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destynnee's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
5.0
"If you've got some kind of snuff fantasy," she began, "you're barking up the wrong tree. I do not kill people."
-The Physician / Wormspace
Bound in Flesh
An Anthology of Trans Body Horror
Edited by Lor Gislason
Wormspace
by LC Von Hessen
191 pages
Publication date April 18, 2023
I received a copy of this book, and this is my review.
Please, watch out for possible spoilers, including but not limited to, TW/CN/Etc.
Possible TW, Tropes, and Genres
Mature, Body Horror, Horror, Horror Anthology, Gay Fiction, Transgender Fiction, Illegal Medical Practices, Profanity, Sex, Violence, Death, Suicide, Abuse, Blood, Gore, Death of a Child/Teen, pareidolia, cryptid, monster, prison, colostomy bag, usage of a slur, and possibly more.
If you can not handle body horror, extreme.. EXTREME bodily mutilation, and or extreme medical/body modifications.. This will not be a book for you. If you can…. :: wicked grin ::
The whole anthology is amazing. I say read it cover to cover,
I will be specifically talking about the story Wormspace, by LC Von Hessen in this review though.
“The Physician’s forte was neither safe nor sane and only
nominally consensual.” I would fucking say so.
If you have ever been in the extreme body mod community, or extreme BDSM community, you will know that there are people like this, and people who will do this for the right price.
““If you’ve got some kind of snuff fantasy,” she began, “you’re
barking up the wrong tree. I do not kill people.” She crossed her legs.
“It’s not an ethical thing. It’s just boring, to me.” The Physician spoke
with an assured, velvet-lined voice. Her thin lips were painted a deep
red verging on black, the color of menstrual clots.”
I just want to say, that the way the lip coloring was described was FUCKING AMAZING. As someone who has Endometriosis, and has dealt with horrible blood clots and one miscarriage, the visual this game me. I had to take a moment and gather myself. I applaud you LC Von Hessen. FUCKING PERFECT,
I have been in the BDSM and body mod community since I was like 18, that's over 20 years of seeing and hearing about some of the more subtle “extremes” and then HEARING/SEEING the actual extremes. This story, while fiction, touches on things I have heard about. Things that with the right amount of money…
Anyway, it is visceral, it made me stop once or twice, and remind myself this is fiction. While I know of real world things, THIS what I am reading is fiction. And that kind of writing, that makes me think about real world things, or makes me think about other media I have consumed that has touched on this sort of topic.. That is my kinda story. It pulls me in, and makes me want to stay in that head space and intake more bit of entertainment like this.
This is the first time reading anything by these authors, I would highly suggest giving this a read/
5 / 5
-Destynnee
-The Physician / Wormspace
Bound in Flesh
An Anthology of Trans Body Horror
Edited by Lor Gislason
Wormspace
by LC Von Hessen
191 pages
Publication date April 18, 2023
I received a copy of this book, and this is my review.
Please, watch out for possible spoilers, including but not limited to, TW/CN/Etc.
Possible TW, Tropes, and Genres
Mature, Body Horror, Horror, Horror Anthology, Gay Fiction, Transgender Fiction, Illegal Medical Practices, Profanity, Sex, Violence, Death, Suicide, Abuse, Blood, Gore, Death of a Child/Teen, pareidolia, cryptid, monster, prison, colostomy bag, usage of a slur, and possibly more.
If you can not handle body horror, extreme.. EXTREME bodily mutilation, and or extreme medical/body modifications.. This will not be a book for you. If you can…. :: wicked grin ::
The whole anthology is amazing. I say read it cover to cover,
I will be specifically talking about the story Wormspace, by LC Von Hessen in this review though.
“The Physician’s forte was neither safe nor sane and only
nominally consensual.” I would fucking say so.
If you have ever been in the extreme body mod community, or extreme BDSM community, you will know that there are people like this, and people who will do this for the right price.
““If you’ve got some kind of snuff fantasy,” she began, “you’re
barking up the wrong tree. I do not kill people.” She crossed her legs.
“It’s not an ethical thing. It’s just boring, to me.” The Physician spoke
with an assured, velvet-lined voice. Her thin lips were painted a deep
red verging on black, the color of menstrual clots.”
I just want to say, that the way the lip coloring was described was FUCKING AMAZING. As someone who has Endometriosis, and has dealt with horrible blood clots and one miscarriage, the visual this game me. I had to take a moment and gather myself. I applaud you LC Von Hessen. FUCKING PERFECT,
I have been in the BDSM and body mod community since I was like 18, that's over 20 years of seeing and hearing about some of the more subtle “extremes” and then HEARING/SEEING the actual extremes. This story, while fiction, touches on things I have heard about. Things that with the right amount of money…
Anyway, it is visceral, it made me stop once or twice, and remind myself this is fiction. While I know of real world things, THIS what I am reading is fiction. And that kind of writing, that makes me think about real world things, or makes me think about other media I have consumed that has touched on this sort of topic.. That is my kinda story. It pulls me in, and makes me want to stay in that head space and intake more bit of entertainment like this.
This is the first time reading anything by these authors, I would highly suggest giving this a read/
5 / 5
-Destynnee
cecilowo's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
bladelikesbooks's review
4.0
‘Bound In Flesh’ is an adult trans horror anthology. A collection of 13 horror short stories focusing on body horror. I rated each short story separately and got an average rating of 4 stars. Horror isn’t my usual genre so starting with this was like jumping into the deep end but I had a great time!
My favorite short stories included ‘In The Garden Of Horn, The Naked Magic Thrives’ by Hailey Piper; ‘Show Me’ by Amanda M. Blake; ‘Looking For The Big Death’ by Taliesin Neith.
I loved how different the stories were from each other even though they were all within this one specific genre and I loved how diverse the casts were. There were so many different types of representation in this and so many different stories, I feel like there’s definitely something in here for everyone.
I’d definitely love to check out the other works of the authors and editors who contributed to this anthology and I’ve also joined the Ghoulish Books book club which has been so much fun. Overall, I had a really fun experience reading this book and it has introduced me to a whole new community of readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the horror genre or queer books or anthologies.
Representation - Autistic (A); Bisexual (A); Disabled (A); Fat (MC/A); Gay (SC/A); GenderFluid (A); He/They (A); Mobility Aid (Colostomy Bag - MC); NeoPronouns (It; A); Neurodivergent (A); NonBinary (A); Queer (MC); Sapphic (MC/A); She/Her/They/Them (A); She/He/They (A); They/Them (MC/SC/A); Trans (A); Trans (FTM, MC/SC/A); Transmasculine (A); Trans (MTF/MC/A)
TWs/CWs - Abortion; Amputation; Animal Cruelty; Animal Death; BDSM; Birthing; Blood; Body Horror; Bugs; Bullying; Cancer; Car crash (graphic); Child Abuse, Child Death; Corpse; Cult Activity; Cussing; Death; Emotional Abuse; Exorcism; Fatphobia; Financial Abuse; Gore; Homophobia; Medical Detail; Murder; Necrophelia; Needle; Nudity; Physical Abuse; Prison; Sexual Assault; Sexual Content; Suicide Attempt; Transphobia; Violence; Vomit
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Car accident, Gore, Murder, Violence, Death, Homophobia, and Medical content
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Fatphobia
Minor: Cancer and Bullying
benjaminvr's review against another edition
4.0
Hard to pick a favorite. All of the stories were so good in their own way.
poisoned_icecream's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Gore, Transphobia, Body horror, and Dysphoria
sarah984's review
dark
3.0
I always seem to find anthologies hit or miss and this book fits that pattern. A lot of the stories leaned into the weird transgressive space body horror offers as a playground in a way that was really interesting even if I couldn't say I enjoyed it, and the trans lens in many of the stories was really compelling. However there were a few that were stretching the limits (heh) of what I would consider body horror and one story I outright hated, so I'm rounding the average at 3/5.
Top faves: Long Fingers by Layne Van Rensberg, Lady Davelina's Last Pet by Charles-Elizabeth Boyles, Man of the House by Lillian Boyd.
Top faves: Long Fingers by Layne Van Rensberg, Lady Davelina's Last Pet by Charles-Elizabeth Boyles, Man of the House by Lillian Boyd.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content
Moderate: Transphobia, Medical content, and Dysphoria
Minor: Ableism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Pregnancy
_mox_'s review against another edition
5.0
Warning: not for the faint of heart. I am a big horror fan and at this point I thought I had seen it all. Each story in this collection is fresh, innovative, and deeply disturbing. I will be following up with each author for further reading.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
paopuleaf's review
3.5
favorite of the bunch was the closer, "looking for the big death" by taliesin neith. the rest of the collection was hit or miss for me but i had a lot of fun throughout
andymoon's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0