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Parallel Hells
In this deliciously strange debut collection, Leon Craig draws on folklore and gothic horror in refreshingly inventive ways to explore queer identity, love, power and the complicated nature of being human.
Some say that hell is other people, and some say hell is loneliness....
In the 13 darkly audacious stories of Parallel Hells, we meet a golem, made of clay, learning that its powers far exceed its Creator's expectations; a ruined mansion which grants the secret wishes of a group of revellers and a notorious murderer who discovers her Viking husband is not what he seems.
Asta is an ancient being who feasts on the shame of contemporary Londoners, who now, beyond anything, wishes only to fit in with a group of friends they will long outlive. An Oxford historian, in bitter competition with the rest of her faculty members, discovers an ancient tome whose sinister contents might solve her problems. Livia orchestrates a Satanic mass to distract herself from a recently remembered trauma, and two lovers must resolve their differences in order to defy a lethal curse.
Some say that hell is other people, and some say hell is loneliness....
In the 13 darkly audacious stories of Parallel Hells, we meet a golem, made of clay, learning that its powers far exceed its Creator's expectations; a ruined mansion which grants the secret wishes of a group of revellers and a notorious murderer who discovers her Viking husband is not what he seems.
Asta is an ancient being who feasts on the shame of contemporary Londoners, who now, beyond anything, wishes only to fit in with a group of friends they will long outlive. An Oxford historian, in bitter competition with the rest of her faculty members, discovers an ancient tome whose sinister contents might solve her problems. Livia orchestrates a Satanic mass to distract herself from a recently remembered trauma, and two lovers must resolve their differences in order to defy a lethal curse.
7 pages, Audible Audio
First published February 17, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
November 28, 2021
Trust me: you want to read this. It’s the queer horror book of your dreams.
February 21, 2022
I'll start by saying everything in this book was gorgeous. Honestly this was so beautiful there wasn't a single story in here that didn't wow me. The way this was written was somehow poetic without being super overly flowery and really evoked feelings imagery-wise of Angela Carter's descriptives and writing style. There are a lot of turns of phrase that I lingered on because they were either quite romantic or just particularly lovely to read. The stories are in a very short space of time able to give you this intense burst of emotional connection to characters that are either very human or very intentionally NOT, but allows you to empathise with them all the same.
Whenever I read short story collections and I see themes recurring again and again I always wonder whether that is a conscious choice by the author and something used to deliberately tie the collection together, or whether that cropping up in stories is just reflective of the authors' life experiences and who they are as a person. Let me know what you think about that in the comments. There were a couple of things that kept jumping out at me as overarching themes.
The first was that this book is an exploration of identity, especially maybe queer identity (queer horror is a whole vibe), told about people who are discovering things about themselves that they might not necessarily like, or ways in which they don't conform to molds that they think they should conform to. A lot of stories here as well as being surreal fantasy horror pieces involve resolutions of this kind of inner conflict by the protagonist. Or maybe not always resolution, but exploration of.
The second was control. In some way in a lot of these stories there's this element of characters thinking they're in control, when they're absolutely not, and they're totally in denial and there's a refusal to accept powerlessness or lack of authority.
-
But as well as this, these stories also make you ask really interesting questions. One of my favourites was called "Hags", about a demon that after hundreds of years of being alive has refined their diet down to one thing. They feed on shame. You have this story telling you about the demon's past, their relationship with their friends, their guilt over lying and presenting themselves as a human to people they've genuinely come to like, and then talks about shame as a negative emotion. If it's removed is that always a good thing? Is it right to decide that it's ok to remove something negative from somebody else's life without consent? Is this a story in part about acting in other peoples' interests as YOU see them, and then making a choice not to do that? These stories I think are really multilayered.
Off the back of that comment about doing this without permission, one thing I did really appreciate in this book was that in one of the stories it featured looks at parts of the BDSM community but really showcased how important consent is to the core of what that community is. Very important and very cool to see.
One thing that drew me to this book as soon as I picked it up was reading in the blurb that it had a story in about golems, which are one of my favourite mythological creatures. If you don't know they're from jewish religious lore. I personally think that they're like the writer's dream. They're such a simple concept that you can use to explore some really interesting and deep questions about things like slavery, heritage, free will, ownership. Loads of stuff and in the fantasy I've read outside of Terry Pratchett's discworld stuff you don't see them a heck of a lot.
Raw Pork and Opium was a story in here I found particularly interesting, because I've never seen the format used before, and I'm all about experimental stuff, and collections with a range of styles in. This one tells two stories side by side, literally in two columns with the page split in half down the middle, with page breaks level with one another. The two stories are two very different experiences in the same environment. You can either read one in full, flit between them, or read sections of each and jump around. I think it's super interesting that you can present a story and offer the audience multiple ways to digest it. For me I felt like it almost forced me to choose who to empathise with right at the beginning, and the other was almost eclipsed by the one I chose. I read the whole of Raw Pork and Opium in different ways and I'd say do the same. Really cool. Super interesting.
-
I'm really pleased I picked this up because one of my 2022 booktube resolutions was to read more horror. I read a lot of things shelved as horror, which I then read and I'm like "hmm. Is it?" This is. This is horror that feels old-school in its fairytale-ness without the archaic language that makes those stories for some quite difficult to read. There wasn't a single story in here I disliked, and very very little I could fault this story on at all. I think it's a collection of beautiful, horrible wet jewels. Charming, disgusting things, gorgeously crafted and in exactly the perfect order, which is where some collections fall down.
Hard 5 stars from me, and I absolutely cannot believe this is a debut. I'm expecting huge things from Leon Craig and I'll be following their career really closely. Cannot wait for the next thing they put out. Go and buy this book. Then come and thank me and tell me what a wonderful time you had.
Whenever I read short story collections and I see themes recurring again and again I always wonder whether that is a conscious choice by the author and something used to deliberately tie the collection together, or whether that cropping up in stories is just reflective of the authors' life experiences and who they are as a person. Let me know what you think about that in the comments. There were a couple of things that kept jumping out at me as overarching themes.
The first was that this book is an exploration of identity, especially maybe queer identity (queer horror is a whole vibe), told about people who are discovering things about themselves that they might not necessarily like, or ways in which they don't conform to molds that they think they should conform to. A lot of stories here as well as being surreal fantasy horror pieces involve resolutions of this kind of inner conflict by the protagonist. Or maybe not always resolution, but exploration of.
The second was control. In some way in a lot of these stories there's this element of characters thinking they're in control, when they're absolutely not, and they're totally in denial and there's a refusal to accept powerlessness or lack of authority.
-
But as well as this, these stories also make you ask really interesting questions. One of my favourites was called "Hags", about a demon that after hundreds of years of being alive has refined their diet down to one thing. They feed on shame. You have this story telling you about the demon's past, their relationship with their friends, their guilt over lying and presenting themselves as a human to people they've genuinely come to like, and then talks about shame as a negative emotion. If it's removed is that always a good thing? Is it right to decide that it's ok to remove something negative from somebody else's life without consent? Is this a story in part about acting in other peoples' interests as YOU see them, and then making a choice not to do that? These stories I think are really multilayered.
Off the back of that comment about doing this without permission, one thing I did really appreciate in this book was that in one of the stories it featured looks at parts of the BDSM community but really showcased how important consent is to the core of what that community is. Very important and very cool to see.
One thing that drew me to this book as soon as I picked it up was reading in the blurb that it had a story in about golems, which are one of my favourite mythological creatures. If you don't know they're from jewish religious lore. I personally think that they're like the writer's dream. They're such a simple concept that you can use to explore some really interesting and deep questions about things like slavery, heritage, free will, ownership. Loads of stuff and in the fantasy I've read outside of Terry Pratchett's discworld stuff you don't see them a heck of a lot.
Raw Pork and Opium was a story in here I found particularly interesting, because I've never seen the format used before, and I'm all about experimental stuff, and collections with a range of styles in. This one tells two stories side by side, literally in two columns with the page split in half down the middle, with page breaks level with one another. The two stories are two very different experiences in the same environment. You can either read one in full, flit between them, or read sections of each and jump around. I think it's super interesting that you can present a story and offer the audience multiple ways to digest it. For me I felt like it almost forced me to choose who to empathise with right at the beginning, and the other was almost eclipsed by the one I chose. I read the whole of Raw Pork and Opium in different ways and I'd say do the same. Really cool. Super interesting.
-
I'm really pleased I picked this up because one of my 2022 booktube resolutions was to read more horror. I read a lot of things shelved as horror, which I then read and I'm like "hmm. Is it?" This is. This is horror that feels old-school in its fairytale-ness without the archaic language that makes those stories for some quite difficult to read. There wasn't a single story in here I disliked, and very very little I could fault this story on at all. I think it's a collection of beautiful, horrible wet jewels. Charming, disgusting things, gorgeously crafted and in exactly the perfect order, which is where some collections fall down.
Hard 5 stars from me, and I absolutely cannot believe this is a debut. I'm expecting huge things from Leon Craig and I'll be following their career really closely. Cannot wait for the next thing they put out. Go and buy this book. Then come and thank me and tell me what a wonderful time you had.
August 2, 2022
Thoughts to come.
October 27, 2022
I loved some of the stories in this collection, I liked others, and I’m pretty sure I’m not smart enough to understand a few.
As a whole, this collection — which is full of sensuous, Gothic-inspired stories — takes familiar concepts in the horror genre (the vampire, the Golem, the haunted house, the cursed books, the demons, the possessions, the satanic rituals, the faeries) and breathes new life into them. Through those concepts, Leon Craig explores identity and queerness as she modernizes the familiar tropes — the satanic ritual is suggested by a character in response to trauma; a father who sacrificed to have a child can’t accept that his son is actually his daughter; the shame-sucking demon is trying to figure out whether or not to be honest about their true self with friends; a haunted book is used to help a student get ahead in their über-competitive doctoral program at Oxford.
The horror in this collection is less overt than you might be expecting; these aren’t stories that will make you squeamish, they’re stories that will wake you up in the middle of the night. Craig is clever about subverting expectations — I went back a couple of times and read the story again after finishing it just to see how the tale ended up where it did.
I found the best stories were the ones that were a little longer, because they gave Craig a chance to flex her impressive writing muscles and created more space for her examination of the human condition through these surreal vibes. I loved the two stories that really experimented with form: “raw pork and opium,” which features two narratives side-by-side across several pages; and “No Dominion,” which is told in an elliptical form. Other standouts for me were “Hags,” “Lipless Grin,” and “Suckers.” There was a lot to like in all these stories (as I mentioned, Craig’s writing is a standout), but some of the stories’ meaning struck me as obtuse and made it hard for me to connect with them, and Craig never really gives a satisfying, full-stop ending to any tale (even the ones I liked), which, yes, adds to this hazy vibe but also left me a little frustrated when it kept happening.
While Craig has filled this book with recognizable horror elements, she seems to be telling us that the most spine-chilling thing is the everyday human experience. And, yeah, that idea really scares the living daylights out of me.
As a whole, this collection — which is full of sensuous, Gothic-inspired stories — takes familiar concepts in the horror genre (the vampire, the Golem, the haunted house, the cursed books, the demons, the possessions, the satanic rituals, the faeries) and breathes new life into them. Through those concepts, Leon Craig explores identity and queerness as she modernizes the familiar tropes — the satanic ritual is suggested by a character in response to trauma; a father who sacrificed to have a child can’t accept that his son is actually his daughter; the shame-sucking demon is trying to figure out whether or not to be honest about their true self with friends; a haunted book is used to help a student get ahead in their über-competitive doctoral program at Oxford.
The horror in this collection is less overt than you might be expecting; these aren’t stories that will make you squeamish, they’re stories that will wake you up in the middle of the night. Craig is clever about subverting expectations — I went back a couple of times and read the story again after finishing it just to see how the tale ended up where it did.
I found the best stories were the ones that were a little longer, because they gave Craig a chance to flex her impressive writing muscles and created more space for her examination of the human condition through these surreal vibes. I loved the two stories that really experimented with form: “raw pork and opium,” which features two narratives side-by-side across several pages; and “No Dominion,” which is told in an elliptical form. Other standouts for me were “Hags,” “Lipless Grin,” and “Suckers.” There was a lot to like in all these stories (as I mentioned, Craig’s writing is a standout), but some of the stories’ meaning struck me as obtuse and made it hard for me to connect with them, and Craig never really gives a satisfying, full-stop ending to any tale (even the ones I liked), which, yes, adds to this hazy vibe but also left me a little frustrated when it kept happening.
While Craig has filled this book with recognizable horror elements, she seems to be telling us that the most spine-chilling thing is the everyday human experience. And, yeah, that idea really scares the living daylights out of me.
September 20, 2024
3.0⭐️
Leon Craig’s Parallel Hells consists of thirteen short stories. As is true for most short story collections, some stories aren’t so great. Much of this collection is speculative, ambiguous, and surreal. I like that these are gothic horror and folklore inspired stories told from a queer perspective. My favorite from this collection were: Hags, Saplings, Lick the Dust, Raw pork and opium, and Pretty Rooms.
Leon Craig’s Parallel Hells consists of thirteen short stories. As is true for most short story collections, some stories aren’t so great. Much of this collection is speculative, ambiguous, and surreal. I like that these are gothic horror and folklore inspired stories told from a queer perspective. My favorite from this collection were: Hags, Saplings, Lick the Dust, Raw pork and opium, and Pretty Rooms.
February 9, 2022
Parallel Hells is a debut collection of short stories written by Leon Craig. The Collection is harrowing, melancholic, terrifying and intense. I highly recommend this debut if you’re a fan of queer horror that will chew you up and spit you out.
Stories such as ‘Lipless Grin’ & ‘Raw Pork and Opium’ were definitely some of my favourites in this book. All the stories contained within the pages of Parallel Hells were a huge hit for me, there wasn’t a story I disliked or felt bored by, and I felt greatly entertained while reading.
Parallel Hells pulled me in with its wonderful cover, but it was Leon Craig’s writing that took me on a rollercoaster of emotions that kept me unnerved and ecstatic.
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Stories such as ‘Lipless Grin’ & ‘Raw Pork and Opium’ were definitely some of my favourites in this book. All the stories contained within the pages of Parallel Hells were a huge hit for me, there wasn’t a story I disliked or felt bored by, and I felt greatly entertained while reading.
Parallel Hells pulled me in with its wonderful cover, but it was Leon Craig’s writing that took me on a rollercoaster of emotions that kept me unnerved and ecstatic.
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February 2, 2024
I don't think I'll ever understand the lesbian mind but it sure is compelling
January 9, 2022
Unlike most collections there isn’t a single story that can be skipped. ‘Parallel Hells’ is an exquisite debut short story collection that deserves plenty of attention. The tales range from sentimental, melancholic and haunting to disturbing, violent and terrifying in order to explore the human condition through a queer gaze.
The stand-out stories of the collection for me (in the order in which they appear) are ‘Suckers’, ‘raw pork and opium’, ‘Ingratitude’, ‘Lipless Grin’, ‘Hags’ and ‘Saplings’. I’m already looking forward to rereading them all!
Fans of horror (and especially queer horror) should make sure to pick up ‘Parallel Hells’ as soon as they can. I know I won’t be able to resist buying a hardcover copy myself once it’s released, it joins Mariana Enriquez’s ‘The Dangers Of Smoking In Bed’ as one of my favourite books of contemporary short stories!
The stand-out stories of the collection for me (in the order in which they appear) are ‘Suckers’, ‘raw pork and opium’, ‘Ingratitude’, ‘Lipless Grin’, ‘Hags’ and ‘Saplings’. I’m already looking forward to rereading them all!
Fans of horror (and especially queer horror) should make sure to pick up ‘Parallel Hells’ as soon as they can. I know I won’t be able to resist buying a hardcover copy myself once it’s released, it joins Mariana Enriquez’s ‘The Dangers Of Smoking In Bed’ as one of my favourite books of contemporary short stories!
April 19, 2022
ok but, why does this collection read weird, like something about the word choices, the writing style, the characterisations, all dated the stories for me in such an odd way that i felt i was looking through amber at each of the stories as i sat down with them. in fact, when characters mentioned phones or laptops, it was jarring for me bc they felt like they belonged to a century past and not existing in this modern world.
loved that it was very gay but didn’t care for a lot of the stories especially the ones towards the end. favourite stories include unfinished and unformed, pretty rooms, ingratitude & lipless grin.
loved that it was very gay but didn’t care for a lot of the stories especially the ones towards the end. favourite stories include unfinished and unformed, pretty rooms, ingratitude & lipless grin.
January 2, 2025
I have given this book two stars not a comment on the author's writing but on the failure of the stories in this collection to match up to the praise and promotion they have received. The first story in the collection 'Unfinished and Unformed' promised much and left me excited to read the rest. By by the time I read the truly awful final story 'Saplings' I was glad, no I was overjoyed, this relatively short, 205 pages, collection was finished.
I can't say anything else except to repeat that this collection was a tremendous disappointment though I have hopes that other writings by this author might not be.
I can't say anything else except to repeat that this collection was a tremendous disappointment though I have hopes that other writings by this author might not be.
May 26, 2025
3,5 stars! As always it is hard to rate a whole short story collection, some stories were amazing and others I did not care for. On the whole I particularly liked the intertextuality and the queering of the textual form (seen in particular in „raw pork and opium“ with the two text columns)
September 15, 2025
3.5 i enjoyed this!
February 16, 2022
If you want to get into horror then I seriously recommend starting with a book like Parallel Hells!
There was not a single story in this collection that I didn’t enjoy! A collection of horror stories that explore queer identity through some emotional, disturbing, and gothic tales.
Varied and fast-paced these short stories contain lots of strange and terrifying situations and characters. My favourite stories included ‘Raw Pork and Opium’ and ‘Lick the Dust’ and I will probably reread them in the future.
All of the stories play on surrealism and I love that they are influenced by folklore and other gothic literature.
Thank you to Sceptre for sending me a proof copy to review, I can’t wait to discuss this one with my other horror book fans!
There was not a single story in this collection that I didn’t enjoy! A collection of horror stories that explore queer identity through some emotional, disturbing, and gothic tales.
Varied and fast-paced these short stories contain lots of strange and terrifying situations and characters. My favourite stories included ‘Raw Pork and Opium’ and ‘Lick the Dust’ and I will probably reread them in the future.
All of the stories play on surrealism and I love that they are influenced by folklore and other gothic literature.
Thank you to Sceptre for sending me a proof copy to review, I can’t wait to discuss this one with my other horror book fans!
February 21, 2023
Short story collections are always a bit difficult cause they're often hit or miss. I enjoyed a bunch of stories, but others I couldn't see what they were trying to do. Most of the endings were very open and vague and I feel like I would've enjoyed that more if some others had more clear cut endings. Lots of queer rep though, and a few stories really grabbed my attention, especially the longer ones where the characters and the story arc felt more fleshed out.
April 6, 2023
As is the way with short story collections, there were some I liked more than others. Both the mood and the content were very up my street, the writing style was not my favourite but still enjoyable. I think my main frustration came from the fact that lots of the stories felt more like concepts or first chapters than fully rounded out and finished short stories.
June 12, 2022
Historically I struggle with short stories… so am probably not the best person to make unbiased comments on this collection. There’s some really interesting ideas here and I think many people will most likely love the book.
‘Hags’ on p.97 was definitely my favourite!
‘Hags’ on p.97 was definitely my favourite!
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May 6, 2023This is a collection of horror stories that spans multiple styles and genres, inspired by mythology, folk horror, and modern popular culture...
Read my full thoughts here: https://booksandbao.com/terrifying-qu...
Read my full thoughts here: https://booksandbao.com/terrifying-qu...
March 20, 2022
I'm pretty shocked first off that more people aren't reading this. Parallel Hells is full of absolutely brilliant queer horror short stories. Craig is such a visual writer that I could picture every single one of these metaphorical horrors. Lipless Grin was my favourite of the bunch, but honorable mentions include Pretty Rooms, Lick the Dust and raw pork and opium which had different formating that really reminded me of Tell Me I'm Worthless, but was really unique in its own subject.
If you love short horror short stories, you need this book; it's a must.
If you love short horror short stories, you need this book; it's a must.
November 16, 2023
queer horor - u principu nemam što mrziti, nije li tako? E PA NIJE
ova je knjiga bila zadatak, više negoli hobij
započela je stvarno snažno, hit za hitom, twas amasing, ali onda kao da je pisac izgubio volju za pisanjem i tražio načine povezivanja s mladima kroz novinske članke što opisuju današnju svakodnevicu naše generacije
centralna tematika knjige jest žudnja i/ili čežnja, što ide ruku uz ruku s mojim karakterom
bez obzira na to, knjiga se previše trudi biti povezana s mladenačkom kulturom dok zapravo ispada jadna, a i to sam previše rekao
sve u svemu... kaos
ova je knjiga bila zadatak, više negoli hobij
započela je stvarno snažno, hit za hitom, twas amasing, ali onda kao da je pisac izgubio volju za pisanjem i tražio načine povezivanja s mladima kroz novinske članke što opisuju današnju svakodnevicu naše generacije
centralna tematika knjige jest žudnja i/ili čežnja, što ide ruku uz ruku s mojim karakterom
bez obzira na to, knjiga se previše trudi biti povezana s mladenačkom kulturom dok zapravo ispada jadna, a i to sam previše rekao
sve u svemu... kaos
October 13, 2024
3.5
This was a sensuous and macabre collection of stories. I particularly liked Suckers, raw pork and opium, A Wolf in the Temple, Lipless Grin, and Hags. I found some stories had quite an abrupt and underwhelming ending but ultimately loved the mix of queer stories in a gothic/folklore horror setting 🕯️
This was a sensuous and macabre collection of stories. I particularly liked Suckers, raw pork and opium, A Wolf in the Temple, Lipless Grin, and Hags. I found some stories had quite an abrupt and underwhelming ending but ultimately loved the mix of queer stories in a gothic/folklore horror setting 🕯️
October 6, 2025
The only story I liked was Ingratitude. The others I found quite boring.
December 13, 2022
i came for the exploration of queer identity through folklore and gothic horror and i stayed for the gorgeous writing, intricate characters and gripping narratives (aka queer, folklore and gothic is my holy trinity)
July 30, 2024
I really loved some of these short stories, particularly Hags, but on the whole I can’t say this was my favourite short story collection. Some stylistic choices were very interesting and made for an engaging read, and I loved a lot of the concepts, but some of the stories themselves fell a bit short of expectations and I would have loved if a few of them had gone deeper, further, or perhaps just felt a little less rushed.
March 18, 2023
phenomenal. can’t wait to read more from this author
September 7, 2023
Perhaps I'll give it another try another time, but the first story was just too blurry and vague for me, I understand almost nothing and I didn't like it. So, nope for me.
November 17, 2022
1.88 stars so I'm being generous and rounding up to two. I think I'm the wrong kind of queer for this book. This is really only for those who think horror is based on apathy, alcohol and drug abuse, sex (including kinky stuff) and a general dislike for any and all people, because aside from the disdain most characters feel for their fellow characters and the horrifying sex scenes, this isn't scary.
Suckers: 2 stars, what did the MC know and why didn't they care at all?
Unfinished and Unformed: 1 star, confused about the queer component of this, also uncomfortable and inelegant
raw pork and opium: 2 stars, I liked the 2 parallel perspectives up until the girl had sex with her friend because he suddenly had boobs and then told him that she did not want him and was the other part a metaphor for how gay the two men are for each other? I will never know. 3 stars taken off because this read like a bad fanfic of The Secret History which is already a bad fan fiction of If we were villains (yes I know TSH preceded IWWV and no, I do not accept criticism on this statement)
A Wolf in the Temple: 1 star, the opposite of a girlboss and homophobic, so exhausting, my god
Lick in the Dust: 1 star, again, queer where? Somehow the opposite of enemies to lovers in an academic setting, but the obsession was real (sadly one sided and therefore boring)
Pretty Rooms: 1 star, I'm not good at hint taking, what was this about?
Ingratitude: 3 stars, genuinely creepy as hell, mother of the year award goes to "Mother", this would have been the perfect excuse to have an aroace character in your collection
Lipless Grin: 3 stars, kinda funny? Like what an asshole that father is. Do I know the meaning behind it? No. Do I know what the queer rep is? Also no
Hags: 3 stars, I want to know what happened afterward, very uncomfortable with the unnecessary sex scenes but aside from that enjoyable
The Bequest: 1 stars, "Deborah" the typical German name, so lackluster, what is the point, if you want to write about cheating, alcohol and drug abuse just say that, don't act like you need to be possessed by a ghost (?) for it
No Dominion: 4 stars, I actually really liked this, it feels personal somehow and is realistically upsetting
Stay A While: 1 star, mommy issues in abundance, is this another vampire story? Do I care?
Saplings: 1.5 stars, I fell asleep again and again reading this, so all I can say about this: Maybe if it hurts that much loving someone, you should let go
Suckers: 2 stars, what did the MC know and why didn't they care at all?
Unfinished and Unformed: 1 star, confused about the queer component of this, also uncomfortable and inelegant
raw pork and opium: 2 stars, I liked the 2 parallel perspectives up until the girl had sex with her friend because he suddenly had boobs and then told him that she did not want him and was the other part a metaphor for how gay the two men are for each other? I will never know. 3 stars taken off because this read like a bad fanfic of The Secret History which is already a bad fan fiction of If we were villains (yes I know TSH preceded IWWV and no, I do not accept criticism on this statement)
A Wolf in the Temple: 1 star, the opposite of a girlboss and homophobic, so exhausting, my god
Lick in the Dust: 1 star, again, queer where? Somehow the opposite of enemies to lovers in an academic setting, but the obsession was real (sadly one sided and therefore boring)
Pretty Rooms: 1 star, I'm not good at hint taking, what was this about?
Ingratitude: 3 stars, genuinely creepy as hell, mother of the year award goes to "Mother", this would have been the perfect excuse to have an aroace character in your collection
Lipless Grin: 3 stars, kinda funny? Like what an asshole that father is. Do I know the meaning behind it? No. Do I know what the queer rep is? Also no
Hags: 3 stars, I want to know what happened afterward, very uncomfortable with the unnecessary sex scenes but aside from that enjoyable
The Bequest: 1 stars, "Deborah" the typical German name, so lackluster, what is the point, if you want to write about cheating, alcohol and drug abuse just say that, don't act like you need to be possessed by a ghost (?) for it
No Dominion: 4 stars, I actually really liked this, it feels personal somehow and is realistically upsetting
Stay A While: 1 star, mommy issues in abundance, is this another vampire story? Do I care?
Saplings: 1.5 stars, I fell asleep again and again reading this, so all I can say about this: Maybe if it hurts that much loving someone, you should let go
May 16, 2022
Real rating- 4.5. Probably shouldn’t have been reading this at 1:30am now I don’t wanna sleep hahaha full review to come!
REVIEW - Okay here we go. This is a queer themed collection of fantasy horror stories that vary in length and creepy factor - and which I absolutely loved. The differences between the stories kept things fresh and there were several times when I was left wishing for an entire novel to delve deeper into the characters and story 😍 it’s so cool to see so many examples of spooky, and while I had several favourites within the volume there wasn’t a single story I didn’t find interesting and unique. It also helped that the writing was really lovely and flowed so well 😍
I’m so glad that spooky queer books seem to be more abundant these past few years as I’ve definitely found a new favourite genre. I recommend this to anyone who likes dark and macabre books or to anyone who fancies trying something new since there are so many different tales to sink your teeth into.
I think one thing I’m definitely starting to get more into these days is adult queer horror. Horror has always been a genre that I have avoided, especially when fantasy is involved as I tend to get freaked out quite easily. But maybe it’s something to do with living through a pandemic, it just doesn’t scare me as much as it used to… Although don’t get me wrong I am still a wimp haha. I would really love to see more books in this genre coming out.
REVIEW - Okay here we go. This is a queer themed collection of fantasy horror stories that vary in length and creepy factor - and which I absolutely loved. The differences between the stories kept things fresh and there were several times when I was left wishing for an entire novel to delve deeper into the characters and story 😍 it’s so cool to see so many examples of spooky, and while I had several favourites within the volume there wasn’t a single story I didn’t find interesting and unique. It also helped that the writing was really lovely and flowed so well 😍
I’m so glad that spooky queer books seem to be more abundant these past few years as I’ve definitely found a new favourite genre. I recommend this to anyone who likes dark and macabre books or to anyone who fancies trying something new since there are so many different tales to sink your teeth into.
I think one thing I’m definitely starting to get more into these days is adult queer horror. Horror has always been a genre that I have avoided, especially when fantasy is involved as I tend to get freaked out quite easily. But maybe it’s something to do with living through a pandemic, it just doesn’t scare me as much as it used to… Although don’t get me wrong I am still a wimp haha. I would really love to see more books in this genre coming out.
April 3, 2022
“Parallel Hells,” Leon Craig. I had to get this book from the devil (Amazon) because it’s only available in the UK. It was totally worth it though. The horror I like best isn’t necessarily gory or in your face but rather a subtle creeping sense of dread, or something being off. Primal and undefinable. The stories in Parallel Hells have exactly that. Each one enigmatic and strange so much so that I sometimes had difficulty understanding exactly what was going on. Favorite stories from this collection included: “A Wolf in the Temple,” “Lipless Grin,” “Hags,” “No Dominion,” and “Saplings.” Teaming with themes of nature, death, the occult, LGBTQIA experiences and relationships, possession, and the omnipresent darkness both external and internal, “Parallel Hells,” will have you sleeping with all the lights on in your house/apartment until you realize the true terror is existential.
Read this book if you: Enjoy playing imaginary games in the woods, you want revenge on your ex, you think doing ritual sacrifice in a graveyard is cool actually, you enjoy Nordic mythology
Don’t read this book if you: Get squeamish about insects, you’re afraid of being buried alive, you judged the weird self proclaimed witchy queer kids in high school
Read this book if you: Enjoy playing imaginary games in the woods, you want revenge on your ex, you think doing ritual sacrifice in a graveyard is cool actually, you enjoy Nordic mythology
Don’t read this book if you: Get squeamish about insects, you’re afraid of being buried alive, you judged the weird self proclaimed witchy queer kids in high school
July 24, 2024
The setup of many of these stories were really fun and intriguing, but I always missed a satisfying ending.
August 28, 2023
Still not a horror girlie, no matter how hard I try. Sigh. But anyway, keep that in mind when looking at the rating, I'm definitely not the best judge of the genre.
At first I wasn't feeling this collection at all. I found the stories confusing and unsatisfying and not even very spooky. I think the longer stories towards the end were much better, but even so none of them did all that much for me. The last story, Saplings, was definitely my favourite, along with The Bequest, No Dominion, Hags and Lick the Dust. But even with those I definitely found most of the endings disappointing and/or confusing, and I felt like most of the time I never really grasped what was going on in each story.
Definitely not bad, I don't think, but once again not my cup of spooky tea.
At first I wasn't feeling this collection at all. I found the stories confusing and unsatisfying and not even very spooky. I think the longer stories towards the end were much better, but even so none of them did all that much for me. The last story, Saplings, was definitely my favourite, along with The Bequest, No Dominion, Hags and Lick the Dust. But even with those I definitely found most of the endings disappointing and/or confusing, and I felt like most of the time I never really grasped what was going on in each story.
Definitely not bad, I don't think, but once again not my cup of spooky tea.
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