From the Belly

by Emmett Nahil

The whaling vessel Merciful has just made its strangest catch yet: a massive whale containing a still-living man secreted within its stomach lining. Sailor Isaiah Chase is tasked with keeping the enigmatic man alive.

As their relationship grows, a series of accidents, injuries and deaths quickly befall the ship and its crew. Isaiah is plagued by strangely prophetic dreams, even as the crew continues their endless quest for whale oil under the command of an increasingly unhinged captain.

As events spiral further out of control, the mysterious man confesses what Isaiah has begun to suspect: the crew of The Merciful has fallen into a cycle of punishment for their greed and destruction. Isaiah must confront the sea's vengeance made flesh, and choose between this new, strange love and the fate of the ship itself.

Genres: Horror, Queer, Fiction, Adult, LGBT, Fantasy, Mystery

244 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2024

About the author

Hailing from a haunted seaside town in Northeastern Massachusetts, Emmett Nahil is the author of novel FROM THE BELLY (Tenebrous Press, 2024) and graphic novel LET ME OUT (Oni Press, 2023). His obsession with horror and speculative fiction has taken his writing to Nightmare Magazine, THE BOOK OF QUEER SAINTS: VOLUME II, Laura Kate Dale's GENDER EUPHORIA anthology, and elsewhere. In his other life, Emmett is the Narrative Director and co-founder of Perfect Garbage Studios. He can be found most places online as @_emnays.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aquatic horror for the win! And that cover.. I just knew I had to have it!

A whaling ship gets more than they bargain for when a barely-alive man spills out of the belly of their first kill. Under the captain's orders, the unconscious stranger is locked in the brig and crewmate Isiah is tasked with splitting his rations with the man until they can decide what to do with him.

Once the rescued man awakens, strange things begin to happen on board The Merciful and the crew starts to slowly descend into madness as they begin to show signs of mysterious and frightening illnesses. Though he cannot immediately prove it, Isiah knows this is not just a string of bad luck and believes the enigmatic man they locked away below deck is somehow behind it all, and if his dreams are anything to go by, he's terrified they won't survive long enough to make it back to port.

From the Belly is atmospheric and claustrophobic and at times downright brutal. This is not your run of the mill Geppetto story. This is a "what the hell did we bring onboard" story. And a "you can't outrun the horrors that await you" story. And it's sooo good you guys.

[Shrike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is BEAUTIFUL from cover to cover. It's the kind of slow-burn, poetic horror you can sink into for hours.

From the Belly puts me in mind of classic, haunting maritime literature. I'm putting it up there with the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, one of my favorite pieces. Men may borrow and steal but the sea always collects her debts.

While I had to miss my book club meet for this one (boooo), this is a story that deserves dissection and discussion. Highly recommend for a group read or buddy read.

I love the cover and illustrations. The art compliments and enhances the overall mood. I can't say how they display on a screen, but they're lovely in print.

This one's going to haunt my dreams. And my list of favorite queer literature.

[thevampireslibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Belly is written from the heart in this high sea horror that pits humanity against nature, a biting critique of capitalism set against a backdrop of gruesome body horror and supernatural mystery, set entirely on a ship the author does a fantastic job at creating a claustrophobic atmosphere, any sense of safety is thrown overboard as the horrors start immediatley and don't cease, there is a constant dread bubbling beneath the surface that kept my timbers shivered!

[Horror Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this chilling, evocative, and creepy novel a whaling ship slowly descends into madness, hunger, and chaos after a mysterious man is taken aboard.

Right off the bat you get a sense of unease as the whaling ship discovers that its latest catch contains more than fat and meat. A man falls from the belly of the whale and, miraculously, he's still alive.

Isaiah is tasked with looking after the man after the captain decides to put the man in the brig below. There's something not quite right about this stranger. And as crew members begin to be affected in increasingly bloody and terrifying ways, Isaiah feels himself connected to this man even as others on board see him as a curse.

As more crew members succumb to an impossible illness and the stores are ravaged by rot, the tension is higher than ever. If the sea or hunger doesn't get them, maybe a curse will.

This novel is set entirely on this ship and the author does a fantastic job at really putting the reader right beside the crew. It's claustrophobic atmosphere and dangers around every corner keeps your eyes glued to the pages. The mysterious man at the center of it all is surrounded by the unknown and the connection between him and Isaiah is slowly revealed throughout the book, taking you to unexpected places.

Secrets await on this ship from other characters as well. When things start turning nasty, it becomes a matter of survival at any cost and blood will be shed.

This is a great horror book set on the high sea and I highly recommend it.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.

[Audi♡]

The blurb sounded interesting...
Whale hunters find a whole-ass man ALIVE stuffed in a whale. They bring him on board, and weird things start to happen to the crew...
I fell asleep several times trying to get through this. It was weird and slow. Not chilling and creepy. the ending gave me whiplash. I didn't know what was going on.
This wasn't for me. Gorgeous cover, though!

[S.A Reidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the prayers on the Merciful were answered. The answer was Nope ...no mercy for you lot. If the sea is a tempest - then it stands to reason that the creature who dies(cheats death) and is reborn from that tempest (in a dead whale no less) is not to be trifled with.

I loved having a hundred questions jostling for attention as I read: The All-knowing Man From Inside The Whale - is he a sea-god? A sea-monster? A whale? An inbetween? Is Essex a manifestation of that Essex ship?!? How many devils aboard the Merciful? Monteiro? Coffin? Alvarez? So many questions I could eat them

I was firmly in his corner from the start. Well, him and Isaiah Chase - something about tortured souls aboard a ship whose only purpose is to torture and murder whales really drew me in. Poseidon was asleep during the whaling era. The Man From The Belly of the whale was not.

**The word: preternatural was used way too much after it made it's debut close to the third quarter of the book**

Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Ah yes. Get even. Even Steven? Square. The chaotic beauty of slow-marinating revenge sanctioned by The Gods Below is a far better tool for karma.
So if you find a "dead" man in a whale, maybe check that he's dead first before talking smack about him and threatening to throw him overboard🤷🏽‍♀️ See I love a story about vengeance and this feels not just like vengeance or revenge - this feels like beautiful, terrifying wrath. I love it. Plus I hate whalers so I'm okay with everyone on the Merciful suffering.

Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Captain Coffin is a powertripping alcoholic nepo-baby trash. Man fvck him.

The Man From The Whale brought the ocean with him and I had to wonder if this ship would become an island ship complete with skeletons of the crew, lush greenery poking through and supernatural keeping it tethered to one spot. Maybe not but I was not disappointed with the outcome.

I dont know whose past was more intriguing- The Man from the whale or Isaiah Chase.

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🌸The storm kills men up top, and the man from the Belly of the whale wakes up. Not ominous at all.
🌸Captain Coffin's greed: dumping the boon for cruelty's sake.
🌸Isaiah's dream: Captain Briggs and Isaiah in a boat
🌸Isaiah and The Bucket
🌸Bye Bye Bellamy - you had it coming.
🌸Fallon and Isaiah in the brackish ocean inside The Hold

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Let me out of this cell, and you will know exactly what a curse feels like.” (I love a good cures. Release the God from the Belly of The Whale already.)
🖤 “What you let me see in sleep, Gods Deep and Gods Above, let me see in waking.” (Chase the Seer)
🖤 “Whalers deal in death. They go bloody wherever they travel. They revel in it. I can’t just stop what’s been set into motion” (Essex)

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■The hum, Essex and the shadow
■Whaler's Contract
■Captain Johanna Briggs
■Isaiah's instant deep healing vs Merciful's Rot
■ A rich boon of fish
■ The ocean in The Hold
■Dreams of The Seer
■Bellamy's Eye and The Whale

GR/SG Rating: 3.75
CAWPILE: 7
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Horror (Fantasy) Books by 2025

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc of this book by the publisher Tenebrous Press.

This book accompanied me on my trip to the ocean last week and I honestly can't imagine a better place to read this (except directly on a ship in the middle of the ocean maybe). The prose is lush and inviting, painting the ship in such vivid detail that I was often picturing myself in Isaiah's place (that I was actually able to smell salt water while reading probably helped make it even more immersive, but even if I hadn't been by the ocean, I think I would have been able to picture it clearly). And yet the prose never becomes over the top or takes away from the flow of the story, which I found really well done!
The story follows the crew of the Merciful after they find a living man in the belly of a whale and as if that wasn't unsettling enough soon things will take a turn for the worse. The horror of this book is incredible! It is so tense at times that I found myself nearly unable to put it down, reading nearly every free moment during my vacation until I had devoured it. It is also one of the few books where the horror I read actually turned my stomach (during one of the more... gross and horrifying scenes of the later third of the book I found myself so unable to put it down and so I read on while waiting for a plate of seafood I had ordered at a restaurant... I would not recommend recreating that experience unless you have a strong stomach! I am still glad I hadn't gotten anything with eels, but yikes that scene! Amazing and again, I loved it, but wowzers, was it gross!). I loved every second of this book, from the tense and claustrophobic scenes to the very gross ones and the tender ones as well.
It takes the best of ocean horror (the incomprehensible vastness, the isolation, the many, many scary things down there, the fact that you cannot leave) and combines it with a scathing critique of capitalism and its horrors (its incomprehensible vastness, the isolation of work, the many, many scary things in it, the fact that you cannot leave) as well as body horror (the isolation of being disfigured/disabled/a visible other, the many, many scary things that can be done to a human body, the fact that you cannot leave your body) into a masterful creation following one sailor as his ship turns into a haunted house filled to the brim with inevitable creeping dread and the knowledge that one way or another you are stuck and truly and utterly fucked. In the middle of it there are also some tender and lovely scenes, which enabled me to breathe deeply and hope, before I was tossed right back into the stormy waves of horror and I adored that as well.
So if you can I would advise you to take this book to the ocean with you this summer, sit in the sun and shiver from terror as you find out what exactly happens to the Merciful and its crew.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the Belly is a book filled with cool imagery, ultimately hampered by its pace and repetition. The setting, most of the characters, and the overall idea are great. Like all Tenebrous Press releases, the cover is beautiful. The commentary on humanity feels accurate and relevant, and it was nice to see the queer representation and gender diversity. However, I struggled with caring at all about the main protagonist. Isaiah is dull and not fun to spend time with, one of the least interesting characters on the page. The book also drags its feet when it comes to the story. In an attempt to build suspense and tension, things just stretch out and begin to feel repetitive to the point of boredom. Perhaps it was an attempt to make the reader feel like they were a part of the Merciful crew, performing the same tasks and viewing the same horizon as each day runs into the next. I don't know if that being purposeful would improve my impression of it though. Overall, not a bad read, but it would have been a lot better if it had been novella length like the other releases from the publisher. I would be interested to check out future releases by the author.

[Carm · Rating 4 out of 5]

“People, humans—they’re eager to forget that they came from the depths, once. They call on minor gods to calm a fear of what they once held close. To guard against those who grow comfortable seeing the other side. Those of them kept safe on land, safe in their minor devotions, will only listen to a loss of profit. They must begin to value blood once more.”

I gambled on this one. Maritime horror doesn’t generally appeal to me... but that cover. I’m so glad that I took a chance on this book, because “From The Belly” is SO DAMN GOOD. It’s tense and claustrophobic and vivid and immersive. Can body horror be pretty? YES! (But only if it includes seashells, salt crystals and marine life.)

My only criticism of this book, and it’s minor, is this... There’s a lot of people on this ship. Nearly everyone is referred to by their last name. When you combine this with the use of gender nonspecific pronouns, it muddies my ability to keep track of who’s who and also, my ability to form a picture in my head of what they look like. The representation and diversity were welcome... but it also hindered my ability to see these characters clearly.

[Ed Crocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Belly is, on its face, a tale of ocean horror on a whaling ship, but, as befits stories from indie horror maestros Tenebrous Press, this is a beautifully weird tale: a bizarrely compelling romance fused with a deeply disturbing tale of deep sea vengeance and aquatic body horror. It’s as nail-bitingly tense as it is half submerged in dreams.

The tale takes place entirely on a whaling vessel, crewed with sailors desperate to write off their debts to the whaling company by killing as many whales as possible and captained by the marvellously named Captain Coffin, who we quickly learn is not the most cheerful of captains and thoroughly deserves the nominative determinism of his surname. When the crew find a man, somehow still alive, in the belly of one of their whale catches, strange things start to befall the ship, even though the new crewmember is safely locked in the brig. Crewmate Isiah, who has a great deal of strangeness about him himself, begins to regularly visit this strange new guest while the situation on the ship gets worse and worse.

Some of the most striking scenes of this novel are these compelling face-offs between Isiah and the mystery man, at once loaded with danger yet also increasingly melded with a strange kind of connection. The more this connection is explored, the more compelling their bond grows, and the more must-read these scenes become. I was entranced by the strange discordant tone between their growing care for each other and the increasingly nauseating events happening to the other crew members.

As the events on the ship grow more serious in danger, we are plunged into a desperately tense situation, with lashings of aquatic horror, creeping horror, dream-like horror and ultimately a great deal of body horror; a nightmarish concoction which bubbles away for a long time but ultimately rewards the patient reader with a feverish dream of ocean hell. The sense of vengeance hangs over this tale, but there is deep humanity here too, and the question of how deserving the ship’s crew are of the ending seemingly coming their way.

Aside from the brilliantly compelling relationship between possible villain and protagonist, I was entranced by the sense of inevitability and tragedy laced into this story. Nahil conveys this with a combination of dreamlike prose and utterly horrific imagery.

Overall, this a strong entry from the eclectic and gleefully bizarre Tenebrous stable: a story of tentative passion fused with ancient vengeance. This will get inside your head. Let it.

[Jamedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally on JamReads

From The Belly is a queer nautical horror novel written by Emmett Nahill, published by Tenebrous Press. The kind of title you could expect from a press that has embraced the weirdness as their main defining point, fusing high sea horror and body horror in company with a compelling and bizarre queer romance that will leave your spine tingling.

The novel is entirely set in the Merciful, a whaling ship in an expedition that most of the sailors hope that will help them to void their debts to the company; under the command of the accurately named captain Coffin, a descendant of a accommodated family who soon shows his contempt to those crewing his ship, making them work until exhaustion. But his greed will be part of what will be unleashed when a big catch happens, and a mysterious man is found inside the whale; surprisingly, alive. Isaiah, one of the sailors, deemed as weird by the others, is tasked to share his rations with the man.

The meetings between Isaiah and the mysterious man will lead first toward animosity and a confrontation, but as long as the disgrace hovers over the Merciful, they will be attracted towards the other, sharing their strangeness as the common point that creates a ground between them. Isaiah has a complicated relationship with the mystical elements, partly due to how he was traumatized by the past; but it is strangely mesmerising how Nahill manages to draw us towards these scenes.

Parallel to this subplot, we can see how the Merciful and their crew are submerged into a desperate situation, one that early shows how it will end; similarly to the Demeter in Dracula, you can feel the hopelessness and dread taking over the boat, paired with particularly well-written body horror scenes and a bit of aquatic horror.

From The Belly is an excellent horror novel, which fits perfectly the philosophy of Tenebrous Press; if you are looking for something different and whose quality is over the roof, you should give it a try. After reading this kind of book, I can't wait to deep dive more into Nahill's books, because there's talent here.

[Micah Castle]

Great story and great writing.

If you ever wanted Moby Dick but weird/speculative and a queer, look no further.

[Tya C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a book that will make your skin crawl, this is it! The creepy imagery was perfection & it was made even better by having a couple of illustrations in the book as well! There’s just something about the specific type of body horror used in this story that just gets me every time & I love it so much! Also, the overall message of this novel really resonated with me and I need people to read it!

[Andreas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. Fantastic atmosphere, dark and haunting in exactly the way I expect from historical sea tales, and deliciously queer.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a man who is a magnet of doom and tragedy and danger and escapes to the sea to avoid it but who's completely lost when a physical manifestation of that attraction lands on the deck. I love when things are going Wrong in more and more frightening and supernatural ways but people have to keep working because they're so far in debt death is more preferable to going home empty handed. I don't read a lot of horror (although I'm trying to get better at it!) but I've been following the author on twitter for a while and all of the snippets were so evocative I couldn't wait to pick it up. This really stuck the landing for me, just the right amount of unexplained happenings to lead up to the second half of the book, which goes buck wild with the body horror. The illustrations, although infrequent, were so good at establishing the mood as well. This was one of my favorites of the year, highly recommended.

5/5 stars

[Apollo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable book! Not what i would classify as scary, but the body horror, gothic horror, and general water-weirds (my favorite parts) occurring on the ship were fun to watch unfold. BEAUTIFUL illustrations that i wish there were more of detailed the true horror and drama unfolding in the book. The nautical horror aspect is always a treat-- something i wish to see more of in future books to come, that i think the author executed well. Overall a fun read!

Isaiah is a likable character, one we can show a lot of sympathy for, and a protagonist we can root for up until the end. He is gentle, the only one that feels like a regular person (despite his own strangeness), and one that i wished deeply to comfort. This soft, gentle man clashing with the harsh and oftentimes ruthless personalities of his shipmates and captain was... mwah. Chef's kiss

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I give this three stars for three reasons:

1. The ending was abrupt and introduced something NEW to the story without dedicating enough time to analyzing the event (when they're in the whale cave with the cockle shells) so i would have really preferred a few pages exploring that. Isaiah is a curious --if cowardly-- man, interested in understanding Essex, so it felt out of character for him to flee from this scene even if he was terrified. A few moments of him putting more pieces together and looking more closely at the whales would have been nice :) i enjoyed the nautical weirds SO MUCH in this book, that i simply wished for more.

2. There is a romance plot, which i liked, but wished there was more of! Isaiah could not go down to visit Essex often, but it would have been nice to have them interact more with each other in either a dream-state capacity, or in a face to face capacity, especially on deck. I don't usually enjoy romance B-plots, but i found myself wanting to explore what made Essex spare Isaiah, and what called Isaiah to Essex. Calling him "my love" when shit hit the fan was, if anything, very abrupt.

3. There was a lack of editing! Besides one noticeable formatting error, there were several instances of misgendering of the nonbinary characters that stood out to me and took me out of the story. It felt a little strange to have so many diverse characters of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity only to switch pronouns. It is very possible i have an earlier print copy with mistakes, and the kindle version is more mindful of editing issues.

Also... the content warning list was, for some reason, at the END of the book? Another oversight on the editing team.

Despite these three things, i did have fun! worth a read.

[Ash Leaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

gay trans guys who love the terror and moby dick come collect your book

[mossreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tenebrous Press always publishes the most peculiar and unexpectedly wonderful reads. The body horror in this was pretty good. Plot development left me wanting. I loved the main Isaiah as well as the mystery which shrouds the man from the belly. The draw between him and Isaiah felt really tangible and dizzying which I loved. Because of that love, I feel a bit unsatisfied with that ending. I wanted Isaiah and Essex to turn out fine in the end somehow but I guess this isn't that kind of story.

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

as a dishonored fan i heard "whaling ship horror romance" and was immediately IN. but then sadly it failed to stick the landing.

this was a pretty good tale of horror on the high seas with an excellent setting, great eerie atmosphere and some nice gory imagery.. but it really suffered from too much padding, underdeveloped characters, bland romance & an unsatisfying ending. i agree with others who have said this would work better as a novella rather than a full length novel!!

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of aquatic horror of all kinds, and Nahil's book hits all the high points. The eerie call of the deep, huge creatures stalking beneath the waves, isolation. Add to that stellar and disturbing body horror and an alluring romance - a flat out fantastic horror story.

[Aquino Loayza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review Inc,


But the exploration of labor in this period is fascinating, the horror backdrop is just icing on the cake.

[Laura Mauro · Rating 4 out of 5]

mostly enjoyed it. was a bit blindsided by the fantasy setting at first (I'd expected it to be more like moby dick) but once I settled into the world it wasn't a problem. somewhat reminiscent of mieville's The Scar and the hunt for the Avanc. At times it was a bit confusing keeping track of all the characters - there are a lot of them, and sometimes a few too many in one place, at least for my tiny brain - but they were mostly interesting and some of them quite compelling (Hendricks' story with Briggs especially) though I think maybe they'd have had more impact if the focus had been narrowed down onto fewer characters - and maybe pulled Essex into the heart of the story a little sooner, to really make his connection with Isaiah feel key to the tale. That could just be me though! It was still a fun read regardless.

The story itself is pretty fun. standard whale hunting expedition goes horribly wrong, but with a running thread of uncertainty as to what exactly will go wrong next. I think it put me very much in mind of The Terror, in a good way. The writing is very visceral in places, especially as various horrors begin to befall the crew. Overall a clever, imaginative world which would probably sing as a videogame or miniseries

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading horror that focuses on the ocean, so of course I had to read this. The fact that it's published by Tenebrous Press also helped.

Isaiah is on his first voyage on the whaling ship called Merciful, which unfortunately does not live up to its name after a strange man is found alive inside the body of a whale. Things gradually get worse for the crew as the novel progresses, as there is not enough food, and a mysterious illness appears. There is also some romantic feelings between Isaiah and the man from the belly of the whale.

The anti-capitalism theme is very evident in this book, such as when some fish suddenly appear on the ship, which the crew are excited to eat. But the captain makes them dump the fish back into the sea because according to him, they didn't work at getting the fish onto the ship. Fuck you Coffin, you piece of shit captain. 🖕🖕🖕🖕

Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical horror. :)

[Y.N.]

**Thank you to Tenebrous Press for the e-ARC**

'From the belly' is a atmospheric, bloody tale of whaler ship slowly spiraling out of control after they rescued a man from a whale's belly, sickness and brutality ensuing the rescue. The main character, Isiah, feels the link between the stranger and the events, without being able to act on it, especially because he have secrets of his own.
The atmosphere is permeated with a sense of claustrophobia born from the story playing out on a shipn unease seeping through Isiah's point of view as he witness the death and illness taking hold of the ship, but also from the strange relationship he seems to have with the stranger. As Isiah dreams shape an uncomfortable future, the situation on ship shifts.
'From the belly' is a enjoyable nautical horror, creepy and somewhat luminous through the cracks.

[Kim Novak (The Reading Rx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This maritime horror tale is infused with Moby Dick and Jonah and the Whale vibes, yet what comes out is full of claustrophobic dread. It’s a slow burn story, but the slow pace actually really delivers on setting the tone of the story. By the time things start to actually happen, you realize the were insidiously happening all along and it is too late for salvation.

The art and illustrations really hi-lighted the story and were an extra treat.

Thank you to Tenebrous Press for the complementary copy as part of the Small Spec Book Awards judging process.

[Lawrence Marable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very chilling, very evocative, had a rougher start with all the whaling terms and names and how quickly you’re tossed in. But once Isaiah is more fleshed out it becomes a joy to read his growing relationship with the man from the belly.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essex did nothing wrong 😤

[pareidolia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept, boring execution.
This could have been so much grosser, weirder, sexier - but it isn't. Instead it's dull. Bland. Forgettable. The prose lacks artistry, the characters lack personality, the horror bits lack viciousness.

There are also some issues with how the dialogue is formatted and attributed to its speakers, but that's mainly on the publisher. Also "off of". So many cases of "off of". Why?

[Kristen Currier · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The crew aboard this vessel are already well on their way to devouring themselves whole.”

This book literally made me feel ill. I swear I could smell the brine air of the sea while reading it.

I had to put it down for a while to mentally prep myself to finish it.
It literally haunted my dreams.

I loved it. Eerie, well researched, disgusting, and poetic. What more could you want?

[CHILTONM]

not jiving with this season of tenebrous lol. This was better than the first but just felt like pulled punch after pulled punch—somehow managed to be “nice people having nice problems nicely” even while being about horrible whalers dying of ocean problems. I don’t think I’m the target audience for books that are both trying to be dark but also removing themselves entirely from questions of gender/race/sexuality, I know why people write them and I don’t want to go as far as to say they can’t work in certain contexts but it just felt defanged for me, in all of this, to be like We Have The One Evil: Capitalism and there’s nothing else to concern anyone at all. Outside of the evil captain/first mate/surgeon there’s no one who does anything bad in this book besides being kinda mean to the protagonist. Like jesus lmfao you’re telling me no one would have tried to kill Essex the minute shit got weird? There’s two brief discussions of mutiny handwaved by vague “the sea made them do it” psychological influences? I do not get writing a book inspired by black sails and then creating a cast of characters like this, it feels so toothless. And Isaiah I am sorry to say was DULL. uninteresting, inactive, mostly walking in and out of rooms and looking helpless. The writing and description did nothing for the atmosphere: you can’t do moby dick on a soundstage. Just little stick figures moving around. A hollow echo of a story. We gotta bring prose stylists back lol