Dark Book Review – Deranged
Review by Casey Douglass
Deranged is a
bizarro / horror anthology stuffed to the gills with ten explicit
tales of sex. These aren’t your usual, run-of-the-mill sweaty
encounters though; these particular ones feature a variety of subject
matter, from supernatural copulation, to the taboo of finding corpses
more than a little attractive. A common thread amongst many of the
stories is the characters’ discovery that ‘vanilla’ just
doesn’t cut it any more, and that their actions take them onwards,
into the darker extremes of human sexuality.
One character embraces
the culture of wax-play. Another enters a strange sex-club where more
is at stake than meets the eye. A “Slasher Slut” revels in the
lives of two serial-killers, conducting tours around their home by
day and forcing her boyfriend to mistreat her at night. A dedicated
worker engages in necrophilia. A poor soul ends up in a strange
reality, one in which he is regularly raped by a strange furry female
dog-person. These are just some of the storylines to be found in
Deranged.
After reading the
above, you’ll know if Deranged is likely to be a book that
would interest you. It’s extreme, taboo and gross, yet contained in
each tale are characters that are well-written and for the most part,
“everyday people”. This is one of the book’s charms. A “normal”
person accidentally finding their fetish, maybe by the accidental
spill of candle wax on skin, or a chance encounter at a club. Or they
might give into a gross or bizarre desire just once, and that is
enough to send them down the rabbit hole. Disclaimer: There are no
stories about characters fucking rabbits. Just FYI.
My favourite story is
Drippings by Sarah Cannavo. This features Alison, someone who engages
in the aforementioned wax-play activities. She finds a kindred spirit
who also shares this kink, but their coupling creates something that
ends up terrorizing their lives, and I don’t mean a baby! It wasn’t
the most extreme story, and it actually ends quite happily, which is
a rare thing for me to enjoy. I liked the tempo of the tale, the
“thing” that pesters the two lovers, and the rich descriptions of
what it does.
A close second
favourite of mine is The House of Tears by John Paul Fitch. This
story is that of a rich guy who is a regular at a sex club called The
Sanctuary. As with many things in life, this can and does lead him to
a more extreme version, a place where reality seems to bend and a
hellish power holds sway. I enjoyed this story for the strange
situations the main character witnesses, the way the horrific scenes
unfolded and the inventiveness and otherworldly feeling to things. I
got a bit of an Event Horizon vibe from it, although it isn’t
a tale set in the darkness of space.
A special mention has
to go to Filthy Secrets by Jonathan Butcher, for being the grossest
tale amongst the stories in the book. Let me just say that he makes excellent
use of so many bodily secretions and excretions, it left me feeling a
bit queasy. That being said, the main thrust of the tale, the thrill
of the main character knowing something that no-one else does, was
very well conveyed, and I felt like I was along for every bump of the
nauseous ride.
I was very impressed by
the quality of the writing in Deranged. Crafting explicit sex
or horror scenes takes skill, and having well-written characters that
you can follow through the course of their personal discovery, in
whichever way that manifests, is pretty much nailed by every tale in
the collection. I finished reading it more than a week ago and I can
still picture certain scenes so clearly, which is a testament to the
authors’ talents. If you enjoy bizarro sexual horror, you'll enjoy
Deranged.
I received a free copy of this book for review purposes.
Book Title:
Deranged
Book Authors:
Antonio Simon, JR, Sarah Cannavo, Jonathan Butcher, Colleen Anderson,
Sidney Williams, John Paul Fitch, W. T. Patterson, Annie Knox, C L
Raven, Suzanne Fox
Publisher: 6K
Press
Released: 16 Dec
2019
RRP: $3.02
(Kindle), $9.99 (Paperback)
