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A review by ghostboyreads
Flowers From the Void by Gianni Washington
4.0
"Each strike landed like a stone. Phillip only became soft afterward, when fluids rushed to inflate him until every bruise rested on a cushion of swollen tissue. The rest of him was smeared with blood. Martin seemed to revel in every hemorrhage, cupping puddles of it in his hands before wiping them onto his own shirt. Making art of Phillip's life force."
Flowers from the Void is an interesting little story collection that contains a lot of genuinely creepy and spine-chilling tales. Each of these stories comes packed with a heavy, thick, almost cloying sense of unease and a disturbing, almost quiet sort of violence simmers just below the surface of this novel. Each of these stories are just, so, so very sad, they're so unnerving and completely horrific. This is absolutely more of a muted, and silent sort of horror rather than one that screams right in your face, but, each story is so well written, so beautifully crafted and utterly impactful, that, no matter the kind of horror reader you are, there's something for you here. Flowers from the Void is intensely evocative, it's like staring into the blackest of nights when you have nowhere to go, it's like letting the waves drag you further and further from the shore.
These are strange, weird tales. They're vague, bizarre little vignette like stories that offer us a glimpse into the gaping maw of the macabre and depraved. It's incredibly rare to see such a diverse and wide-ranging story collection offered up by just one author, in Flowers from the Void, Gianni weaves so many stories with so much heart, that, it creates a brutal snarling beast of a novel. It's such a gut-wrenching reading experience, and it can't be stressed strongly enough how wonderful this collection really is - the love that Gianni has for the craft of storytelling is lavished across every single tale here, his prose is lyrical and captivating and utterly perfect for this kind of hazy, subtle horror.
Flowers from the Void is an interesting little story collection that contains a lot of genuinely creepy and spine-chilling tales. Each of these stories comes packed with a heavy, thick, almost cloying sense of unease and a disturbing, almost quiet sort of violence simmers just below the surface of this novel. Each of these stories are just, so, so very sad, they're so unnerving and completely horrific. This is absolutely more of a muted, and silent sort of horror rather than one that screams right in your face, but, each story is so well written, so beautifully crafted and utterly impactful, that, no matter the kind of horror reader you are, there's something for you here. Flowers from the Void is intensely evocative, it's like staring into the blackest of nights when you have nowhere to go, it's like letting the waves drag you further and further from the shore.
These are strange, weird tales. They're vague, bizarre little vignette like stories that offer us a glimpse into the gaping maw of the macabre and depraved. It's incredibly rare to see such a diverse and wide-ranging story collection offered up by just one author, in Flowers from the Void, Gianni weaves so many stories with so much heart, that, it creates a brutal snarling beast of a novel. It's such a gut-wrenching reading experience, and it can't be stressed strongly enough how wonderful this collection really is - the love that Gianni has for the craft of storytelling is lavished across every single tale here, his prose is lyrical and captivating and utterly perfect for this kind of hazy, subtle horror.
"His victims' last moments will play on an endless loop inside his head, and the devastating grief of their loved ones will seep in, steadily filling all the cracks in his knowing, until it spills from everywhere and he is drowning in it. His transparent teeth will crack against one another, and he will beg for silence. He will try to tear the flesh from his non-existent bones and gouge out eyes that are already gone."
This is just so, so haunting, so consuming, so completely and utterly suffocating and intense and interesting. There's a lot going on here, and pretty much all of it is fantastic but, the body horror elements in particular were sublime, it's quite simply an outstanding collection. As with any collection of stories, there are always the stories that hit harder than the others - Redemption Express and Under Your Skin were the stars of the show here, though, I couldn't find a single bad story at all. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this novel is that it's a debut written like the work of an author who's been in the game for a long time.
"I could watch the smoke curl in front of me forever, but he won't let me. He's shuffling this way now, slow but steady. His progress is almost painful to watch, but part of me is rooting for him."