It's fantasy/light horror with a liberal sprinkling of trauma that makes some of the stories highly arresting, some of them sweet and some of them just very good fun. Her writing has been published by the White Review , the TLS , Another Gaze and the London Magazine , among others. The differences between the stories kept things fresh and there were several times when I was left wishing for an entire novel to delve deeper into the characters and story 😍 it’s so cool to see so many examples of spooky, and while I had several favourites within the volume there wasn’t a single story I didn’t find interesting and unique.

Raw pork and opium has one of the more interesting styles of writing explored however the context of the story leaves you going. But in the chapter titled “The Flat ,” we are thrust into the primary voyeuristic perspective, as though we are watching David, who has just moved into a new apartment, through a hole in the wall. These juicy, gothic tales draw you in with a warm embrace, detailed settings and characters with personality that transcends the short stories they feature in. The last story, Saplings, was definitely my favourite, along with The Bequest, No Dominion, Hags and Lick the Dust.Each of the thirteen stories, never overwritten, always sensuous and atmospheric, packs a brief, intense punch. Off the back of that comment about doing this without permission, one thing I did really appreciate in this book was that in one of the stories it featured looks at parts of the BDSM community but really showcased how important consent is to the core of what that community is. A collection of horror stories that explore queer identity through some emotional, disturbing, and gothic tales. She has had previous work published in The Sundae, Digital Fix, Bindweed Magazine, The Independent and Refinery29.

It is a sentiment that Craig, Ridgeway, and all bibliophiles share: the pleasure of being able to vividly feed off other people’s dramatics, like a demon, but then close the book without consequence once we’ve got our fill.The stories and characters run parallel to each other, but these themes are repeatedly reworked in surprising ways throughout the collection to give each narrative its little slice of hell. raw pork and opium: 2 stars, I liked the 2 parallel perspectives up until the girl had sex with her friend because he suddenly had boobs and then told him that she did not want him and was the other part a metaphor for how gay the two men are for each other? In this deliciously macabre debut collection, Leon Craig explores queer identity, power, love and the painful complexities of being human in startling new ways. Is this a story in part about acting in other peoples' interests as YOU see them, and then making a choice not to do that? Lipless Grin was my favourite of the bunch, but honorable mentions include Pretty Rooms, Lick the Dust and raw pork and opium which had different formating that really reminded me of Tell Me I'm Worthless, but was really unique in its own subject.

The length of each column matches the other almost perfectly, bridging a formidable dichotomy between fear and pleasure. The stories are in a very short space of time able to give you this intense burst of emotional connection to characters that are either very human or very intentionally NOT, but allows you to empathise with them all the same. His frankness causes a sordid sensation to seethe the length of the reader – we feel no different to the faceless fourth person in the images, recording David at his most intimate. There are plenty of jokes too, and striking turns of phrase, as well as some weird and wonderful surrealism of detail and conception.When Stan, who is white, confronts Gary, who is black, the encounter bristles with accusations of racism. The characters in the novel are eager to observe others, but refuse to see themselves, even when staring into mirrors. Both vibrantly contemporary and decadently gothic, the stories in Parallel Hells shimmer with queer power and wicked humour. This is a queer themed collection of fantasy horror stories that vary in length and creepy factor - and which I absolutely loved. One thing I will say is that one of the short stories played with formatting and had two simultaneous narratives occurring at once.