Read A Short Stay in Hell and Tender is the Flesh back to back. Traumatized myself back to back.
I've been making my way through my TBR list lately, and A Short Stay in Hell and Tender is the Flesh were up next. I read these back to back in just a couple days and wow, I think I over traumatized myself. Really excellent novella and novel, but a LOT for me to process.
A Short Stay in Hell I had heard a lot about and felt like it was right up my alley - I'm a big fan of bleak stories that have interesting lore. But holy hell this book UPSET me. Especially by the end. Just so, so dread-inducing and fascinating in a bleak way. The concept itself made me uncomfortable so I knew I was in for a ride but wow. The storytelling is great and it's such a short read that it's definitely worth it for any horror fan to pick up. But I kinda wish I could stop thinking about infinity/forever. Yikes. 4.5/5 even though I'm still messed up by it. Kinda want everyone to read it, though. I will say, >!if you're an atheist, this is a really fascinating read. Truly I think every religion will get something out of this, but as someone who is staunchly atheist, I was really thrown by this concept of Hell. !<
Tender is the Flesh was a tough one for me to get through from the very beginning. I've read a lot of gory, splatter-punk type novels, but this one was so clinical and descriptive in a way that was so effective and....polished? IDK - it just cut deeper than a more corny novel. It was so, so brutal. And, slight spoilers, >!by the end of the novel, I felt very betrayed by the narrator. !<You'll get what that means when you read it. Usually I can fly through books of this size, but I had to take multiple breaks just to breathe and process the casual violence. Also affected my ability to eat meat for a few days....Overall 3.2/5, simply because the writing was a bit difficult to get through sometimes, but the world building was excellent, even if I yelled "oh what the fuck, really?!" at the very end.
That's my thoughts! Highly recommend everyone read A Short Stay in Hell, but for Tender is the Flesh I think most people could probably do without reading it, unless the premise is really your cup of tea. It's....a lot.