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Parallel Hells

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Craig's collection dances with horror - the monster is not always who you expect. A book for anyone who likes to play in the dark -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan (November 2021)

The stories include a murderous anti-heroine in 10th Century Viking-era Iceland who becomes suspicious of her husband’s relationship with his best friend; an ancient being who feasts on 21st Century Londoners and an Oxford University historian who delights in using occult methods from a medieval tome on her nemesis. Vampires, corpse brides, fairy curses all feature, as does Jewish folklore. In The Bequest, a woman is possessed by a dybbuk when she discovers more about her family history than she anticipated and in Unfinished and Unformed, a golem’s powers exceed the expectations of its creator.Seeking distance away from her unworthy family after her beloved grandfather dies, Ursula Kelp travels to Buenos Aires to work as the Head Gardener of a remote, dilapidated estate in the Pampas. The fact that the name of the place means “The Tears”, and that previous gardeners have turned down the job because they believe it’s cursed, does not deter her in the slightest. And she arrives eager to prove she can do the job just as well as, if not better than, any man. A far braver person than me, I have to admit. I personally wouldn’t be caught within a mile of any place named “The Tears”. When Mr. Lizalde’s charming son, Eduardo Lizalde arrives at the estate, he sets in motion a chain of events that will change their lives forever. Motivated by her attraction to Eduardo, Carlota begins to chafe against her father’s constraints and questions her place in the world. On the other hand, the hybrids struggle to gain their autonomy and personal identity despite their creator’s wishes. As always, Silvia Moreno-Garcia uses themes of colonialism and oppression to make remarks about our past and present. In the thirteen darkly audacious stories of Parallel Hells we meet a golem, made of clay, learning that its powers far exceed its Creator’s expectations; a ruined mansion which grants the secret wishes of a group of revellers and a notorious murderer who discovers her Viking husband is not what he seems.

From Rebecca and Dracula to the more recent hit Mexican Gothic, gothic horror has cemented its position in popular culture thanks to its ability to frighten and horrify us in a foreboding setting. After all, nothing says excellent literature than a book that keeps you awake at night with all the lights on! But as well as this, these stories also make you ask really interesting questions. One of my favourites was called "Hags", about a demon that after hundreds of years of being alive has refined their diet down to one thing. They feed on shame. You have this story telling you about the demon's past, their relationship with their friends, their guilt over lying and presenting themselves as a human to people they've genuinely come to like, and then talks about shame as a negative emotion. If it's removed is that always a good thing? Is it right to decide that it's ok to remove something negative from somebody else's life without consent? Is this a story in part about acting in other peoples' interests as YOU see them, and then making a choice not to do that? These stories I think are really multilayered.

Vampires, Vikings and a dybbuk too

Irresistibly strange and inventive, Parallel Hells is a collection of dark and delightful stories that blends folklore and gothic horror with a contemporary twist. The result is Craig’s debut book, Parallel Hells, a thrilling, dark and sometimes strange collection of 13 short stories in which she draws on elements of folklore and gothic horror to explore queer identity, power, love and loneliness. “I was almost surprised by the [writing] momentum,” she says, “though it was a very happy thing.”

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