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The Cannibal Within
The Cannibal Within (Quotations)
"The truth is not beautiful - it stands on cloven hooves - it is covered in coagulated blood - but it is the truth."
"Ingestion is the ultimate act of domination. The victim is absorbed by the eater--body and soul are absorbed--and all that remains is excrement."
"You must torture it first, she whispered, with perverse logic. "Terror-stricken animals taste better."
"Man needs lies like children need toys."
"In this reality of ours, gods are simply expert players who move grotesquely carved pieces in a game without rules."
"Self-destruction would be a brief, almost autoerotic free-fall into a great velvet darkness."
"Had not the great Yukio Mishima killed himself with a dagger? Thrusting and wet--his hand one with the weapon--Mishima called suicide the 'ultimate masturbation.'"
"Crawling into your soul, we can brutalize you without even touching you."
"Nailed to the crosses were two thieves. Naked except for crowns of thorns, they were called 'Perverted by Wealth" and 'Degraded by Poverty.'"
'Error is like sin,' hissed a voice in the dream. 'The deeper it is, the less the victim suspects its existence.'"
'In the next world--as in this world--beauty and danger, seduction and torment, are indissolubly linked."
"Devoted to wicked science--the hostile domination of nature--the complex is composed of thousands of gloomy laboratories. Here, legions of amoral researchers--greedy for knowledge--commit crimes against bodies and ideas."
"In my dreams I kissed her in a playful and amorous way, and then we made love--in the fresh air--the way wild animals do."
"The truth is not beautiful - it stands on cloven hooves - it is covered in coagulated blood - but it is the truth."
"Ingestion is the ultimate act of domination. The victim is absorbed by the eater--body and soul are absorbed--and all that remains is excrement."
"You must torture it first, she whispered, with perverse logic. "Terror-stricken animals taste better."
"Man needs lies like children need toys."
"In this reality of ours, gods are simply expert players who move grotesquely carved pieces in a game without rules."
"Self-destruction would be a brief, almost autoerotic free-fall into a great velvet darkness."
"Had not the great Yukio Mishima killed himself with a dagger? Thrusting and wet--his hand one with the weapon--Mishima called suicide the 'ultimate masturbation.'"
"Crawling into your soul, we can brutalize you without even touching you."
"Nailed to the crosses were two thieves. Naked except for crowns of thorns, they were called 'Perverted by Wealth" and 'Degraded by Poverty.'"
'Error is like sin,' hissed a voice in the dream. 'The deeper it is, the less the victim suspects its existence.'"
'In the next world--as in this world--beauty and danger, seduction and torment, are indissolubly linked."
"Devoted to wicked science--the hostile domination of nature--the complex is composed of thousands of gloomy laboratories. Here, legions of amoral researchers--greedy for knowledge--commit crimes against bodies and ideas."
"In my dreams I kissed her in a playful and amorous way, and then we made love--in the fresh air--the way wild animals do."
144 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2005
8 people are currently reading
665 people want to read
About the author
Mark Mirabello
7 books53 followersMark Mirabello, Ph.D., writes on the supernatural (A Traveler's Guide to the Afterlife, The Odin Brotherhood, and The Crimes of Jehovah), the unnatural (The Cannibal Within, an erotic horror novella), and the natural ( Handbook for Rebels and Outlaws: Resisting Tyrants, Hangmen, and Priests).
Mirabello's area of expertise is the "outlaw" history on the "frontiers and margins" of human civilization. He lectures on Alternative Religions and Cults, Secret Societies, Terrorism and Crime, "Banned Books," Intellectual History, and other subjects. According to Mirabello, "Never believe anything until it has been officially denied."
Mirabello, who is a professor of history at Shawnee State University in the USA, has served as a Visiting Professor of History at Nizhny Novgorod University in Russia.
Mirabello has a Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow and an M.A. from the University of Virginia
Mirabello's area of expertise is the "outlaw" history on the "frontiers and margins" of human civilization. He lectures on Alternative Religions and Cults, Secret Societies, Terrorism and Crime, "Banned Books," Intellectual History, and other subjects. According to Mirabello, "Never believe anything until it has been officially denied."
Mirabello, who is a professor of history at Shawnee State University in the USA, has served as a Visiting Professor of History at Nizhny Novgorod University in Russia.
Mirabello has a Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow and an M.A. from the University of Virginia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
March 24, 2009
Take every disgusting thing about monsters, humans, sex, reproduction, rape, sodomy, slavery, torture, and cannibalism, stuff it into a slender book, and voila! you have The Cannibal Within. No depravity is too taboo to include in this mean little book.
The story is about two unattractive teens into witchcraft who decide to conjure up some demons in the woods near one's home. They succeed and some transhumans pop up to brutally rape one girl and eat her friend alive.
The story is told through the diary of the survivor that details her hellish underworld experiences where she is enslaved as a breeder of transhumans. The babies are born with all manner of defects, and then thrown into crowded, feces-covered cages for two years before they're turned into "baby jelly," meaning they are beaten to a pulp and then devoured as a delicacy. The lucky ones are eaten immediately, sometimes by their own mothers.
Transhumans come above ground to hunt for humans to take back to the underworld--some are used as slaves in factories, worked to death in polluted rooms until they are so weak they are devoured while they're still breathing ; some "pig humans" are forbidden to move around and are force fed until they top weights of up to 1600 pounds, and then their skins are used to make leather and parchment and their rendered fat turned into soaps and salves; some are placed in cages in slave markets where they're chosen as food; some women are turned into dairy cows and their ulcered breasts grow so large they can only crawl around, dragging their teats beneath them; some humans are used for entertainment, fighting to the death without weapons--men v. men, dwarves v. women, blind men v. children.
All in all a great read for a sicko like me.
The story is about two unattractive teens into witchcraft who decide to conjure up some demons in the woods near one's home. They succeed and some transhumans pop up to brutally rape one girl and eat her friend alive.
The story is told through the diary of the survivor that details her hellish underworld experiences where she is enslaved as a breeder of transhumans. The babies are born with all manner of defects, and then thrown into crowded, feces-covered cages for two years before they're turned into "baby jelly," meaning they are beaten to a pulp and then devoured as a delicacy. The lucky ones are eaten immediately, sometimes by their own mothers.
Transhumans come above ground to hunt for humans to take back to the underworld--some are used as slaves in factories, worked to death in polluted rooms until they are so weak they are devoured while they're still breathing ; some "pig humans" are forbidden to move around and are force fed until they top weights of up to 1600 pounds, and then their skins are used to make leather and parchment and their rendered fat turned into soaps and salves; some are placed in cages in slave markets where they're chosen as food; some women are turned into dairy cows and their ulcered breasts grow so large they can only crawl around, dragging their teats beneath them; some humans are used for entertainment, fighting to the death without weapons--men v. men, dwarves v. women, blind men v. children.
All in all a great read for a sicko like me.
September 6, 2012
What is the reality of our existence?
Man thinks that he is the master of his own destiny. That he is at the top of the food chain. According to the nihilistic theme of man’s existence in The Cannibal Within, “The human race does not control its own destiny. We may think we are free-millions of brainwashed simians living in a corn-fed Babylon called America believe this fantasy-but it is all an illusion. We are slaves-livestock-tethered on a long and invisible leash.
”The Earth is a farm,’ wrote Charles Fort. ‘We are someone else’s property.’
We may think we are special-holy, honored, valued-god’s chosen primates-but that is a fraud. The dupes of superhuman forces, we are misfits and abominations. We have no higher purpose-no savior god died for our sins-we exist, only because our masters are infatuated with our meat....“ And so began this unsettling and thought-provoking book that illustrates in Lovecraftian style with splatterpunk finesse of modern horror writers, the futility of man’s existence.
The story begins with the introduction of a female stranger who has survived something horrendous. She slowly reveals to the professor her story via a thirty-page manuscript imbued with the aura of evil. With each revelation, she progressively destroyed the professor’s idea of man’s existence in the world, the first idea destroyed being that man is at the top of the food chain. She revealed that there is a master species above man, transhumans who have existed among man and living beneath our feet. Superior to man in strength and telepathic abilities, they sometimes disguise themselves among us by mental illusions. This superior species eats only raw, live meat, preferably human meat. While man was under the mistaken assumption that he is at the top of the food chain, humans are handled and devoured like cattles in caverns beneath their feet. The manuscript detailed how the woman and her friend Maddalena summoned the transhumans by performing satanic rituals and chaos magick. Maddalena was eaten while the woman was kept as birthing cattle for fresh young food, and raped and tortured repeatedly. The woman survived to document her ordeal.
The premise of man as nothing but cattle creates an existential crisis. Man’s grasp on the world depends on our values and our understanding of how this world functions. This story posits that we are nothing but fodder for superior beings, that there is no helpful God, and that we were under the illusion that our lives have meaning. Everything dealing with man’s existence become questionable. The ontological question of what exists, and its hierarchy and grouping comes into question. Instead of man being at the top of the hominid group, we find that there are about 22 million transhumans living in tunnels beneath us. They are of our group, but through a process of evolution we were unaware of, they have supernormal abilities, superior intelligence that includes telepathic abilities, and superior strength. Through the process of evolution and environment, the hominid progressed from a plant eating herbivore, to a meat eating carnivore, perhaps due to the lack of plant life by the changes in the environment. This was described as a carnivorous ”orgasmic joy“ of discovery. This evolution theory was further pushed when the Hunger continued to the point where the ancestors became cannibals. This ”orgasmic joy“ of eating meat and cannibalism was emphasized to great visceral effect in the book. Thus, man in reality is nothing more than clueless cattle on the earth farm above the tunnels of our master and superior, the man-eating transhumans.
With this premise of man being nothing more than faceless cattle for superior beings, our existential crisis comes in full force. What is the use of our social structure that we’ve built for ourselves? Our morals, ethics and religious beliefs? Our individuality? Our motivation? Although these questions arise from the bizarre premise of cannibalistic superior beings, existential questions have come up often when horrendous occurrences have happened in history, such as war, genocide, nuclear destruction, the economy collapsing, and outbreaks of plagues and epidemics.
This book is peppered with countless questions on the meaning of existence that makes me pause to think on it. If you’re into existentialism and want to be entertained at the same time by horror and gore, I highly recommend this book.
Man thinks that he is the master of his own destiny. That he is at the top of the food chain. According to the nihilistic theme of man’s existence in The Cannibal Within, “The human race does not control its own destiny. We may think we are free-millions of brainwashed simians living in a corn-fed Babylon called America believe this fantasy-but it is all an illusion. We are slaves-livestock-tethered on a long and invisible leash.
”The Earth is a farm,’ wrote Charles Fort. ‘We are someone else’s property.’
We may think we are special-holy, honored, valued-god’s chosen primates-but that is a fraud. The dupes of superhuman forces, we are misfits and abominations. We have no higher purpose-no savior god died for our sins-we exist, only because our masters are infatuated with our meat....“ And so began this unsettling and thought-provoking book that illustrates in Lovecraftian style with splatterpunk finesse of modern horror writers, the futility of man’s existence.
The story begins with the introduction of a female stranger who has survived something horrendous. She slowly reveals to the professor her story via a thirty-page manuscript imbued with the aura of evil. With each revelation, she progressively destroyed the professor’s idea of man’s existence in the world, the first idea destroyed being that man is at the top of the food chain. She revealed that there is a master species above man, transhumans who have existed among man and living beneath our feet. Superior to man in strength and telepathic abilities, they sometimes disguise themselves among us by mental illusions. This superior species eats only raw, live meat, preferably human meat. While man was under the mistaken assumption that he is at the top of the food chain, humans are handled and devoured like cattles in caverns beneath their feet. The manuscript detailed how the woman and her friend Maddalena summoned the transhumans by performing satanic rituals and chaos magick. Maddalena was eaten while the woman was kept as birthing cattle for fresh young food, and raped and tortured repeatedly. The woman survived to document her ordeal.
The premise of man as nothing but cattle creates an existential crisis. Man’s grasp on the world depends on our values and our understanding of how this world functions. This story posits that we are nothing but fodder for superior beings, that there is no helpful God, and that we were under the illusion that our lives have meaning. Everything dealing with man’s existence become questionable. The ontological question of what exists, and its hierarchy and grouping comes into question. Instead of man being at the top of the hominid group, we find that there are about 22 million transhumans living in tunnels beneath us. They are of our group, but through a process of evolution we were unaware of, they have supernormal abilities, superior intelligence that includes telepathic abilities, and superior strength. Through the process of evolution and environment, the hominid progressed from a plant eating herbivore, to a meat eating carnivore, perhaps due to the lack of plant life by the changes in the environment. This was described as a carnivorous ”orgasmic joy“ of discovery. This evolution theory was further pushed when the Hunger continued to the point where the ancestors became cannibals. This ”orgasmic joy“ of eating meat and cannibalism was emphasized to great visceral effect in the book. Thus, man in reality is nothing more than clueless cattle on the earth farm above the tunnels of our master and superior, the man-eating transhumans.
With this premise of man being nothing more than faceless cattle for superior beings, our existential crisis comes in full force. What is the use of our social structure that we’ve built for ourselves? Our morals, ethics and religious beliefs? Our individuality? Our motivation? Although these questions arise from the bizarre premise of cannibalistic superior beings, existential questions have come up often when horrendous occurrences have happened in history, such as war, genocide, nuclear destruction, the economy collapsing, and outbreaks of plagues and epidemics.
This book is peppered with countless questions on the meaning of existence that makes me pause to think on it. If you’re into existentialism and want to be entertained at the same time by horror and gore, I highly recommend this book.
August 3, 2015
Hmmm. There is lots of viscous and grotesque bloody discharge here for sure. Normally, I would be more down with that, but this novella seemed disjointed to me and was not written particularly well. The subject matter was actually very interesting but the execution lost me somewhere and I became, not bored exactly, but indifferent. I don't even know how this still gets three stars, but it does.
June 7, 2010
This book is 67 ereader screens full of pure win. An intensely allegorical story, it seamlessly blends christian apocrypha and thelemic laws. Using our cultures most sacred taboos, vividly scrawled across the page in a matter of fact tone that made me feel prurient while piquing my curiosity, this book explores the nature of the will to power in the nietzschean / reichean sense.
I definite must read for anyone interested in the darker recesses of the human mind. I think this book would be good for people who like Clive Barker, Aleister Crowley, Friedrich Nietzsche and Wilhem Reich.
I definite must read for anyone interested in the darker recesses of the human mind. I think this book would be good for people who like Clive Barker, Aleister Crowley, Friedrich Nietzsche and Wilhem Reich.
September 30, 2011
One of the most twisted,screwed up stories of horror you would probably find to read out there. If this was another year back in time another century this would likely be banned for good. Laden with blasphemy and talk of a higher species, master species called the trans-human species. They have telepathic abilities and masters of illusions. They plunder peoples thoughts and memories. The are vile they eat meat raw flesh quivering with life.
There are two women who are obsessed with Satan and the occult and embark on calling on Satan the devil and get in return more than they can handle. They are really asking for trouble on the offset as they do the most vile and outrageous acts to summon up the devil. "They have interest in occultism they studied stolen texts on Satanism, chaos magick, and the dark litanies of dangerous gods" stated in the story.
This story is full of talk of occult and other histories and dark forces. The author seems to be well read in this field as "Mirabello's area of expertise is the "outlaw" history on the "frontiers and margins" of human civilization. He lectures on Alternative Religions and Cults, Secret Societies, Terrorism and Crime, "Banned Books," Intellectual History, and other subjects."This story is way out there into the weird Lovecraft sense and bare no truth but after all this is a work of fiction and provides very different outlook on the world bizarrely bloody and grotesque. This story hits all the extremes in violence and sex and warn many readers to tread carefully, if they want to not have grave and obscene images stay with them in the back of their minds.
This story with all its strangeness keeps you turning and is creatively written.
There are two women who are obsessed with Satan and the occult and embark on calling on Satan the devil and get in return more than they can handle. They are really asking for trouble on the offset as they do the most vile and outrageous acts to summon up the devil. "They have interest in occultism they studied stolen texts on Satanism, chaos magick, and the dark litanies of dangerous gods" stated in the story.
This story is full of talk of occult and other histories and dark forces. The author seems to be well read in this field as "Mirabello's area of expertise is the "outlaw" history on the "frontiers and margins" of human civilization. He lectures on Alternative Religions and Cults, Secret Societies, Terrorism and Crime, "Banned Books," Intellectual History, and other subjects."This story is way out there into the weird Lovecraft sense and bare no truth but after all this is a work of fiction and provides very different outlook on the world bizarrely bloody and grotesque. This story hits all the extremes in violence and sex and warn many readers to tread carefully, if they want to not have grave and obscene images stay with them in the back of their minds.
This story with all its strangeness keeps you turning and is creatively written.
July 13, 2009
Ever have one of those friends who always told you the most outlandish stories? And they tell you with so much conviction that you almost believe them even though the story is so absurd? That's what this book is like.
Even two years after I read it, I still think about this book.
It's written almost as if it were REAL (I hope it's not!) and there's just something about it that's really creepy. I plan to read it again very soon.
If you are looking for a dramatic plot-driven horror novel...go somewhere else. If you want to read a bizarre horror novel that reads like a historical memoir or case-history...this is it.
I've seen this compared with hardcore horror novels by people like Ed Lee. That's probably not appropriate because they are two different types of styles. If you are an Ed Lee fan, you might be disappointed in this book. it is not your typical horror. It lacks any humor whatsoever (which, for the subject, is a good thing).
This is horror for the thinking crowd. Just buy this book and read it with an open mind. It's short but once you finish you will NOT forget it.
Even two years after I read it, I still think about this book.
It's written almost as if it were REAL (I hope it's not!) and there's just something about it that's really creepy. I plan to read it again very soon.
If you are looking for a dramatic plot-driven horror novel...go somewhere else. If you want to read a bizarre horror novel that reads like a historical memoir or case-history...this is it.
I've seen this compared with hardcore horror novels by people like Ed Lee. That's probably not appropriate because they are two different types of styles. If you are an Ed Lee fan, you might be disappointed in this book. it is not your typical horror. It lacks any humor whatsoever (which, for the subject, is a good thing).
This is horror for the thinking crowd. Just buy this book and read it with an open mind. It's short but once you finish you will NOT forget it.
September 7, 2010
I really have very little to say about this book. The only pieces of it that I found enjoyment in were quotes taken from other people that appeared the beginnings of the chapters.
I really believe this book should be burned, buried, and stopped from print. It was horrible.
The whole thing felt very adolescent, it was like the author was aching to emphasize every description with phallic mockery. It got very boring to read, and I believe my eyes rolled a few times.
I had a hell of a time making it through this piece of crap (to put it plain).
I really believe this book should be burned, buried, and stopped from print. It was horrible.
The whole thing felt very adolescent, it was like the author was aching to emphasize every description with phallic mockery. It got very boring to read, and I believe my eyes rolled a few times.
I had a hell of a time making it through this piece of crap (to put it plain).
December 20, 2015
This has to be one of the most insane book's I've ever read. The plot and subject matter of this book was interesting, but apart from that I was lost to just what the man was writing about. I mean I can only guess, he had a wanton need to be marquis de Sade?! Not even close. But his rantings in this book almost hit's to his score.
July 25, 2023
The umbrella encompassing the variety of books in the horror genre is vast. Whereas it is my preferred genre there is a lot in it that I don't like.
This is an example of what can be done under that umbrella, and something that I suspect, very few people will like. I expect Mirabello knew that also. Nonetheless, it is well worth reading.
In the first place the theme of the book is anarchic; what if humans are not the top of the hierarchy and are not in control of their own destiny, and that there is a greater supernatural force.
Told in a vaguely Lovecraftian style, blended with the erotic distaste of de Sade, this is a story that plays to the 'we're all doomed' scenario.
A seemingly insane woman walks into the narrator's office (I assume the author himself) and gives him a manuscriot describing her grotesque experiences. At 17 years old, as a disaffected teenager, she was abducted by cannibalistic trans-humans after she and her friend had performed a Satanic ritual. The depraved aberrations have her friend for dinner, and then kidnap the protagonist and lock her in a cage in their underground lair for several years. Despite suffering every possible abuse she takes it quite philosophically, often quoting the likes of Neitzsche, Plato, Dick and Crowley.
Ultimately, Mirabello's efforts fall flat; there's only a certain point to which one can be shocked by mutilation, cannibalism and rape. He is no de Sade, though it never occured to me not to finish the book. It does have a strange compulsion, I think because the author is totally unconcerned his reader, and just does his own thing. Its highly experimental, and does have just the occasional moment when it is clear that the author has talent.
This is an example of what can be done under that umbrella, and something that I suspect, very few people will like. I expect Mirabello knew that also. Nonetheless, it is well worth reading.
In the first place the theme of the book is anarchic; what if humans are not the top of the hierarchy and are not in control of their own destiny, and that there is a greater supernatural force.
Told in a vaguely Lovecraftian style, blended with the erotic distaste of de Sade, this is a story that plays to the 'we're all doomed' scenario.
A seemingly insane woman walks into the narrator's office (I assume the author himself) and gives him a manuscriot describing her grotesque experiences. At 17 years old, as a disaffected teenager, she was abducted by cannibalistic trans-humans after she and her friend had performed a Satanic ritual. The depraved aberrations have her friend for dinner, and then kidnap the protagonist and lock her in a cage in their underground lair for several years. Despite suffering every possible abuse she takes it quite philosophically, often quoting the likes of Neitzsche, Plato, Dick and Crowley.
Ultimately, Mirabello's efforts fall flat; there's only a certain point to which one can be shocked by mutilation, cannibalism and rape. He is no de Sade, though it never occured to me not to finish the book. It does have a strange compulsion, I think because the author is totally unconcerned his reader, and just does his own thing. Its highly experimental, and does have just the occasional moment when it is clear that the author has talent.
March 18, 2017
Pretty good "true" fiction story. Unfortunately didn't find it as disturbing as I thought it would be. Really enjoyed the last third of the book that described transhuman society.
January 13, 2015
Two unattractive, heavily bullied and very unstable teenagers decide to try and summon Satan. Being into the occult, they wish for Satan to take their virginal bodies for his own pleasure. One was molested as a child, the other a victim of cancer, so both are very different than normal young people. What they summon is not the ‘O rapist God’, however, but three creatures called transhumans. One is raped by a huge godlike penis and the other is eaten alive. The survivor then becomes a breeder for these creatures; giving birth to deformed children who do not live long, but are eaten as they are considered a delicacy. After years of this hell, the girl finally escapes.
(Please be aware that this review may contain spoilers before reading further.)
I read this in one sitting, within a three hour time period. I wanted to be shocked, disgusted and disturbed by something, so when I found this I instantly bought it. Instead of a twisted delight, I got mostly babble. The whole idea was to make you question our world and our beliefs, for we are not the highly intelligent primates situated at the top of the food chain, but mere cattle.
Quotes are riddled throughout the book; from the Bible to other folk. Yes, I was clueless, as I admit I've never read the Bible or indulged in the works of religion, as I do not follow one. These quotations didn’t interest me.
I know people think this an eerie and gory tale, which is supposed to make you think at great lengths about what we really know about our world. After I finished it, I didn’t dwell on thoughts of monsters with flabby vagina's or godlike erections. I didn’t even think of our existence. Maybe I’m too young for such deep contemplation or perhaps I don’t appreciate this kind of writing. I don’t know, myself, but what I do is that I’m a scientific person and I take stories for what they are; stories.
There is a lot of information that is gory and disgusting, which is all that intrigued me. You name it and it’s there; incest, castration, eating newborns, rape, slavery, cannibalism, etc. You don’t necessarily need a strong stomach, but you need an open mind and strong heart. I know my mother wouldn’t be able to read this, as the most terrible things humanity can do to each other is never talked or thought about by most, so when they are right in front of you, many can’t deal with it. Avoidance. We like to think our lives are filled with sunshine, but deep down, humanity are monsters. We treat our food the way transhumans would treat theirs.
© Red Lace 2011
(Please be aware that this review may contain spoilers before reading further.)
I read this in one sitting, within a three hour time period. I wanted to be shocked, disgusted and disturbed by something, so when I found this I instantly bought it. Instead of a twisted delight, I got mostly babble. The whole idea was to make you question our world and our beliefs, for we are not the highly intelligent primates situated at the top of the food chain, but mere cattle.
Quotes are riddled throughout the book; from the Bible to other folk. Yes, I was clueless, as I admit I've never read the Bible or indulged in the works of religion, as I do not follow one. These quotations didn’t interest me.
I know people think this an eerie and gory tale, which is supposed to make you think at great lengths about what we really know about our world. After I finished it, I didn’t dwell on thoughts of monsters with flabby vagina's or godlike erections. I didn’t even think of our existence. Maybe I’m too young for such deep contemplation or perhaps I don’t appreciate this kind of writing. I don’t know, myself, but what I do is that I’m a scientific person and I take stories for what they are; stories.
There is a lot of information that is gory and disgusting, which is all that intrigued me. You name it and it’s there; incest, castration, eating newborns, rape, slavery, cannibalism, etc. You don’t necessarily need a strong stomach, but you need an open mind and strong heart. I know my mother wouldn’t be able to read this, as the most terrible things humanity can do to each other is never talked or thought about by most, so when they are right in front of you, many can’t deal with it. Avoidance. We like to think our lives are filled with sunshine, but deep down, humanity are monsters. We treat our food the way transhumans would treat theirs.
© Red Lace 2011
May 21, 2009
I've known a lot of mentally ill people in my life. This book reads a lot like what I imagine the inside of their head's are like at times. The story is impossible and all the more terrifying for that reason.
June 8, 2015
One of the things that I love the most about GoodReads and its forums, is that it allows you to discover literature that otherwise would have passed right by you, for better and for worse. Which of the two this little books fall under is not very easy to determine. It's one of those books that you can either love or hate.
This is a book that essentially deals with themes as diverse as sexual depravities, gore, science fiction, mythology, evolutionary "theory", existentialism and of course cannibalism. It's actually quite surprising to see how often existential questions are actually being brought forward in this short novella. It's also surprising to see how the author actually managed to be not as explicit in his depiction of the gore and depravity as he could have been, which is quite a feat considering how descriptive it is. This book is certainly not the gore-fest that I imagined it would have been. There are books that I find far more gory than this one - such as American Psycho and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; it was difficult reading those, this one, however, was both easy and quick to read.
Do I like this book? No, not so much to be honest, for I found the story to be too thin and too eager to shock and revolt. It's only 144 pages long with lots of space on each page, and when the last 40-or-so pages start getting rather boring then you can really see how thin this story actually is and how little it actually has to tell you. It's as if this story tries too hard to be something that it is not. It tries to shock, it tries to be meta-fiction and it tries to gross you out. Frankly, I think it fails on all accounts.
Verdict: 1.5 stars rounded up to 2 for creativity.
This is a book that essentially deals with themes as diverse as sexual depravities, gore, science fiction, mythology, evolutionary "theory", existentialism and of course cannibalism. It's actually quite surprising to see how often existential questions are actually being brought forward in this short novella. It's also surprising to see how the author actually managed to be not as explicit in his depiction of the gore and depravity as he could have been, which is quite a feat considering how descriptive it is. This book is certainly not the gore-fest that I imagined it would have been. There are books that I find far more gory than this one - such as American Psycho and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; it was difficult reading those, this one, however, was both easy and quick to read.
Do I like this book? No, not so much to be honest, for I found the story to be too thin and too eager to shock and revolt. It's only 144 pages long with lots of space on each page, and when the last 40-or-so pages start getting rather boring then you can really see how thin this story actually is and how little it actually has to tell you. It's as if this story tries too hard to be something that it is not. It tries to shock, it tries to be meta-fiction and it tries to gross you out. Frankly, I think it fails on all accounts.
Verdict: 1.5 stars rounded up to 2 for creativity.
March 24, 2011
Responding to other reviews here, I found this to be neither worthy of burning nor a new explication of "Thelema" (an assemblage of old ideas festooned in a new fool's motley). For me, taboo-breaking and so-called blasphemous works are measured on two counts, 1) literary merit and 2) the transmutation of potentially objectionable material into something meriting deep consideration, discussion or meditation. The Cannibal Within fails on both counts. Try as he might, Mark Mirabello falls far short of his hero Octave Mirbeau's ghastly masterpiece The Torture Garden, with its century-old yet still relevant study of the impact of mechanized warfare contrasted with the aesthetics of the titular Asian torture garden. Dr. Mirabello writes passably but his mess of a book is cluttered with quotes from brighter, more expressive writers. Structurally, the novel abandons its plot halfway through, switching to a tedious didactic history of the "transhumans." Its litany of abominations grows dull, largely due to the author's ultimate failure to dramatize. Comparisons to Lovecraft are laughable. While the novel is perverse, it is never erotic. While the writing is good, it doesn't evoke the deeper resonances requisite for such a work to succeed. One can marvel at Mirabello's influences, worn on his paper sleeve through the abundance of quotations, even as one notices how inferior a talent he is compared to his idols. If you're looking for a shocking, intellectual horror novel, avoid this wet dog and pick up Cyclonopedia by Reza Negaristani, anything by Georges Bataille, or Mirbeau's The Torture Garden.
September 8, 2011
Designed to shock and repel, it soon became boring. Yes, you can overdo gruesome, taboo, details to the point where the reading of such just becomes mundane. What started out as a good story, turned into a catalog of depravities. Very little action, just a lot of descriptions. If the author had spent more time with the woman who escaped the atrocities being inflicted upon her, he might have had an interesting tale to tell.
November 5, 2017
If I were to choose a word to describe this book, it would be naive. The author seems to want to inspire horror and revulsion, but has no idea how to go about it. Having read somewhere that rape, incest, and cannibalism generally cause these reactions, the author mentions them constantly, but never describes them in any meaningful way. It's like a punk band yelling "RAPE! RAPE! RAPE!" on stage: the problem is not that the audience "doesn't get it" or "can't handle it", it's that you are boring and unoriginal.
The writing is like that all the way through. The author asserts that things are a certain way ("ugly", "violent", "perverse", "degraded", etc), but never demonstrates that they are.
The back of the book compares this to the writings of Lovecraft, de Sade, Mirbeau, and it is clear that this blurb was written by the author. In fact, he references all three in the course of the book, as if desperate to convince you that he has read all of them -- while demonstrating, if by nothing else than his lack of any understanding of how writing works, that he most certainly has not.
So: huge waste of time and, ultimately, a testament to astounding mediocrity. I can't imagine anyone being offended by this book, let alone entertained.
The writing is like that all the way through. The author asserts that things are a certain way ("ugly", "violent", "perverse", "degraded", etc), but never demonstrates that they are.
The back of the book compares this to the writings of Lovecraft, de Sade, Mirbeau, and it is clear that this blurb was written by the author. In fact, he references all three in the course of the book, as if desperate to convince you that he has read all of them -- while demonstrating, if by nothing else than his lack of any understanding of how writing works, that he most certainly has not.
So: huge waste of time and, ultimately, a testament to astounding mediocrity. I can't imagine anyone being offended by this book, let alone entertained.
June 1, 2019
I write this review as a sort of... layman? I know that the book has a deeper meaning and subtext than what is presented on the surface. But as I read it, I just enjoyed the story and the descriptions for what they were. If you are into Marquis de Sade and such for the surface entertainment then I believe you will enjoy this as well. This book was so grotesque and horrifying that I had to put it down after every few pages to sort of refresh before I could come back. Someone close to me (who doesn't have my level of interest in the macabre) had the misfortune of asking me how the book I was reading was going, and I told them about the way the captive woman escapes. They responded with shocked silence for a few seconds and then gave a nervous laugh and said "okay I'm going to go curl up in the fetal position and forget I ever heard that."
Lol :)
Lol :)
September 29, 2018
I picked this book up awhile ago and really did not know what to expect. It took me literally a day to read it and I enjoyed it from start to finish. I love how the author blends scientific terms with his writting, making the "cannibal species" seem like they actually exist. Very gorey and very well written, one of my top ten!
August 4, 2016
Very few books can weird me out. This was an exception. And any book that can make me feel that way gets kudos. It was creepy, well told, with a sense of believably.
It was a bit similar to Edward Lee's Infernal series as Lee describes the the underground city of Hell.
Recommended if you want to be spooked a bit.
It was a bit similar to Edward Lee's Infernal series as Lee describes the the underground city of Hell.
Recommended if you want to be spooked a bit.
January 26, 2010
I actually loved this story. The idea behind it was rather brilliant. Some of the words were overused (i.e. 'adjacent') but it hit all the right gooey places. Very twisted and dark. Did I say I loved this book? I loved this book.
October 7, 2010
Short and sick with a slew of great quotes.
December 14, 2020
A great concept, ruined by unbearable pretension.
December 11, 2022
When I pick up a book like this, I'm hoping to be either disturbingly aroused or rousingly disturbed. Mirabello's writing, in it's uninspired, monotone spotlight, leaves me (pardon the pun) with nothing to chew on. There's graphic descriptions, the words vagina and penis are used, yes, but that does not make a story erotic. There's blood, there's gore, but nothing that inspires fear.
The Cannibal Within possesses a lack of emotion within the narrative that leaves the reader disconnected. I found the constant, multiple quotes at the beginning of each chapter to be tedious and distracting. The fact Mirabello does not trust the reader to understand symbolism or references is also a bit insulting. There's a particular point where he points out that the dog is a symbol of loyalty, I rolled my eyes at that one. He's constantly making sure that you understand his parallels to the Bible are indeed parallels to the Bible. The need to spoon-feed the reader takes president over style, structure, and unfortunately quality.
The Cannibal Within possesses a lack of emotion within the narrative that leaves the reader disconnected. I found the constant, multiple quotes at the beginning of each chapter to be tedious and distracting. The fact Mirabello does not trust the reader to understand symbolism or references is also a bit insulting. There's a particular point where he points out that the dog is a symbol of loyalty, I rolled my eyes at that one. He's constantly making sure that you understand his parallels to the Bible are indeed parallels to the Bible. The need to spoon-feed the reader takes president over style, structure, and unfortunately quality.
November 5, 2023
Not my style.
I'm all for writers pushing boundaries and writing anything, but beyond the content this wasn't well-written. The dialogue had quite a bit of exposition, was unrealistic for a survivor (imo), and I simply wasn't engaged by the concept of transhumans. I need more subtlety (at least in the beginning) and psychological depth. I found The 120 Days of Sodom & Used more engaging & well-written than this, for example.
I'm all for writers pushing boundaries and writing anything, but beyond the content this wasn't well-written. The dialogue had quite a bit of exposition, was unrealistic for a survivor (imo), and I simply wasn't engaged by the concept of transhumans. I need more subtlety (at least in the beginning) and psychological depth. I found The 120 Days of Sodom & Used more engaging & well-written than this, for example.
October 25, 2022
From the blurb, this sounded like a great horror novel... but it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. The chapters are ridiculously short, and although the author throws the kitchen sink of horror at every page, everything is skated over so briefly that the atrocities have little detail and no substance. Between all the unpleasantness, there is a lot of nonsense rambling that somehow managed to make even a book this short tedious. To make matters worse, my Kindle edition was poorly formatted so that the paragraphs had too much space between them. I've given an extra star for the idea behind the story, which was about the only good thing about it.
November 7, 2024
once again i as goodreads to come out with half stars
anyway of course it’s only a man who could come up with this shit (it’s losing half a star cause it’s written by a man)
of course he had to come up with some brutal story about a woman literally go through hell and back (i feel like hell is not an adequate enough word for everything that was described in this book) cause only a man would put women in the worst most insane situations like that
anyway i sadly actually did enjoy the book though and would probably read again
anyway of course it’s only a man who could come up with this shit (it’s losing half a star cause it’s written by a man)
of course he had to come up with some brutal story about a woman literally go through hell and back (i feel like hell is not an adequate enough word for everything that was described in this book) cause only a man would put women in the worst most insane situations like that
anyway i sadly actually did enjoy the book though and would probably read again
April 17, 2018
The sickest, most depraved and disturbing book I've read. Loved it!
January 7, 2025
A sick and perverted read.
March 24, 2023
Interesting, but didn't really go anywhere. Whole thing felt like it was setting the scene for a story that never gets told. Interesting references.
Full review here.
Full review here.
November 24, 2013
I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked the occult bits of the story but got bored with the extensive look at the transhumans, their culture, religion, etc. It just seemed to go on and on.
I am not sure where I got the ebook edition that I read. I am pretty sure it came through Amazon but I can't tell for certain. The edition that I had was full of errors: run on words, broken words, misspellings (capital G's were consistently replaced with Q's and capital I's with T's.) and others. I realize the book is written as a diary and as such, some errors would be intentional. But, I don't think this is the case here. It looks to be a poorly done scan.
3 STARS
I am not sure where I got the ebook edition that I read. I am pretty sure it came through Amazon but I can't tell for certain. The edition that I had was full of errors: run on words, broken words, misspellings (capital G's were consistently replaced with Q's and capital I's with T's.) and others. I realize the book is written as a diary and as such, some errors would be intentional. But, I don't think this is the case here. It looks to be a poorly done scan.
3 STARS
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