A review by michellehogmire
Bound in Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror by Lor Gislason

challenging dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Happy Publication Week to Bound in Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror (Ghoulish Books 4/18)—a disturbing, delightful collection of macabre tales about existing inside (or outside) a meat carcass. I received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free, and I’m leaving this review voluntarily. 

Bound in Flesh, expertly edited by Lor Gislason, features 13 chilling stories all written by non-binary and trans authors. Unusual for an anthology, there’s not a weak piece or link in the bunch; instead, the selections thematically enhance and build on one another—creating a shambling Cronenbergian hybrid of a book. Stories like “Wormspace” by L.C. von Hessen or “Coming Out” by Derek Des Agnes explore the monstrous form as a liberation from cisgender restrictions, while pieces like “The Haunting of Aiden Finch” by Theo Hendrie or “Mama is a Butcher” by Winter Holmes depict the repressive and fearful reality of occupying a body deemed Other by society. Some tales pile on the gory gross-outs (Joe Koch’s “A Scream Lights Up the Sky”), but others rely more on psychological insidiousness (Amanda M. Blake’s “Show Me”). The stories even run the gamut in terms of genre, covering everything from science fictional automatons (gaast’s “Fall Apart”) to splatterpunk revenge (Lillian Boyd’s “Man of the House”).  

The two stand-out pieces in this collection are “Lady Davelina’s Last Pet” by Charles-Elizabeth Boyle and “Looking for the Big Death” by Taliesin Neith. The former is a whimsical and beautifully written fairytale representation of physical transformation and BDSM torture, while the latter takes a startling deep dive into the harmonious relationship between death obsession and murder. All in all, Bound in Flesh does an excellent job of highlighting the expansive power of unashamed non-normative bodies or, as the narrator of Layne Van Rensberg’s “Long Fingers” puts it, “I laugh. This is how they see me. I’m a flesh monster corrupting the ordinary world. I will never be able to change their mind. That’s why I won’t give them the chance to eradicate me. I’ll spread further and faster than they can cope with because I will not be held back from being all that I’m capable of. From being the world.”