Review: Furnace

Furnace by Livia Llewellyn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I mentioned before, in my review for Gemma Files’s short story collection, that body horror ain’t really my thing. This book was mentioned in a Twin Peaks group I follow, noting that the story the collection takes its title from has a real Peaks-ian quality to it.

It does, but where this collection shines is in a lot of the other stories. The author isn’t afraid to put much of anything out there, and the result is a dark, often uncomfortable, occasionally psychosexual journey through a series of unrelated stories that hit that sweet spot of unsettling and thought-provoking. Considering how deep I’ve fallen into the New Weird/New Horror pit as of late, I’m frankly surprised this collection doesn’t get more attention.

Give “Furnace” a shot as a story, try the cowboy romance piece, and you’ll get a feel for the writing and want to spend a lot more time with this one. Just a great read, and one I’ll be recommending for some time.

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