Polish Extreme - My First Time with Extreme Horror
Okay, so let me preface this with the statement that I don't really read much (if any) 'extreme horror.' A friend was doing a contest on Instagram (Z.Reads.Stuff) for a digital copy of Polish Extreme and I figured that if I won it, this would be my entry into its gritty world.
Here's how it went: I read it all in one day. I had to stop reading it when I was eating because it was just too gross at times to allow for a pleasant meal-time experience. Every story was quite brutal and I found it more interesting knowing that the authors of the stories were all Polish (presumably excluding Edward Lee). They felt like strange forays into mini-versions of Saw, Hostel, maybe even A Serbian Film.
I found myself laughing out loud at Pussy Plant by Tomasz Siwiec, as it was kind of hilarious in addition to being gross.
Mother's Milk by Karolina Mangusta Kaczkowska was more cosmic than I would have expected, and that turned a well-known trope for me on its head in a new way.
I liked Edward Lee's An American Tourist in Poland story the most. It felt more like an unrated scary movie (leaning Hostel-esque) with a lot of surprisingly fun travel information packed into it. I've been to Poland myself, so I especially enjoyed the presence of historical facts, descriptions of the city itself and its inhabitants, and really just Edward Lee's jaunty writing style. His story was the least 'offensive' of the bunch, but I fully understand that it is the nature of extreme horror to be repulsive and disturbing.
I have to laugh because Z.Reads.Stuff mentioned that I'd need a bath after reading these stories, and boy was she right. I'm glad that I entered this realm through a short story collection like this so that I am prepared for the next 'extreme horror' book I read... whenever I recover.
