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Torture Works
PLEASE JUDGE ME BY MY COVER
PLEASE
PLEAAAAAAAAAAASE
GOD
PLWEASE
Elf 9/11. Take a good look. Like what you see? BUY THIS CAR. I MEAN BOOK
Fuck the bomb. Eat the face. Take the worst shit of your life. Give it back. Never wear the color red. Boys. Bugs. Bug boys. Your mother has fallen out of love with you. The body crushes the soul. Endless humiliation. Degradation. Emasculation. ENTER THE WORLD OF WRITTEN ENTERTAINMENT…
⭐ 17 stories ranging from 1 page to a novelette. One is a game.
⭐ Beautiful cover art by Vich. Highly desirable luxury commodity that will instantly signal you as being at the top of your game. You won’t even have to read the book.
⭐ HOMOPHOBIC
⭐ 100% LEGAL READ*
PLEASE
PLEAAAAAAAAAAASE
GOD
PLWEASE
Elf 9/11. Take a good look. Like what you see? BUY THIS CAR. I MEAN BOOK
Fuck the bomb. Eat the face. Take the worst shit of your life. Give it back. Never wear the color red. Boys. Bugs. Bug boys. Your mother has fallen out of love with you. The body crushes the soul. Endless humiliation. Degradation. Emasculation. ENTER THE WORLD OF WRITTEN ENTERTAINMENT…
⭐ 17 stories ranging from 1 page to a novelette. One is a game.
⭐ Beautiful cover art by Vich. Highly desirable luxury commodity that will instantly signal you as being at the top of your game. You won’t even have to read the book.
⭐ HOMOPHOBIC
⭐ 100% LEGAL READ*
318 pages, Paperback
Published May 20, 2024
17 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Porpentine Charity Heartscape
8 books223 followerswrote Serious Weakness, Torture Works, a bunch of other shit
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 23, 2025
#️⃣4️⃣8️⃣1️⃣ Read & Reviewed in 2025 💔🩸
Date : 🚀 Wednesday, September 17, 2025 🚫🔻❌
Word Count📃: 47k Words 🧨🔪🎈
⋆⭒𓆟⋆｡˚𖦹𓆜✩⋆ >-;;;;€ᐷ °‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 ·｡
( ˶°ㅁ°) !! My 55th read in "READING AS MANY BOOKS AS I CANNN 😢 cuz smth....happened.....irl.........😥" September ⚡
4️⃣🌟, this book is practically BEGGING to be judged by the cover and its synopsis
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗
*cough cough* *sighh*,. When the book that is primarily for shock value does it think but does it in a way that i've already seen mostly already. Was it gory? Yes, disgusting, definitely but it is severely lacking the originality that comes from my expectations especially from looking at the synopsis.
This is a short story collection which i didn't expect to almost have different writing styles from each other with one of them i'm being an interactive story (it being interactive, well that's definitely unsettling considering that it's about torturing someone). It is certainly foul and disturbing but all the characters are extremely flat and one-dimensiinal. I mean what do you even expect on some splatterpunk books, the characters there are essentially just gore obsessed creeps but some of those gore obsessed creeps are definitely better written on some books compared to others but this book is definitely not well written.
Date : 🚀 Wednesday, September 17, 2025 🚫🔻❌
Word Count📃: 47k Words 🧨🔪🎈
⋆⭒𓆟⋆｡˚𖦹𓆜✩⋆ >-;;;;€ᐷ °‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 ·｡
( ˶°ㅁ°) !! My 55th read in "READING AS MANY BOOKS AS I CANNN 😢 cuz smth....happened.....irl.........😥" September ⚡
4️⃣🌟, this book is practically BEGGING to be judged by the cover and its synopsis
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗
*cough cough* *sighh*,. When the book that is primarily for shock value does it think but does it in a way that i've already seen mostly already. Was it gory? Yes, disgusting, definitely but it is severely lacking the originality that comes from my expectations especially from looking at the synopsis.
This is a short story collection which i didn't expect to almost have different writing styles from each other with one of them i'm being an interactive story (it being interactive, well that's definitely unsettling considering that it's about torturing someone). It is certainly foul and disturbing but all the characters are extremely flat and one-dimensiinal. I mean what do you even expect on some splatterpunk books, the characters there are essentially just gore obsessed creeps but some of those gore obsessed creeps are definitely better written on some books compared to others but this book is definitely not well written.
September 20, 2024
Reading this collection felt like finding a beautiful oasis amid an arid desert. It’s grotesque and beautiful, sincere and creative, transformative and experimental. It’s flawed, actually, and inconsistent, and all the better for it. Truly a book about humanity and human miasma, and I don’t think it would have worked as well if it was perfect. I loved its sticky bits, and the stories I struggled with, in part because I struggled with them.
The highest compliment I can give a book is that it made me want to write, and Torture Works was like trying to fit my mouth over a firehose of that desire. I want to reread and STUDY this text, I genuinely feel like Porpentine does stuff with words I’ve never experienced before, this isn’t just horror fiction, or even writing, it’s an art that transcends it’s medium. It’s absolutely brilliant.
It is very challenging, though. Reading Porpentine’s stories requires a total surrender. You’re dropped into the world (often a sci fi setting) as if you already understand that world, lodged alongside the character, deep in their head and their perspective. There are no lore dumps, no hand holding, no explanations, no attempts to include the audience or clue them in. You have to figure out what’s going on by ceding to the narrator’s will and existing in their mind long enough to piece it together. It makes all the speculative stories seem WILDLY real and immersive, but does necessitate readers bring trust and patience to the table and I think a lot of readers these days just…don’t want to do that, or physically can’t anymore. I suspect this is why so many reviews of Torture Works claim the book is gonzo to the point of being incomprehensible or nonsensical. I didn’t feel that way, though, to me the majority of these stories felt very grounded and there was only ONE story in this whole collection that left me confused (why have you not gone to war, if anyone is curious , I am dying to know what that one was about) but some of them felt so literary and polished they would have fit right into a highbrow sci-fi or horror publication full of future Nebula award winners (The March Treatment, Living Fucking Creatures, Rabbits Cry Different).
I have to admit, though, my favorites were the gooiest and grimiest. Your Mother has Fallen Out of Love With you has haunted me ever since I read it the first day I cracked open this book, and 18 FOOT LEASH (the gay boy junkie x sentient sexy tape worm novella about eating shit ) was so delightful I was highlighting every other page, a truly brilliant work with so many appendages and cysts I am already dying to dissect and reread it now that I know how it ends.
All in all—this hit the spot and is easily one of my top reads of the year. I’m aware I am the small intended audience (gay and jaded steel stomached body fluids loving girl seeking literary love stories in unlikely places), and I acknowledge that most people won’t love this book as much as I did. But I still wish I could prescribe it to everyone I meet, because it’s the sort of art the world needs. Visionary, shameless, raw, tender. Art!! Art!!!
The highest compliment I can give a book is that it made me want to write, and Torture Works was like trying to fit my mouth over a firehose of that desire. I want to reread and STUDY this text, I genuinely feel like Porpentine does stuff with words I’ve never experienced before, this isn’t just horror fiction, or even writing, it’s an art that transcends it’s medium. It’s absolutely brilliant.
It is very challenging, though. Reading Porpentine’s stories requires a total surrender. You’re dropped into the world (often a sci fi setting) as if you already understand that world, lodged alongside the character, deep in their head and their perspective. There are no lore dumps, no hand holding, no explanations, no attempts to include the audience or clue them in. You have to figure out what’s going on by ceding to the narrator’s will and existing in their mind long enough to piece it together. It makes all the speculative stories seem WILDLY real and immersive, but does necessitate readers bring trust and patience to the table and I think a lot of readers these days just…don’t want to do that, or physically can’t anymore. I suspect this is why so many reviews of Torture Works claim the book is gonzo to the point of being incomprehensible or nonsensical. I didn’t feel that way, though, to me the majority of these stories felt very grounded and there was only ONE story in this whole collection that left me confused (why have you not gone to war, if anyone is curious , I am dying to know what that one was about) but some of them felt so literary and polished they would have fit right into a highbrow sci-fi or horror publication full of future Nebula award winners (The March Treatment, Living Fucking Creatures, Rabbits Cry Different).
I have to admit, though, my favorites were the gooiest and grimiest. Your Mother has Fallen Out of Love With you has haunted me ever since I read it the first day I cracked open this book, and 18 FOOT LEASH (the gay boy junkie x sentient sexy tape worm novella about eating shit ) was so delightful I was highlighting every other page, a truly brilliant work with so many appendages and cysts I am already dying to dissect and reread it now that I know how it ends.
All in all—this hit the spot and is easily one of my top reads of the year. I’m aware I am the small intended audience (gay and jaded steel stomached body fluids loving girl seeking literary love stories in unlikely places), and I acknowledge that most people won’t love this book as much as I did. But I still wish I could prescribe it to everyone I meet, because it’s the sort of art the world needs. Visionary, shameless, raw, tender. Art!! Art!!!
June 9, 2024
I'm not sure I know how to rate this??? Or even how to review it??? I was honestly drawn in mostly by the cover, and then the description just seemed too deranged for me to not give it a go.
Deranged I think is a good way of describing this, completely, balls-to-the-wall crazy. There's horror and sci-fi and fantasy, it's weird and gross and shocking.
I can't say I enjoyed all of it, honestly I don't think I necessarily enjoyed most of it, but a few stories stood out to me.
• Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You
> This is the very first story and definitely drew me in to read more.
• Cunt Toward Enemy
> This one I was a big fan of, follows a... bomb disposal expert? And a bomber? It's crazy, really enjoyed this one.
• The Maximum Softness Capable Of Being Exerted By All Machinery
> This was undoubtedly my favourite from the whole book, and is probably what pushed me from 3 stars to 4. This story follows a, I suppose, decommissioned weapon, as they integrate with the human populace. I just felt quite connected to this one, and it was "out there" but not to the extremes that most of this collection is.
I think overall... not really what I was expecting?? But also the cover and description don't exactly give anything away so I don't know what exactly I was expecting. A bit too disjointed and gross for me in a lot of parts, but it was different and well written and had a few hidden gems.
Deranged I think is a good way of describing this, completely, balls-to-the-wall crazy. There's horror and sci-fi and fantasy, it's weird and gross and shocking.
I can't say I enjoyed all of it, honestly I don't think I necessarily enjoyed most of it, but a few stories stood out to me.
• Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You
> This is the very first story and definitely drew me in to read more.
• Cunt Toward Enemy
> This one I was a big fan of, follows a... bomb disposal expert? And a bomber? It's crazy, really enjoyed this one.
• The Maximum Softness Capable Of Being Exerted By All Machinery
> This was undoubtedly my favourite from the whole book, and is probably what pushed me from 3 stars to 4. This story follows a, I suppose, decommissioned weapon, as they integrate with the human populace. I just felt quite connected to this one, and it was "out there" but not to the extremes that most of this collection is.
I think overall... not really what I was expecting?? But also the cover and description don't exactly give anything away so I don't know what exactly I was expecting. A bit too disjointed and gross for me in a lot of parts, but it was different and well written and had a few hidden gems.
Read
May 27, 2024Full review here. Tl;dr: It's good.
April 17, 2025
"You can't shut your mouth all the way because of me. The wind fucks you. I fucked you. I broke your body. You're crying now. You can't even see me anymore. I see you. Every atom of your subtotal body disruption. I can look as long as I want, you're just a picture on the image roll, hand clawed, chest caved in, bleeding tears that can't even make it down your face without falling into the holes, I did that to you, you're the only thing I'm allowed to ruin-"
4.5
When we allow books to be as unfiltered, as brave, as unashamed as Torture Works is, they become more than just another novel, they become an event, something almost biblical. You see, Torture Works isn't just a book, it's something truly unholy, something that's been plucked from the murky depths of the abyss, it's something that's here to change the future. This is perhaps, one of the single most sincere novels to have ever been written. It's so damn creative, so intense, and so very horrible to experience, never in my life have I wished this strongly that I was illiterate, or that I simply did not have eyes. Torture Works will have you debating the merits of shotting bleach, just to finally feel clean on the inside again.
What I adore the most about Torture Works is how intensely shameless it is, we exist in a time of sanitized, repressed, cowardly literature, then along comes this book, to completely shatter that. It had me questioning just what the hell I was doing with my life, it had me wondering if I was having a stroke, or if someone had spiked my morning coffee. All of the stories here are designed to make you feel violated and depressed, it's a book that will reach right into your ribcage and just start snapping bones. About as joyous as watching your heart being blended into a smoothie, without a doubt, this is a challenging read, it requires a total relinquishing of self, you're simply plunged into a godless world and expected to sift your way through.
Torture Works can really, only be enjoyed by a small fraction of readers, because to enjoy this, you have to actively enjoy suffering. This isn't a book. It's not just literature, this is god-damn art. The most delightful of the stories in this novel are it's most unhinged, it's foulest, filthiest, most disturbing of the lot. All of them are wonderful, but 18 Foot Leash and Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You shall haunt me for the rest of my days. Torture Works is an apocalypse in book form, it might actually bring about the end of the world. Though if the rapture looks anything like this, I must admit, I am excited for it. It would have been more relaxing to watch a hurricane rip though my house. Fucking incredible stuff.
"The cigarette's cherry pops in his mouth, a horrible taste that cakes every part of it. Smoke blasts through the hole in the roof of his mouth, escaping through his nose. Pain spreads through his face, coating his deformity."
4.5
When we allow books to be as unfiltered, as brave, as unashamed as Torture Works is, they become more than just another novel, they become an event, something almost biblical. You see, Torture Works isn't just a book, it's something truly unholy, something that's been plucked from the murky depths of the abyss, it's something that's here to change the future. This is perhaps, one of the single most sincere novels to have ever been written. It's so damn creative, so intense, and so very horrible to experience, never in my life have I wished this strongly that I was illiterate, or that I simply did not have eyes. Torture Works will have you debating the merits of shotting bleach, just to finally feel clean on the inside again.
What I adore the most about Torture Works is how intensely shameless it is, we exist in a time of sanitized, repressed, cowardly literature, then along comes this book, to completely shatter that. It had me questioning just what the hell I was doing with my life, it had me wondering if I was having a stroke, or if someone had spiked my morning coffee. All of the stories here are designed to make you feel violated and depressed, it's a book that will reach right into your ribcage and just start snapping bones. About as joyous as watching your heart being blended into a smoothie, without a doubt, this is a challenging read, it requires a total relinquishing of self, you're simply plunged into a godless world and expected to sift your way through.
"There is something very special about an overdose, where the thing hurting me is becoming part of me. Changing my perception of it as it kills me. The fear stretches out and vibrates all over my skin, shooting in hot read beams up my arm and into my fingers. I don't know if a few seconds have passed, or an hour. I am very scared, and unable to tell what is happening to my body."
Torture Works can really, only be enjoyed by a small fraction of readers, because to enjoy this, you have to actively enjoy suffering. This isn't a book. It's not just literature, this is god-damn art. The most delightful of the stories in this novel are it's most unhinged, it's foulest, filthiest, most disturbing of the lot. All of them are wonderful, but 18 Foot Leash and Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You shall haunt me for the rest of my days. Torture Works is an apocalypse in book form, it might actually bring about the end of the world. Though if the rapture looks anything like this, I must admit, I am excited for it. It would have been more relaxing to watch a hurricane rip though my house. Fucking incredible stuff.
"The cigarette's cherry pops in his mouth, a horrible taste that cakes every part of it. Smoke blasts through the hole in the roof of his mouth, escaping through his nose. Pain spreads through his face, coating his deformity."
August 28, 2025
This author somehow manages to write the most vile, depraved things whilst also making me applaud their creativity? These concepts are insane and I have absolutely no idea how they came up with them.
I really enjoyed some of these stories, but most of them didn't really do much for me as they were too short. In my opinion this author is much more suited to longer stories, their other book 'serious weakness' being one of only 7/192 books I've rated 5 stars so far this year. Torture works was alot more surface level than serious weakness, not giving the time to really get inside the characters heads (something the author did impeccably in the other book). This focused much more on gore and shock value as opposed to the slow erosion of self and completely fucked up relationship showcased in SW.
Most of my issues with this collection stem from the lack of depth and time, but honestly its just because I cant help but compare it to serious weakness lol😭 Porpentine's works are utterly insane and disgusting, but I love them for it <3
I really enjoyed some of these stories, but most of them didn't really do much for me as they were too short. In my opinion this author is much more suited to longer stories, their other book 'serious weakness' being one of only 7/192 books I've rated 5 stars so far this year. Torture works was alot more surface level than serious weakness, not giving the time to really get inside the characters heads (something the author did impeccably in the other book). This focused much more on gore and shock value as opposed to the slow erosion of self and completely fucked up relationship showcased in SW.
Most of my issues with this collection stem from the lack of depth and time, but honestly its just because I cant help but compare it to serious weakness lol😭 Porpentine's works are utterly insane and disgusting, but I love them for it <3
July 11, 2024
funny book
November 2, 2024
if you follow me from irl here and see this, no you didnt. this book is fucked i loved it
February 9, 2025
18 foot leash is some of the most porpentine porpentine prose i could hope for, fucking utterly incredible.
adored the maximum softness capable of being exerted by all machinery, really well done portrayal and exploration of transfeminity. probably a super cliché/easy comparison to make, but i felt it went well with isabel fall's i sexually identify as an attack helicopter with their shared themes of transness and transhumanism and the military. same with living fucking creatures, which was a good portrayal of the military from a perspective i see very rarely (the scene where they're laughing at a body is pretty fucking chilling).
nice to reread the first chapter of cunt toward enemy and elf 9/11 (don't tell anyone but elf 9/11 is absolutely one of my favourite porpentine works) also! adored game where you're forced to kill everyone on your squad, the format was used super effectively. honeydew toxicity event well safe to say i will be thinking about this for a long time!
adored the maximum softness capable of being exerted by all machinery, really well done portrayal and exploration of transfeminity. probably a super cliché/easy comparison to make, but i felt it went well with isabel fall's i sexually identify as an attack helicopter with their shared themes of transness and transhumanism and the military. same with living fucking creatures, which was a good portrayal of the military from a perspective i see very rarely (the scene where they're laughing at a body is pretty fucking chilling).
nice to reread the first chapter of cunt toward enemy and elf 9/11 (don't tell anyone but elf 9/11 is absolutely one of my favourite porpentine works) also! adored game where you're forced to kill everyone on your squad, the format was used super effectively. honeydew toxicity event well safe to say i will be thinking about this for a long time!
October 5, 2024
im not actually sure how much i enjoyed all of this 😭 but i think porpentine’s writing is so magical that they could sell me on almost any premise. some of these stories were very well written and thoughtful and rich but not my preferred content (mainly thinking of the body crushes the soul, but also the first two stories which might be closest to the torture porn vibes from the cover). others (listed below) were super interesting but confusing and i so badly want someone to eli5
top 3 (the ones i did enjoy!):
- cunt toward enemy: ALL TIME FAVORITE, im such a nerd about this story that partway through i noticed a phrase was written differently from the free online version and immediately pulled it up to compare them side by side as i read along. it was so fun reading the edited/touched-up version here and seeing how small details brought more clarity and emotional impact. its just a great story, fairly easy and straightforward fun (for porpentine anyways…) (me realizing im saying this about a story where the premise is “guy gets mutilated by a bomb” / “guy is sexually victimized in order to stop a mall bombing”). and rubicon is iconic (rubiconic)
- honeydew toxicity event: “stunted aphidcels be dewposting” insane, also iconic. this story made me feel empathy for a misogynistic 4chan incel so i guess that’s cool. (one can argue body crushes the soul also does this but honeydew is grosser and hornier and less “banal evil” so it wins for me)
- rabbits cry different: this was the only story that created a real sense of dread in me as i was reading, which is maybe surprising considering it’s a horror collection—but a lot of the darker stories are just more misery inducing than dread inducing, i think. this one, though, sort of had me cringing away from the next page.
stories i wish i could read someone else’s analysis on (i just Want To Understand):
- why have you not yet gone to war: or, man knife gorilla elderly? (edit: absolute banger of a title though. okay on further reflection this story feels fairly seriweak coded and probably shares some themes with it.)
- puppy star: or, movie star puppy eyes
- we will play for you: or, the forbidden color
- the march treatment: or… the march treatment
the first two feel like absurdist comedy scenarios where i’m unclear on if there’s any meaning beyond that. for the last two, i feel like i’ve grasped the core concept but suspect i might be missing something crucial buried in the details.
other notes:
- maximum softness capable of being exerted by all machinery: i typically love stories like this and the descriptions of the weapon’s urges and way of existing were very evocative. BUT the social commentary felt too on the nose for me and it took me out. for sure with the random people the weapon meets but especially with the girlfriend. pretty much the only thought in my head as i read this was “GOD THIS GIRLFRIEND IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE.”
- 18 foot leash: to be honest i’d been avoiding this collection purely because i knew what this one story was about and i didn’t think i could handle it. well i read it and it. it wasn’t that bad. i lived! yay?
top 3 (the ones i did enjoy!):
- cunt toward enemy: ALL TIME FAVORITE, im such a nerd about this story that partway through i noticed a phrase was written differently from the free online version and immediately pulled it up to compare them side by side as i read along. it was so fun reading the edited/touched-up version here and seeing how small details brought more clarity and emotional impact. its just a great story, fairly easy and straightforward fun (for porpentine anyways…) (me realizing im saying this about a story where the premise is “guy gets mutilated by a bomb” / “guy is sexually victimized in order to stop a mall bombing”). and rubicon is iconic (rubiconic)
- honeydew toxicity event: “stunted aphidcels be dewposting” insane, also iconic. this story made me feel empathy for a misogynistic 4chan incel so i guess that’s cool. (one can argue body crushes the soul also does this but honeydew is grosser and hornier and less “banal evil” so it wins for me)
- rabbits cry different: this was the only story that created a real sense of dread in me as i was reading, which is maybe surprising considering it’s a horror collection—but a lot of the darker stories are just more misery inducing than dread inducing, i think. this one, though, sort of had me cringing away from the next page.
stories i wish i could read someone else’s analysis on (i just Want To Understand):
- why have you not yet gone to war: or, man knife gorilla elderly? (edit: absolute banger of a title though. okay on further reflection this story feels fairly seriweak coded and probably shares some themes with it.)
- puppy star: or, movie star puppy eyes
- we will play for you: or, the forbidden color
- the march treatment: or… the march treatment
the first two feel like absurdist comedy scenarios where i’m unclear on if there’s any meaning beyond that. for the last two, i feel like i’ve grasped the core concept but suspect i might be missing something crucial buried in the details.
other notes:
- maximum softness capable of being exerted by all machinery: i typically love stories like this and the descriptions of the weapon’s urges and way of existing were very evocative. BUT the social commentary felt too on the nose for me and it took me out. for sure with the random people the weapon meets but especially with the girlfriend. pretty much the only thought in my head as i read this was “GOD THIS GIRLFRIEND IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE.”
- 18 foot leash: to be honest i’d been avoiding this collection purely because i knew what this one story was about and i didn’t think i could handle it. well i read it and it. it wasn’t that bad. i lived! yay?
January 3, 2025
my partner got this book for me for xmas because she knows what i'm into
super weird, super good - blew through it in less than a day
it encompasses what, to me, is the perfect book: transgressive and thought provoking, graphic yet somewhat confusing - very readable at some points but also open to interpretations at other points
(favorite story was 18 foot leash)
also, i will never look at mountain dew the same way again LOL
super weird, super good - blew through it in less than a day
it encompasses what, to me, is the perfect book: transgressive and thought provoking, graphic yet somewhat confusing - very readable at some points but also open to interpretations at other points
(favorite story was 18 foot leash)
also, i will never look at mountain dew the same way again LOL
October 6, 2024
I've never read anything quite like this. It feels clever and poignant, sometimes too smart for me. I think some of the stories aren't written with me as the intended audience, and those ones are more difficult to understand. The ones that are relatable, though, are extremely powerful and moving, just so brilliant. Some of the best commentary on those types of themes I've seen.
October 15, 2024
I think about that one particular story every time I see Mountain Dew now. Heartwarming stuff.
October 26, 2025
Que la portada no los engañe, pues es la verdad. TORTURE WORKS.
No todos los cuentos pegan igual, pero 1. ¿Qué antología se puede acreditar de hacerlo? y 2. ¿Cuántos de sus buenos cuentos pueden ser tan maravillosos, inventivos y emocionantemente escritos como los mejores aquí presentes?
La portada lo es todo, pues ofrece lo prometido: una colección vil, retorcidamente cachonda, que apela a un shock que inmediatamente engancha, pero desarrollado a través de una prosa que sabe a lo que un corazón oxidado, el ataque de un amante al que sigues amando, la mordida de tu más fiel mascota, tus peores miedos sosteniéndose con esa suavidad que cosquillea en las costillas. Aquí hay cuentos que se construyen en el espacio negativo de las líneas, que van cobrando coherencia en un doble ejercicio de imaginación: el de la imagen ante la prosa y el universo de la sugestión. Hay cuentos que cortan abrupto como rasgaduras al infinito. Hay cuentos que reconfiguran sus temporalidades, los cuerpos que les habitan, que mutan conforme uno se asienta en la retorcida mente de sus personajes. Cuentos que revelan terribles y aterradoras formas de ternura: la tortura que puede ser afecto; un violador resulta una mala cita; Batman y Joker; la microbiota lo define todo; en el futuro no nos hacemos viejos juntos, sino en criminales de guerra.
Obvio muchísimos Trigger Warnings. Saber que esta es una antología pura en el sentido de que avienta varias ideas con cierta coherencia, pero sin la expectativa que todas funcionen igual, al haber varios experimentos: cuentos de una página o narrativas extremadamente crípticas. Pero cuando llegas a los como 10 increíbles cuentos que esto tiene por ofrecer, son creo, de las piezas literarias que más me han inspirado y emocionado en un buen tiempo. El nivel y libertad de Propentine como escritora me parece envidiable. Y según sé, Serious Weakness, su novela corta, es aún mejor. Si es ahí, quizás esté frente a un nuevo canon de lo que desea mi deseo de esta cosa mía que desde muy adentro me forza a arrastrar el ojo sobre las palabras de otros.
Cuentos favoritos:
-Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You.
-Cunt Toward Enemy.
-Game Where You're Forced To Kill Everyone On Your Squad.
-The Body Crushes The Soul.
-The Maximun Softness Capable Of Being Exerted By All Machinery.
-18 Foot Leash
-Rabbits Cry Different
-Living Fucking Creatures
-AMIANTOS
No todos los cuentos pegan igual, pero 1. ¿Qué antología se puede acreditar de hacerlo? y 2. ¿Cuántos de sus buenos cuentos pueden ser tan maravillosos, inventivos y emocionantemente escritos como los mejores aquí presentes?
La portada lo es todo, pues ofrece lo prometido: una colección vil, retorcidamente cachonda, que apela a un shock que inmediatamente engancha, pero desarrollado a través de una prosa que sabe a lo que un corazón oxidado, el ataque de un amante al que sigues amando, la mordida de tu más fiel mascota, tus peores miedos sosteniéndose con esa suavidad que cosquillea en las costillas. Aquí hay cuentos que se construyen en el espacio negativo de las líneas, que van cobrando coherencia en un doble ejercicio de imaginación: el de la imagen ante la prosa y el universo de la sugestión. Hay cuentos que cortan abrupto como rasgaduras al infinito. Hay cuentos que reconfiguran sus temporalidades, los cuerpos que les habitan, que mutan conforme uno se asienta en la retorcida mente de sus personajes. Cuentos que revelan terribles y aterradoras formas de ternura: la tortura que puede ser afecto; un violador resulta una mala cita; Batman y Joker; la microbiota lo define todo; en el futuro no nos hacemos viejos juntos, sino en criminales de guerra.
Obvio muchísimos Trigger Warnings. Saber que esta es una antología pura en el sentido de que avienta varias ideas con cierta coherencia, pero sin la expectativa que todas funcionen igual, al haber varios experimentos: cuentos de una página o narrativas extremadamente crípticas. Pero cuando llegas a los como 10 increíbles cuentos que esto tiene por ofrecer, son creo, de las piezas literarias que más me han inspirado y emocionado en un buen tiempo. El nivel y libertad de Propentine como escritora me parece envidiable. Y según sé, Serious Weakness, su novela corta, es aún mejor. Si es ahí, quizás esté frente a un nuevo canon de lo que desea mi deseo de esta cosa mía que desde muy adentro me forza a arrastrar el ojo sobre las palabras de otros.
Cuentos favoritos:
-Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You.
-Cunt Toward Enemy.
-Game Where You're Forced To Kill Everyone On Your Squad.
-The Body Crushes The Soul.
-The Maximun Softness Capable Of Being Exerted By All Machinery.
-18 Foot Leash
-Rabbits Cry Different
-Living Fucking Creatures
-AMIANTOS
May 27, 2025
I have never read ANYTHING like this book in my entire life. These stories are absolutely vile. So vile that it's impressive. It pulls from the deepest most disgusting parts of the human mind, the internet, pornography and contains every fluid a human could produce. Even some new ones. A good portion of these stories are also very abstract, surrealist at points. Second reads are required for a lot of these stories just to keep track of the plot. The combo of "completely revolting" and "Avant-garde" is such a fascinating combo because it forces the reader to focus very intently on keeping track of the story, while someone is violently deficating on a bathroom floor, or collecting Elf ejaculate. It's a brutal and genuis combo.
The problem is the a lot of the stories feel incomplete. Some feel like rough ideas that could easily been turned into something more. Tales such as "Saving Face", "Elf 9/11" and "The March Treatment" have strange, idiosyncratic ideas that aren't explored nearly as much as I would have liked them to be.
Overall my experience was completely inconsistent. So much quality and so much talent went into this book. There really is no comparison in terms of the themes and style of writing. But Porpentine needs focus. I feel that they could bring their ideas further and deeper into the disgusting subconscious of humans if they edit themselves better. Heartscape is the only writer I trust go to those depth.
6/10 Good
The problem is the a lot of the stories feel incomplete. Some feel like rough ideas that could easily been turned into something more. Tales such as "Saving Face", "Elf 9/11" and "The March Treatment" have strange, idiosyncratic ideas that aren't explored nearly as much as I would have liked them to be.
Overall my experience was completely inconsistent. So much quality and so much talent went into this book. There really is no comparison in terms of the themes and style of writing. But Porpentine needs focus. I feel that they could bring their ideas further and deeper into the disgusting subconscious of humans if they edit themselves better. Heartscape is the only writer I trust go to those depth.
6/10 Good
October 26, 2024
Extreme psychosexual terror-porn stories that revel in the abject, shot through with a grim sense of humour that can turn to utter despair at a moment's notice. Intense, visceral body horror, sickening obsession, desperate shut-ins, and the fundamental fragility of human flesh. It's great fun, in a variety of fucked-up ways. Highlights include "CUNT TOWARD ENEMY" (a tense thriller about bomb disposal), "Honeydew Toxicity Event" (in which an Internet-poisoned loser has his fill of Mtn Dew), and "Living Fucking Creatures" (yeesh). The longest piece, "18 FOOT LEASH", is a little too drawn-out and meandering in its scatomaniacal wallowing, and there are a couple of shorter pieces that didn't hit me in the right way. Overall though this is as indulgently awful as its cover art.
August 16, 2024
I’ve been a fan of Porpentine since playing With Those We Love Alive, one of the very first games that introduced me to the world of interactive fiction— and the gooey, wet horror of her words, where every hole is both a fuckable orifice and a birthing canal.
Trans allegories, abuse, and body horror are all staples of Porpentine’s work, and Torture Works was no exception. Each story unlocked some primal part of my brain that has fundamentally changed me forever, except for the worse, but was it ever-so-freeing.
There are seventeen short stories, one more of a mini novella, and all of them drilling directly into my skull, laying eggs in the soft breeding ground of my brain.
I don’t want to spoil it all for you, but here are my top picks from the collection:
Guy Who Is Spared — This one made me laugh.
Cunt Towards Enemy — Toxic M/M yaoi of a bomb disposal expert and the man whose life he effectively ruined . A certified Porp classic, the first of the CTE series, and my favorite.
The Maximum Softness Capable of Being Exerted By All Machinery – Trans allegory set in a futuristic world where living weapons are integrated into human society. Made me feel super empty after.
Honeydew Toxicity Event — This is what I hope will happen to me in all my wildest bedroom-rotting, gamerpilled dreams. Body horror, insects, and copious amounts of Mountain Dew.
The March Treatment — Body horror, family genetics, and the horror of love, all wrapped short and sweet.
Trans allegories, abuse, and body horror are all staples of Porpentine’s work, and Torture Works was no exception. Each story unlocked some primal part of my brain that has fundamentally changed me forever, except for the worse, but was it ever-so-freeing.
There are seventeen short stories, one more of a mini novella, and all of them drilling directly into my skull, laying eggs in the soft breeding ground of my brain.
I don’t want to spoil it all for you, but here are my top picks from the collection:
Guy Who Is Spared — This one made me laugh.
Cunt Towards Enemy — Toxic M/M yaoi of a bomb disposal expert and the man whose life he effectively ruined . A certified Porp classic, the first of the CTE series, and my favorite.
The Maximum Softness Capable of Being Exerted By All Machinery – Trans allegory set in a futuristic world where living weapons are integrated into human society. Made me feel super empty after.
Honeydew Toxicity Event — This is what I hope will happen to me in all my wildest bedroom-rotting, gamerpilled dreams. Body horror, insects, and copious amounts of Mountain Dew.
The March Treatment — Body horror, family genetics, and the horror of love, all wrapped short and sweet.
September 9, 2025
"You lack the halo of the breastfed, you greasy, butyric, Lachnospiraceae-spattered mudlark. Was she afraid to stick her nipple in your mangled mouth? Or was it the lazy choice of feeding you formula, that chemical weapon, firebombing a field of newborn viscera?
"Either way, she denied you her vital protective flora. Her shield against disease and inflammation. Her love.
"But that just makes you more virginal."
- 18 FOOT LEASH
This is one of my favourite extracts out of any book ever. The depravity of this book is so comforting, especially the way it is described through disgusting imagery and descriptions that clog your senses. The things that happen in this book might seem unrealistic - they're too extreme, or just too "weird", you couldn't imagine real people going through this or making these choices and enjoying it - but they aren't, and they do. Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You, one of my favourites, is a perfect example of this. There are people who love to do this and you might know them; you might be them. This happens to people who haven't done anything wrong except for being born to the wrong set of parents. The person in the hotel room across from you might be experiencing it right now, and there's nothing anybody will do about it.
Usually, I'm triggered by these types of stories due to my own experiences - but I haven't felt anything but delight and compassion for these works. They are written with no chance for the reader to ruminate or escape, and there is no attempt to force these situations or characters into something "meaningful" or romantic or intellectual - this is just how it is.
The author certainly has a gift for eliciting as much emotion as possible in as little as a single word. Every story (and game) here seems to be so personal and can be a metaphor for many things, with a main theme of abuse, or predator and prey. However, you don't have to dig deep in order to have a lot fun reading these stories.
Overall, just an incredibly intimate and visceral book.
"Either way, she denied you her vital protective flora. Her shield against disease and inflammation. Her love.
"But that just makes you more virginal."
- 18 FOOT LEASH
This is one of my favourite extracts out of any book ever. The depravity of this book is so comforting, especially the way it is described through disgusting imagery and descriptions that clog your senses. The things that happen in this book might seem unrealistic - they're too extreme, or just too "weird", you couldn't imagine real people going through this or making these choices and enjoying it - but they aren't, and they do. Your Mother Has Fallen Out Of Love With You, one of my favourites, is a perfect example of this. There are people who love to do this and you might know them; you might be them. This happens to people who haven't done anything wrong except for being born to the wrong set of parents. The person in the hotel room across from you might be experiencing it right now, and there's nothing anybody will do about it.
Usually, I'm triggered by these types of stories due to my own experiences - but I haven't felt anything but delight and compassion for these works. They are written with no chance for the reader to ruminate or escape, and there is no attempt to force these situations or characters into something "meaningful" or romantic or intellectual - this is just how it is.
The author certainly has a gift for eliciting as much emotion as possible in as little as a single word. Every story (and game) here seems to be so personal and can be a metaphor for many things, with a main theme of abuse, or predator and prey. However, you don't have to dig deep in order to have a lot fun reading these stories.
Overall, just an incredibly intimate and visceral book.
September 30, 2024
i'm still not the best with short story anthologies but i loved a lot of these (naturally!)
18 ft leash was a diabolical joy, honeydew toxicity event was soooo gross and fun, cunt towards enemy was sexy and surreal and perfect, and rabbits cry differently was a short and sweet horror that i wanted even more of!
words cannot say how inspiring this prose is. granted, i prefer the more grounded stories as opposed to the sci-fi (hence why i loved serious weakness so much!) but even so, a joy to read.
18 ft leash was a diabolical joy, honeydew toxicity event was soooo gross and fun, cunt towards enemy was sexy and surreal and perfect, and rabbits cry differently was a short and sweet horror that i wanted even more of!
words cannot say how inspiring this prose is. granted, i prefer the more grounded stories as opposed to the sci-fi (hence why i loved serious weakness so much!) but even so, a joy to read.
September 1, 2024
This is weird AF. Some parts made no sense whatsoever. It was glorious!
It was both super fun and deeply creepy and disturbing.
Remindedme a bit of Dennis Cooper.
It kinda felt like reading a transcript from a traumatic fever nightmare.
My favourite stories were:
Saving face
Your mother has fallen out of love with you
The body crushes the soul
The maximum softness capable of being exerted by all machinery
18 foot leash
It was both super fun and deeply creepy and disturbing.
Remindedme a bit of Dennis Cooper.
It kinda felt like reading a transcript from a traumatic fever nightmare.
My favourite stories were:
Saving face
Your mother has fallen out of love with you
The body crushes the soul
The maximum softness capable of being exerted by all machinery
18 foot leash
May 28, 2025
stellar
July 13, 2025
Maravilloso. Se nota que son más experimentaciones (en comparación con esa obra maestra que es Serious Weakness), y por eso no todos pegan igual, pero cuando funcionan son 10/10.
August 17, 2025
porpentine is excellent at cutting through flesh and making whole worlds from the viscera. i think my favorite out of this collection is the first one. it’ll live in my mind forever.
November 3, 2025
This book rewired how I look at Mountain Dew 10/10 no notes disgusting and amazing
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