#The Black Hunger

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer Gothic Horror

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen Catfish Lullaby by AC Wise Grey Dog by Elliott Gish What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

[quillandqueer]

Interesting New Releases | 8th October

The Black Hunger: John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore. He must write his last testament before it is too late.

How to Summon a Fairy Godmother: After discovering a way to summon a fairy in Beatrice's old room, Theo thinks her prayers have been answered. But the fairy she meets isn't at all what she imagined. Drop-dead gorgeous, incredibly cunning, and slightly devious, Cecily of the Ash Fairies is much more interested in gathering powerful favors and smoking her pipe than providing charitable magic for humans in a bind.

I Crawl Through It: Four talented teenagers are traumatized-coping with grief, surviving date rape, facing the anxiety of standardized tests and the neglect of self-absorbed adults--and they'll do anything to escape the pressure. They'll even build an invisible helicopter, to fly far away to a place where everyone will understand them... until they learn the only way to escape reality is to face it head-on.

Swordcrossed: Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his home town. However, neither Matti's business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what - or who - they seem. As the days to Matti's wedding count down, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti's house to the brink of ruin.

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen

Release date: 10 October 2024

Genre: adult historical gothic horror

If you like: cannibalism, cults, epistolary

Synopsis

A spine-tingling, queer gothic horror debut where two men are drawn into an otherworldly spiral, and a journey that will only end when they reach the darkest part of the human soul.

John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore.

He must write his last testament before it is too late.

This is a story steeped in history and myth - a journey from stone circles in Scotland, to the barren wilderness of Ukraine where otherworldly creatures stalk the night, ending in the icy peaks of Tibet and Mongolia, where an ancient evil stirs.

Content warnings

Death, murder, gore, body horror, blood

Cannibalism

Torture

Homophobia

Anti-semitism from the antagonists, anti-semitic speech, anti-semitic imagery

Blackmailing, threats

Sexual harrassment

Mentions of war

I am not sure if I managed to get all the content warnings, so please proceed with caution as this book gets quite dark.

Review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I am not sure how to talk about this book. I have many feelings about it, some of which are rather complicated, which I am not sure if I will be able to express adequately.

Firstly, I really enjoyed the writing style, which reminds me of classic gothic novels in the best ways. I loved the epistolary format of this novel, and the way it's interspersed with diary entries and (more) letters. The atmosphere is haunting at times, and downright terrifying at others. I could sort of guess how this book would end, but at the same time, the story is riveting and I couldn't put it down.

I will say, there are only five chapters in this whole 400 page book, which could make it a tough reading experience. For me, I struggled to find intervals where I could put the book down, which isn't really a problem I guess, because I wanted to keep reading anyway.

I also loved the romance, which was really sweet but also heart-wrenching. I appreciate how the characters navigated their dynamic, of being master and servant, as well as how dedicated they are to each other. However, I should note that this is NOT a romance novel. If you want to read this for the romance, refer to the synopsis and reevaluate.

One important aspect I have to discuss is how Buddhism factors into the story. Given that the Evil Cult in this book follows a (fictional) heretical branch of Buddhism, I was a little worried about how Buddhism would be portrayed. Barring the Evil Cult, I think the author did a good job of being respectful to the religion and culture; the main character is a white guy who studies Buddhism, and he is portrayed as respectful and fascinated by Buddhist/foreign culture and texts. (I have seen some other reviewers criticise this book as being too "woke", so.) However, this book references and quotes translations of Buddhist texts, as well as features important historical figures like the Dalai Lhama. Given that I have zero knowledge of early 20th century Tibetan Buddhism, I have no idea how accurate or realistic this portrayal is.

I was raised Buddhist, so I know some of the basic lore enough to know what's going on, as well as which aspects of the story are fictionalised. When reading other reviews of this book, I realised that a lot of readers know basically nothing about Buddhism. This makes me worried that people may read this book and form incorrect, or even damaging beliefs about Buddhists or Buddhism.

My version of this book is an eARC, so this may have been included in the final version, but I believe that the above issues I mentioned could be easily rectified by including an Author's Note to clarify which aspects of the book are fictionalised, as well as references to research sources.

I will say, I do appreciate Buddhism being such a large focus. Most gothic novels take place in western settings and focus on Christianity or Catholicism, and lots of horror genre cults are some variation of Satanic, so I quite enjoyed getting to read a gothic novel inspired by my own religion for once, even if some bits might be blasphemous.

There's a lot more that could be discussed about the book's approach to, like, religion in general, but I'm going to leave my thoughts on this as is, simply because I am not knowledgeable enough to analyse this.

I think this could be a divisive novel; as far as I can tell, people either love or hate the writing style and format, and the inclusion of Buddhism seems to have left other reviewers confused (people who don't know what's going-on) or conflicted (people who do know what's going on, enough to point out that the depiction of Buddhism is worrying).

Personally, while I am still somewhat conflicted about the portrayal of Buddhism, I would still highly recommend this novel to gothic horror enthusiasts.

Overall, this is a phenomenal novel, one that fascinated and moved me.

[drowninginabactatank]

The Broken Binding's first Halloween book box is now live!

The box includes a gorgeous special edition of The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen 🍇💀

Features: Signed by the author, royal hardback, digital edges (fore-edge, top & bottom), custom foil on boards.

[biblionerdreflections]

The Black Hunger - DNF Thoughts

Hello, everyone! Today I’m doing something that rarely happens… Talking about a book I’ve decided to DNF. That book is The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen. Continue reading The Black Hunger – DNF Thoughts

[inabooknook]

The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen

Such an interesting premise for a book. The story begins switches back and forth between the 19th and 20th centuries, touching on Tibetan and Buddhist folklore, historical goings-on, and amazing fantastical otherworldly beings based in myth. The story was such an interesting spooky season read, teaching me about both history, for which the book was extremely well-researched, as well as creepy things, which of course I love. The story was so gothic and reminiscent of the great gothic masterpieces of the 19th century, that I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something so different, but so engaging and fun that you won't realize how long you've been reading. An absolute must for your pre-Halloween, and post-Halloween dark t0-read list.

This ebook was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[libraryofnika]

Fantasy Arcs ❤

Netgalley and Edelweiss e-arcs I recently got ✨

The Black Hunger by Nichollas Pullen (netgalley)- a queer, gothic, horror historical novel (October 8, 2024) The Bell Witches by Lindsey Kelk (netgalley)- YA Fantasy Romance (September 26, 2024)

The Night Mother by Jeremy Lambert and Alexa Sharpe (netgalley)- Dark Fantasy, Graphic Novel (October 8, 2024) Inheritance of Scars by Crystal Seitz (edelweiss)- YA Dark Fantasy, Norse Myth (October 1, 2024)

Bookstagram Booktwitter Goodreads

[pandoraistheloml]

no rizz just pretty eyes and a overwhelming amount of knowledge about fictional characters.

[bunubunss]

the dream team (o´▽`o)

[angsty-art-ist]

are we gonna have a problem?

[risingoftime]

coriolanus snow x fem!reader | smut below mdni

“Coryo, stop teasing,” you whined.

Coriolanus rubbed his tip against your puffy clit. The tingling sensation began to overwhelm you while he continued to stroke your folds with his cock.

“Shhh.” He softly kissed your forehead and leaned his head close to your ear, licking the skin from the base of your neck to your jaw. “You hear that?” he whispered. Before you could respond, Coriolanus slammed his cock into your hole, forcing you to take in all of him with no time to adjust. He spread your legs further apart to give him more access. Coriolanus took his precious time thrusting in and out, and your wet cunt gripped around his length. You cried out his name, pleading for more.

“You sound so pretty, baby. I love to hear you moan my name,” Coriolanus praised.

He pushed himself in more profoundly, hitting your G-spot, “Ahhh Coryo, fuck yes right there.” You could feel yourself pulsing around his cock. When attempting to force him to move faster, Coriolanus removed his hands from your legs to pin your hands above your head on the mattress. “I will fuck you when I want and how I want,” he snarled. And Coriolanus did just that, engulfed in your wet heat and edging himself to orgasm, one stroke at a time.

He kept your wrists pinned down with one hand and took the other to caress your clit. Coriolanus found joy in watching you squirm under his intense stare, waiting to see your eyes roll back when you orgasm. He loved admiring your pussy squirting on his cock even more.

“Tell me that this pussy is mine.”

“It’s all yours.”

You watched in awe as his thick veins pulsed before spouting his cum on your pussy before pumping more inside of you, painting your walls with his seed.

[quillandqueer]

I had such a good day yesterday! I went to Exeter with my Gran to do a bit of Christmas shopping and find myself some new (to me) jeans.

I found some Carhartts that are so soft, and also stopped in Book Bag and Waterstones, finding two books I'd been searching for for a while too. 🥰

[fellowfights]

I'm gonna be so honest with y'all. I don't take you seriously if you complain about the casting of the Percy Jackson show because the poc actors aren't "book accurate."

Because here's the deal. I remember when the internet threw a fit when Rue, a black character, was played by a black person. It didn't matter that it was book accurate, y'all didn't want to see a black person on screen.

For some of y'all, it's not that you are against adaptations straying from the source material- you are simply anti black.

If you are about to argue with me, I want you to ask yourself something. Did you not mind the race change of Grover, but you are against the casting of Annabeth? If that's true, maybe try to address that. Acknowledge it and try to deconstruct your anti-black biases.

[disease]

HUNGER, JUL 2021 | REGAL HAIR SCULPTURE PHOTOGRAPHY: EMMANUEL OWUSU-AFRAM

[kafkasapartment]

Bryant Park Breadline, New York, 1933. Edward Steichen. Gelatin sliver.

This photograph is considered an iconic image of the Great Depression. Though the beauty of it might obscure the desperation and hardship faced by millions of Americans.

[xxnewdawnfades]