For millennia, people have been telling such tales not only to scare but also to explore their own beliefs on religion, society and what have you. As the centuries wore on, it became apparent that there was an awful lot of money to be made out of such tales. Seemingly everyone from the poor to the elites ate these tales up with rabid enthusiasm.
In recent years, the self-publishing boom and the rise of the indie press has led to an influx of pulp fiction and ambitious novels. Unsurprisingly, horror is often overrepresented in this field but, considering the quality and imagination that has been on display, that can only be a good thing.
And I’m glad to report that Convulsive fits thus categorisation, combining both the penny dreadful and the literary to give us a modern horror anthology for our times, but always with the same motivation as those who predate us.
Like Pornography For the End of the World, it wouldn’t be fair for me to discuss all of the stories in this collection, so I’ll pick the two that really hit me between the eyes.
Opening tale ‘Good Paper’ allows the phrase “Jesus love you” to act as an starting off point into on a deranged trip of the mind of a homeless person called Warynne as he envisages him as Samson (spelled Sampson in here) reacting to sexual abuse from his bible bashing mother, but still finding some beauty with the artifact itself. It’s a weird and dense story, further emphasised by Koch’s rich (yet cryptic) style of writing which never lets the reader establish where the boundaries between reality and fantasy lie. That is a very good thing, of course, but worth knowing before one starts reading Convulsive as some might find it too suffocating.
‘Blood Calumny’ carries on in this vein by blending the psychological with body horror. Told through a third person narrative, it feels like the reader has been dropped in the middle of the story and assumes that we know the background context. That, however, is a genuine strength in this case as the atmosphere is suffocating and the tension unbearable at times. Everything feels “off”, and the end feels less of a resolution and more of an interlude to nastier events. Again, all portrayed eloquently and with gravitas through Koch’s prose, which is akin to a tapestry in this story.
As you can see, the ambition on display is immense. However, due to this inventive stylistic mix of enigmatic and (dare I say) classical writing, Convulsive is a book that might be overwhelming to the average reader upon first picking it up. However, said reader will quickly find a groove that will allow them access to Koch’s world.
Simply put, a triumph. Long may this boom in indie horror continue.
Joe Koch, 2022, Convulsive. Apocalypse Party Books, ISBN-13: 978-1954899056
In recent years, the self-publishing boom and the rise of the indie press has led to an influx of pulp fiction and ambitious novels. Unsurprisingly, horror is often overrepresented in this field but, considering the quality and imagination that has been on display, that can only be a good thing.
And I’m glad to report that Convulsive fits thus categorisation, combining both the penny dreadful and the literary to give us a modern horror anthology for our times, but always with the same motivation as those who predate us.
Like Pornography For the End of the World, it wouldn’t be fair for me to discuss all of the stories in this collection, so I’ll pick the two that really hit me between the eyes.
Opening tale ‘Good Paper’ allows the phrase “Jesus love you” to act as an starting off point into on a deranged trip of the mind of a homeless person called Warynne as he envisages him as Samson (spelled Sampson in here) reacting to sexual abuse from his bible bashing mother, but still finding some beauty with the artifact itself. It’s a weird and dense story, further emphasised by Koch’s rich (yet cryptic) style of writing which never lets the reader establish where the boundaries between reality and fantasy lie. That is a very good thing, of course, but worth knowing before one starts reading Convulsive as some might find it too suffocating.
‘Blood Calumny’ carries on in this vein by blending the psychological with body horror. Told through a third person narrative, it feels like the reader has been dropped in the middle of the story and assumes that we know the background context. That, however, is a genuine strength in this case as the atmosphere is suffocating and the tension unbearable at times. Everything feels “off”, and the end feels less of a resolution and more of an interlude to nastier events. Again, all portrayed eloquently and with gravitas through Koch’s prose, which is akin to a tapestry in this story.
As you can see, the ambition on display is immense. However, due to this inventive stylistic mix of enigmatic and (dare I say) classical writing, Convulsive is a book that might be overwhelming to the average reader upon first picking it up. However, said reader will quickly find a groove that will allow them access to Koch’s world.
Simply put, a triumph. Long may this boom in indie horror continue.
Joe Koch, 2022, Convulsive. Apocalypse Party Books, ISBN-13: 978-1954899056
🔖 Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.
No comments