What do you think?
Rate this book
Pluto In Furs: Tales Of Diseased Desires And Seductive Horrors
From the outer darkness comes Pluto In Furs! An all-original anthology of erotic and unsettling horror. In Pluto In Furs, we explore your most intimate perversions and your most disturbing nightmares and see that they may be the same. An all-star line up of some of the greatest horror writers working today, Pluto In Furs is sure to keep you up late with strange dreams and even stranger desires. This is the next book from Plutonian Press, following the critically acclaimed Phantasm/Chimera. Featuring brilliant cover art from Matthew Revert! Stories by Richard Gavin, Jeffrey Thomas, Devora Gray, Adam Golaski, Kurt Fawver, John Claude Smith, David Peak, Rhys Hughes, Mike Allen, Orrin Grey, Clint Smith, Gemma Files, Thana Niveau, and Brenden Vidito. What strange shapes writhe and moan in the infinite black of space? What aberrant desires and what surreal fantasies do they dream? Find out July 21st!
- GenresShort StoriesHorror
308 pages, Paperback
First published July 19, 2019
4 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 21, 2020
These stories combine human aberrations, ethereal haunts and physical attraction in a mixture of anatomy, lust and Stygian locations. Violence stands side by side with whimsy, and peculiar bodily abnormalities are synonymous with libido. Plant life merges strangely with spousal partners, and wires sprout from a lonely man. Violated souls are released into flight by an executioner, while others are sent to the abyss by a berserk director. A floundering neighborhood is gilded in lustrous transformation that incites cult behavior and mutiny. Tethered umbilical cords channel the past as joined tentacles summon the future. In my favorite story, a historical poem is laced throughout a narrative in which lust and a collaboration of sirens stir the world to new arenas of violence. While not all of the stories caught my fancy, the strongest ones sent my imagination to inventive regions. I will definitely be seeking future work by many of the authors.
January 7, 2020
My actual score for this is 4 1/2 stars. This is another outstanding anthology from Scott Dwyer, and I believe that this one has cemented him as a legitimate editor and seeker of fiction that warps the mind, and chills the marrow in your bones. This collection of tales ventures into some brutal territory, with the focus being connecting horror with the erotic, pain, and pleasure. Coupled with that are themes of exploitation, PTSD, anxiety, class role reversal, the need for validation, the predatory nature of Hollywood; war and economic deterioration, and more. I look forward to what Scott next has in store. My favorite stories in "Pluto in Furs" are:
The Tangible Universe - Jeffrey Thomas
Dermatology, Eschatology - Kurt Fawver
It's Hard to Be Me - John Claude Smith
The Gutter at the Bottom of the World - David Peak
Walking in Ash - Brendan Vidito
The Silvering - Thana Niveau
Stygian Chambers - Orrin Grey
Behemoth - Clint Smith
The Tangible Universe - Jeffrey Thomas
Dermatology, Eschatology - Kurt Fawver
It's Hard to Be Me - John Claude Smith
The Gutter at the Bottom of the World - David Peak
Walking in Ash - Brendan Vidito
The Silvering - Thana Niveau
Stygian Chambers - Orrin Grey
Behemoth - Clint Smith
February 1, 2020
Of all the joys in life, I have long found the forbidden joys to be among the greatest. Nothing quite tickles the darker side of the soul like finding pleasure in murky, dimly-lit places wherein society has determined it is not meant to dwell. That disturbing dichotomy of loathing and lusting over two sides of the same coin. The sin-slathered guilt that arises from taking a pair of punches to the face, where the left one leaves you saying "Eugh...that's bloody disgusting" and the right one slams into you with a hefty dose of "On the other hand, yum..."
When Scott Dwyer handed me a freshly-printed copy of fledgling Plutonian Press's 'erotic horror' collection, Pluto In Furs, I had some doubts. The cover art was compelling, but with a marked air of salaciousness. And while I have no fundamental objection to smut, I tend to look for it in places other than my Weird Fiction. But Dwyer (the editor of the collection and founder of the press) assured me in no uncertain terms that this was not a simple 'dirty book' full of cheap' thrills. I still had my misgivings, especially given that all but two of the authors were unknown to me. Scott talked a good game, though, and several conversations had already assured me of a sense of kinship in our literary ethics, so I resolved to give it a shot.
And then Jeffery Thomas exploded all over me in a shower of ruptured carbuncles, oozing chancres, and such staggering depths of unwholesomeness that my wife opined upon the necessity of a second bath after I read a paragraph to her in our hotel room last autumn. I couldn't recount a time in memory where a story caused such bile to rise in my gorge as did his opening piece, The Tangible Universe. But what troubled me most profoundly is that amidst the filth, amidst the horror and the sleazy depravity...there was a kernel deep inside of me yearning to creep forth and murmur in the quietest tones, "I get it. I get how that connection can fire. I want to be sick in a bucket, but I -get- it." I found myself feeling a sense of understanding. Of sympathetic tenderness. Of, dare I say it, guilty complicity in all the sordid goings on.
And I knew then that Scott was right. As the collection unfolded, all manner of connections were being drawn. Across time, across space. Across species lines, across GENUS lines. Across the veil between living and dead. But whatever the trappings, the one trait that every connection had in common was a shared sense of the horrific and the erotic. Some ran slightly more vanilla, some even further afield than Thomas's alluringly revolting opener. But each one provoking in its own right, posing questions, generating sensations, firing, connecting, disturbing, unnerving.
Not every story worked perfectly for me, but on the balance the collection was consistent in theme and of a very high caliber of writing. My thoughts were decidedly provoked, and far more than I'd expected. I found myself asking an array of questions and the answers left me with a host of conflicting feelings. And at the end of the day, I rarely find myself asking for more than that in a Weird Fiction collection, let alone one themed around dark erotica.
Even the ones that 'didn't work' for me were still good and thematic. I enjoyed them to a letter. They merely didn't reach the sweaty, dubious heights of the true masterworks in this assembly.
Speaking of which, a slick-fingered tip of the hat to Devora Gray, whose unique take on the murky borderlands between innocence and experience (and the creatures that roam either side of that peripheral line) made 'The Wolf At The Door' a strong favorite. And it comes with a ready-made soundtrack for reading!
John Claude Smith's brilliantly-rendered exploration of identity and assimilation, 'It's Hard To be Me' left this Kansas boy thoroughly creeped out, unnerved, and filled with awkward wonder. I struggle to remember the last time I felt myself pulled so viscerally into a short story, but I breathed deeply of this one.
The redoubtable Gemma Files hit one out of the park and on a deep, deep drive into the soil with her rumination on lunar metamorphosis, procreation, and surrender of self. 'Worm Moon' was everything I expected from the title, and everything I've come to expect from Gemma. It was splendidly executed and evoked unfamiliar and alien sensations in a manner well-befitting the collection.
And again, all of the stories had merit. I'd gush about each in turn if it wouldn't make this review half as long as the collection itself, so I am only calling out a few that really struck me. Thus, I cannot close without mentioning my personal favorite. Canadian author Brendan Vidito hit me right in the feels with his haunting, heart-rending take on the intersection of anxiety and precognition, especially his deft handling of how it interplays with an intimate, doomed relationship between two people very much in love. Its only shortcoming is that it wasn't twice as long, because I think I could have read that one forever.
All of these and more await, from time-spanning obscene phone calls transmitted through umbilical cords to a dark-hearted flirtation with the beloved trope of a svengali film director practicing dire magicks in the California desert. They're all good and they all provide exactly what is advertised: on the cover, in the introduction, and in the editor's earnest explanation over a glass of beer at an Irish pub.
That inexorable connection between sex and death. Erotica and horror. The acceptable and the dark fringe. Whether it is disgust, titillation, or a heady mixture of the two...each of these well-crafted 'tales of diseased desires and seductive horrors' is bound to make you feel something.
Five stars gladly (if a bit guiltily) given and a hearty recommendation if you've the dark turn of mind required to truly suck the soggy marrow from the bones of these tales with the gusto they deserve.
When Scott Dwyer handed me a freshly-printed copy of fledgling Plutonian Press's 'erotic horror' collection, Pluto In Furs, I had some doubts. The cover art was compelling, but with a marked air of salaciousness. And while I have no fundamental objection to smut, I tend to look for it in places other than my Weird Fiction. But Dwyer (the editor of the collection and founder of the press) assured me in no uncertain terms that this was not a simple 'dirty book' full of cheap' thrills. I still had my misgivings, especially given that all but two of the authors were unknown to me. Scott talked a good game, though, and several conversations had already assured me of a sense of kinship in our literary ethics, so I resolved to give it a shot.
And then Jeffery Thomas exploded all over me in a shower of ruptured carbuncles, oozing chancres, and such staggering depths of unwholesomeness that my wife opined upon the necessity of a second bath after I read a paragraph to her in our hotel room last autumn. I couldn't recount a time in memory where a story caused such bile to rise in my gorge as did his opening piece, The Tangible Universe. But what troubled me most profoundly is that amidst the filth, amidst the horror and the sleazy depravity...there was a kernel deep inside of me yearning to creep forth and murmur in the quietest tones, "I get it. I get how that connection can fire. I want to be sick in a bucket, but I -get- it." I found myself feeling a sense of understanding. Of sympathetic tenderness. Of, dare I say it, guilty complicity in all the sordid goings on.
And I knew then that Scott was right. As the collection unfolded, all manner of connections were being drawn. Across time, across space. Across species lines, across GENUS lines. Across the veil between living and dead. But whatever the trappings, the one trait that every connection had in common was a shared sense of the horrific and the erotic. Some ran slightly more vanilla, some even further afield than Thomas's alluringly revolting opener. But each one provoking in its own right, posing questions, generating sensations, firing, connecting, disturbing, unnerving.
Not every story worked perfectly for me, but on the balance the collection was consistent in theme and of a very high caliber of writing. My thoughts were decidedly provoked, and far more than I'd expected. I found myself asking an array of questions and the answers left me with a host of conflicting feelings. And at the end of the day, I rarely find myself asking for more than that in a Weird Fiction collection, let alone one themed around dark erotica.
Even the ones that 'didn't work' for me were still good and thematic. I enjoyed them to a letter. They merely didn't reach the sweaty, dubious heights of the true masterworks in this assembly.
Speaking of which, a slick-fingered tip of the hat to Devora Gray, whose unique take on the murky borderlands between innocence and experience (and the creatures that roam either side of that peripheral line) made 'The Wolf At The Door' a strong favorite. And it comes with a ready-made soundtrack for reading!
John Claude Smith's brilliantly-rendered exploration of identity and assimilation, 'It's Hard To be Me' left this Kansas boy thoroughly creeped out, unnerved, and filled with awkward wonder. I struggle to remember the last time I felt myself pulled so viscerally into a short story, but I breathed deeply of this one.
The redoubtable Gemma Files hit one out of the park and on a deep, deep drive into the soil with her rumination on lunar metamorphosis, procreation, and surrender of self. 'Worm Moon' was everything I expected from the title, and everything I've come to expect from Gemma. It was splendidly executed and evoked unfamiliar and alien sensations in a manner well-befitting the collection.
And again, all of the stories had merit. I'd gush about each in turn if it wouldn't make this review half as long as the collection itself, so I am only calling out a few that really struck me. Thus, I cannot close without mentioning my personal favorite. Canadian author Brendan Vidito hit me right in the feels with his haunting, heart-rending take on the intersection of anxiety and precognition, especially his deft handling of how it interplays with an intimate, doomed relationship between two people very much in love. Its only shortcoming is that it wasn't twice as long, because I think I could have read that one forever.
All of these and more await, from time-spanning obscene phone calls transmitted through umbilical cords to a dark-hearted flirtation with the beloved trope of a svengali film director practicing dire magicks in the California desert. They're all good and they all provide exactly what is advertised: on the cover, in the introduction, and in the editor's earnest explanation over a glass of beer at an Irish pub.
That inexorable connection between sex and death. Erotica and horror. The acceptable and the dark fringe. Whether it is disgust, titillation, or a heady mixture of the two...each of these well-crafted 'tales of diseased desires and seductive horrors' is bound to make you feel something.
Five stars gladly (if a bit guiltily) given and a hearty recommendation if you've the dark turn of mind required to truly suck the soggy marrow from the bones of these tales with the gusto they deserve.
March 11, 2020
I will start off by admitting that I bought this anthology mainly because it includes a new story by Richard Gavin, whose work I follow closely. After reading his story - "Headsman's Trust: A Murder Ballad," - which is outstanding, as usual, I felt compelled to read some of the other stories and from the excellent opener "The Tangible Universe", by Jeffrey Thomas, the stories just remained consistently engaging, each one in its own way. My favorites were: "The Tangible Universe" (trust me, this one will stay with you for a while!); "Headsman's Trust: A Murder ballad;" "It's Hard to Be Me;" "The Silvering;" "Tender is the Tether," and "Stygian Chambers." I highly recommend Pluto In Furs!
June 2, 2020
The title is an allusion to Sacher-Masoch's seminal S&M classic Venus in Furs. This book though focuses on the Thanatic impulse as it usurps the purview of the erotic, shrouding the fires of passion with the funereal gloom of savage fetishism, unholy obsessions, and fatal lust. The stories are of a literary bent although I fear that in this case, the cool malignance and visceral primality that I've always adored in horror may have been sacrificed on the altar of majestic wordsmithery.
Among the tales offered here, I found the following particularly enticing:
The Tangible Universe - a debauchee hitches his wagon to the constellation of his desire
Dermatogy, Eschatology - a hypochondriac is enmeshed in the profound (but fatal, alas) communion that he has always longed for
The Gutter at the Bottom of the World - where the lost, used, and forgotten end up
The Silvering - a hovel drowns in unholy argent ecstasy
7/10; 3 stars.
Among the tales offered here, I found the following particularly enticing:
The Tangible Universe - a debauchee hitches his wagon to the constellation of his desire
Dermatogy, Eschatology - a hypochondriac is enmeshed in the profound (but fatal, alas) communion that he has always longed for
The Gutter at the Bottom of the World - where the lost, used, and forgotten end up
The Silvering - a hovel drowns in unholy argent ecstasy
7/10; 3 stars.
Read
August 20, 2025Scott Dwyer is a proven pedophile and has admitted to desires of gang raping underage girls. He needs to be institutionalized and should not be allowed spreading his ideology.
July 25, 2020
Rating: B+ (one day we'll find that A+ again.)
Pluto in Furs is a collection of 15 short horror stories around the quality and length of those found on /r/nosleep. The stories toe the line between sex and violence and introduce the readers to several talented writers telling their frightening tales. It took me months to read this, mostly because it didn't feel like I was making progress as I went through this book.
My favourite short stories were:
The Tangible Universe
It's hard to be me
Tender is the Tether
I dunno if I would recommend reading this as only 3 of the stories really appealed to me.
Pluto in Furs is a collection of 15 short horror stories around the quality and length of those found on /r/nosleep. The stories toe the line between sex and violence and introduce the readers to several talented writers telling their frightening tales. It took me months to read this, mostly because it didn't feel like I was making progress as I went through this book.
My favourite short stories were:
The Tangible Universe
It's hard to be me
Tender is the Tether
I dunno if I would recommend reading this as only 3 of the stories really appealed to me.
September 2, 2019
Not every story worked for me 100%, but each piece explores the connection between horror and sex in startling ways.
October 11, 2023
As with all anthologies there’s hits and misses. There were definitely way more misses than I’d prefer. I found a few authors I’d like to explore further but overall I think this is pitched and curated poorly.
I was expecting something completely different from the blurb and the stories chosen may have shined more in a different collection. However here they are jostled around and incoherent to the theme.
Overall this was all over the place, wouldn’t recommend but I found some authors to check out.
I was expecting something completely different from the blurb and the stories chosen may have shined more in a different collection. However here they are jostled around and incoherent to the theme.
Overall this was all over the place, wouldn’t recommend but I found some authors to check out.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews