Pornography for the End of the World

by Brendan Vidito

The end of the world demands a new form of pornography…

From Brendan Vidito, the Wonderland-Award-winning author of Nightmares in Ecstasy, comes nine tales of apocalyptic body horror.

A young man is initiated into a cult that worships sickness and disease.

Survivors of a nuclear holocaust make a pilgrimage to the last movie theater in existence.

Premonitions of disaster haunt a loving couple doomed to watch each other die.

Each story pulsates with Vidito's characteristic dark humor, atmospheric tension, and visceral prose. This is pornography for the devotee of horror, the morbidly curious—pornography for the end of the world.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Adult, Bizarro Fiction, Erotica, Science Fiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2022

About the author

Brendan Vidito is the author of the Wonderland Award-winning collection of body horror stories, Nightmares in Ecstasy (Clash Books, 2018) and the upcoming Pornography for the End of the World (Weirdpunk Books, 2022). He also co-edited Splatterpunk Award-nominated anthology The New Flesh: A Literary Tribute to David Cronenberg (Weirdpunk Books, 2019) with Sam Richard. He lives in Ontario, surrounded by books and reptiles.

You can visit him online at brendanvidito.com
Twitter, IG, FB @brendanvidito

Reviews

[Plagued by Visions · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is an infatuation with death here, but not the traditional longing for a serene and voluptuous death we’re used to in artistic meditation. This is not “death and the maiden” locked in a wondrous kiss. This is not a vanitas skull adorned in the richness of symbols. This is an infatuation with the kind of death that is perfumed with rot, rouged with gore, and spun with urges and manias the likes of which not many authors would dare display.

Beautiful, haunting.

[Mindy Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

short stories. this was vile and nasty and grotesque and violent and yucky and disturbing and horny and gruesome and unfortunately some of it did turn me on. 4/5. thanks for a fucked up time/what have you done @brendanvidito

[Stay Fetters · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There is nothing to lose when we all die together."

I don't know about you but I love horror that makes me super uncomfortable. Stories that make me wince, squeamish, and sick to my stomach are my favorite kind. If you can make me feel super uneasy or uncomfortable then you have done a hell of a job. Seeing the cover for this book made me a little queasy and I knew right then and there that I needed this book in my life.

I was shocked at how this collection started. Really hate to admit this but it was a tad bit boring at first. The first story was okay and then it lost me for a few stories. The last couple of stories is what revived this. Some of the stories went in one ear and out the other so quickly that I found myself rereading paragraphs and even entire stories because I felt as if I had missed something. In the end, this turned out to be a decent collection. The Living Column is what really made my skin crawl and that excited me. It was the feeling I was looking for all this time. That started the delicious chaos that was the ending stories. Well worth the wait.

Pornography for the End of the World was a decent story collection. What I was hoping for was Woom 2.0 but it didn't quite make it that far. The Living Column was almost to that level and I wanted to read more of that. Will definitely read more by this author in the future.

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, disturbing, imaginative and beautifully written with some excellent body horror. Though graphic, these stories aren’t just meant for shock value and have a lot of emotion and atmosphere within them too that really stuck with me. This short story collection was absolutely my cup of tea. Highly recommended.

[Saige · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some solid creative ideas in this book, but the execution just didn't get me. I think my main issue was that the violence lacked humanity - too much gratuitous gore without enough work to earn the emotional impact. There were "humanizing" moments, such as when characters reminisced on family moments or past lovers. But all those moments were very cliche - playing in a sunlit park, watching their lover sleep, etc. They lacked feeling and honesty, and they lacked the creativity that the author put into his horror concepts. With that element falling so flat, a lot of the horror itself felt meaningless. It's a lot harder to be horrified/disgusted/sad/invested at all when the characters feel copy-pasted. I'd love to see what this author does in a few years, perhaps with a little more practice writing character rather than concept.

[Melanie Bouthillette · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection took me so long to read and I found it kinda boring. I tried but really none of the stories really caught my attention. The best story I'd have to say is The living column.

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

"what if you were having SEX and a WORM with BLOOD came out hahaha wouldn't that be fucked up. also, i am politically aware."

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎]

There are no queer people at the end of the world. Maybe that's a good thing.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derivative of Clive barker, but with more worm sex. Still awesome.

[Vic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eklig und gleichzeitig so Zeitgeist-y wie irgendmöglich. Hat sich beim Lesen angefühlt wie eine riesige Brachfläche oder als wäre die / der Protagonist*in des jeweiligen Stücks oder der Kurzgeschichte und man selbst die einzigen, die unter der Oberfläche die ganze Zeit ahnen, dass etwas ganz Schreckliches passiert. Viel Body Horror, Gewalt und Blut, verhandelt unter Anderem moralische Fragen zur Kunst (“human sculptures”), Prostitution und late-stage-capitalism
.

[Salem ☥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Attempts were made.

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best horror stories I’ve read in a long time. Thought provoking, scary, and moody. I don’t think this book is for everyone though: the cover and title tell you a lot of what you’re in for: insects, body horror, sexual content, apocalyptic horror. Keep these in mind if you are worried about picking it up.

[Lor · Rating 5 out of 5]

just gleeful reading these narsty stories

[afie bo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disgusting. I love it.

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is nothing to lose when we all die together”. What a horrific yet beautiful collection of short stories. The last story made my stomach twist in an awful way especially the big twist. I think the infatuation with death and gore being shown for visual pleasure throughout the book and then the last story being about monsters addicted to humans being mutilated for their enjoyment was crazy, the twisted idea that the reader could inherently be the monster for wanting to pick up the book in the first place really. Only complaint about this book is halfway through I could tell it was written by a man so 4 stars.

[Peg · Rating 2 out of 5]

mostly pointless and boring but I liked the last story so two stars

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a personal theory that Thomas Ligotti is actually, probably unintentionally, a tantric writer. Not what patchouli-smelling drum circle types think of as tantra, but the real thing. A transcendent horror that comes to see beyond good and evil and into a kind of darkly enlightened state. Very rare even in the new weird and many people do not pick up on it due to Ligotti's de facto asexuality.

Vidito here is that same effect but full on when it comes to the sexual undercurrent. The title of the collection is perfectly apt but this is not the kind of pornography one is likely to get off on. Instead it is the kind that uses a sexualized approach to bend genres, moods, and the very concept of the human body into something beyond normal ken. A fascinating experiment and one I suspect most authors could not pull off.

And the best story is the final one, ready to send you off in a grand style.

[Chris Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like body horror, pick this up for sure!

I really enjoyed how visceral it is and some truly creative and unique pieces.

I personally think "The Human Clay" and "The Living Column" are about the best body horror I've ever read.

My critiques are:

Some imagery is kind of poorly described. You get a vague understanding of what the author wants you to see but it doesn't always make sense no matter how much you reread the section.

There were gross amounts of grammar errors. I was kind of surprised at the amount, especially since they've all been published before.

Regardless of the critiques, the meat of some of these stories is so good and so memorable. Some editing and some better working regarding imagery would make this 5 stars for sure!

[Hira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt uncomfortable and I guess that was the point.

[El Tío · Rating 3 out of 5]

Debo decir que es todo lo que promete, o sea, es un compendio de historias cortas qué expón el horror corporal de manera excelente, algunas descripciones causan repulsión, incomodidad y hasta asco. Sin embargo las historias solo llegan a eso, no ofrecen más qué figuras interesantes e imágenes perturbadoras.

En varias historias y se presenta el escenario muy emotivos que de verdad me gustaría poder explorar con mayor profundidad sin embargo se queda solo en el tema de el horror corporal, en ocasiones intenta abordar el tema del placer e incluso la sexualidad desde un punto de vista grotesco pero no va más allá.

No me quedó a deber nadar porque eso era lo que se me había prometido, Pero me quedo con las ganas de saber sobre las motivaciones de los personajes o con un mensaje que no me llegó. Algunas historias son de ciencia ficción especulativa y especialmente en esas Me encantaría que el escritor hubiera abordado la cercanía de la tecnología actual con la tecnología que describe, algun debate sobre los implicaciones morales de los eventos que se desarrollan en ellos, pero de nuevo, el libro lo que quieres mostrar imágenes repulsivas, grotesca, horroríficas, y lo logra.

[Taylor R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novella! I think it is a fun entry into the body horror genre!

I really enjoyed the concept of the final story, where a pilgrimage is made to a movie theater in a post-nuclear landscape. I thought it was interesting that the movies played are snuff films, and the viewers don't bat an eye at the carnage on the silver screen because their daily lives are full of scenes of such brutality. Instead, the viewers are moved by the windows behind the killing. It shows a world before the end, on a bright sunny day. They gasped in shock at the clear blue skies and the soft sweeping breeze whispered on by the rustling of the deep green foliage of the trees. Interesting!

I do think some of the stories were too weighty in the plot to just be condensed to just a short story. I think many of the stories would serve best as longer, more fleshed out narratives as a solo novel.

[Myrottenlove · Rating 3 out of 5]

⌛️🪶3.5 🪶⌛️
Honestly… it didn’t exactly live up to my expectations. I thought there would be more story and something that actually made me feel connected to the book, but unfortunately even with the crazed gory scenes all I could say is, “wow that’s pretty weird…” The reason I gave it a 3.5 is because the writing is incredibly detailed and so intricately done which deserves credit in itself. However there was a lack of explanation to each chapter and you often have to reread the page, especially since with the copy I got, the words were very small. If you want to read a book for pure gore I’d definitely recommend this book but if you want explanation and plot? Maybe go read another book…

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book isn't there just to titillate you. Vidito has a vision to share, designed to raise your blood pressure.

Vidito lights a lamp within a dark, swirling apocalypse. His characters are drawn toward their ends by desires both strange and familiar. The stories begin in a whirlwind of Armageddon. They continue through sad caravans through the wasteland and strange machinations under the skin of a filthy society.

Pornography for the End of the World is a solid collection, well-themed and consistent. The author's voice sings through stories of varying lengths. Worth your time.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal collection of stories! Each one blends some Cronenberg-level body horror with a frankly uncomfortable serving of eroticism, which should not work together nearly as well as they do, but Vidito blends them perfectly. There was not a single story in this collection that I disliked, which is a rare occurrence for sure! Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys body horror in all its many forms.

[Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

When capitalism, climate, and humanity collapse, the perverts of the world look at whoever or whatever is handy and say, “fuck it.” So they do.

Outstanding body horror that toes the line of eroticism and grotesque, mashes them up using dying technology, and serves the mess up on a fancy plate. Great stuff.

[Mother Suspiria]

In Brendan Vidito's world of vivid nightmares, various hells climb out of cracks created by choices made and come out to play. Imaginative, unnerving, with some great body horror, imagery, and copious dread, the stories in PORNOGRAPHY FOR THE END OF THE WORLD nimbly disturb and unnerve.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short stories have viscosity

[Sharron Joy Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are stories of body horror at its best, perverse and warped, this is exploitation horror for the deviant.
Proceed with caution but if you are as twisted as me you will enjoy this!

[Sam (superblomper) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me likey

[ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up