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LES FEMMES GROTESQUES [BOOK REVIEW]
When it comes to reading horror, I always love a good short story collection. I do tend to agree with Poe’s philosophy that horror works best when it can be read in one sitting. I do not believe that to be an absolute truth, but I’ll always reach for a short story collection or a novella before I reach for a giant doorstop of a novel.
Les Femmes Grotesques by Victoria Dalpe is a short story collection that I have fallen in love with. Not only is the writing highly accessible and engaging but the stories are both thought provoking and stab at an emotional center. I can be perfectly content reading stories about werewolves, ghosts, or cannibals, but my true happy place is when a horror writer can walk the line between B material and literary fiction (Kathy Acker, Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum, William Burroughs).
Dalpe achieves this balance with the agile grace of a ninja. Facing death in horror is about as common a concern as one finds in this genre, but I think it’s rare to find an author who can craft so many different perspectives on the subject without it feeling exploitative. I feel like Les Femmes Grotesquesis sharing rarefied air with The Books of Blood and I don’t say that lightly, as I believe Clive Barker remains the pinnacle of our genre and the one voice we are all still striving to either beat or be.
