Furnace - Enter the Unbridled Wilderness of Livia Llewellyn's Mind
Reading this collection of stories by Livia Llewellyn is like entering unbridled wilderness. Her spirit is a reincarnation of Pan and it stains the pages like the darkest, most bittersweet berries.
Every story in this book intensely demanded my attention. They all burned with a phantasmagorical glow that seemed to emit from both sprites and demons. I had many favorite stories here, and among them are:
Panopticon - An erotically dismal cityscape.
Lord of the Hunt - A regular visit to a mall to fill the void becomes a dive into a kind of pagan religious experience.
It Feels Better Biting Down - This story of twin sisters with a vestigial finger gave off Soska Sisters vibes and would make a terrifying horror movie with elements of Ginger Snaps and Dead Ringers.
The Mysteries - Some kind of combination of Dracula and Something Wicked This Way Comes that made me hear the sounds of a calliope in the distance.
The Last, Clean, Bright Summer - This was cosmic horror written from a girl's perspective as she tracked her 'vacation' with her family through journal entries. There was a real sense of how women get screwed in more than just metaphorical ways here.
and Love shall have no Dominion - I read this story originally in the Demons: Encounters with the Devil and His Minions, Fallen Angels, and the Possessed compendium and it blew me away then and it did again as I happily re-read it in this book. This story is written from the perspective of a demon essentially haunting a woman for her entire existence, 'loving' her in his demonic way. It's incredible.
The Unattainable - This was a very gentle final story in the book. It was erotic and a bit dangerous, but it was also romantic and beautiful. It was not horrific in any way, but rather so very human.
I want to recommend Livia Llewellyn's work to you wholeheartedly. She's filled with old magic that will bleed into your eyes and heart and leave you feeling like you witnessed something you shouldn't have, something you can't unsee now.
