What do you think?
Rate this book
Sickness In Hell: The Death of Mankind
Germaine Woodsworth is a normal guy. He lives in a normal town, a nondescript town with a largely unremarkable population.
That is about to change.
"Sickness in Hell" is the ultimate work of grueling insanity. Witness here the degeneracy of the Devil, the lunacy of mankind, and the destruction and chaos which follows man around like a banshee ready to end his very existence. Witness the very destruction of your soul as these pages fill you with madness until you too become convinced that the world would be better off suffering and withering back into the stone age.
Witness the utter depravity and grotesquery which is contained within the Halls of Hell and its relation to all mankind. Behold, the end of man is at hand!
In no way is the author of this work responsible for nausea, insanity, or projectile vomiting.
This book was commissioned by the Devil himself.
That is about to change.
"Sickness in Hell" is the ultimate work of grueling insanity. Witness here the degeneracy of the Devil, the lunacy of mankind, and the destruction and chaos which follows man around like a banshee ready to end his very existence. Witness the very destruction of your soul as these pages fill you with madness until you too become convinced that the world would be better off suffering and withering back into the stone age.
Witness the utter depravity and grotesquery which is contained within the Halls of Hell and its relation to all mankind. Behold, the end of man is at hand!
In no way is the author of this work responsible for nausea, insanity, or projectile vomiting.
This book was commissioned by the Devil himself.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2016
7 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Tarl Warwick
459 books104 followersTarl Warwick is a writer, illustrator, occultist, blogger, and avid gardener from the state of Vermont. Active in multiple online communities, he was administrator for the Times of Pol, a short-term news website and platform for activism, and has participated in dialogue with numerous pagan and occult orders.
Originally a student of plant biology at the University of Vermont, he has also studied archaeology and religion at Castleton State University.
Originally a student of plant biology at the University of Vermont, he has also studied archaeology and religion at Castleton State University.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 16, 2017
Lmao this book was definitely something different
I was a little scared to read this book when I saw Styx wrote the book was made by the devil or whatever. I don't know why I was even scared, but I got the book and turns out this story was really, really, REALLY, good. I felt like I watched a movie in my head the whole time. And I never pictured Satan the way Styx made him out to be. If you watch Styx's videos and know the songs he's made, you really should read this book.
I was a little scared to read this book when I saw Styx wrote the book was made by the devil or whatever. I don't know why I was even scared, but I got the book and turns out this story was really, really, REALLY, good. I felt like I watched a movie in my head the whole time. And I never pictured Satan the way Styx made him out to be. If you watch Styx's videos and know the songs he's made, you really should read this book.
November 14, 2016
Loved it
Extremely fun to read. Had a great time with this one. This book was certainly a fun ride to be on.
Extremely fun to read. Had a great time with this one. This book was certainly a fun ride to be on.
August 13, 2018
Apocalypse narratives have always given me huge hard-ons. I know how much of a tasteless weirdo this fact officially makes me, but think about how droolworthy they really are: not only do they often feature a great adventure but the very last adventure! In them, every tragic moment before the final showdown somehow shines brighter … or so it usually goes. And that’s what I was expecting with today’s work as well. So much so in fact, that before even opening it, some parts of the following review were already popping out of my synapses: I was ready to explain in what original way the author would describe his character’s descent into hell, their psychological meltdown. And to hell we went, but to an immensely entertaining and gently cultivated one.
With Sickness in Hell, YouTuber and political pundit Tarl Warwick serves us his particular end-of-the-world literary brew, skillfully mixing four major ingredients in his sorcery pot to create a truly unforgettable narrative. You’ll first find a zombie-creating worldwide plague with the added bonus of disturbingly creative mutations. Nothing new rotting under the sun, you might say, but Warwick adds his passion for plants in general and psychedelics in particular to the party, thus giving this classic theme a much needed and very mushroomy makeover. Next, as the title indicates, comes the occult element in the form of Satan himself, who is also extensively revamped and transformed into a wonderfully grotesque father-figure, something of a fusion between the Powerpuff Girl’s series’ androgynous villain HIM and a sexually charged mischievous monster. Last but not least, a very dry blend of humor will keep your laughter up in between two puking sessions (or the reverse) on almost every page. In fact, Warwick had so much fun writing the book that he had to thank his family in the foreword for ”putting up with [his] maniacal laughter while writing this work in the first place” (p. 5). So, if you are one for blood, flying guts and the devil in person, you might just have a great time with this story. Being a hardcore fan of graphical gore fests such as Evil Ernie or the manga Battle Royale, I was certainly drawn to it, and although Sickness in Hellactually was one of my first splatterpunk works of literature, it gave me a superbly horrific first impression.
The book’s gore-factor does indeed go through the roof—all the way to the stratosphere even—but not so only for shock’s sake. Rather, it both perfectly enhances the plot and demonstrates Warwick’s exceptional talent in the matter. Nowhere else will you find shrubs ”made entirely of meat” (p. 156), or a mutant ”with her entire body … curled into a circle, her chin roughly fused to her lower back, such that her mouth [is] inches away from her anus” (p. 168). Warwick’s quasi-scientific tone makes this all the more enjoyable and hilarious. At times, it almost feels like poring through a dementedly fun work at the crossroads of anthropology, zoology, and agriculture. Another peak of gruesomeness well worth mentioning is reached in chapter XV, where the characters explore a necromancy-fueled patch of vegetal horrors on par with those found in Octave Mirabeau’s famous Torture Garden (1899). Needless to say, delightfully offensive language and ultraviolent battle scenes are in no short supply either. And all of it consistently delivered in great detail and a detached manner that will satisfy even the most demanding peeping Toms out there: you will hear every shriek, feel the bones crack and the pus ooze from wounds as if you were there!
So, Sickness in Hell gets the reader a trip to the Apocalypse with VR headset-level details and the guarantee—minus the occasional vomiting—of quality entertainment. What else? Well, no less than an embryonic philosophical tale. That’s a big word, but if you have been following Warwick on YouTube for long enough, you’ll notice that at least two of his real-life ideas clearly resurface in the fiction. Whether this was conscious or not and, if so, to what extent, is impossible for me to establish, but Warwick has stated in the book (p. 5) that he ”at first did not take [his work] seriously”. Nonetheless, the first and most obvious of such ideas is a general fascination with the occult, and particularly with Satanism, a belief Warwick has since transcended. This is quite explicit in chapter XI, where we get to visit the devil’s private quarters with character Germaine Woodsworth and are taught (p. 103) a few core principles of the doctrine through the demon’s mouth: “Everything every christian ever believed is wrong. I am lord of this world, god is dead and the salvation of man will be the overthrow of all old orders”. Note how the words “christian” and “god” are purposefully not capitalized. The second idea hidden within the fiction is that of anarchism (in the broadest sense) as can be seen time and time again in the self-governed and voluntary way the mutated survivors consistently choose to organize themselves. At some point, a kid in the group even spontaneously offers his services as a plumber! One could, therefore, discern a light advocacy of what I would term rational satanism in the book.
That being said and despite the story’s defense of mainly materialistic and rational ideas, it paradoxically also displays many typical features generally present in religious narratives. For one thing, the events of Sickness in Hell truly reach an epic scale not alien to what is found in some Buddhist scriptures. Readers will indeed be kept busy between hordes of drunken demonic minions, magic-enhanced battles and horrifying monsters on every street corner. You’ll also notice how the main character is hand-picked by Satan to “[…] bring forth sickness and Hell into the world” (p. 102), much like the prophets of old were, albeit for very different reasons. His deformed merry band of companions can by extension be seen as grotesque Apostles helping Germaine achieve this destiny. Another element reminiscent of religious or mythological narratives is the notion of mankind’s salvation, which is here stripped of its usual mystical aspects and denatured into a vile farce, but undeniably present nevertheless. And of course, we also have a divine figure embodied by the devil. Woven together, these choices make for an absolutely brilliant literary device that elegantly embeds the satanic mockery of creation deep within the bones of the book.
That doesn’t, however, turn Sickness in Hell into a mere antichristian piece of propaganda disguised as fiction, but rather echoes Warwick’s truly eclectic and insightful intellect. His Satan, for instance, can also be seen as a Loki-type deity being very harsh in terms of teaching methods but benevolent to humans in the end. You’ll find many other layers of meaning in this work, and it hardly comes as a surprise when one knows that the author makes a living by editing occult literature from virtually every tradition. And Warwick does deviate from the antichristian script even further when introducing Satan’s crazy ex-lover as an antagonist, which bends the story more towards mythology, as the mention of Valkyries for example in chapter XVIII illustrates. Satan is, in fact, less than omnipotent in the book and subject to mortals’ passions exactly like the ancient Greek pantheon was. Also, Germaine and his sister Dawn don’t exactly fit the bill as exclusively antichristian characters and also do embody, in a very “splatterpunky” way, the theory of evolution. Warwick seems to have somehow transplanted his mash-up approach to occultism in real life into his writing, which creates an incredibly diverse and postmodern imaginary.
To be more exact, I found Sickness in Hell both postmodern and modern. It certainly does attempt to realistically portray what would happen to a group of average humans in the chaotic settings of a biohazard apocalypse, but there is close to no insight into their minds beyond dialogue and I couldn’t help get the impression that they were just going with the flow, almost as if gently guided to the outcome of the book by a superior force. Germaine and his sister mostly act on instinct and don’t display any intent to seek a higher truth, their rationality being, on the contrary, focused on immediate problem solving and survival. They are also strongly disillusioned but remain highly functioning, which sort of made me think of The Joker’s super sanity syndrome. As Dawn would put it: “You eat hobos and we’re growing mushrooms on corpses in our basement, Germaine, I wouldn’t worry too much” (p. 109). And they shouldn’t indeed: character evolution is particularly innovative because the more the world goes to shit, the more our little mutant family approach paradise… difficult to make it any more postmodern than that.
To conclude, I can guarantee that there is much more to be found in this work than just hemoglobin and severed limbs. Warwick’s writing style alone, for instance, with its unusual swings between vulgarity and academic precision, makes it absolutely worth reading. I personally loved Sickness in Hell most because of its originality and fun-factor, but analyzing the story in terms of structure and philosophical content allowed me to see its incredible richness as well. Besides, what’s not to love in a tale that makes the devil himself appear both pitiful, terrifying and adorable at the same time? The only question I have left now is whether Tarl Warwick’s nasty rose is an isolated beauty in the garden of splatterpunk or not.
With Sickness in Hell, YouTuber and political pundit Tarl Warwick serves us his particular end-of-the-world literary brew, skillfully mixing four major ingredients in his sorcery pot to create a truly unforgettable narrative. You’ll first find a zombie-creating worldwide plague with the added bonus of disturbingly creative mutations. Nothing new rotting under the sun, you might say, but Warwick adds his passion for plants in general and psychedelics in particular to the party, thus giving this classic theme a much needed and very mushroomy makeover. Next, as the title indicates, comes the occult element in the form of Satan himself, who is also extensively revamped and transformed into a wonderfully grotesque father-figure, something of a fusion between the Powerpuff Girl’s series’ androgynous villain HIM and a sexually charged mischievous monster. Last but not least, a very dry blend of humor will keep your laughter up in between two puking sessions (or the reverse) on almost every page. In fact, Warwick had so much fun writing the book that he had to thank his family in the foreword for ”putting up with [his] maniacal laughter while writing this work in the first place” (p. 5). So, if you are one for blood, flying guts and the devil in person, you might just have a great time with this story. Being a hardcore fan of graphical gore fests such as Evil Ernie or the manga Battle Royale, I was certainly drawn to it, and although Sickness in Hellactually was one of my first splatterpunk works of literature, it gave me a superbly horrific first impression.
The book’s gore-factor does indeed go through the roof—all the way to the stratosphere even—but not so only for shock’s sake. Rather, it both perfectly enhances the plot and demonstrates Warwick’s exceptional talent in the matter. Nowhere else will you find shrubs ”made entirely of meat” (p. 156), or a mutant ”with her entire body … curled into a circle, her chin roughly fused to her lower back, such that her mouth [is] inches away from her anus” (p. 168). Warwick’s quasi-scientific tone makes this all the more enjoyable and hilarious. At times, it almost feels like poring through a dementedly fun work at the crossroads of anthropology, zoology, and agriculture. Another peak of gruesomeness well worth mentioning is reached in chapter XV, where the characters explore a necromancy-fueled patch of vegetal horrors on par with those found in Octave Mirabeau’s famous Torture Garden (1899). Needless to say, delightfully offensive language and ultraviolent battle scenes are in no short supply either. And all of it consistently delivered in great detail and a detached manner that will satisfy even the most demanding peeping Toms out there: you will hear every shriek, feel the bones crack and the pus ooze from wounds as if you were there!
So, Sickness in Hell gets the reader a trip to the Apocalypse with VR headset-level details and the guarantee—minus the occasional vomiting—of quality entertainment. What else? Well, no less than an embryonic philosophical tale. That’s a big word, but if you have been following Warwick on YouTube for long enough, you’ll notice that at least two of his real-life ideas clearly resurface in the fiction. Whether this was conscious or not and, if so, to what extent, is impossible for me to establish, but Warwick has stated in the book (p. 5) that he ”at first did not take [his work] seriously”. Nonetheless, the first and most obvious of such ideas is a general fascination with the occult, and particularly with Satanism, a belief Warwick has since transcended. This is quite explicit in chapter XI, where we get to visit the devil’s private quarters with character Germaine Woodsworth and are taught (p. 103) a few core principles of the doctrine through the demon’s mouth: “Everything every christian ever believed is wrong. I am lord of this world, god is dead and the salvation of man will be the overthrow of all old orders”. Note how the words “christian” and “god” are purposefully not capitalized. The second idea hidden within the fiction is that of anarchism (in the broadest sense) as can be seen time and time again in the self-governed and voluntary way the mutated survivors consistently choose to organize themselves. At some point, a kid in the group even spontaneously offers his services as a plumber! One could, therefore, discern a light advocacy of what I would term rational satanism in the book.
That being said and despite the story’s defense of mainly materialistic and rational ideas, it paradoxically also displays many typical features generally present in religious narratives. For one thing, the events of Sickness in Hell truly reach an epic scale not alien to what is found in some Buddhist scriptures. Readers will indeed be kept busy between hordes of drunken demonic minions, magic-enhanced battles and horrifying monsters on every street corner. You’ll also notice how the main character is hand-picked by Satan to “[…] bring forth sickness and Hell into the world” (p. 102), much like the prophets of old were, albeit for very different reasons. His deformed merry band of companions can by extension be seen as grotesque Apostles helping Germaine achieve this destiny. Another element reminiscent of religious or mythological narratives is the notion of mankind’s salvation, which is here stripped of its usual mystical aspects and denatured into a vile farce, but undeniably present nevertheless. And of course, we also have a divine figure embodied by the devil. Woven together, these choices make for an absolutely brilliant literary device that elegantly embeds the satanic mockery of creation deep within the bones of the book.
That doesn’t, however, turn Sickness in Hell into a mere antichristian piece of propaganda disguised as fiction, but rather echoes Warwick’s truly eclectic and insightful intellect. His Satan, for instance, can also be seen as a Loki-type deity being very harsh in terms of teaching methods but benevolent to humans in the end. You’ll find many other layers of meaning in this work, and it hardly comes as a surprise when one knows that the author makes a living by editing occult literature from virtually every tradition. And Warwick does deviate from the antichristian script even further when introducing Satan’s crazy ex-lover as an antagonist, which bends the story more towards mythology, as the mention of Valkyries for example in chapter XVIII illustrates. Satan is, in fact, less than omnipotent in the book and subject to mortals’ passions exactly like the ancient Greek pantheon was. Also, Germaine and his sister Dawn don’t exactly fit the bill as exclusively antichristian characters and also do embody, in a very “splatterpunky” way, the theory of evolution. Warwick seems to have somehow transplanted his mash-up approach to occultism in real life into his writing, which creates an incredibly diverse and postmodern imaginary.
To be more exact, I found Sickness in Hell both postmodern and modern. It certainly does attempt to realistically portray what would happen to a group of average humans in the chaotic settings of a biohazard apocalypse, but there is close to no insight into their minds beyond dialogue and I couldn’t help get the impression that they were just going with the flow, almost as if gently guided to the outcome of the book by a superior force. Germaine and his sister mostly act on instinct and don’t display any intent to seek a higher truth, their rationality being, on the contrary, focused on immediate problem solving and survival. They are also strongly disillusioned but remain highly functioning, which sort of made me think of The Joker’s super sanity syndrome. As Dawn would put it: “You eat hobos and we’re growing mushrooms on corpses in our basement, Germaine, I wouldn’t worry too much” (p. 109). And they shouldn’t indeed: character evolution is particularly innovative because the more the world goes to shit, the more our little mutant family approach paradise… difficult to make it any more postmodern than that.
To conclude, I can guarantee that there is much more to be found in this work than just hemoglobin and severed limbs. Warwick’s writing style alone, for instance, with its unusual swings between vulgarity and academic precision, makes it absolutely worth reading. I personally loved Sickness in Hell most because of its originality and fun-factor, but analyzing the story in terms of structure and philosophical content allowed me to see its incredible richness as well. Besides, what’s not to love in a tale that makes the devil himself appear both pitiful, terrifying and adorable at the same time? The only question I have left now is whether Tarl Warwick’s nasty rose is an isolated beauty in the garden of splatterpunk or not.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews