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City Infernal #1
Inferno
Willkommen in der Hölle!
Die Hölle ist eine Stadt. Von einem Wolkenkratzer aus beherrscht der grausame Fürst der Finsternis sein Reich, in dem die Unsterblichkeit zur Verzweiflung führt. Als die junge Cassie auf der Suche nach ihrer Schwester das Tor zur Hölle durchschreitet, muss sie viele Vorurteile revidieren. Und das schnell, denn die Metropole des Satans will sie willkommen heißen...
Die Hölle ist eine Stadt. Von einem Wolkenkratzer aus beherrscht der grausame Fürst der Finsternis sein Reich, in dem die Unsterblichkeit zur Verzweiflung führt. Als die junge Cassie auf der Suche nach ihrer Schwester das Tor zur Hölle durchschreitet, muss sie viele Vorurteile revidieren. Und das schnell, denn die Metropole des Satans will sie willkommen heißen...
350 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
121 people are currently reading
4215 people want to read
About the author
Edward Lee
267 books1,450 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.
Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence.
He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.
Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.
Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.
Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence.
He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.
Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
August 4, 2020
This hardcover is the Cemetery Dance edition, one of 1000 and signed by Edward Lee.
“City Infernal” begins the Washington DC Goth Scene. We are introduced to Cassie and her hell bound sister Lissa We learn how Lissa commits suicide in front of Cassie, who goes on to blame herself. After a few unsuccessful suicide attempts Cassie’s father, DC lawyer Bill Heydon, moves them to the country for a new beginning. His choice was less than perfect. There new house in the country is on a ‘Deadpass’ aka s Gateway to Hell. With the help of her new friends, suicide teens who leave Hell through the Deadpass and crash in Cassie’s attic, she crosses over into Hell to find her sister.
The huge capital city of Hell itself, Mephistopolis, named for its founder. We Take the train, where we will ride with trolls, monsters and screaming women birthing ghastly offspring. And, under a gloriously blood-red sky, cross the River Styx, fetid and steaming with floating pieces of bodies. We see the Polter-Rats, Bapho-Roaches, Excre-worms and particularly the notorious Ghor-Hounds. The entrance is in an old Southern mansion, from whose attic window you can peer into the technological marvels that Satan has constructed, including motels that stock “Gideon's Luciferic Bible”.
We Encounter another fallen but now repentant angel, Ezoriel, and finally face fearsome Satan himself.
The series:
2001 - City Infernal
2003 - Infernal Angel
2007 - House Infernal
2010 - Lucifer’s Lottery
These books are not for the squeamish. There are scenes of torture, mutilation, horror and sexual deviance.
“City Infernal” begins the Washington DC Goth Scene. We are introduced to Cassie and her hell bound sister Lissa We learn how Lissa commits suicide in front of Cassie, who goes on to blame herself. After a few unsuccessful suicide attempts Cassie’s father, DC lawyer Bill Heydon, moves them to the country for a new beginning. His choice was less than perfect. There new house in the country is on a ‘Deadpass’ aka s Gateway to Hell. With the help of her new friends, suicide teens who leave Hell through the Deadpass and crash in Cassie’s attic, she crosses over into Hell to find her sister.
The huge capital city of Hell itself, Mephistopolis, named for its founder. We Take the train, where we will ride with trolls, monsters and screaming women birthing ghastly offspring. And, under a gloriously blood-red sky, cross the River Styx, fetid and steaming with floating pieces of bodies. We see the Polter-Rats, Bapho-Roaches, Excre-worms and particularly the notorious Ghor-Hounds. The entrance is in an old Southern mansion, from whose attic window you can peer into the technological marvels that Satan has constructed, including motels that stock “Gideon's Luciferic Bible”.
We Encounter another fallen but now repentant angel, Ezoriel, and finally face fearsome Satan himself.
The series:
2001 - City Infernal
2003 - Infernal Angel
2007 - House Infernal
2010 - Lucifer’s Lottery
These books are not for the squeamish. There are scenes of torture, mutilation, horror and sexual deviance.
April 13, 2017
I'm embarrassed by how much I enjoyed this dumb book. It was a decadent, self indulgent experience akin to binge-watch that reality show about those guys getting killed by their pets, while eating deep fried crap and drinking beer for a full weekend. Every now and then realizing how bad this is, while trying to ignore the shame of how much I'm liking it, and the guilt at knowing I would continue with it.
I don't know who to recommend it to, though.
Its full of (unintentional) cringe-worthy scenes, and eyes turning situations. The characters are 2 dimensional, with little to no development. It fails almost on everything else: It's not scary at all and the plot and plot twists are ridiculous. Whenever a character trait gets in the middle of the plot, that trait gets dumped just like that. Its full of Deus ex machina events. Its not a good story, but somehow the book is really fun. The pace is very fast, wich goes well with the book. Also the promise of the premise (The gory adventures in hell) is delivered abundantly, and early on. The descriptions of hell are super entertaining and gross. It's just easy, gratifying trash. I binge read the last half of the book until 5 am, and ended completely satisfied.
I suppose that if you like action/horror B-movies, stuff about hell, gore, gothic teenagers and stuff like that, you will enjoy it a lot. This is a really fun, really bad, but absolutely readable book.
I don't know who to recommend it to, though.
Its full of (unintentional) cringe-worthy scenes, and eyes turning situations. The characters are 2 dimensional, with little to no development. It fails almost on everything else: It's not scary at all and the plot and plot twists are ridiculous. Whenever a character trait gets in the middle of the plot, that trait gets dumped just like that. Its full of Deus ex machina events. Its not a good story, but somehow the book is really fun. The pace is very fast, wich goes well with the book. Also the promise of the premise (The gory adventures in hell) is delivered abundantly, and early on. The descriptions of hell are super entertaining and gross. It's just easy, gratifying trash. I binge read the last half of the book until 5 am, and ended completely satisfied.
I suppose that if you like action/horror B-movies, stuff about hell, gore, gothic teenagers and stuff like that, you will enjoy it a lot. This is a really fun, really bad, but absolutely readable book.
September 20, 2021
Story 10/5
Narration 5/5
Awesome!!!
10 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I highly recommend it!!
Narration 5/5
Awesome!!!
10 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I highly recommend it!!
February 4, 2021
Horror ekstremalny od mistrze gatunku! Uwaga na przemoc, gore, okrucieństwo w każdej możliwej postaci, więc jeśli jesteś wrażliwy, jeśli nie lubisz takich książek, jeśli brzydzisz się bardzo, jeśli jesteś niepełnoletni, to nie ukrywam – ta książka nie będzie dla Ciebie.
Kto z Edwardem Lee miał do czynienia nie raz lub nie dwa, ten wie, że jego powieści nie straszą, bo nie o to chodzi w horrorze ekstremalnym. Ekstremum to konwencja, to pewien charakterystyczny schemat, w którym odnajdują się ci, którzy ten schemat doceniają.
A w piekle jak to w piekle. Czytelnik odnajdzie tu moc piekielnych obrzydliwości rodem z niepojętych obrazów Hieronima Boscha. Całą galerię niewyobrażalnych istot, które przemierzają ulice piekielnego miasta, oddając się perwersjom, które nie mieszczą się w głowie. Obrazy z najgorszych lęków i koszmarów, które działają na wyobraźnię lepiej niż jakikolwiek opis piekła do tej pory.
Miłośnicy prozy Lee (w tym również wielu z Was, którzy już „Miasto piekielne” mają za sobą) twierdzą, że to książka niemal lekka i bardzo przyjemna jak na tego autora. I coś w tym jest! W „Mieście piekielnym” Lee obrał konwencję powieści z motywem niemal młodzieżowym – dziewczęca i wyjątkowa bohaterka stawia czoła samemu piekłu. Odnajduje w sobie niepojęte pokłady siły i odradza się na nowo już nie jako nieświadoma, niewinna dziewczynka, ale młoda kobieta, której nie pokona żaden strach. Żaden demon.
„Miasto piekielne” to Edward Lee w pigułce – ta powieść świetnie ukazuje najważniejsze motywy, które można odnaleźć w jego prozie. Czytelnik odnajdzie tu przerysowany horror, hiperbolę przemocy, white trash gothic, czyli gotyk amerykańskich „wieśniaków”, ale także humor i element fantastycznej niesamowitości. Wszystko wyważone, z lekkim przymrużeniem oka, tak jak tylko Lee potrafi, jednak bez skrajnej ekstremy w ekstremie (jeśli można tak to ująć).
Największe wrażenie robi tu wyobraźnia autora względem samego piekła. Jego Mefistopolis to wielka aglomeracja miejska, z pełną infrastrukturą, z całym demonicznym rozgardiaszem – od spotworniałych przedmieść i skażonych zaułków po bogate dzielnice, tych bardziej cenionych obywateli z samym Lucyferem na czele. Nie ma w tym żadnej pustej abstrakcji – analogia miejska trafia do wyobraźni czytelnika, jest bardziej też zrozumiała i okazuje się o wiele bardziej wymowna od chociażby opisów piekielnych odmętów Dantego.
Dla miłośników prozy Lee „Miasto piekielne” to prawdziwy smakołyk, dopracowany w każdym calu. Kto natomiast z Lee nie miał nigdy do czynienia, a czuje, że polubi właśnie takie klimaty, to może wskoczyć w jego prozę zaczynając własnie od „Miasta piekielnego”. A kto ma generalne wątpliwości, ale mimo wszystko chciałby spróbować swoich sił, to polecam na początek zbiór opowiadań „Zaburzenia snu”, które Lee napisał ze śp. Jackiem Ketchumem. Wszystko wtedy stanie się jasne.
Kto z Edwardem Lee miał do czynienia nie raz lub nie dwa, ten wie, że jego powieści nie straszą, bo nie o to chodzi w horrorze ekstremalnym. Ekstremum to konwencja, to pewien charakterystyczny schemat, w którym odnajdują się ci, którzy ten schemat doceniają.
A w piekle jak to w piekle. Czytelnik odnajdzie tu moc piekielnych obrzydliwości rodem z niepojętych obrazów Hieronima Boscha. Całą galerię niewyobrażalnych istot, które przemierzają ulice piekielnego miasta, oddając się perwersjom, które nie mieszczą się w głowie. Obrazy z najgorszych lęków i koszmarów, które działają na wyobraźnię lepiej niż jakikolwiek opis piekła do tej pory.
Miłośnicy prozy Lee (w tym również wielu z Was, którzy już „Miasto piekielne” mają za sobą) twierdzą, że to książka niemal lekka i bardzo przyjemna jak na tego autora. I coś w tym jest! W „Mieście piekielnym” Lee obrał konwencję powieści z motywem niemal młodzieżowym – dziewczęca i wyjątkowa bohaterka stawia czoła samemu piekłu. Odnajduje w sobie niepojęte pokłady siły i odradza się na nowo już nie jako nieświadoma, niewinna dziewczynka, ale młoda kobieta, której nie pokona żaden strach. Żaden demon.
„Miasto piekielne” to Edward Lee w pigułce – ta powieść świetnie ukazuje najważniejsze motywy, które można odnaleźć w jego prozie. Czytelnik odnajdzie tu przerysowany horror, hiperbolę przemocy, white trash gothic, czyli gotyk amerykańskich „wieśniaków”, ale także humor i element fantastycznej niesamowitości. Wszystko wyważone, z lekkim przymrużeniem oka, tak jak tylko Lee potrafi, jednak bez skrajnej ekstremy w ekstremie (jeśli można tak to ująć).
Największe wrażenie robi tu wyobraźnia autora względem samego piekła. Jego Mefistopolis to wielka aglomeracja miejska, z pełną infrastrukturą, z całym demonicznym rozgardiaszem – od spotworniałych przedmieść i skażonych zaułków po bogate dzielnice, tych bardziej cenionych obywateli z samym Lucyferem na czele. Nie ma w tym żadnej pustej abstrakcji – analogia miejska trafia do wyobraźni czytelnika, jest bardziej też zrozumiała i okazuje się o wiele bardziej wymowna od chociażby opisów piekielnych odmętów Dantego.
Dla miłośników prozy Lee „Miasto piekielne” to prawdziwy smakołyk, dopracowany w każdym calu. Kto natomiast z Lee nie miał nigdy do czynienia, a czuje, że polubi właśnie takie klimaty, to może wskoczyć w jego prozę zaczynając własnie od „Miasta piekielnego”. A kto ma generalne wątpliwości, ale mimo wszystko chciałby spróbować swoich sił, to polecam na początek zbiór opowiadań „Zaburzenia snu”, które Lee napisał ze śp. Jackiem Ketchumem. Wszystko wtedy stanie się jasne.
October 2, 2022
"En el Infierno, la agonía es un producto y el dolor una fuente de combustible"
Cassie es una joven gótica atormentada por un pasado siniestro debido a que su hermana gemela se suicidó por su culpa y se vio forzada a presenciarlo. Al trasladarse a una vieja mansión encuentra un umbral que le trasladará directamente al Infierno.
¿Queréis ver infierno?¿Queréis experimentar los tormentos del fuego eterno? Entrad en Ciudad Infernal.
Antes de entrar en más análisis advertiré lo habitual: Ciudad Infernal es una obra de fantasía oscura, muy oscura, pero escrita por el, para mi mejor, escritor de splatterpunk Edward Lee. Esto quiere decir que vas a encontrar mucha casquería, mucha violencia, sexo explícito... pero como caracteriza al autor, pocas veces expuesto de forma gratuita y siempre justificada desde el punto de vista artístico.
Todas estas características están expuestas desde las primeras páginas de la introducción del libro. Unas primeras páginas tan brutales y con tanto pulso que cuando llega la historia principal te cuesta un poco entrar en la novela por el cambio de ritmo tan grande (pero no te preocupes, porque poco a poco, vuelves a entrar).
Utilizamos con frecuencia la expresión "esta obra me ha volado la cabeza" os puedo asegurar que en esta ocasión está más que justificada. La Imaginación, y permitidme la licencia de ponerlo en mayúsculas, de Lee en este libro es apabullante. Es una auténtica lección de world building, palabra tan de moda en la literatura fantástica, pero puesta aquí al servicio de nuestras peores pesadillas y a montar una visión del Infierno que os aseguro va a cubrir todas vuestras expectativas.
Soy un mal, muy mal dibujante, pero leyendo este libro he sentido la necesidad de garabatear y hacer algunos bosquejos con los escenarios y las monstruosidades que Lee nos relata.
La novela va a hacer las delicias de los amantes de la movida gótica ya que durante gran parte de la novela hace alusión a muchos referentes con los que os sentiréis (sentimos) identificados, sobre todo musicales, que siempre mola.
Como punto negativo, para mi el final es un poco confuso. No me refiero a la conclusión en sí, que sí me deja satisfecho a pesar de ser este el inicio de una saga, si no que el autor cambia el tercio un poco al final y la verdad es que a mi no me terminó de convencer la forma en que lo cuenta por lo confuso en algunos momentos de algunas escenas. De todos modos, el viaje hasta llegar ahí es tan espectacular y especial, que se lo perdono al bueno de Lee.
Edward Lee (1957 Washington D.C.) es uno de los secretos mejor guardados de la literatura estadounidense para el público lector en castellano. Bajo la maldición que también sufrieron Thomas Ligotti y Jack Ketchum, aunque parece que con estos se va resarciendo la cuenta pendiente. Hasta ahora hay sólo dos publicaciones de él en nuestro idioma. En 2023 las editoriales Pathosformel y Dimensiones Ocultas parece que se van a atrever con él y nos traerán más material, esperemos que ocurra como con los dos autores antes mencionados y ocupen el sitio que se merecen en vuestras pesadillas.
Este fue el primer libro que leí de Edward Lee, esta reseña parte de una relectura, y de momento tanto esta novela como Torso, más cruda y más filosófica, me han hecho encontrarme con un autor que realmente hay que reivindicar.
Es una auténtica lástima que no podamos disfrutar de esta saga al completo traducida a nuestro idioma. El hecho de estar ya publicado este primer volumen no hace factible que ninguna editorial la retome lo cual es una lástima ya que estoy seguro que a día de hoy esto sería un éxito entre los lectores de terror de nuestro país.
¿Qué os parece el libro?¿Os llama la atención?
Cassie es una joven gótica atormentada por un pasado siniestro debido a que su hermana gemela se suicidó por su culpa y se vio forzada a presenciarlo. Al trasladarse a una vieja mansión encuentra un umbral que le trasladará directamente al Infierno.
¿Queréis ver infierno?¿Queréis experimentar los tormentos del fuego eterno? Entrad en Ciudad Infernal.
Antes de entrar en más análisis advertiré lo habitual: Ciudad Infernal es una obra de fantasía oscura, muy oscura, pero escrita por el, para mi mejor, escritor de splatterpunk Edward Lee. Esto quiere decir que vas a encontrar mucha casquería, mucha violencia, sexo explícito... pero como caracteriza al autor, pocas veces expuesto de forma gratuita y siempre justificada desde el punto de vista artístico.
Todas estas características están expuestas desde las primeras páginas de la introducción del libro. Unas primeras páginas tan brutales y con tanto pulso que cuando llega la historia principal te cuesta un poco entrar en la novela por el cambio de ritmo tan grande (pero no te preocupes, porque poco a poco, vuelves a entrar).
Utilizamos con frecuencia la expresión "esta obra me ha volado la cabeza" os puedo asegurar que en esta ocasión está más que justificada. La Imaginación, y permitidme la licencia de ponerlo en mayúsculas, de Lee en este libro es apabullante. Es una auténtica lección de world building, palabra tan de moda en la literatura fantástica, pero puesta aquí al servicio de nuestras peores pesadillas y a montar una visión del Infierno que os aseguro va a cubrir todas vuestras expectativas.
Soy un mal, muy mal dibujante, pero leyendo este libro he sentido la necesidad de garabatear y hacer algunos bosquejos con los escenarios y las monstruosidades que Lee nos relata.
La novela va a hacer las delicias de los amantes de la movida gótica ya que durante gran parte de la novela hace alusión a muchos referentes con los que os sentiréis (sentimos) identificados, sobre todo musicales, que siempre mola.
Como punto negativo, para mi el final es un poco confuso. No me refiero a la conclusión en sí, que sí me deja satisfecho a pesar de ser este el inicio de una saga, si no que el autor cambia el tercio un poco al final y la verdad es que a mi no me terminó de convencer la forma en que lo cuenta por lo confuso en algunos momentos de algunas escenas. De todos modos, el viaje hasta llegar ahí es tan espectacular y especial, que se lo perdono al bueno de Lee.
Edward Lee (1957 Washington D.C.) es uno de los secretos mejor guardados de la literatura estadounidense para el público lector en castellano. Bajo la maldición que también sufrieron Thomas Ligotti y Jack Ketchum, aunque parece que con estos se va resarciendo la cuenta pendiente. Hasta ahora hay sólo dos publicaciones de él en nuestro idioma. En 2023 las editoriales Pathosformel y Dimensiones Ocultas parece que se van a atrever con él y nos traerán más material, esperemos que ocurra como con los dos autores antes mencionados y ocupen el sitio que se merecen en vuestras pesadillas.
Este fue el primer libro que leí de Edward Lee, esta reseña parte de una relectura, y de momento tanto esta novela como Torso, más cruda y más filosófica, me han hecho encontrarme con un autor que realmente hay que reivindicar.
Es una auténtica lástima que no podamos disfrutar de esta saga al completo traducida a nuestro idioma. El hecho de estar ya publicado este primer volumen no hace factible que ninguna editorial la retome lo cual es una lástima ya que estoy seguro que a día de hoy esto sería un éxito entre los lectores de terror de nuestro país.
¿Qué os parece el libro?¿Os llama la atención?
June 24, 2010
2.0 stars. This book was a disappointment because I was really expecting to enjoy it based on the premise. The only real positive thing I can say about the book is that many of the descriptions of Hell were pretty cool (in a Saturday night gore-fest kind of way). However, after a while even those began to come across more like slapstick horror rather than truly frightening. The book was decent and a fast read but it could have been so much better.
October 25, 2017
This is some sick, creepy ass scary but original horror !
January 27, 2016
Edward Lee again goes full frontal on the gore assault front. This beginning of a series is worthy with it's world-building, unusual premise, and build-up.
Since I'm more of a character-orientated reader than a plot-driven one, the characters being a bit one-dimensional wasn't welcome. Cassie's powers seem to come too easily without training but again, that belongs in the story. She's reasonably likeable, although her sister is not. The dad is also enjoyable but was kept in the background as fodder. Cassie's sidekicks were amusing for the most part with their dialogue lines and motivations, although that can amp up the cheese sometimes.
The monsters? Creepy as can get. Lee takes time to focus on a large assortment of horrifying demons, abilities, scenarios, and gritty details - things he gets kudos for. The internal battles are particularly interesting and work well with the world building he's constructed.
I can't complain on the pacing at all - from a surprising family drama in the beginning to almost constant horror through a creative hell. Lee is talented with convincing dialogue but I'm hoping the second book makes me warm up to the main players more.
Since I'm more of a character-orientated reader than a plot-driven one, the characters being a bit one-dimensional wasn't welcome. Cassie's powers seem to come too easily without training but again, that belongs in the story. She's reasonably likeable, although her sister is not. The dad is also enjoyable but was kept in the background as fodder. Cassie's sidekicks were amusing for the most part with their dialogue lines and motivations, although that can amp up the cheese sometimes.
The monsters? Creepy as can get. Lee takes time to focus on a large assortment of horrifying demons, abilities, scenarios, and gritty details - things he gets kudos for. The internal battles are particularly interesting and work well with the world building he's constructed.
I can't complain on the pacing at all - from a surprising family drama in the beginning to almost constant horror through a creative hell. Lee is talented with convincing dialogue but I'm hoping the second book makes me warm up to the main players more.
September 4, 2018
City Infernal is a strong contender for "Worst Novel I've Ever Read." Not because it's shocking. It's not shocking. At all. As a matter of fact, while reading City Infernal I found myself thinking more than once that it is exactly the sort of book that might be recommended by the "cool, edgy" youth pastor at a fundamentalist church. The book's rules about why people end up in Hell, the tortures reserved for the souls who live there, the dedication shared by Satan and his minions to doing things for the sole purpose of offending God -- other than the minor innovation of reimagining Hell as a modern city, virtually everything described in this novel could have been plucked directly from any number of sermons delivered in any number of Bible belt towns all across America. If there is anything the slightest bit unexpected about City Infernal, it's the book's near-total adherence to Christian orthodoxy.
That's not the problem, though. Lots of good novels, even good horror novels, follow an essentially Christian script (The Stand comes to mind). The problems are that the plot is threadbare, the characters are walking cliches, the dialogue is laughable, and - most problematically for a horror novel - it is never at any point even the slightest bit scary. I'll elaborate.
The plot: The protagonist's twin sister kills herself and ends up in Hell (because everyone who commits suicide automatically goes to Hell). The protagonist, whose name is Cassie, by random coincidence finds a gateway into Hell and decides it's extremely important that she find her dead sister and apologize for having caused her suicide (I would explain that, but it doesn't matter). Does this sound like a plot that makes sense? The girl is in Hell, being brutally tortured for all eternity -- what sort of apology could possibly make up for that? What is the point of this mission? Along the way Cassie finds out she's an "etheress," which means she has supernatural powers that always just happen to pop into existence at the most convenient possible time. Some sort of demon has its claws around her neck and she suddenly discovers that she's able to cause its head to explode by directing angry thoughts at it, for example. Anytime Cassie seems to be in danger, she's really not. So that's boring. Then there's a whole side plot involving Cassie's father, who is alive and not in Hell, and a succubus who somehow makes its way to the living world. This plot seems to exist solely for the purpose of allowing the author to include a sex scene in the book.
An aside: This is the sort of author who thinks including gratuitous sex in his work is some sort of bold strike against the forces of political correctness. In a recent interview in which he talked about delving into the movie business, he said, "Edward Lee's Rule #1 for horror movies is thus: There Must Be Female Nudity In A Horror Flick. Without that element, it's candyass BS. A horror movie without nudity ain't worth squat, it's fake, it's fussy, it's poo-poo with a pinky in the air." And lest you think he's kidding, check out his library of movies available for rental on Vimeo. Most of them feature naked women on the cover and the first line of the description for one of his latest, "The Walking Woman," is: "Feature [sic] 72 naked women!". The movie is 57 minutes long so I'll leave it to you to guesstimate how much plot there might be room for in among all those naked women. Other titles include "Night of the Living Dead Naked Redneck Girls" and "Paranormal Nudist Camp Massacre." Some are even less creative, such as "Tits and 1812 Overture" and "Naked Girls Convulsing for No Reason." (I wish I were making any of this up).
So anyway, the plot is very dumb. The protagonist's goal isn't to get her sister out of Hell, but just to sort of say "Hey, how's it going, sorry I landed you here." Along the way - about 3/4 of the way through the book - she does get caught up in some sort of demonic rebellion, but it's all pretty silly and the protagonist is entirely passive throughout, as she is in the rest of the novel. Things happen to her, or she is told to do something and does it, rather than taking any affirmative action or making any kind of real decision at any point in the story.
There is a twist near the end, and I imagine it must be a very dramatic moment for any reader who can't remember anything that has happened up to that point in the novel, including in the two preceding pages. But for anyone who can remember those things, the twist makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. At 255 pages, the whole thing is at least 155 pages longer than even its staunchest advocate could possibly justify, and yet somehow the author can't be bothered to resolve the story - I guess we're supposed to find out what happens in the sequel. To be honest, I'm not docking points for this lack of resolution. I was just glad to have no more pages left to turn.
The characters are similarly one-dimensional. In fact, they are stereotypes to the point of being laugh-out-loud funny. Here's a challenge: Take a random sentence from "My Immortals," the infamous goth fanfiction treatment of Harry Potter. Clean up the grammar and spelling (but not too much -- Lee's book is rife with typos and grammatical mistakes). Then take a random sentence from this novel in which Cassie (or her clothing, or her taste in music) is described. Ask a passerby to guess which sentence is from the real, published novel and which is from the joke fan fiction. I doubt many will be able to tell the difference.
And Cassie is by far the most fully fleshed-out character. Most others are barely shadows of whatever cliche applies. All southerners drive pickup trucks and spend their time in seedy bars listening to country music. They also all pronounce "Hell" as "Hail." Others fare no better. Here is how Lee describes a gay couple interacting with each other at a club: "Two guys in black leather ground groins." Is that how gay people shake hands? The leader of the demonic rebellion in Hell, a fallen angel named Ezoriel, is described as possessing "a perfect, muscled physique" and "looks just like Brad Pitt!" (the exclamation point is the author's).
Descriptions, generally, are bad-slash-nonsensical: A girl's cleavage is described as "blaring," having sex is "makin' some serious bacon." Laughter "boom[s] like cannon fire." The protagonist's home is an "old southern antebellum house" -- how many of those adjectives are necessary? -- and just a short while later, described as "Gone With the Wind meets Adam's [sic] Family." Later still it's called "Dickensian." How many of these things can be true at the same time? How many times do we have to hear about this house anyway?
The dialogue is truly atrocious, even when it's not relying on stereotypes of goths and southerners. Supporting characters exist solely to explain things to the protagonist, which they do in long unnatural sentences that would never come out of the mouth of a real, living (or undead) human being. The book was written and is set in the early 2000s, but Cassie and her friends use slang that has never been unironically uttered by anyone born after the 1950s - "this is one dynamite crib"; "Won't our asses be grass?"; "Groovy, huh?"
Finally, and most importantly, NOTHING IN THIS HORROR NOVEL IS SCARY. I will grant the author that he has a certain talent for describing grotesque scenes in unique ways. When he sticks to this one strength, the book approaches a level that I would describe as passable. But even then it's not scary. There's nothing inherently scary about some anonymous soul having its guts flayed, or being eaten by a demon, or whatever. None of the main characters are ever in any real danger. In the rare cases when something almost happens, another one of the protagonist's surprise supernatural powers miraculously saves the day. The author seems to think that having bad/gross things happen in the book is by itself sufficient.
City Infernal is apparently the first in a series. I cannot imagine what compelled the author to think there is anything more to do with this idea or these characters. I cannot imagine what publisher would ever give the green light to more of this. I cannot imagine what reader, having made it through all 255 pages of this dreck, would willingly sign up for more. Then again, if we accept Mr. Lee's concept of Hell as a modern city, maybe every Barnes & Noble is stocked only with these books. That would be a form of torture at least as brutal as anything found in the pages of the book itself.
That's not the problem, though. Lots of good novels, even good horror novels, follow an essentially Christian script (The Stand comes to mind). The problems are that the plot is threadbare, the characters are walking cliches, the dialogue is laughable, and - most problematically for a horror novel - it is never at any point even the slightest bit scary. I'll elaborate.
The plot: The protagonist's twin sister kills herself and ends up in Hell (because everyone who commits suicide automatically goes to Hell). The protagonist, whose name is Cassie, by random coincidence finds a gateway into Hell and decides it's extremely important that she find her dead sister and apologize for having caused her suicide (I would explain that, but it doesn't matter). Does this sound like a plot that makes sense? The girl is in Hell, being brutally tortured for all eternity -- what sort of apology could possibly make up for that? What is the point of this mission? Along the way Cassie finds out she's an "etheress," which means she has supernatural powers that always just happen to pop into existence at the most convenient possible time. Some sort of demon has its claws around her neck and she suddenly discovers that she's able to cause its head to explode by directing angry thoughts at it, for example. Anytime Cassie seems to be in danger, she's really not. So that's boring. Then there's a whole side plot involving Cassie's father, who is alive and not in Hell, and a succubus who somehow makes its way to the living world. This plot seems to exist solely for the purpose of allowing the author to include a sex scene in the book.
An aside: This is the sort of author who thinks including gratuitous sex in his work is some sort of bold strike against the forces of political correctness. In a recent interview in which he talked about delving into the movie business, he said, "Edward Lee's Rule #1 for horror movies is thus: There Must Be Female Nudity In A Horror Flick. Without that element, it's candyass BS. A horror movie without nudity ain't worth squat, it's fake, it's fussy, it's poo-poo with a pinky in the air." And lest you think he's kidding, check out his library of movies available for rental on Vimeo. Most of them feature naked women on the cover and the first line of the description for one of his latest, "The Walking Woman," is: "Feature [sic] 72 naked women!". The movie is 57 minutes long so I'll leave it to you to guesstimate how much plot there might be room for in among all those naked women. Other titles include "Night of the Living Dead Naked Redneck Girls" and "Paranormal Nudist Camp Massacre." Some are even less creative, such as "Tits and 1812 Overture" and "Naked Girls Convulsing for No Reason." (I wish I were making any of this up).
So anyway, the plot is very dumb. The protagonist's goal isn't to get her sister out of Hell, but just to sort of say "Hey, how's it going, sorry I landed you here." Along the way - about 3/4 of the way through the book - she does get caught up in some sort of demonic rebellion, but it's all pretty silly and the protagonist is entirely passive throughout, as she is in the rest of the novel. Things happen to her, or she is told to do something and does it, rather than taking any affirmative action or making any kind of real decision at any point in the story.
There is a twist near the end, and I imagine it must be a very dramatic moment for any reader who can't remember anything that has happened up to that point in the novel, including in the two preceding pages. But for anyone who can remember those things, the twist makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. At 255 pages, the whole thing is at least 155 pages longer than even its staunchest advocate could possibly justify, and yet somehow the author can't be bothered to resolve the story - I guess we're supposed to find out what happens in the sequel. To be honest, I'm not docking points for this lack of resolution. I was just glad to have no more pages left to turn.
The characters are similarly one-dimensional. In fact, they are stereotypes to the point of being laugh-out-loud funny. Here's a challenge: Take a random sentence from "My Immortals," the infamous goth fanfiction treatment of Harry Potter. Clean up the grammar and spelling (but not too much -- Lee's book is rife with typos and grammatical mistakes). Then take a random sentence from this novel in which Cassie (or her clothing, or her taste in music) is described. Ask a passerby to guess which sentence is from the real, published novel and which is from the joke fan fiction. I doubt many will be able to tell the difference.
And Cassie is by far the most fully fleshed-out character. Most others are barely shadows of whatever cliche applies. All southerners drive pickup trucks and spend their time in seedy bars listening to country music. They also all pronounce "Hell" as "Hail." Others fare no better. Here is how Lee describes a gay couple interacting with each other at a club: "Two guys in black leather ground groins." Is that how gay people shake hands? The leader of the demonic rebellion in Hell, a fallen angel named Ezoriel, is described as possessing "a perfect, muscled physique" and "looks just like Brad Pitt!" (the exclamation point is the author's).
Descriptions, generally, are bad-slash-nonsensical: A girl's cleavage is described as "blaring," having sex is "makin' some serious bacon." Laughter "boom[s] like cannon fire." The protagonist's home is an "old southern antebellum house" -- how many of those adjectives are necessary? -- and just a short while later, described as "Gone With the Wind meets Adam's [sic] Family." Later still it's called "Dickensian." How many of these things can be true at the same time? How many times do we have to hear about this house anyway?
The dialogue is truly atrocious, even when it's not relying on stereotypes of goths and southerners. Supporting characters exist solely to explain things to the protagonist, which they do in long unnatural sentences that would never come out of the mouth of a real, living (or undead) human being. The book was written and is set in the early 2000s, but Cassie and her friends use slang that has never been unironically uttered by anyone born after the 1950s - "this is one dynamite crib"; "Won't our asses be grass?"; "Groovy, huh?"
Finally, and most importantly, NOTHING IN THIS HORROR NOVEL IS SCARY. I will grant the author that he has a certain talent for describing grotesque scenes in unique ways. When he sticks to this one strength, the book approaches a level that I would describe as passable. But even then it's not scary. There's nothing inherently scary about some anonymous soul having its guts flayed, or being eaten by a demon, or whatever. None of the main characters are ever in any real danger. In the rare cases when something almost happens, another one of the protagonist's surprise supernatural powers miraculously saves the day. The author seems to think that having bad/gross things happen in the book is by itself sufficient.
City Infernal is apparently the first in a series. I cannot imagine what compelled the author to think there is anything more to do with this idea or these characters. I cannot imagine what publisher would ever give the green light to more of this. I cannot imagine what reader, having made it through all 255 pages of this dreck, would willingly sign up for more. Then again, if we accept Mr. Lee's concept of Hell as a modern city, maybe every Barnes & Noble is stocked only with these books. That would be a form of torture at least as brutal as anything found in the pages of the book itself.
March 3, 2009
The plot was OK as were some of the one-dimensional characters, but the description of hell was worth the price of the book.
The idea of hell and being punished for an eternity has always freaked me out, but some of the eternal punishments mentioned in City Infernal affected me in a bad way--e.g., being processed as insect dung, jammed into a metal can and throw into a pit of fire, or strung up and used as a demon's breeding mare so he can sacrifice your offspring over and over again.
Lee's descriptions of the inhabitants and daily business of Mephistopolis were interesting to say the least.
The idea of hell and being punished for an eternity has always freaked me out, but some of the eternal punishments mentioned in City Infernal affected me in a bad way--e.g., being processed as insect dung, jammed into a metal can and throw into a pit of fire, or strung up and used as a demon's breeding mare so he can sacrifice your offspring over and over again.
Lee's descriptions of the inhabitants and daily business of Mephistopolis were interesting to say the least.
August 1, 2011
I bought "City Infernal" used through one of Amazon's shops after the ad in the back of another horror novel caught my eye. I was intrigued by the idea of Hell as a city of horrors and curious as to how Lee would envision it. I enjoyed the same idea in the novelization of the film "Constantine" and was looking for more.
Lee surprised me with a remarkably entertaining and frequently fresh look at an old subject -- what would Hell be like? He creates a mythos around his Mephistopolis, the City of Hell, that I found compelling and absorbing. At times unpleasant and sometimes so hyperbolic that it borders on the ridiculous (though never quite getting there), the horrific City of Hell is something I envision in almost cartoon terms. I could see an animated movie of this emerge quite easily, but not a live action film. This is a version of the Hell that should remain entirely in the realm of fantasy; it is most enjoyable on those terms.
When I put the book down after finishing it (it was hard to put it down before then), I immediately wanted more and went looking for the sequel. That book was "Infernal Angel."
Lee surprised me with a remarkably entertaining and frequently fresh look at an old subject -- what would Hell be like? He creates a mythos around his Mephistopolis, the City of Hell, that I found compelling and absorbing. At times unpleasant and sometimes so hyperbolic that it borders on the ridiculous (though never quite getting there), the horrific City of Hell is something I envision in almost cartoon terms. I could see an animated movie of this emerge quite easily, but not a live action film. This is a version of the Hell that should remain entirely in the realm of fantasy; it is most enjoyable on those terms.
When I put the book down after finishing it (it was hard to put it down before then), I immediately wanted more and went looking for the sequel. That book was "Infernal Angel."
May 18, 2015
Un comienzo muy gótico interesante. En el que una chica se suicidad, con la consecuencia de que su padre divorciado y hermana con sentimiento de culpa, se trasladas a una mansión gótica en un remoto pueblo para llorar y hundirse más en la mierda. Estos empiezan a escuchar historias malas de esa casa.
Hasta ahí muy típico pero interesante. Pero todo se deforma cuando metemos un mundo paralelo que es el infierno, donde sólo hay “mutantes” enfermos. Esta chica con la ayuda de 3 muertos se insertan en el mundo oscuro para buscar a su hermana.
Esta segunda parte del libro se convierte en la típica historia juvenil descafeinada y previsible en todo los ámbitos: la búsqueda y el malo que intenta fastidiar.
Hasta ahí muy típico pero interesante. Pero todo se deforma cuando metemos un mundo paralelo que es el infierno, donde sólo hay “mutantes” enfermos. Esta chica con la ayuda de 3 muertos se insertan en el mundo oscuro para buscar a su hermana.
Esta segunda parte del libro se convierte en la típica historia juvenil descafeinada y previsible en todo los ámbitos: la búsqueda y el malo que intenta fastidiar.
horror
August 15, 2009This. Book. Is. Shit.
Nothing in it was remotely scary or well written.
It....I cannot do this.
goddamn it sucked.
Nothing in it was remotely scary or well written.
It....I cannot do this.
goddamn it sucked.
September 6, 2016
I really thought this was going to be an interesting read based on the premise. It turned out to be complete trash. Horrible writing that seemed to be written for young adults.
January 3, 2022
The novel is written like a YA fantasy about Hell and filled with juvenile shock attempts that bore or induce cringes. I don't usually pan books because I know how hard authors work, but this is just next-level bad.
A handful of the myriad problems:
-I've never encountered this many typos in a published book. Ever. I lost count. I successfully returned it for quality issues. I do not understand how City Infernal got published seemingly without copy-editing. This is to say nothing of the poor formatting.
-The author is *obsessed* with women being raped to the point it comes off like a personal fetish rather than attempt at horror. Literally nothing about this book is scary, but lock your doors if you're this dude's neighbor.
-Attempts at pop culture references are anachronistic and bad. How is there a Lady Gaga reference in a decades-old book? Why was it added in later? No one in this book has so much as a smartphone or social media account. It's clearly set around the year 2000. If the author had time to add a random insult to Lady Gaga (seriously), he could've found the time to fix the typos. Start with the misspelling of Britney Spears, who is also referenced for no good reason.
-There are zero stakes. We've got a band of mall goths in literal Hell and I stopped reading because I wasn't even slightly concerned about them. This Hell is apparently safe for mall goths and they treat it like a haunted house, so I fail to see why I should be frightened or even concerned about them.
How this book ended up on a recommendation list from Nick Cutter, whose work is genuinely disturbing and well-written, is beyond me. The only thing about City Infernal that's scary is seeing the result of publishing without a copy-editor.
A handful of the myriad problems:
-I've never encountered this many typos in a published book. Ever. I lost count. I successfully returned it for quality issues. I do not understand how City Infernal got published seemingly without copy-editing. This is to say nothing of the poor formatting.
-The author is *obsessed* with women being raped to the point it comes off like a personal fetish rather than attempt at horror. Literally nothing about this book is scary, but lock your doors if you're this dude's neighbor.
-Attempts at pop culture references are anachronistic and bad. How is there a Lady Gaga reference in a decades-old book? Why was it added in later? No one in this book has so much as a smartphone or social media account. It's clearly set around the year 2000. If the author had time to add a random insult to Lady Gaga (seriously), he could've found the time to fix the typos. Start with the misspelling of Britney Spears, who is also referenced for no good reason.
-There are zero stakes. We've got a band of mall goths in literal Hell and I stopped reading because I wasn't even slightly concerned about them. This Hell is apparently safe for mall goths and they treat it like a haunted house, so I fail to see why I should be frightened or even concerned about them.
How this book ended up on a recommendation list from Nick Cutter, whose work is genuinely disturbing and well-written, is beyond me. The only thing about City Infernal that's scary is seeing the result of publishing without a copy-editor.
February 25, 2013
Before reading this I saw a lot of reviews saying it is worth reading just for edward lees depiction of hell. Being an edward lee fan I expected it to be good but what suprised me is that his visions are more about the miserable living conditions than the pain and torture that is usually written about. Yes there is torture involved but I have read that before, one of my favorite parts is how they bust open sewage lines and walk around in a combination of excrement and corps sludge just to keep there feet from burning off on the super hot streets. I dont want to give anything away but there is a lot of creative ideas here that give the book some originality rather than just trying to be more extreme in the graphic description than any of the other books about hell. guided tour of misery aside this book had a good story as well, there was a lot of magic in it that at times was pretty cool and at other times seemed like an easy answer to whatever dilemma they where facing.
August 19, 2021
City infernal is a gross, disturbing, and ridiculous story... that is so much fun! We follow Cassie as she journeys into hell to make up for a past mistake and the story quickly descends into the depths of depravity. The plot is decent enough but where this book shines is in the world building and Lee's creativity; his depictions of hell and its inhabitants are disgustingly clever and memorable. I'm eager to return to Lee's version of hell, and so on to the next book!
May 16, 2008
This book was VERY interesting. It's not something that I recommend reading while you're eating if you're easily grossed out. And probably not a good idea to read it when you have to sleep alone, like I did. The ending wasn't as good as the rest of the book, which was a little disappointing. But overall, a very good book and very interesting!
March 23, 2020
Hell Kills
I had this book since 2012 just now reading it. This book was hard to put down I enjoyed the characters and the story telling was good. Hell it's own world rules and demons and Cassie at the front line of it makes for an action packed book.
I had this book since 2012 just now reading it. This book was hard to put down I enjoyed the characters and the story telling was good. Hell it's own world rules and demons and Cassie at the front line of it makes for an action packed book.
November 12, 2010
First in the series. Very imaginative. Severely messed up :)
September 26, 2025
WOW!! I loved this universe
November 26, 2010
Of all the Dante's Infernal rip-offs I've read...and that's quite a few books...This may be the strangest. The author scuttles the seven circles completely and goes for a cross between The Land of Oz and Detroit. However, Mr. Lee does have a nice plot going for him; Goth twin is guilty about "causing" her other twin's suicide and discovers a way to go to hell to ask for forgiveness. The plot is actually a bit more complex than that. But the plot is secondary to the machinations of Hell's politics and the gross-out descriptions of its citizens. Genre-wise, this fits a bit more into urban fantasy than horror despite a number of horrific happenings. I actually enjoyed it but was a bit annoyed to find out it is a first of a series. I sincerely believe there should be a mandatory tag on first books in series: "Danger: the author will leave you hanging in a transparent attempt to bilk you of more of your hard earned money." If there was a pay=off at the end I would be giving this four stars, but now only three...maybe three and a half.
August 16, 2018
I know what I am supposed to write in criticism of this book, which I rated one star to: Ooooooh, I was soooooo shocked! It was so horrifying!! Golly gee, what a bizarre and brutal place Hell is!!!
The truth is, I wasn't shocked, I wasn't horrified, I wasn't offended: I was just bored. To paraphrase Iggy Pop......I was the Chairman of the Bored when I read this book.
One good thing learned from this experiment: do not assume that you will like any horror genre book; read all the reviews, even the ones with spoilers before reading. I'm getting pretty good now at cutting out the deadwood while searching for a book and I won't make this mistake again.
The truth is, I wasn't shocked, I wasn't horrified, I wasn't offended: I was just bored. To paraphrase Iggy Pop......I was the Chairman of the Bored when I read this book.
One good thing learned from this experiment: do not assume that you will like any horror genre book; read all the reviews, even the ones with spoilers before reading. I'm getting pretty good now at cutting out the deadwood while searching for a book and I won't make this mistake again.
March 2, 2020
Great read
What an imagination Mr Lee has. This book has it all demons, goth, trolls and so much more. Every page there was something you leaned about hell and the whole city. Loved cassie and her friends both living and dead. They were great and then the whole storyline. Full of twists and conspiracies that had you held in another world. So descriptive you felt like you weren't reading but watching it, and you were part of it all. A great read and definitely one to read.
What an imagination Mr Lee has. This book has it all demons, goth, trolls and so much more. Every page there was something you leaned about hell and the whole city. Loved cassie and her friends both living and dead. They were great and then the whole storyline. Full of twists and conspiracies that had you held in another world. So descriptive you felt like you weren't reading but watching it, and you were part of it all. A great read and definitely one to read.
April 5, 2025
Mental note: don't wear flip-flops in hell.
One of my new absolute favorite books. I honestly didn't expect to love it as much as I did. It had me cracking up at 3 in the morning and then looking around horrified to make sure I wasn't actually in Hell with Cassie. The way Edward Lee painted Hell was just an imaginary treat. It's campy but then so messed up. I want more and it makes me happy it's series.
One of my new absolute favorite books. I honestly didn't expect to love it as much as I did. It had me cracking up at 3 in the morning and then looking around horrified to make sure I wasn't actually in Hell with Cassie. The way Edward Lee painted Hell was just an imaginary treat. It's campy but then so messed up. I want more and it makes me happy it's series.
January 22, 2008
Edward Lee, City Infernal (Leisure, 2003)
Edward Lee has been around, it seems, just about forever as far as horror authors go. During the eighties, he was considered one of the rising stars, going so far as to get some of his stories in the then-groundbreaking Night Visions anthology (and "Doing Colfax" will never be erased from my memory). Then the horror market died. Lee, unlike many of his brethren, continued to publish in small specialty presses. Those books are now worth a small fortune. And he still continues to publish; his newest novel, as of this writing, is City Infernal. And a typical Edward Lee gut-churner it is.
Cassie and Lissa are identical twins who are enamored of the early nineties goth scene in DC. Lissa catches her boyfriend kissing Cassie, at which point she kills both him and herself. Their mother is long gone, so Cassie and her father are left on their own. A couple of years later, the two of them move out to the country. The house they move to just happens to be a gateway to hell, inhabited by three of hell's outcasts, Xeke, Via, and Hush. Through them, Cassie may finally get a chance to do what she's wanted to since the incident: apologize to her sister.
Okay, so extreme horror is no longer the shock that it was when Lee published "Doing Colfax," the characters have only a shade more depth than cardboard cutouts, and the whole thing is really kind of predictable (though he does throw in a few twists, some explicit and some implied, at the end that will catch the reader off-guard). So why, then, is Ed Lee's stuff such a fun read?
Good question, and one to which I really don't have an answer. City Infernal is more Ghouls than it is The Bighead; you're not going to find anything groundbreaking, and in the harsh light of day this will likely end up being considered one of Lee's minor novels rather than a piece of the classic Lee canon. But still, it's a ball. He creates the Mehistopolis, the major city in hell, as lovingly as China Mieville creates Perdido Street Station's New Crobuzon, and has just as much fun describing it. The Mephistopolis is what Dickens could have done with his place descriptions in A Tale of Two Cities if he hadn't been so stultifyingly verbose.
I will warn you, a good number of horror fans will probably be bored off their butts with this book. But as Adam Parfrey said of the music of NON, "to the chosen few, it is pure balm for the soul." *** ½
Edward Lee has been around, it seems, just about forever as far as horror authors go. During the eighties, he was considered one of the rising stars, going so far as to get some of his stories in the then-groundbreaking Night Visions anthology (and "Doing Colfax" will never be erased from my memory). Then the horror market died. Lee, unlike many of his brethren, continued to publish in small specialty presses. Those books are now worth a small fortune. And he still continues to publish; his newest novel, as of this writing, is City Infernal. And a typical Edward Lee gut-churner it is.
Cassie and Lissa are identical twins who are enamored of the early nineties goth scene in DC. Lissa catches her boyfriend kissing Cassie, at which point she kills both him and herself. Their mother is long gone, so Cassie and her father are left on their own. A couple of years later, the two of them move out to the country. The house they move to just happens to be a gateway to hell, inhabited by three of hell's outcasts, Xeke, Via, and Hush. Through them, Cassie may finally get a chance to do what she's wanted to since the incident: apologize to her sister.
Okay, so extreme horror is no longer the shock that it was when Lee published "Doing Colfax," the characters have only a shade more depth than cardboard cutouts, and the whole thing is really kind of predictable (though he does throw in a few twists, some explicit and some implied, at the end that will catch the reader off-guard). So why, then, is Ed Lee's stuff such a fun read?
Good question, and one to which I really don't have an answer. City Infernal is more Ghouls than it is The Bighead; you're not going to find anything groundbreaking, and in the harsh light of day this will likely end up being considered one of Lee's minor novels rather than a piece of the classic Lee canon. But still, it's a ball. He creates the Mehistopolis, the major city in hell, as lovingly as China Mieville creates Perdido Street Station's New Crobuzon, and has just as much fun describing it. The Mephistopolis is what Dickens could have done with his place descriptions in A Tale of Two Cities if he hadn't been so stultifyingly verbose.
I will warn you, a good number of horror fans will probably be bored off their butts with this book. But as Adam Parfrey said of the music of NON, "to the chosen few, it is pure balm for the soul." *** ½
July 29, 2020
City Infernal is a very imaginative book and even fascinating at times, but the actual horror elements were reduced to what felt like scenes of slapstick absurdist comedy that werent scary or horrifying at all. Hell is supposed to be the height of human agony and suffering, but the author made the book so silly that aside from one or two quick instances I never felt true dread or sympathy for anyone sufferring in Edward Lee's version of Hell.
I remember reading "The Black Farm" by Elias Witherow (another novel which takes place in a hellish afterlife) and it was so raw and visceral that at times I had to put the book down and mentally prepare myself to continue reading. That book depicted the afterlife in a way that was so terrifying it caused me to realize that just being alive and being amongst the living is the greatest privilege that you could ever ask for. I dont know if that's the idea that Edward Lee had in mind for "City Infernal", but I cant help but feel disappointed that this book didnt make me feel that. It had alot of interesting fantasy elements, but the true dreadful horror just wasnt there for me.
I remember reading "The Black Farm" by Elias Witherow (another novel which takes place in a hellish afterlife) and it was so raw and visceral that at times I had to put the book down and mentally prepare myself to continue reading. That book depicted the afterlife in a way that was so terrifying it caused me to realize that just being alive and being amongst the living is the greatest privilege that you could ever ask for. I dont know if that's the idea that Edward Lee had in mind for "City Infernal", but I cant help but feel disappointed that this book didnt make me feel that. It had alot of interesting fantasy elements, but the true dreadful horror just wasnt there for me.
November 2, 2024
He disfrutado todavía más con la relectura unos años más tarde. ¿Cómo puede alguien tener semejante imaginación? Su ciudad infernal tiene todo tipo de detalles estremecedores. Es un lujo de lectura. Después de años leyendo a Edward Lee me sigue sorprendiendo con los libros nuevos y también los viejos, se nota a veces el cambio de estilo (antes más gótico, después más macarra) y en general es un lujo verle emplear estrategias tan literarias para fines tan gore. Definitivamente, quedo con ganas de más Mefistópolis, por suerte en la antología The Jar había un par de cuentos ubicados en ese reino infernal.
December 1, 2008
I get it: Hell has become a city (named Mephistopolis - I guess creativity is lacking there) that thrives on pain and suffering and Satan is the big-daddy CEO who lives in the 666 tower in the center of town. Ok, then what?
I asked myself that question for nearly 400 pages, and the answers were few and mostly feeble. So I moved on to the sequel in hopes of better story, and discovered . . .
I asked myself that question for nearly 400 pages, and the answers were few and mostly feeble. So I moved on to the sequel in hopes of better story, and discovered . . .
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