Parallel Hells

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I can't say anything else except to repeat that this collection was a tremendous disappointment though I have hopes that other writings by this author might not be.

David is eager to learn more about the previous tenants, Karl and Peppi, who, according to neighbours, mysteriously disappeared.Both vibrantly contemporary and decadently gothic, the stories in Parallel Hells shimmer with queer power and wicked humour. Hags” is one of those stories that lingers in the mind like a fragrance, packing very human anxieties into the silver scales of a supernatural consciousness. In the thirteen darkly audacious stories of Parallel Hells we meet a golem, made of clay, learning that its powers far exceed its Creator's expectations; a ruined mansion which grants the secret wishes of a group of revelers and a notorious murderer who discovers her Viking husband is not what he seems.

By turns unsettling, funny and fiercely intelligent, Parallel Hells is a queer carnival of monsters and masks. It is impossible not to sympathise with this violent, shame-sucking demon as it longs to tell its human friends who it really is: “I couldn’t burden them with this, could I? For all their Grand Guignol effects, these are stories worth revisiting for their honesty about love and loss.In 2006, he was a semi-finalist for BBC Radio Voice of Musical Theatre at the New Theatre in Cardiff. Drugs and pornography are pillows which the characters used to cushion themselves from the outside world. In one story, titled “raw pork and opium,” a character re-applies her lipstick in the only reflective surface to be found “the kitchen knife we used to rack up lines. effortlessly erudite (the range of reference points is dazzling) and shot through with occasional shafts of wisdom, albeit of a downbeat kind: "love is just handing someone a piece of yourself you'll never get back and waiting for them to break it". Frustrated by Luke’s trite ignorance, Carly goes to “find the rest of the party or I can find out how it feels to murder somebody”.

Demons carouse in the decadent London party scene, metaphysical books provide a leg-up in the cut-throat but precarious world of Oxford academia, trauma meets a black mass, and gender identity and transphobia are explored through folk magic. I found the best stories were the ones that were a little longer, because they gave Craig a chance to flex her impressive writing muscles and created more space for her examination of the human condition through these surreal vibes. My favourite story was definitely the last one but I still just didn't connect as much as I wanted to.

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. These stories penetrate the surface of their characters’ assumed identities to reveal the glittering realities beneath. Lots of queer rep though, and a few stories really grabbed my attention, especially the longer ones where the characters and the story arc felt more fleshed out. But anyway, keep that in mind when looking at the rating, I'm definitely not the best judge of the genre.