this book or dislike this book. It's not for everyone, no doubt. However, no one can dispute the sheer amount of creativity, boldness and macabre beauty that went into the absolutely unique work of the dark art. It's a shame this didn't inspire a franchise. God (well, not God, but some Dark Force from Beyond) knows it deserves it. Specifically the story of Meryphillia, is the greatest love story ever written, and no mistake!
May 23, 2018
Absolutely brilliant writing, with terribly horrific stories.
Definitely not for the faint of heart or squeamish.
I love the dark world he creates to surround the ghouls, and the entire ghoul ethos in itself is fascinating. Somehow the author repeatedly makes you cringe throughout the book, but his beautiful language just draws you in so you want him to continue making you cringe.
Definitely not for the faint of heart or squeamish.
I love the dark world he creates to surround the ghouls, and the entire ghoul ethos in itself is fascinating. Somehow the author repeatedly makes you cringe throughout the book, but his beautiful language just draws you in so you want him to continue making you cringe.
March 6, 2021
Before the review itself, I want to give a brief explanation of what exactly this book is. Throne of Bones is a book of short stories that are all connected by the same city/region: The greater Krotolorn (sorry if the spelling is off) region or city, to be a bit more precise. Also, there are a few family names, and thus members, that reappear in almost every story too. By members I mean that you may meet a member of family A in the second story, and then a few stories later you will meet there descendent. The first story is almost perfect when it comes to giving one a sense of how this book is going to be, (except that the first story is the only one that is really scary imo). Anyways, I cant say anything better than what's already been said, positive-wise, about the book itself, but I will suggest a new (and, imo, better) way to enjoy it: listen to this on audible.
Wayne June = Amazing. Best narrator-book match I have encountered on audible.* It is delightfully acted by Wayne. His range of voices is absolutely perfect here. I don't think I've ever had as much fun listening to a book than I did here. If you don't mind Ghoul on Human..."action," then you will do just fine here mentally, and morally. For the prudes out there, stay away! Lol.
Also, the book is listed as "Horror" but I didn't find one part that was meant to be scary. There are things that are unsettling, of course, but this book is probably 70% comedy, 25% action and 5% other (cosmic horror, creepy vibes, ROMANCE). Speaking of romance, the most thoughtful and endearing story is that of a man who falls in love with a ghoul and her him. It's very short, but it leaves a lasting memory. Now, speaking of endearing (lol), the final story in the book is probably my favorite. It has a really great "man's best friend" element to it that I thoroughly enjoyed, being that I'm a dog lover. And there's many, many more great stories in here that you're bound to find a few that stand out more than the others for you.
*I have since encountered a 1B to Wayne + Throne of Bones, which is Steven Pacey + The First Law series of books.
Wayne June = Amazing. Best narrator-book match I have encountered on audible.* It is delightfully acted by Wayne. His range of voices is absolutely perfect here. I don't think I've ever had as much fun listening to a book than I did here. If you don't mind Ghoul on Human..."action," then you will do just fine here mentally, and morally. For the prudes out there, stay away! Lol.
Also, the book is listed as "Horror" but I didn't find one part that was meant to be scary. There are things that are unsettling, of course, but this book is probably 70% comedy, 25% action and 5% other (cosmic horror, creepy vibes, ROMANCE). Speaking of romance, the most thoughtful and endearing story is that of a man who falls in love with a ghoul and her him. It's very short, but it leaves a lasting memory. Now, speaking of endearing (lol), the final story in the book is probably my favorite. It has a really great "man's best friend" element to it that I thoroughly enjoyed, being that I'm a dog lover. And there's many, many more great stories in here that you're bound to find a few that stand out more than the others for you.
*I have since encountered a 1B to Wayne + Throne of Bones, which is Steven Pacey + The First Law series of books.
January 2, 2021
There are very few examples of fantasy horror stories that I can think of, and this is probably the best one. It's a mix of the most horrific and depraved shit you can imagine with a healthy dose of off-the-wall humor and a really well crafted fantasy world. You'll wonder how the author managed to blend everything together but it works so incredibly well that you won't be able to stop reading.
If you're squeamish you'll probably be turned off by this, BUT the worst parts are during the first half of the book. Afterwards it stops being so grotesque but still retains its edge. And it never loses its dark humor. Definitely recommended if you're open minded and bored of conventional horror stories or high fantasy.
If you're squeamish you'll probably be turned off by this, BUT the worst parts are during the first half of the book. Afterwards it stops being so grotesque but still retains its edge. And it never loses its dark humor. Definitely recommended if you're open minded and bored of conventional horror stories or high fantasy.
July 9, 2014
Read it because an author I respect recommended it. In the end it came off as gory and gross for the sake of shock rather than contributing to the story. Well written just not very engaging.
November 18, 2020
What would happen if the wretched ghoul of Edward Lee's perversions made love to the sweetly and pungently decaying corpse of Clark Ashton Smith's romantic decadence.
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