#redreceptions

[rr-seekingsolace]

My oc Galenus the Banu haqim from my VTM story The Unbound - a tale set in Sydney Australia. 🦇

AI generated art using Dall E, Artbreeder, and a lot of post production using Krita.

[onlythedarkestreads]

review - reception

4/5 Stars Pub Date: March 15, 2019 2021 Goodreads Goal: 25/150

Reception starts out as a strong family drama that turns into a cannibalistic bloodbath. It’s a whole lot of filthy fun. 

Ansley Boone is freshly checked out of rehab to attend her sister Shay’s destination weekend wedding. Tensions are super high: the in-laws don’t exactly like each other and Ansley absolutely hates the groom. On top of that the wifi at the resort doesn’t seem to work, she can hardly charge her phone, the other guests are acting weird, her head will NOT STOP POUNDING, and why is it so fucking hot? Trying to white knuckle this weekend is proving to be incredibly difficult. Ansley is having trouble keeping track of time and the slivers of pills she needs to take to keep her symptoms at bay. 

While toasting the couple at the wedding reception, Ansley witnesses a guest take a huge bloodly bite of a server, and the wedding immediately erupts into absolute chaos. She knew there was something wrong with the in-laws, but she didn’t know it was that they were cannibals. 

Jennings description of the violence that ensues is visceral and delightfully gross. The contrast between the family drama of the first half, and the gore of the second is really well done, with lot’s of sinew and blood that will keep any horror fan rapt. I could not put this book down. 

My only qualm with the novel is that I’m not 100% sure that the twist entirely works, until I re-read this (and it’s fun enough that I definitely will.) Trying to piece it all together after, I’m a little confused as to the timeline of events. It feels to me that it might not hold up to scrutiny: think of the reveal in the film High Tension. But I do find this to be a fun addition to the unreliable narrator genre. 

Highlights in the story are definitely the way that Jennings deftly writes the bond between Ansley and Shay. The sisters are written in such a wonderfully convincing way, and it adds to the absolute shocker of an ending. 

If you loved this I’d recommend checking out some other wedding disaster horrors like Rec 3, or Melancholia. 

[tulipsevents]

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[rr-seekingsolace]

Stained - the sunrise - the city bloomed before the crimson morning. Slow rumbling as the beast of modernity stirred. The hum of cars flowed through the cold arteries of the urbanscape as the people made their commutes. The city was waking up. Soon the sun would burn away all the rust in the sky to reveal a splendid day.

The Unbound - Black Dog

L-R: 1 - rocknwool 2 - Toa Heftiba 3 - Kura Tregenza 4 - Dusan Jovic 5 [Central image] - Pietra Schwarzler 6 - Content Pixie 7 - Bianca Fazacas 8 - Javier Allegue Barros

[rr-seekingsolace]

The storm continued to lash the night. Emerging further down the street, a lone woman in a black suit walks without a care for the weather. Drenched from head to toe, immune to the cold, she continued up the street. Ensnaring her attention, a waft of incense... and blood.

The Unbound - Say Amen

L-R: 1 - Jen Palmer 2 - lilartsy 3 - Alexander Krivitskiy 4 - Baptiste MG 5 [Central Image] - Alex Sheldon 6 - Ryunosuke Kikuno 7 - Anastasia Vityukova 8 - Brian Marco

[rr-seekingsolace]

They finally withdrew their hand and observed the seared skin and meat.

'Flesh, bone and blood...'

In the candlelight of the chapel, the flesh on their hand reknitted itself. In a moment their pale fingers were without blemish.

'Kept together by will... It is almost as if a hand... the hand of god? Has clasped me and kept me together all this time.'

The Unbound - Say Amen

L-R: 1 - Harakiri 1962 - © 1962 - Shôchiku Eiga 2 - Fireberrytech 3 - Jordan Whitfield 4 - Julia Kadel 5 [Centre image] - Hà Nguyễn 6 - Jon Tyson 7 - Ken Smith 8 - Bogdan Cotos

[rr-seekingsolace]

A resounding inner 'No, you didn't finish!' kept ringing in her head as she tried to get as far away from everything as possible. She came to the trunk of a Canary Pine and leaned on it for a moment to catch herself.

'Why did I even take a chance at that?' she asked herself, looking at her dark hand, spotted with blood that she fought away from her lips.

The Unbound - Night time Peace

LR: 1 - Philipp Pilz 2 - Rebecca 3 - Vladislav Klapin 4 - Mitchell Orr 5 [center image] - Matheus Ferrero 6 - Josh Calabrese 7 - Stormseeker 8 - Oliver Sjostrom

[rr-seekingsolace]

He was tall and cold looking, a vision of an old roman statue clad in shadow. His pale, ancient face, chiselled by the moonlight. Old scars were present across his brow as he looked down at her—pity deep within his warming brown eyes.

'I know who you are.' She told him. 'And I know what you do.'

He stood there, unmoving and patient.

'I can't control it anymore... I've done...' She pained for a moment and tried to quieten the beast down. 'I've done something... and... and I think I've killed him.'

The Unbound - Night time peace L-R: 1 - Rodrigo Ordoñez Troche 2 - Felipe Hueb 3 - Andrew Neel 4 - Галина Ласаева 5 [centre image] - Emiliano Vittoriosi 6 - Dylan Leagh 7 - Anna Popovic 8 - Marek Piwnicki

[rr-seekingsolace]

Missing persons cases are on the rise in the city. Nel is about to find out the link between them all. With Nel now missing, Sid tries to find his friend and enlists the help of a monster to do so. Is Nel alive? And will Sid survive the night at the mercy of the beast? The Unbound Credits/Disclaimers: Image used for the cover photo.