Charlene Elsby's Violent Faculties is not for the faint of heart. Taking the form of a philosophical research paper, our depraved professor sets out to determine what makes someone human - by slowly and methodically cutting away various bits and pieces of their subjects until there's nothing left. As for whether their deaths amount to an answer, well, let's leave that up to you to discover.
Here's the deal, this novella-turned-scholarly thesis is grotesque and visceral, and while the loose descriptions of people shoving their hands inside gouged-out pieces of flesh and other dehumanizing experiments are definitely enough to test your stomach and potentially leaving you dry heaving, it makes up for the nausea being so damn funny.
Between The Devil Thinks I'm Pretty and now Violent Faculties, Elsby has become one of my favorite horror writers. It's impossible to not fall in love with someone who can thoroughly destroy me and then make me thank them for it afterwards. If this is the direction extreme horror is going, I'm absolutely here for it.
Read at your own risk, but Violent Faculties is perfect for anyone looking for well-written extreme horror, gratuitous violence, sharp-biting humor, and books with unique formats.
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