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Cursed Images
A dissolute trust-fund kid living in Brooklyn reconnects with his estranged sister after her debut art exhibition causes people to go insane. An epidemic of extreme anxiety caused by widespread societal collapse is treated with a controversial and mysterious new drug named after the Maya underworld. A desperate man risks his life to seek sexual salvation from the queen of a ghostly castle who may or may not exist. These are some of the stories in Cursed Images , where satire and nightmare, the erotic and the grotesque, prophecy and confession merge in a disturbing and spellbinding alchemy.
Cursed Images is a dream-journal of late capitalism, a Gothic tarot of desire and fear.
Cursed Images is a dream-journal of late capitalism, a Gothic tarot of desire and fear.
284 pages, Paperback
Published August 31, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 16, 2023
Cursed Images by Reuben Dendinger, Hyperidean Press
I encountered this book by chance, first when I noticed my talented friend Anna Sebastian had provided the enigmatic painting for the cover art, and then again when I saw it shared online by the poet and painter Tamas Panitz — two trusted arbiters of taste.
Cursed Images is a collection of contemporary gothic short stories, captivatingly told in a tone not entirely dissimilar to Roald Dahl’s more ghoulish tales, with touches of Edgar Allan Poe thrown in for good measure, and occasional glimpses of Black Mirror.
The first story in the collection — about a wealthy young man brought back into contact with his estranged sister, an artist who makes paintings apparently too terrifying for public consumption — is reminiscent of a witchier Bret Easton Ellis, which is not to say that this book doesn’t have a unique perspective. On the contrary, it’s all remarkably refreshing stuff.
From skull collecting to necromancy, mutant humans to piss queens, big pharma narcotic origin stories to artists going off the rails and societal inertia, there’s something for everyone in this witty, poetic assemblage of macabre provocations that is often simultaneously frightening and hilarious.
Paying tongue-in-cheek homage to the gothic and occult genre, Dendinger presents our modern day realties through a disturbing satirical lens — one which questions contemporary perceptions of ‘horror’, each story polluted by the ominous drone of late capitalism.
I read this in two sittings — on the beach eating crisps, and on my sofa while my cat whinged impatiently. This makes it a ‘beach read’ I guess.
It’s a 5/5 from me.
I encountered this book by chance, first when I noticed my talented friend Anna Sebastian had provided the enigmatic painting for the cover art, and then again when I saw it shared online by the poet and painter Tamas Panitz — two trusted arbiters of taste.
Cursed Images is a collection of contemporary gothic short stories, captivatingly told in a tone not entirely dissimilar to Roald Dahl’s more ghoulish tales, with touches of Edgar Allan Poe thrown in for good measure, and occasional glimpses of Black Mirror.
The first story in the collection — about a wealthy young man brought back into contact with his estranged sister, an artist who makes paintings apparently too terrifying for public consumption — is reminiscent of a witchier Bret Easton Ellis, which is not to say that this book doesn’t have a unique perspective. On the contrary, it’s all remarkably refreshing stuff.
From skull collecting to necromancy, mutant humans to piss queens, big pharma narcotic origin stories to artists going off the rails and societal inertia, there’s something for everyone in this witty, poetic assemblage of macabre provocations that is often simultaneously frightening and hilarious.
Paying tongue-in-cheek homage to the gothic and occult genre, Dendinger presents our modern day realties through a disturbing satirical lens — one which questions contemporary perceptions of ‘horror’, each story polluted by the ominous drone of late capitalism.
I read this in two sittings — on the beach eating crisps, and on my sofa while my cat whinged impatiently. This makes it a ‘beach read’ I guess.
It’s a 5/5 from me.
October 1, 2023
I was really looking forward to this one, and if you like weird horror definitely check it out. Reuben writes highly original stories with familiar horror influences with a signature touch of extremely dark humor and a focus on modern mythology. Nothing like laughing your ass off while experiencing the modern cosmic terror inherent in trying to survive late capitalism amongst big pharma, startup culture, the modern dating scene, and making commissioned fetish art to pay the rent. A perfect start to the Halloween season
January 29, 2024
Phantasmagoric, repulsive, breathtaking, at times incoherent in its sincerity, at others frightening in its lucidity, but always steadfastly directing one’s gaze towards the apocalypse that lingers both in the human heart and at the end of capitalist modernity. In short: some of the most compelling weird fiction I’ve ever read, right up there with Ligotti, Carrington, Chambers, Lispector.
Easy recommendation for the ghoulish, the disillusioned, the spellbound, and the insane.
Easy recommendation for the ghoulish, the disillusioned, the spellbound, and the insane.
April 14, 2024
Thomas Ligotti but if he was a brooklyn art hipster
June 19, 2025
I loved it so much. The first tale was ok, it was kinda underwhelming, I felt it should have been a book on it's own. But some of the others...oh my God
I did so many annotations, but I lent it to someone and this person has not returned it to me. Now I feel so bad, because some of the tales were so profound and weird, actually weird. One was particularly so disturbing to me it made me desire it even more
helped me get back into reading
I did so many annotations, but I lent it to someone and this person has not returned it to me. Now I feel so bad, because some of the tales were so profound and weird, actually weird. One was particularly so disturbing to me it made me desire it even more
helped me get back into reading
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews