Parallel Hells

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The last story, Saplings, was definitely my favourite, along with The Bequest, No Dominion, Hags and Lick the Dust. The agonies of breaking up with a lover, and of feeling oneself adrift in one's late twenties, are subtly captured in several of the longer pieces. The very short stories sometimes left the reader slightly too much in the dark, with only a few scraps of certainty left to try and piece together what happened before the end.

The characters in the novel are eager to observe others, but refuse to see themselves, even when staring into mirrors.

Whilst the chapters in this story are loosely-linked vignettes, what all the characters share is the claustrophobia of a caver.

An Oxford historian, in bitter competition with the rest of her faculty members, discovers an ancient tome whose sinister contents might solve her problems. Asta is an ancient being who feasts on the shame of contemporary Londoners, who now, beyond anything, wishes only to fit in with a group of friends they will long outlive. It is such a fresh and playful approach to storytelling that you cannot help but be totally enamoured with Craig's abilities. By turns dark, sharp, witty and tender, I'm a huge fan of Leon Craig's writing, and the way she reveals the complex dance of beauty and brutality in our innermost, most vulnerable selves. It is such a fresh and playful approach to storytelling that you cannot help but be totally enamoured with Craig’s abilities.

One thing I will say is that one of the short stories played with formatting and had two simultaneous narratives occurring at once. I was not the woman they believed me to be, indeed I was no woman at all, I was only like this because most humans needed me to pick one or the other. This is a collection of horror stories that spans multiple styles and genres, inspired by mythology, folk horror, and modern popular culture. I think it's super interesting that you can present a story and offer the audience multiple ways to digest it. Probably shouldn’t have been reading this at 1:30am now I don’t wanna sleep hahaha full review to come!