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The Liminal Void
Western sulphur, cults, atavism, murders, heathan rituals and metaphysical journeys, all collide in the Liminal Void, a new superlative horror / folk horror novella by Karim Ghahwagi.
The ghosts of three martyred women trapped in a single body, are assigned by their collapsing Kratocratic pagan regime, to investigate a crime against humanity, in a distant and secluded village, stationed at the end of time. The regime itself, the women suspect, has instigated the very crime they have been charged to investigate. An occult existential terror novella of the dark fantastic, forensic investigation, ancient pagan ritual, and the end of days.
The ghosts of three martyred women trapped in a single body, are assigned by their collapsing Kratocratic pagan regime, to investigate a crime against humanity, in a distant and secluded village, stationed at the end of time. The regime itself, the women suspect, has instigated the very crime they have been charged to investigate. An occult existential terror novella of the dark fantastic, forensic investigation, ancient pagan ritual, and the end of days.
68 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2019
22 people want to read
About the author
Karim Ghahwagi
18 books16 followersKarim Ghahwagi is an award winning music video director, editor, photographer and author. Since 2003 he has created visual works for such artists as Efterklang (2003-2006), Trentemøller (2007), Søren Kragh-Jakobsen (2008) and Kúra (2012). His live visual shows have toured globally and have been featured at such venues as Roskilde Festival, Glastonbury, Supersonic and the Berlin International Film Festival. The Danish Association of Music Critics voted his live show for Anders Trentemøller’s world tour as the year’s best. He has received the Maya Deren Award for film from Bard College where he has earned degrees in Film, Electronic Media and English Literature. His short fiction has appeared in homage anthologies to Mikhail Bulgakov and Bruno Schulz. He divides his time between Copenhagen and Los Angeles. He can be reached at sotjensen@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 29, 2019
This appears to be a companion piece with Ghahwagi's other story, 'Children of the Crimson Sun', published by Egaeus. The narrative felt like a very strange dream like sequence that is elliptical in nature. Its hard to summarize this kind of narrative. That being said, it wasn't overly difficult to follow the threads of this narrative, it was just very odd... but definitely worth the read.
I greatly enjoyed it for its strangeness.
I greatly enjoyed it for its strangeness.
January 23, 2023
Ghahwagi, Karim - The Liminal Void.
Three souls wear witness to, and record, high crimes and atrocities.
While some crimes may be against the state, and others are vendettas or rivalries, the majority seem to have been inflicted by the authority. The Regime.
The tone is Kafka and Orwell, the domain utterly totalitarian.
How is the narrator even permitted to engage in the archiving of knowledge dangerous to the state?
Therein hangs the novella, as the trio journey from one secure location to one remote.
While broken into a handful of chapters, I still found this a churn to navigate.
The prose was … no, the syntax, the word arrangement and sentence sequence was what I found murky to read and interpret.
On reflection, I decided this must be by design, as other works I have read by Ghahwagi were easier.
If deliberate, I wondered how thin is the border between stylistic flourish and mannerisms.
Sammy Hagar fans, take note: I did not count, but the word “crimson” must be used forty times or more.
Should someone suggest leitmotif, I will shrug and agree.
Final note, and this is lengthy for me, I imagine that (the still-absent) Des Lewis has read and reviewed this. Aptly enough, the narrator of this story is one of the three souls mentioned above, and all exist in the same body. A gestalt of sorts!
I was not so much disappointed as puzzled by my reactions to this.
Other Ghahwagi works I have enjoyed greatly.
The harrowing Noir, “Horrill Hill,” comes to mind. There, predators from the abyss enter the shadowless black. Lighty-light.
Reading is always personal. Others may well adore The Liminal Void.
Don’t let me put you off if curious.
Three souls wear witness to, and record, high crimes and atrocities.
While some crimes may be against the state, and others are vendettas or rivalries, the majority seem to have been inflicted by the authority. The Regime.
The tone is Kafka and Orwell, the domain utterly totalitarian.
How is the narrator even permitted to engage in the archiving of knowledge dangerous to the state?
Therein hangs the novella, as the trio journey from one secure location to one remote.
While broken into a handful of chapters, I still found this a churn to navigate.
The prose was … no, the syntax, the word arrangement and sentence sequence was what I found murky to read and interpret.
On reflection, I decided this must be by design, as other works I have read by Ghahwagi were easier.
If deliberate, I wondered how thin is the border between stylistic flourish and mannerisms.
Sammy Hagar fans, take note: I did not count, but the word “crimson” must be used forty times or more.
Should someone suggest leitmotif, I will shrug and agree.
Final note, and this is lengthy for me, I imagine that (the still-absent) Des Lewis has read and reviewed this. Aptly enough, the narrator of this story is one of the three souls mentioned above, and all exist in the same body. A gestalt of sorts!
I was not so much disappointed as puzzled by my reactions to this.
Other Ghahwagi works I have enjoyed greatly.
The harrowing Noir, “Horrill Hill,” comes to mind. There, predators from the abyss enter the shadowless black. Lighty-light.
Reading is always personal. Others may well adore The Liminal Void.
Don’t let me put you off if curious.
January 28, 2021
And thanks for fulfilling the potential of the Träumtrawler.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of my observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of my observations at the time of the review.
September 22, 2021
Somewhat irritating narrative, although fluetly written and despite its cryptic scenery quite readable.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews