Nathan Ballingrud so kindly hooked me up with a personalized, signed copy of this wicked book of diabolical short stories.

I truly enjoyed all six of these stories. Ballingrud's writing is mentally and spiritually stimulating in a dark and viscous way. He captures each image with a hellish undertone, whether he's talking about humans or otherwise. I took down a few quotes that formed concrete and memorable images in my mind:

"He looks like fists of meat sewn together and given a suit of clothes."

"He didn't like spending time by himself; silence unnerved him, left him feeling unanchored and threatened."

"Life was long or short, and it meant something or it didn't. It wasn't his business to tell her how to measure hers."

"The weight of his spilling guts pulled him to his knees."

He uses words like "gravid" and "susurrus" while painting haunting images of demons, angels, Gods, and monsters in the tones of Francisco Goya and William Blake. The first story, The Atlas of Hell, I found to be particularly vivid. It felt like if Lewis Carroll had taken Alice on a trip to Hell's borderland instead of Wonderland. It was beautiful, mesmerizing, and deeply disturbing. I found myself thinking about it frequently afterwards.

I am interested in seeing The Visible Filth on screen now that I have also read that story within these pages. It left my skin crawling and my head throbbing. The last story, The Butcher's Table, plagued me with colossal images of sea-dwelling 'angels' and cartographers of hell who resemble the Jackal spirit from the movie Thir13een Ghosts.

I loved these stories. I did not dream pleasantly while reading them, but my stay at the Border of Hell was unmatched in premise and detail. I would happily re-read these any time I want to remember this nightmare place.

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Written by Samantha

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