The bar has been set for extreme horror!

For any of you who feel this genre is only about violence and depravity, you need to read this book to see the character development—because when the reader cares for the protagonist, they can feel the bad things happening.

For anyone who doesn’t understand why I can love one extreme story and hate the next, let me tell you something about myself. With the exception of Richard Laymon and Bentley Little, I didn’t even know about the genre they call “extreme horror.”

There are three extreme authors whose books I just can’t get into: one who managed to make me physically nauseous, and the other two whose stories felt like it was “violence for the sake of violence.”

Last year, I read a book which I described as “the sickest book I’ve ever read” and I still stand by it, but this book matched it in spades. However, this book was better for the reaction it invoked in me.

In 2010, Darren Aronofsky released his movie Black Swan—to date, one of the top five movies I have ever seen—and made me an instant fan. When Mother! came out in 2017, I went into it blind. And, man, did that movie have an effect on me!

If you haven’t seen this movie, skip this paragraph and watch the movie first! It starts out as visually serene, which highlights the beauty and love of the couple, even though there is this teensy-weensy part of mystery you sense rather than see. The movie becomes a little strange when the people start showing up and, even though you feel uneasy, it is more of a suggestion than anything actually shown. And then, all of a sudden, you find yourself in this fucking war zone…You see, the director hinted at something, but you do not expect this onslaught of violence out of nowhere. And it shakes you inside, makes your gut drop in that moment, makes your stomach turn as if you are part of those people’s lives.

Well, this book did just about the same for me. Aron makes you care about Vera, gives you just enough time to understand and forgive her quirks. And then he fucks her up! This was the first time I had to put a book down and take a break, because my brain screamed NOOOOOOO!!!!

For anybody who thinks they can handle any kind of extreme, this one twisted me inside. Good luck!

Bravo, Mr. Beauregard, bravo!!