What do you think?
Rate this book
Bottled Abyss
Herman and Janet Erikson are going through a crisis of grief and suffering after losing their daughter in a hit and run. They’ve given up on each other; they’ve given up on themselves. They are living day by day. One afternoon, to make a horrible situation worse, their dog goes missing in the coyote-infested badlands behind their property. Herman, resolved in preventing another tragedy, goes to find the dog, completely unaware he’s on a hike to the River Styx, the border between the Living world and the world of the dead.
Long ago the Gods died and the River dried up, but a bottle containing its waters still remains in the badlands. What Herman discovers about the dark power contained in those waters will change his life forever…
Long ago the Gods died and the River dried up, but a bottle containing its waters still remains in the badlands. What Herman discovers about the dark power contained in those waters will change his life forever…
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2012
75 people are currently reading
1427 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Kane Ethridge
30 books236 followersBenjamin Kane Ethridge is the Bram Stoker Award winning author of the occult fantasy novel BLACK & ORANGE. He also wrote a master's thesis entitled, "CAUSES OF UNEASE: The Rhetoric of Horror Fiction and Film." Available in an ivory tower near you. Ben lives in Southern California. When he isn't writing, reading, videogaming, he's figuring out ways to keep from writing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
February 18, 2025
An Abyss is Never Bound,
Not By Up And Down...
BOTTLED ABYSS
by Benjamin Kane Etheridge
No spoilers. 4 1/2 stars. Janet and Herman recently lost their preschool aged daughter to a hit-and-run driver...
They are having marital problems trying to cope with the tragedy...
Then one day...
Their dog Lester went missing in the desert, and Herman went out looking for him. He found the dog half eaten by coyotes...
But still clinging to a thread of life...
Herman saw a hobo emerging from a nearby mine shaft. The man stopped to help Herman with his dog...
But the hobo saw that the dog was going to die...
So...
The hobo brought forth an obsidian bottle from his backpack, uncorked it, and gave the dog a drink of the murky water inside...
The dog choked up a coin...
... bearing an image of the dog's skull, but the dog made a full recovery...
When Herman tried to question the man about the bottle, the man told Herman to forget he'd ever seen the bottle...
Later in the story...
Herman has reasons to seek out the man and his bottle again...
So begins a very different story about the river Styx (which has dried up to only what remains in the bottle) and the three characters who run the underworld: Charon (the Ferryman), the Fury (who metes out justice) and Nyx (Greek goddess of the night)...
I rated this story 4-1/2 stars because it was a real page-turner and because it was so original. I removed 1/2 a star because, at times, the author was somewhat unclear telling his story.
It can be hard to come across novels with storylines that haven't been done to death, but this was a very unique story.
Not By Up And Down...
BOTTLED ABYSS
by Benjamin Kane Etheridge
No spoilers. 4 1/2 stars. Janet and Herman recently lost their preschool aged daughter to a hit-and-run driver...
They are having marital problems trying to cope with the tragedy...
Then one day...
Their dog Lester went missing in the desert, and Herman went out looking for him. He found the dog half eaten by coyotes...
But still clinging to a thread of life...
Herman saw a hobo emerging from a nearby mine shaft. The man stopped to help Herman with his dog...
But the hobo saw that the dog was going to die...
So...
The hobo brought forth an obsidian bottle from his backpack, uncorked it, and gave the dog a drink of the murky water inside...
The dog choked up a coin...
... bearing an image of the dog's skull, but the dog made a full recovery...
When Herman tried to question the man about the bottle, the man told Herman to forget he'd ever seen the bottle...
Later in the story...
Herman has reasons to seek out the man and his bottle again...
So begins a very different story about the river Styx (which has dried up to only what remains in the bottle) and the three characters who run the underworld: Charon (the Ferryman), the Fury (who metes out justice) and Nyx (Greek goddess of the night)...
I rated this story 4-1/2 stars because it was a real page-turner and because it was so original. I removed 1/2 a star because, at times, the author was somewhat unclear telling his story.
It can be hard to come across novels with storylines that haven't been done to death, but this was a very unique story.
April 19, 2015
The Bottled Abyss by Benjamin Kane Etheridge was originally released in 2012 by Redrum Horror. A new revised and authors preferred version of the Bram Stoker Award Nominated novel was released on the 3rd April 2015 by Horrific Tales Publishing based in the UK.
Herman and Janet Erikson have been through Hell and are still hanging over the Abyss by their fingertips. Unable to climb back out they suffer and survive with the monumental grief of losing their two year old daughter hit by a getaway car fleeing a robbery. Janet turns to the bottle, Herman withdraws and loses himself in work. Life takes another turn when their dog goes missing and Herman sets out into the coyote infested desert bordering the house. He finds his dog close to death and once more faces tragedy in a life that's already seen too much. A stranger appears from nowhere and the decorative bottle from his pocket changes everything with a lifesaving elixir. The dog miraculously saved and vitality restored.
Further devastation comes when Janet nearly succeeds in finally drinking herself to death, Herman knows help isn't too far away in that lifesaving liquid from the bottle. He must find the stranger and take the bottle, before it's too late.
A fascinating blend of mythology and horror comes to the fore as the bottle brings both life and death in equal doses to the various people who come into contact with it.
The mythology comes from the Goddess Nyx and the River Hythia, along with the Ferryman and the Fury. The Ferryman or Charon ferried the souls of the dead across the river Styx to Hades, the land of the dead. The God Nyx was a shadowy figure of the night and the Fury a spirit of punishment that was used in the story to kill anyone who had the ancient coin, a result of a life saved by the bottle. The mythology aspect worked for the story but the only real figure of renown was the Ferryman, the rest I'd never heard of and didn't really stand up to the scrutiny of an internet search.
There were a couple of lines that didn't feel right such as 'Janet was authentically happy and a sort of pleasant cleft between her luminescent breasts but these were minimal and largely contained to the start of the story.
The majority of the Bottled Abyss is very well written but it didn't really grab my interest nor did I find myself desperate to get back to it. All told it was incredibly bleak and depressing, despite what the family went through and coping mechanisms aside. The chance of vengeance presents itself out of the blue and this in turn bought some tension and intrigue. It was short lived however as the mythological underworld took over and the darkness of the human soul. In conclusion the Bottled Abyss will certainly appeal to some but unfortunately not this reader.
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
Herman and Janet Erikson have been through Hell and are still hanging over the Abyss by their fingertips. Unable to climb back out they suffer and survive with the monumental grief of losing their two year old daughter hit by a getaway car fleeing a robbery. Janet turns to the bottle, Herman withdraws and loses himself in work. Life takes another turn when their dog goes missing and Herman sets out into the coyote infested desert bordering the house. He finds his dog close to death and once more faces tragedy in a life that's already seen too much. A stranger appears from nowhere and the decorative bottle from his pocket changes everything with a lifesaving elixir. The dog miraculously saved and vitality restored.
Further devastation comes when Janet nearly succeeds in finally drinking herself to death, Herman knows help isn't too far away in that lifesaving liquid from the bottle. He must find the stranger and take the bottle, before it's too late.
A fascinating blend of mythology and horror comes to the fore as the bottle brings both life and death in equal doses to the various people who come into contact with it.
The mythology comes from the Goddess Nyx and the River Hythia, along with the Ferryman and the Fury. The Ferryman or Charon ferried the souls of the dead across the river Styx to Hades, the land of the dead. The God Nyx was a shadowy figure of the night and the Fury a spirit of punishment that was used in the story to kill anyone who had the ancient coin, a result of a life saved by the bottle. The mythology aspect worked for the story but the only real figure of renown was the Ferryman, the rest I'd never heard of and didn't really stand up to the scrutiny of an internet search.
There were a couple of lines that didn't feel right such as 'Janet was authentically happy and a sort of pleasant cleft between her luminescent breasts but these were minimal and largely contained to the start of the story.
The majority of the Bottled Abyss is very well written but it didn't really grab my interest nor did I find myself desperate to get back to it. All told it was incredibly bleak and depressing, despite what the family went through and coping mechanisms aside. The chance of vengeance presents itself out of the blue and this in turn bought some tension and intrigue. It was short lived however as the mythological underworld took over and the darkness of the human soul. In conclusion the Bottled Abyss will certainly appeal to some but unfortunately not this reader.
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
February 15, 2013
Bottled Abyss was a Kindle freebie at the time I picked it up. I had no expectations when I plunged into it, which worked in my favor BIG TIME!
This novel began in a dark, sad and desolate setting and then progressed into some of the bleakest most depressing realms.
Yet, somehow it proved to be one of the most fascinating books I have read in quite some time.
Etheridge turned ancient mythology upside down and kept the twists coming in a relentless fashion.
The characters were all so well developed, I felt like I knew them all, making the horrors that unfolded ever more personal. Impressive. I strongly recommend this book.
This novel began in a dark, sad and desolate setting and then progressed into some of the bleakest most depressing realms.
Yet, somehow it proved to be one of the most fascinating books I have read in quite some time.
Etheridge turned ancient mythology upside down and kept the twists coming in a relentless fashion.
The characters were all so well developed, I felt like I knew them all, making the horrors that unfolded ever more personal. Impressive. I strongly recommend this book.
April 6, 2013
An incredibly dark, emotionally draining novel that will make your brain break out in a cold sweat. Ethridge borrows from Greek Mythology, yet takes the material and goes places you never expected by the road least travelled. A powerful work by a powerhouse of an imagination.
April 2, 2013
Congratulations to Benjamin Ethridge for Bottled Abyss appearing on the final ballot for the 2012 Bram Stoker Awards.
Bottled Abyss is a novel in the horror genre, so one expects physical and psychological gore, but what I found most interesting and enjoyable was the River Styx folklore brought forward to a modern setting where the mythical cosmology is developed into a fascinating scenario far more frightening than brain spatter. The buildup was restrained in pace, but held my interest enough to keep pages turning when, with all plates on sticks sent spinning, action and wild imagination really kicked in and during the final quarter, a tantalizing discovery brought the entire story into tight focus, at which point I said, "Whew, that was pretty damn cool."
March 8, 2013
I like Benjamin Kane Ethridge. He’s a fantastic writer, and a nice guy to boot. When I found out I’d be working with him on Limbus, Inc., I decided that I would do a little research on the guy, and what better way than to read his latest, Bottled Abyss. I was not only impressed—I was surprised as well.
Here’s the book’s description.
Herman and Janet Erikson are going through a crisis of grief and suffering after losing their daughter in a hit and run. They've given up on each other, they've given up on themselves. They are living day by day. One afternoon, to make a horrible situation worse, their dog goes missing in the coyote-infested badlands behind their property. Herman, resolved in preventing another tragedy, goes to find the dog, completely unaware he's on a hike to the River Styx, which according to Greek myth was the border between the Living World and the world of the Dead. Long ago the gods died and the River dried up, but a bottle containing its waters still remains in the badlands. What Herman discovers about the dark power contained in those waters will change his life forever...
Bottled Abyss is different from your average horror novel. Somehow, both the protagonist and the antagonist turn out not to be who you think they are, and nobody really does what you expect. In fact, there’s not really a bad guy at all. And then, about three-quarters of the way into the story, things get weird on a cosmological scale. What does that add up to? Not only an incredible read, but one that will leave you pondering it for weeks to come—the sign of something like literary genius.
Bottled Abyss is a book I would recommend to anyone who is willing to break out of the ordinary mold and enjoy something truly extraordinary. I don’t know that it is for everyone, but as with most things, that’s the ultimate compliment.
Here’s the book’s description.
Herman and Janet Erikson are going through a crisis of grief and suffering after losing their daughter in a hit and run. They've given up on each other, they've given up on themselves. They are living day by day. One afternoon, to make a horrible situation worse, their dog goes missing in the coyote-infested badlands behind their property. Herman, resolved in preventing another tragedy, goes to find the dog, completely unaware he's on a hike to the River Styx, which according to Greek myth was the border between the Living World and the world of the Dead. Long ago the gods died and the River dried up, but a bottle containing its waters still remains in the badlands. What Herman discovers about the dark power contained in those waters will change his life forever...
Bottled Abyss is different from your average horror novel. Somehow, both the protagonist and the antagonist turn out not to be who you think they are, and nobody really does what you expect. In fact, there’s not really a bad guy at all. And then, about three-quarters of the way into the story, things get weird on a cosmological scale. What does that add up to? Not only an incredible read, but one that will leave you pondering it for weeks to come—the sign of something like literary genius.
Bottled Abyss is a book I would recommend to anyone who is willing to break out of the ordinary mold and enjoy something truly extraordinary. I don’t know that it is for everyone, but as with most things, that’s the ultimate compliment.
June 18, 2017
Every so often there's a book where you can easily recognize quality and yet it doesn't quite make the emotional connection required for an optimal thoroughly engaging reading experience. This is a prime example of that sort of book. Well done, original, hauntingly bleak tale of couple, traumatized beyond recovery by the tragic death of their young daughter, and the friends of that couple who stumble across a supernatural, mythological even, plot. Seemed like something right up my alley, I love ancient mythology and dark psychological fiction. And yet after a while the oppressive relentlessness of the narrative, the wretches of characters, the vaguely muddled quality of the supernatural plotline...just got to be too much. It's entirely possible I wasn't in the right mood for it, because as mentioned earlier, this is definitely a powerhouse of a story and well deserving of its awards and accolades. Fans of genre fiction will find much to appreciate within its pages, but metaphorically this is a wrist slitter of a tale. You know what they say about staring into the abyss. Read if you dare, but beware the darkness.
March 11, 2015
When Herman and Janet Erikson’s young daughter, Melody, is killed in a hit and run accident, their lives quite literally fall apart. Janet is consumed with suicidal thoughts and seeks solace in alcoholism, while Herman finds himself increasingly unable to cope with his wife’s inability to move past her pain, to the point where he begins to despise her. When their dog goes missing in the coyote infested desert near their home, Herman sets out to find the animal. When he finds the dog near death, a stranger appears and miraculously saves the animal by giving it a drink from an ornate bottle, Herman, and later, Janet, become obsessed with the bottle, and its power to bring things back from the brink of death. An obsession that will have dire consequences for them and everyone around them. Especially once Janet’s thoughts turn to revenge against those who caused the death of her daughter.
Bottled Abyss is a very different novel from Ethridge. His Bram Stoker winning debut, Black and Orange, was a tightly written action horror that strayed into dark fantasy. Bottled Abyss is a much more introspective offering, looking at the darkness within each person and the fragile nature of the human condition and the relationships between the main characters.
That is not to say that this is your standard dull literary horror offering. Far from it. The prose is often lyrical, almost poetic in its nature, which contrasts the bleak nature of the narrative in a very effective manner. When someone drinks from the bottle, they cough up a coin, which, when passed to someone else, exchanges the death meant for that person with the recipient. When this happens, the narrative switches to a stream of consciousness first person perspective which works incredibly well, heightening the tension of the victims impending encounter with The Fury, a monster straight out of ancient Greek mythology, that seeks justice and dispatches the unfortunate in some original and gory ways.
Bottled Abyss is a remarkable novel. One that stayed with me and played on my mind long after I’d finished reading it. It cleverly mixes ancient myths with modern society, and populates its pages with interesting and complex characters that I could not help but relate to, and in many ways, empathise with. The pain that Herman and Janet go through at the start of the book stayed with me, and meant that I was still hoping that they could escape their fates, even when their actions begin to cross from “moral grey area” into “downright wrong”.
Benjamin Kane Ethridge has matured as an author, and I would not be in the least surprised if he ended up winning another Bram Stoker award for this book. It’s thoughtful, clever, heart-breaking, horrific and bleak. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
Bottled Abyss is a very different novel from Ethridge. His Bram Stoker winning debut, Black and Orange, was a tightly written action horror that strayed into dark fantasy. Bottled Abyss is a much more introspective offering, looking at the darkness within each person and the fragile nature of the human condition and the relationships between the main characters.
That is not to say that this is your standard dull literary horror offering. Far from it. The prose is often lyrical, almost poetic in its nature, which contrasts the bleak nature of the narrative in a very effective manner. When someone drinks from the bottle, they cough up a coin, which, when passed to someone else, exchanges the death meant for that person with the recipient. When this happens, the narrative switches to a stream of consciousness first person perspective which works incredibly well, heightening the tension of the victims impending encounter with The Fury, a monster straight out of ancient Greek mythology, that seeks justice and dispatches the unfortunate in some original and gory ways.
Bottled Abyss is a remarkable novel. One that stayed with me and played on my mind long after I’d finished reading it. It cleverly mixes ancient myths with modern society, and populates its pages with interesting and complex characters that I could not help but relate to, and in many ways, empathise with. The pain that Herman and Janet go through at the start of the book stayed with me, and meant that I was still hoping that they could escape their fates, even when their actions begin to cross from “moral grey area” into “downright wrong”.
Benjamin Kane Ethridge has matured as an author, and I would not be in the least surprised if he ended up winning another Bram Stoker award for this book. It’s thoughtful, clever, heart-breaking, horrific and bleak. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
February 25, 2015
The first 85% of the book I truly enjoyed, if the book had ended there it would have rated higher for me. The last 15% for me was hard to follow, maybe if I was more knowledgeable of Greek Mythology it would have had more clarity. It was hard following Janet's transformation into the Ferrywoman while drowning in the River Styx, and the reasoning behind her rebirth through Faye left me even more confused. I am sure it would have rated higher if I could grasp my mind around the last 15% or so of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2013
Once I had thought to become the scholar of the representation of the land of the dead in literature. This was indeed the original plan for my PhD dissertation, a history of Hades from Homer to H.D., until one pithy advisor quipped: "In how many volumes again?" Still, in recent years I have read often of the otherworld in Gothic and Horror texts and could still probably write up a little something about this sub-tradition within the Gothic sub-genre of the short story, novel, and even, occasionally, verse. (If you want a recommendation, try Richard Matheson's What Dreams May Come.) Thesis statement: Whilst flirting with Greek mythology, this modern horror story was incapable, for me, of selling the combination of ancient mythic monsters with Stephen King-like flawed American middle-class characters and consequently prompted more laughter than chills from my reading and therefore remained a disappointment for me as either social commentary or classic fabula.
Well, my earlier status update whilst reading just about sums up my reading experience: There is a moment in the novel in which an ancient Greek fury steals a cellphone in order to call up a prospective victim and to threaten her. I just couldn't--and still can't--reconcile these disparate elements (iphone and ancient fury) without laughter--deadly in a novel to be filed in the horror section of your local independent bookstore, God-love-'em. For a while I tried to excuse the laughter, really wanting to cut the author slack on the whole ancient/modern blending, because I liked the idea of incorporating the ancient Greek goddess Nyx and the rivers of Hades and Charon the boatman into a contemporary setting, and I can see how hard it would be to write the tones of the two types of narrative convincingly, and then I realized that it has often been done by the greats--Lovecraft and Arthur Machen specialize in such blending, in representing the threshold-lurking old Gods just around that London or Providence street corner, and they never make me laugh and their images and descriptions always stick with me on windy, rainy, gloomy evenings when I'm home alone and my imagination runs riot with the night.
Sadly, it will be the funny, awkward ill-blended and incongruous pieces of corporate chincery (Uh, I made it up but I think you know what I mean) and the lost dignity of its representation of a faded mythology of Bottled Abyss, I fear, that will return to me later. Most laughable: the first person narrators who describe the Fury killing them. Ouch. Very poor choice for dignity.
I'm still searching for well-written contemporary Gothic--please, recommendations anyone????
Well, my earlier status update whilst reading just about sums up my reading experience: There is a moment in the novel in which an ancient Greek fury steals a cellphone in order to call up a prospective victim and to threaten her. I just couldn't--and still can't--reconcile these disparate elements (iphone and ancient fury) without laughter--deadly in a novel to be filed in the horror section of your local independent bookstore, God-love-'em. For a while I tried to excuse the laughter, really wanting to cut the author slack on the whole ancient/modern blending, because I liked the idea of incorporating the ancient Greek goddess Nyx and the rivers of Hades and Charon the boatman into a contemporary setting, and I can see how hard it would be to write the tones of the two types of narrative convincingly, and then I realized that it has often been done by the greats--Lovecraft and Arthur Machen specialize in such blending, in representing the threshold-lurking old Gods just around that London or Providence street corner, and they never make me laugh and their images and descriptions always stick with me on windy, rainy, gloomy evenings when I'm home alone and my imagination runs riot with the night.
Sadly, it will be the funny, awkward ill-blended and incongruous pieces of corporate chincery (Uh, I made it up but I think you know what I mean) and the lost dignity of its representation of a faded mythology of Bottled Abyss, I fear, that will return to me later. Most laughable: the first person narrators who describe the Fury killing them. Ouch. Very poor choice for dignity.
I'm still searching for well-written contemporary Gothic--please, recommendations anyone????
May 3, 2013
The best way to describe Bottled Abyss is dark. Benjamin Kane Ethridge in his sinister and brooding style weaves a spellbinding tale that uses the mythos of the River Styx in a way only he can tell. He does this by exploring the psyches of his main characters, all of them flawed in some major fashion. The novel's two main characters, Janet and Herman Erikson suffer the ultimate tragedy of losing their daughter in a tragic hit and run accident. As expected, they don't cope with it well. Herman tries to get himself lost in work while staying emotionally unattached to everything around. Janet finds her solace in the bottle. When Herman's dog is lost, and he goes to find it, he meets the ferryman who transports people to the land of the dead. The Ferryman's world is slowly disintegrating and he needs a way to recapture it, seeing Herman as the solution to his problems. He heals Herman's dog with water from the Styx, and in exchange produces a coin. When the coin is given to someone, it unleashes the Fury, who has amazing destructive capabilities.
This sets in motion a series of events that dramatically transforms the lives of Janet and Herman and those around them. Ethridge uses his polished prose to capture the reader in a journey into the darkness that awaits them. He travels into areas most writers won't and does a great job of putting the reader into the minds of his characters. The novel is tightly written with few wasted words. Bottled Abyss is often times brutal and graphic, and anything but light reading. If you would like to explore the darkness of the human mind, Bottled Abyss is a great place to go.
Carl Alves - author of Blood Street
This sets in motion a series of events that dramatically transforms the lives of Janet and Herman and those around them. Ethridge uses his polished prose to capture the reader in a journey into the darkness that awaits them. He travels into areas most writers won't and does a great job of putting the reader into the minds of his characters. The novel is tightly written with few wasted words. Bottled Abyss is often times brutal and graphic, and anything but light reading. If you would like to explore the darkness of the human mind, Bottled Abyss is a great place to go.
Carl Alves - author of Blood Street
January 14, 2013
An ambitious modern mythology from one of our best rising stars. Benjamin Kane Ethridge's BOTTLED ABYSS is a model for those of us who would stand on the shoulders of genre and reach for the wider airs we accept as literature.
August 17, 2013
Brainycat's 5 "B"s:
blood: 3
boobs: 1
bombs: 1
bondage: 2
blasphemy: 4
Bechdel Test: PASS
Deggan's Rule: PASS
Gay Bechdel Test: FAIL
An easy but deeply metaphorical read. Nobody in this story is without guilt or shame, and this is the basis of the narrative - when a jealous and petulant god is seeking to rebirth her kingdom, she needs to acquire jealous and petulant souls to transform into her new archangels. How are these new archangels supposed evaluate a life, by the joy and wisdom it's created and shared or the violence and misery it has inflicted?
The similes between the physical realm of the humans and the spiritual realm of the gods felt a little out of sync to me; not unlike looking at a reflection through a poorly manufactured mirror. Perhaps I was reading it wrong. Once the protagonist's transcendence occurred, however, the story really started to bog down on itself. I felt myself thinking, "Yes, I get it, can we please move on to wrapping up the storyline now?" about 70% of the way through the book. Finally, once we'd reached the finish, there were a series of one page chapters. I didn't like that technique at all, I kept thinking I was done with the story and WAIT! There's More! If you keep reading, we'll send you free of charge One More Detail! Yes, that's right! Even though you've been through 280 pages already and know where this is going, We'll Spell It Out For You!
The book is very well written, with a good vocabulary and control of the cadence and pace. The characters are, for the most part, rounded out enough to make the story work and they each have their own voices. The earlier part of the book kept the plot moving, but as I mentioned above the latter third of the book felt like it started getting too self-involved with itself.
This isn't a bad book, and I'm willing to read more of Mr. Etheridge's work. It's tilting a bit farther towards "high literature" than what I usually read, but I enjoyed it all the same. If you like The Cannibal Within I suspect you'll like this book too.
blood: 3
boobs: 1
bombs: 1
bondage: 2
blasphemy: 4
Bechdel Test: PASS
Deggan's Rule: PASS
Gay Bechdel Test: FAIL
An easy but deeply metaphorical read. Nobody in this story is without guilt or shame, and this is the basis of the narrative - when a jealous and petulant god is seeking to rebirth her kingdom, she needs to acquire jealous and petulant souls to transform into her new archangels. How are these new archangels supposed evaluate a life, by the joy and wisdom it's created and shared or the violence and misery it has inflicted?
The similes between the physical realm of the humans and the spiritual realm of the gods felt a little out of sync to me; not unlike looking at a reflection through a poorly manufactured mirror. Perhaps I was reading it wrong. Once the protagonist's transcendence occurred, however, the story really started to bog down on itself. I felt myself thinking, "Yes, I get it, can we please move on to wrapping up the storyline now?" about 70% of the way through the book. Finally, once we'd reached the finish, there were a series of one page chapters. I didn't like that technique at all, I kept thinking I was done with the story and WAIT! There's More! If you keep reading, we'll send you free of charge One More Detail! Yes, that's right! Even though you've been through 280 pages already and know where this is going, We'll Spell It Out For You!
The book is very well written, with a good vocabulary and control of the cadence and pace. The characters are, for the most part, rounded out enough to make the story work and they each have their own voices. The earlier part of the book kept the plot moving, but as I mentioned above the latter third of the book felt like it started getting too self-involved with itself.
This isn't a bad book, and I'm willing to read more of Mr. Etheridge's work. It's tilting a bit farther towards "high literature" than what I usually read, but I enjoyed it all the same. If you like The Cannibal Within I suspect you'll like this book too.
Please note: I don't review to provide synopses, I review to share a purely visceral reaction to books and perhaps answer some of the questions I ask when I'm contemplating investing time and money into a book.
November 11, 2012
I was introduced to Ethridge's work last year with Black & Orange which easily became one of my favorite books of the year. Ethridge's talent for turning folklore and myth into his own device stays strong in his new book, Bottled Abyss. The story initially starts off about Herman and Janet, a married couple who lost their young daughter recently to a hit and run driver, and all the trauma which that entails. While looking for their lost dog, Herman meets Charon the Boatman, and learns first hand the power of the Boatman's bottle. This spirals Herman and Janet's life down a dark spiral of horror, insanely dark realms of Greek mythology, and a glimpse of how genuinely damaged people can be.
Honestly it was that last facet of the book that made reading it such a visceral experience. As mentioned before, Ethridge is a master of creating a new world out of old myth. His legendary figures take on a new life that is vastly entertaining to read. I, however, was just amazed at how well he fleshed out the four main characters of the book, and how each of them were experiencing lives that were broken to a point where the dark myths that permeated the story almost took a back seat. It made the book incredibly hard to put down.
The resolution of the story is as terrifying in implication as it is in what is made known. If he ever did a sequel to it, I'd honestly be intimidated to read it. All in all, a fantastic, dark read from a consistently talented writer. Five stars definitely.
Honestly it was that last facet of the book that made reading it such a visceral experience. As mentioned before, Ethridge is a master of creating a new world out of old myth. His legendary figures take on a new life that is vastly entertaining to read. I, however, was just amazed at how well he fleshed out the four main characters of the book, and how each of them were experiencing lives that were broken to a point where the dark myths that permeated the story almost took a back seat. It made the book incredibly hard to put down.
The resolution of the story is as terrifying in implication as it is in what is made known. If he ever did a sequel to it, I'd honestly be intimidated to read it. All in all, a fantastic, dark read from a consistently talented writer. Five stars definitely.
April 18, 2015
Benjamin Kane Etheridge's is, if anything, the closest an American author has come to the out-of-the-blue strangeness that I experienced reading Clive Barker as a teen.
No, this is not "weird fiction."
This is horror, just of the very unexpected variety.
Bottled Abyss is an intersection of sorts. Of tragedy, life ending, hopeless tragedy colliding with the eternal and the mythic in the prosaic, middle of nowhere California. I especially appreciate that last point. Ive been told that the grim, banal,and the mundane just don't come to life the way a strategically inserted clever, witty and photogenic rich character or setting would.
Benjamin Kane Etheridge takes that truism and kills it in a ravine that you drive past and never look at.
It's an intersection where loss is not redeemed, but the impossible and unbelievable come to life on the page. Gods are born, gods die, men and women are broken, and the will of gods are defied.
I'm not going to do a recap review, I just don't do that. But I will tell you that this is horror that will surprise you at every turn, take you to unexpected - completely unexpected - places and will not disappoint. A true winner. Five stars.
September 9, 2012
Bottled Abyss is easily on my list of favorite books of 2012 and is a definite contender for favorites of the decade. Benjamin Kane Etheridge has crafted a beautifully realized tale that mingles the mythical with the everyday. From the scenes of the daily lives of a despondent couple living in a bleak desert to the mythical ferry crossing the river to the land of the dead, each scene comes to life and builds on the one before.
If you want to read a fascinating masterfully executed story read Bottled Abyss. If you want to learn how to craft vivid characters, stunning landscapes and a well-honed plot study this book like a how-to manual. I can't wait to read what comes next from this author.
If you want to read a fascinating masterfully executed story read Bottled Abyss. If you want to learn how to craft vivid characters, stunning landscapes and a well-honed plot study this book like a how-to manual. I can't wait to read what comes next from this author.
April 3, 2015
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This is in no way reflected in my opinion of this book.
Bottled Abyss is a thoroughly engrossing read! I was drawn into this world created by Benjamin Kane Ethridge and before the end of the first chapter I was hooked. I've always been fascinated by tales of the underworld and the Greek myths of Hades and those who crossed the River Styx on Charon's boat. Bottled Abyss takes that myth and pulls it into the present. The characters here are not always likable but they are believable. Janet starts off as drunken harpy who won't let Herman move on after the death of their daughter and ends up being sympathetic and compelling. This was my first book by Benjamin Kane Ethridge but it won't be my last. A solid 4.5 stars.
Bottled Abyss is a thoroughly engrossing read! I was drawn into this world created by Benjamin Kane Ethridge and before the end of the first chapter I was hooked. I've always been fascinated by tales of the underworld and the Greek myths of Hades and those who crossed the River Styx on Charon's boat. Bottled Abyss takes that myth and pulls it into the present. The characters here are not always likable but they are believable. Janet starts off as drunken harpy who won't let Herman move on after the death of their daughter and ends up being sympathetic and compelling. This was my first book by Benjamin Kane Ethridge but it won't be my last. A solid 4.5 stars.
August 17, 2013
I didn't find any scares in this book- it was more adventure + gore. Although the first half of the novel promised a good tale, things had gone completely haywire by the end. I kind of understand what happened... but I kind of don't. It's like I accidentally opened another book and started reading instead of finishing this one.
December 12, 2014
Promising start but got ridiculous in my opinion. I eventually gave up at 80% which is annoying but I just completely lost interest.
This review was written before I started to take my reviewing seriously. I would need to re-read the book to give it a serious and fair review so the above review was what I posted at the time.
This review was written before I started to take my reviewing seriously. I would need to re-read the book to give it a serious and fair review so the above review was what I posted at the time.
April 6, 2013
3.5 stars
July 23, 2018
This one went strange on me.
The first 2/3 was really good. Original concept about the mythological Ferryman who ferrys souls across the Styx river. Lots of action and well defined characters. Then near the end it goes sort of surreal.
I enjoyed the read, but not so much the end. Before then the book took me through a lot of strong emotions. The writer is good and I would read something else by him, but I wasn't quite satisfied with this. I don't know how else it could have gone, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to Horror readers. Just expect some weirdness.
The first 2/3 was really good. Original concept about the mythological Ferryman who ferrys souls across the Styx river. Lots of action and well defined characters. Then near the end it goes sort of surreal.
I enjoyed the read, but not so much the end. Before then the book took me through a lot of strong emotions. The writer is good and I would read something else by him, but I wasn't quite satisfied with this. I don't know how else it could have gone, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to Horror readers. Just expect some weirdness.
July 25, 2015
I've written many reviews for books - some good, some not so good, and some downright awful. I don't believe in rehashing the story like many do. I find that a complete waste of time seeing as how most people don't start to read a book until they've read the blurb on the dust jacket. I think most people read reviews to see what people think on a personal level. So here's my review of Bottled Abyss.
I've been reading horror since I was 9 - so for 40 years. I make this statement so you, the reader of this review, will know where my expertise lies. I feel that you need to know the subject matter before a valid review can be written.
That being said, there is a reason Benjamin Kane Etheridge is a Bram Stoker Award recipient! From the very first sentence, he had me hooked.
Bottled Abyss is a great twist on the typical River Styx and the Ferryman story. Etheridge takes a well known mythological story, adds a human element, and constructs a story like no other. Many other reviews say the story is too dark - it's HORROR! It's supposed to be dark. You want a happy ending, read A. A. Milne. Yes, this book was dark and depressing - but those people apparently missed the underlying theme: love. The love the characters had for each other and the amazing sacrifice the main character, Janet, took upon herself at the end; just to "save" her friend and to remember what being human was like.
Don't let the other reviews deter you from reading this. My only regret is that I had to read it as an ebook (if you've read my other reviews you'll know that I despise ebooks) which is the reason why it took me so long to finish it. I will be searching for more from Etheridge shortly.
I've been reading horror since I was 9 - so for 40 years. I make this statement so you, the reader of this review, will know where my expertise lies. I feel that you need to know the subject matter before a valid review can be written.
That being said, there is a reason Benjamin Kane Etheridge is a Bram Stoker Award recipient! From the very first sentence, he had me hooked.
Bottled Abyss is a great twist on the typical River Styx and the Ferryman story. Etheridge takes a well known mythological story, adds a human element, and constructs a story like no other. Many other reviews say the story is too dark - it's HORROR! It's supposed to be dark. You want a happy ending, read A. A. Milne. Yes, this book was dark and depressing - but those people apparently missed the underlying theme: love. The love the characters had for each other and the amazing sacrifice the main character, Janet, took upon herself at the end; just to "save" her friend and to remember what being human was like.
Don't let the other reviews deter you from reading this. My only regret is that I had to read it as an ebook (if you've read my other reviews you'll know that I despise ebooks) which is the reason why it took me so long to finish it. I will be searching for more from Etheridge shortly.
October 11, 2012
3 AND 1/2 STARS
Author Benjamin Kan Ethridge won the Bram Stoker award for his first novel, Black And Orange, and he is one of the stronger up-and-coming writers in the genre. Ethridge always seems to produce very original, daring, and thought provoking work. His new book, Bottled Abyss, is no exception.
The concept was quite original and shifted from various perspectives as the novel unfolded, smoothly mixing elements of Greek mythology into a gritty modern adult fairytale. The dark and macabre tone throughout was a welcome one as Ethridge managed to consistently infuse his own rules and mythology into the narrative. It definitely takes the reader on paths you are not expecting and has some really great ideas involving the rules of the coin and how people die. The Fury interludes and perspective changes were one of the big highlights for me and were extremely effective.
Besides a few typos, one of the problems I did have was that it could have used a bit more atmosphere, especially in the first two thirds. The action moved fast and clean, but actual scares were few and far between. I would have liked to see more emphasis in that area. That aside, the book was an entertaining read that moves at a nice pace, delving into some painful emotions and solid character development. If you are looking for something other than the standard run-of-the-mill horror story, this book is just what the doctor ordered.
Author Benjamin Kan Ethridge won the Bram Stoker award for his first novel, Black And Orange, and he is one of the stronger up-and-coming writers in the genre. Ethridge always seems to produce very original, daring, and thought provoking work. His new book, Bottled Abyss, is no exception.
The concept was quite original and shifted from various perspectives as the novel unfolded, smoothly mixing elements of Greek mythology into a gritty modern adult fairytale. The dark and macabre tone throughout was a welcome one as Ethridge managed to consistently infuse his own rules and mythology into the narrative. It definitely takes the reader on paths you are not expecting and has some really great ideas involving the rules of the coin and how people die. The Fury interludes and perspective changes were one of the big highlights for me and were extremely effective.
Besides a few typos, one of the problems I did have was that it could have used a bit more atmosphere, especially in the first two thirds. The action moved fast and clean, but actual scares were few and far between. I would have liked to see more emphasis in that area. That aside, the book was an entertaining read that moves at a nice pace, delving into some painful emotions and solid character development. If you are looking for something other than the standard run-of-the-mill horror story, this book is just what the doctor ordered.
July 18, 2016
The rating is more likely 3.5, because I really did like the idea and the story. The characters were typical human beings and their portrayal and interaction between them was superbly done, very very convincing. However, they were too unlikable for my taste, with exception of Faye and Herman (although he had his flaws too), so it was difficult for me to actually care for them. The mythological segments were quite intriguing, especially the surreal one towards the end of the book, but I must confess, although I am familiar a bit with Greek mythology, I was quite lost in this one. I simply couldn't comprehend the whole picture -- which is probably my fault only, but anyway had to influence my final rating.
November 9, 2014
Hot off the heals of his first novel, the Bram Stoker Award winning "Black and Orange", comes Benjamin Kane Ethridge's novel, Bottled Abyss, and it's fantastic! Greek mythology brought to the present, combined with mystery, sadness, great characters, blood and guts, and gangsters--it's all in this one and he manages to weave it together flawlessly as he tells a wonderfully original horror tale. Highly recommended! Beware The Ferryman and The Fury!
April 28, 2013
Benjamin Kane Etheridge has crafted another brilliant novel to complement his award-winning debut BLACK & ORANGE, and this one is certain to see similar accolades! An ancient legend and a bottle of mysterious liquid are at the center of this modern tale of loss and supernatural revenge. Loaded with many shocking surprises--as well as a lesson about power and responsibility--BOTTLED ABYSS will take you on a chilling, visceral ride that you will want to explore more than once!
August 4, 2014
The author grabbed my attention and hooked me in the first paragraph. I was completely engrossed and loved the way the story was progressing. Loved it! But then it got weird and it totally fell apart for me. The final chapters were just bizarre and improbable. Disappointing doesn't even begin to describe how let down I felt plodding through the last chapters, all the while hoping the author would extricate the plot and end the book as well as it had begun.
Read
January 5, 2016Hey Uncle Ben! Don't worry, my mommy(your sister) is going to read this book soon! She told me it's to scary for me to read, but I read 2 pages anyway. I needed a good book to read! So far your book is really good for 2 pages!! See you later alligator!!!!!
November 14, 2012
Great story line with characters that jump right off the pages and into your heart! Really enjoying this one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews