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Convulsive
New museums birth atrocity in every flex: fifteen horror stories of religion, abuse, desire, and gender.
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2022
15 people are currently reading
808 people want to read
About the author
Joe Koch
74 books150 followersJoe Koch writes literary horror and surrealist trash. Their books include THE WINGSPAN OF SEVERED HANDS, CONVULSIVE, INVAGINIES, and THE COUVADE, which received a Shirley Jackson Award nomination in 2019. His short fiction appears in numerous publications such as Vastarien, Southwest Review, PseudoPod, Children of the New Flesh, and The Book of Queer Saints. Joe also co-edited the art horror anthology STORIES OF THE EYE. He/They. Find Joe online at horrorsong.blog and on Twitter @horrorsong.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 5, 2022
Convulsive is the kind of book that treats your mind like it's outdated and in need of an upgrade. Less wearing its tight prose than wielding it, each story is an experiment and an experience. I've read a couple of them before, with "Paradisum Volupatis" being an enduring favorite in its drug-paint exploration and explosion, but new to me favorites and gems of this collection include "Rust Belt Requiescat" and especially "The Object of Your Desire Comes Closet," twining love and hopeless frustration into a star-slung journey that left me shaken scene by desperate scene. An intelligent and highly recommended collection of transgressive short fiction.
May 5, 2022
No one writes like Joe! Deeply strange, disturbing, and moving, often all at once.
August 7, 2022
I can't review this adequately without re-reading, but I rate Joe Koch's debut collection of short fiction a heartfelt but ultimately meaningless 5 stars in the same way I'd give the ceiling of the Sistine chapel or the Annapurna mountain range 5 stars.
It's taken months of dipping in and out to reach the end, but I immediately want to return. This will be one of those books I'll forever re-read and never figure out quite how it was achieved.
I've called Joe a linguistic alchemist before, but that barely covers what they can do. I wish I had the language to do justice to the forms they can mould language into - I have thoughts, but they're not finessed enough to write them here. I hope I'll figure it out, because the work deserves more than this faint, gibbering praise.
There are horrors in these stories that transcend not just the human body and spirit but its history, its diseases and lusts and triumphant failures, its flimsy constructs of taste and sanity and gender. There is elation and degradation, often simultaneously. There are, on every single page, words so beautifully and deliberately crafted as to alter one's perception of reality.
In a new golden age of Horror, Joe Koch is at the forefront, lovingly and deftly and joyfully disintegrating the stars, regardless of their number.
It's taken months of dipping in and out to reach the end, but I immediately want to return. This will be one of those books I'll forever re-read and never figure out quite how it was achieved.
I've called Joe a linguistic alchemist before, but that barely covers what they can do. I wish I had the language to do justice to the forms they can mould language into - I have thoughts, but they're not finessed enough to write them here. I hope I'll figure it out, because the work deserves more than this faint, gibbering praise.
There are horrors in these stories that transcend not just the human body and spirit but its history, its diseases and lusts and triumphant failures, its flimsy constructs of taste and sanity and gender. There is elation and degradation, often simultaneously. There are, on every single page, words so beautifully and deliberately crafted as to alter one's perception of reality.
In a new golden age of Horror, Joe Koch is at the forefront, lovingly and deftly and joyfully disintegrating the stars, regardless of their number.
May 26, 2022
CONVULSIVE is my first Joe Koch read and it will not be my last. I have been trying to pick a favorite story in this collection, but I can't. I refuse to. "Offerings" was relatable to me as a mother, "The Anatomical Christ" spoke to my religious past (and religious trauma), "How to Fillet Angels" broke my heart, "The Revenge of Madeline Usher" scratched my E.A. Poe bone (yes, I have one. Don't all horror lovers?) "Peavement's Lament" — I wanted more! At least a novella of that story, I liked it so much. I'll stop there, but those weren't the only stories I loved. Every story is a poetic delicacy that somehow manages to remain accessible.
Koch does with words what Jackson Pollock did with paint splatter, or what Banksy does with spray paint. How can something seemingly so mundane (words in this case) be arranged in such a manner to create actual art? This is the question I kept asking myself while reading CONVULSIVE. The experience was immersive, the stories unique, but after every single one, I was left with the sense that I'd done more than read "another horror story." I'd been a witness to worlds created, to an artist who knows how to wield words, how to take a reader like me by the hand and open a window into imagination that I didn't know I could experience. I had to read it slowly to make sure every drop soaked into me. And to ensure it didn't end too quickly. Certainly a must-read and a collection I will probably pick up and read again in the future.
Koch does with words what Jackson Pollock did with paint splatter, or what Banksy does with spray paint. How can something seemingly so mundane (words in this case) be arranged in such a manner to create actual art? This is the question I kept asking myself while reading CONVULSIVE. The experience was immersive, the stories unique, but after every single one, I was left with the sense that I'd done more than read "another horror story." I'd been a witness to worlds created, to an artist who knows how to wield words, how to take a reader like me by the hand and open a window into imagination that I didn't know I could experience. I had to read it slowly to make sure every drop soaked into me. And to ensure it didn't end too quickly. Certainly a must-read and a collection I will probably pick up and read again in the future.
October 25, 2022
Having read a few of these in their original publications, I was astonished at how 'whole' they became within the company of other visions of Joes singular philosophy of horror.
The viscera of being, the razers edge of longing and madness, the loving and loathing of the imperfect flesh and its rending at the clinical hands of industry. Mania pervades Joes world, quiet, waiting, ever present.
The viscera of being, the razers edge of longing and madness, the loving and loathing of the imperfect flesh and its rending at the clinical hands of industry. Mania pervades Joes world, quiet, waiting, ever present.
June 27, 2022
I love to pick up a collection and find the good stories I expected to see reprinted and then a lot more that go beyond what I expected. A rich collection here, with some favorites being "Offerings," "The Object of Your Desire Comes Closer," "How to Fillet an Angel," and "Blood Calumny." If you like surreal, decadent, and lyrical stuff, try this out.
April 4, 2023
I don't know, man. Convulsive broke my brain. Joe's way with words is transcendent. Reading these stories was like learning a new language, difficult, but worth the challenge for the new worlds that will open up for you. You need to be willing to push you own boundaries to read these stories. Like a hearty meal, I suggest you give yourself time to digest each story, reflect on them rather than trying to read them all at once.
October 19, 2023
Shall you bring me laces tattered, a comb broken, an apple bitten? With proof of devotion, will you tempt me to lie? I see your truth clearly, filled with the emptiness that is my image, the twin cravings we trade. Speak with me, and share devotion: I am nothing without you.
Every so often you encounter a book that makes you question your grasp on reality, one that makes you think about your connection to the world, a book that, makes you reflect upon your own intelligence, sparking thoughts of getting an entirely new brain as your current one is seriously outdated. Convulsive is that book. This is an extremely experimental and deeply transgressive collection of short stories. Here you'll find only the most viscerally strange of tales, stories that evoke senses piqued during drug filled hazes, words that will make you see God.
It seems like a feat of impossibility to create a collection such as this, to write a work of art so mind-altering that it seems as if the author himself is on another plane of existence. Koch takes the regular, the mundane, and molds it into art so beautiful, so painstaking, that it almost masks the horrors hidden within. It's only when you uncover them, when you truly see, that you'll be left breathless, rendered silent, without speech. Ultimately, this is a novel that will benefit from several re-reads. It's unthinkable that one could soak up all this novel has to offer on just their first pass through.
Delving into this book felt like leaping from a ledge and sinking into madness. Convulsive flaunts its prose, it takes pride in its uniqueness, showing off how easily it bends and twists language into an entirely new concept. It feels as if this novel could move mountains. We are truly welcoming in a new age of horror, with Convulsive sitting amongst the best of the bunch. If what you seek is tales that will alter your perception of the world around you, stories that will change how you interact with words upon a page, then you've stumbled across the perfect collection.
He constructs a sanctuary of bones and weaves lean sinew and tense flesh through the holes. Sacrilegious magic is at work. He weaves more than meat. He weaves time.
Every so often you encounter a book that makes you question your grasp on reality, one that makes you think about your connection to the world, a book that, makes you reflect upon your own intelligence, sparking thoughts of getting an entirely new brain as your current one is seriously outdated. Convulsive is that book. This is an extremely experimental and deeply transgressive collection of short stories. Here you'll find only the most viscerally strange of tales, stories that evoke senses piqued during drug filled hazes, words that will make you see God.
It seems like a feat of impossibility to create a collection such as this, to write a work of art so mind-altering that it seems as if the author himself is on another plane of existence. Koch takes the regular, the mundane, and molds it into art so beautiful, so painstaking, that it almost masks the horrors hidden within. It's only when you uncover them, when you truly see, that you'll be left breathless, rendered silent, without speech. Ultimately, this is a novel that will benefit from several re-reads. It's unthinkable that one could soak up all this novel has to offer on just their first pass through.
"Once again he placed a bone to her lips. She smelled the sugar in it, felt the squirm of something fragrant in the rotting meat, the slab behind her back alive and moist, massaging her with maggots. "
Delving into this book felt like leaping from a ledge and sinking into madness. Convulsive flaunts its prose, it takes pride in its uniqueness, showing off how easily it bends and twists language into an entirely new concept. It feels as if this novel could move mountains. We are truly welcoming in a new age of horror, with Convulsive sitting amongst the best of the bunch. If what you seek is tales that will alter your perception of the world around you, stories that will change how you interact with words upon a page, then you've stumbled across the perfect collection.
He constructs a sanctuary of bones and weaves lean sinew and tense flesh through the holes. Sacrilegious magic is at work. He weaves more than meat. He weaves time.
June 9, 2025
Without a doubt an absolutely insane collection of short stories. A completely fascinating trip into a mind so unique in its ability to craft beauty out of truly abject horror.
The collection really hit me when "Aristotle's Lantern" made me feel so revolted, but completely unable to tear my eyes away from the page. I read an interview where Koch related the story to a nightmare about drowning. I've never had a nightmare about draining but I imagine this comes pretty close. But the main thing for me was how it managed to convey a character in such a desperate, unique and strange position, with prose that was so hallucinogenic, yet it felt so inescapably human.
Many of the other stories felt like entering a trance, yet the overriding theme for me was just how beautiful this horrific prose was.
Also fungus goddess in space? Just fuck yeah. And I'm also always here for some terrifying drug trips.
"I know Creation is a plague. I know that when desire transforms into violence, I will participate in the drama."
The collection really hit me when "Aristotle's Lantern" made me feel so revolted, but completely unable to tear my eyes away from the page. I read an interview where Koch related the story to a nightmare about drowning. I've never had a nightmare about draining but I imagine this comes pretty close. But the main thing for me was how it managed to convey a character in such a desperate, unique and strange position, with prose that was so hallucinogenic, yet it felt so inescapably human.
Many of the other stories felt like entering a trance, yet the overriding theme for me was just how beautiful this horrific prose was.
Also fungus goddess in space? Just fuck yeah. And I'm also always here for some terrifying drug trips.
"I know Creation is a plague. I know that when desire transforms into violence, I will participate in the drama."
August 15, 2022
Sometimes you read something so tightly written with intricate prose, you have to question your own intelligence. This book flaunts its language and squeezes a lot into every sentence of every one of the stories in this collection.
I was going to highlight the stories I liked best but when going back through them they all offer something special. There are recurring themes of religion, identity, relationships and sexuality heavily laden with deep metaphors.
I was going to highlight the stories I liked best but when going back through them they all offer something special. There are recurring themes of religion, identity, relationships and sexuality heavily laden with deep metaphors.
June 20, 2022
Haunting, beautiful, and weird in all the best ways. If you haven’t checked out this collection, then you’re missing out!
August 28, 2022
Joe consistently raises the bar. Every story he writes is a revelation of how achingly beautiful and poetic horror can be. Devour this collection and let it devour you.
November 24, 2022
“Original” is such an understatement when it comes to Joe Koch’s writing.
Baroque prose painting Boschian tableaux of smut, rot, queerness, and sublimity, melting the rules of writing down into keloid songs. I cannot get enough.
Baroque prose painting Boschian tableaux of smut, rot, queerness, and sublimity, melting the rules of writing down into keloid songs. I cannot get enough.
August 8, 2022
I am astonished by this collection. Joe- you are brilliant. We are lucky to have you.
May 22, 2022
Surrealism doesn't always work for me, and so not every one of these stories hit for me. That's a me thing, though, nothing to do with this collection that luxuriates in lush, heady language to weave together horror and body and autonomy and morality into a surrealist exploration of how to fit into reality.
The ones that did hit for me hit hard, and I found the jouney through the whole collection to embrace the weird combination of relaxation and provocation, a skilled wordsmith deploying controversial skirmishes into undefined territores but never working up a sweat.
The ones that did hit for me hit hard, and I found the jouney through the whole collection to embrace the weird combination of relaxation and provocation, a skilled wordsmith deploying controversial skirmishes into undefined territores but never working up a sweat.
March 1, 2023
There are times when I writer writes something that I can tell is meaningful but it's written in a way that's too smart and goes write over my head. This book could be considered that type of book but there were times when I read a sentence and thought, there is no way even the author knows what this means. I got the feeling Joe Koch threw words together that gave a sense of horror, creepiness, unease but when you take a step back you realize the sum of those words is complete nonsense. I'll be the first to admit this book is probably to smart for me but I'm at the point when I want authors to give their audience a break. Write something we can understand.
Read
July 21, 2022this was a very challenginging read for me! i did not entirely understand most of the stories in this collection. the only one i really enjoyed was “offerings.” i thought that story in particular was brilliant. otherwise, i was pretty confused most of the time. decidedly not for me, and it’s indie horror, so i won’t be rating this.
Read
January 3, 2023Tortured artists, haunted lovers, and other lost souls populate this powerful collection from The Wingspan of Severed Hands author Joe Koch. The stories here range from striking literary horror like “Offerings” (which reads like Shirley Jackson leaning into occult fantasy) to surreal experiments that leave the reader no option but to drift in the tide of the language, floating through a river that’s sometimes beautiful and sometimes putrid.
And I mean that in a good way – two of my favourite stories here are “Aristotle’s Lantern,” an arthouse take on a snuff film, and “The Buried King,” which in which a boy undergoes a metaphysical alteration while being murdered by a vagrant. And there’s a dark beauty to be found in the sublime – but too short! – transformation of an office worker in “Peaveman’s Lament.
These works display Koch’s incredible command of language; he knows exactly where he’s going even if the reader gets lost in layers of imagery and meaning. It’s not a casual read, but something you’ll want to immerse yourself in; an abstract painting that demands to be viewed from multiple angles.
And I mean that in a good way – two of my favourite stories here are “Aristotle’s Lantern,” an arthouse take on a snuff film, and “The Buried King,” which in which a boy undergoes a metaphysical alteration while being murdered by a vagrant. And there’s a dark beauty to be found in the sublime – but too short! – transformation of an office worker in “Peaveman’s Lament.
These works display Koch’s incredible command of language; he knows exactly where he’s going even if the reader gets lost in layers of imagery and meaning. It’s not a casual read, but something you’ll want to immerse yourself in; an abstract painting that demands to be viewed from multiple angles.
March 18, 2024
"She reorganized the puzzle of his bones and ate all the candy, saving his manic grin for last."
When I first read Joe, I was like GYAT!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was my reaction to The Wingspan of Severed Hands, which is also an insane book.
Convulsive is a collection. Joe Koch bio say they write "surrealist trash and literary horror."
I get that, cause Joe got some big a** words that I don't be knowing and I gotta go look em up, but not in a condescending way, more like, I am a better person now because I know what that s**t means.
These stories are all wet and nasty and disgusting, and I have to say visceral, even though everybody say Joe s**t is visceral so it's kinda cliche at this point.
Some of these stories make you feel like you are high, but some also make you feel like you are going through opiate withdrawal. I see why OG Brian Evenson stamped Joe for real.
When I first read Joe, I was like GYAT!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was my reaction to The Wingspan of Severed Hands, which is also an insane book.
Convulsive is a collection. Joe Koch bio say they write "surrealist trash and literary horror."
I get that, cause Joe got some big a** words that I don't be knowing and I gotta go look em up, but not in a condescending way, more like, I am a better person now because I know what that s**t means.
These stories are all wet and nasty and disgusting, and I have to say visceral, even though everybody say Joe s**t is visceral so it's kinda cliche at this point.
Some of these stories make you feel like you are high, but some also make you feel like you are going through opiate withdrawal. I see why OG Brian Evenson stamped Joe for real.
July 21, 2022
Some of these stories were incredibly moving, others missed the mark for me personally - but that's to be expected with every author's collections! My favourites were "Offerings" and "How to Fillet and Angel". Very much enjoyed the experience of reading Joe's complex and vivid writing, and look forward to more.
January 21, 2024
There are a few fantastic short stories in this collection. There are also several indecipherable 'stories', and I didn't have the patience for those. I should of given the "surrealist trash" part of the author's bio, more consideration before buying this book. However, the stories that I enjoyed stand out, and I bookmarked those pages to read again in the future.
August 12, 2022
Joe Koch has created an intoxicating collection of short stories that draw you in with his visceral and hypnotic prose. His stories are about longing for love and acceptance that his characters are willing to destroy themselves to get it.
October 23, 2022
The prose is phenomenal and most of the stories are interesting. Unique read!
April 8, 2023
Like nothing I've ever read before, but not sure I entirely enjoyed it throughout.
October 31, 2024
Some story’s are creepy, some got that good ol’ body horror, and some went over my head. But all around a good time.
November 18, 2024
Joe is maybe the closest thing we have right now to a literary Iggy Pop, Kenneth Anger or Butthole Surfers: he doing whatever the hell he feels like on the page and he's got a rock-solid sense of craft with a deep understanding of the form to go along with it.
This isn't surrealism for it's own sake, but a whirlwind of distilled fury, passion, obsession, terror, loathing and joy, released as 'horror' and 'surrealism' because they only these forms that can convey these emotions at such intensity.
One doesn't quite read these stories as much as they strap in and just go along for the ride. Everything lands, even when you have no idea where, when, who or what the story is doing.
This isn't surrealism for it's own sake, but a whirlwind of distilled fury, passion, obsession, terror, loathing and joy, released as 'horror' and 'surrealism' because they only these forms that can convey these emotions at such intensity.
One doesn't quite read these stories as much as they strap in and just go along for the ride. Everything lands, even when you have no idea where, when, who or what the story is doing.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews