Flesh Gothic

by Edward Lee

Five very special people return to sinister Hildreth House to uncover the truth about the supposedly haunted mansion in which a bloody massacre led to the slaughter of thirteen people who had come to the house to partake in diabolical and debauched revels and the disappearance of the fourteenth. Original.

Genres: Horror, Splatterpunk, Fiction, Erotica, Demons, Ghosts, Paranormal

404 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.

Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence.

He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.

Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 1 out of 5]

HE BEGINS OPTIMISTICALLY

Already by page 7 we have had a self-throat-cutting incident in broad daylight and then this on page 10

The large milk-laden breasts wobbled erotically.

You know you could scour Proust and Henry James for a sentence like that. And you wouldn't find one. Go Flesh Gothic!

EXPERIENCE TEACHES ANOTHER HARD LESSON

Holy sex muffins, what was I thinking? Who recommended this? I may have to hunt them down like a dog.

It stood tall, lank but globose in the hell-rendered fat that made up its atrocious physique. It had no face but it looked right at them. The rimmed seam for a mouth gaped, showing a great flap of tongue. Between its legs hung large, abominable genitals.

'One of the buried Adiposians!' Karen shrieked. 'It was resurrected when the Rive opened, and it'll remain alive until the charge of the house is totally dead!'

A SORRY CONCLUSION TO AN ILL-ADVISED EXPERIMENT

So modern horror is two parts microwaved HP Lovecraft imagery stirred lightly with dialogue from 1950s B movies and lovingly sauteed with several stained copies of Hustler and the lesser-known Abominable Genitals Monthly.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know, it is books like Flesh Gothic by Edward Lee which make my friends look down on me for what I enjoy reading most. They don't understand that I read horror for

the unknown factor of it, for the thrill of something that may try something new and push the envelope a bit. I do not read horror for the endless sex scenes or torture

purely for the sake of torture. When it makes the plot progress, a little rape or torture is all right but when it is very obviously put in the novel to make the story

into a novel, or just to shock people, or to live up to some sort of standard which must be broken over and over with each book being more plotless and disgusting than

the last, I call it garbage. Flesh Gothic had nothing in it that I enjoy. I need plot! I need some interesting characters! Give me something to work with here. This

isn't horror. This is apparently splatterpunk but I often love that genre of horror so I don't even consider this to fit. Richard Laymon is in my top five favorite

authors and I have read over 35 of his books and rated most of them four stars or higher, but there are a few that seem to lack that odd Laymon factor which makes it

fun. Those few terrible Laymon books are in the better Edward Lee category. Flesh Gothic is an all time low for even Lee. Now, if anyone at all pays attention to what I

read (which I doubt) they may know that I read Edward Lee's The Bighhead last year and actually enjoyed it. This is because the damn thing was fun. It was like watching

a cartoon or the movie Kill Bill (1/2) but Flesh Gothic isn't fun at all. The Black Train was sick as hell but the plot was fantastic along with that of Slither. This

one just felt like Lee trying to come up with as many horrific acts as possible. Unfortunately, I already read Lucifer's Lottery which was even more lacking in plot

than this one but which I still enjoyed because it was at least intriguing. Lee has it in him to be good, to be great in fact, but sometimes I think he forgets that and

books like this are going to make some of his mildly loyal readers like myself forget that as well.

[Judith Sonnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is tits

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flesh Gothic is a powerfully written roller coaster, loaded with gore, sex, viciousness, and amazing imagery. Although the plot isn't propelled by 100 mile an hour action, it still grips the throat, dries the mouth, and tantalizes the morbid senses. The story was cloaked in mystery, even to the point of 'red herrings', with finely chiseled characterization, psychologically-addictive hooks, and in-your-face commentary. It kept me reading, so it did it's job, almost too well.

This isn't for prudish readers - but if you want your horror hot and heavy, unrelenting and fierce, try this one. It won't let down even the most jaded fans.

[Brennan LaFaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paranormal investigators, mediums, and murder houses. Oh my! Edward Lee throws a little bit of everything at the reader and its truly surprising how well it sticks. In the hands of a less-talented author, a 400 page story that includes so many off-the-wall elements could very easily lose its thread, but Lee's Flesh Gothic steers steadily toward an explosive finale without ever veering off the road. Not quite as extreme as some of his other work (though I did just read The Pig, so I may be biased), this book is still not for weak stomachs or readers who don't appreciate Lee's unique take on extreme horror.

[Brian Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of safe, traditional Horror Fiction like Koontz and Saul - stay far away from Edward Lee. Every time I read a book by him, I continue to be astounded at the new levels of depravity and gore that swim in his head. I consider this a GOOD thing. Sure, this is just Lee's take of the "Haunted House story," but he twists it so far beyond recognition, you have to respect him.

Some say he's nothing but a "splatterpunk" writer, but I disagree - his work has a certain visceral esoteria to it. He weaves his own mythology deeply among the abominations written on the page. It's Edward Lee, if anyone I've read in the last decade, who deserves comparison to Clive Barker.

[Ravenskya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not entirely sure what to make of this book... it wasn’t nearly as horrifying, violent, or disturbing as I was lead to believe. In my never-ending hunt for a good haunted house tale I picked this up. I had never read anything by Edward Lee before but had heard that he borders on pornographic so I was a bit leery of starting.

Short Summary: The book opens with the “shocking” murders of everyone that works at T&T porn company; they are all hacked to tiny bits in disturbing cultish fashion by the owner of the porn company who then vanishes. So the widow of the billionaire owner takes it upon herself to call in a pack of psychics an ex-priest, and a writer/PI to investigate the house and determine what her now missing and obviously homicidal husband had planned. Bad things start happening, everyone is horny, dead bodies pile up then disappear everyone is telling lies or half-truths, it all becomes very mysterious.

Well the opening was rough, the porn industry weighs heavily on the plot, and everyone seems to be a bit sex-starved… but I felt rather blasé about the whole “sex” topic in the book. I don’t see that someone could read this and be turned on (but long ago I learned you never can tell with some guys). Most of the sex is depraved, but it’s all past tense, and not very descriptive to the point of it almost becoming comedic – “Look a woman with a goat!” The violence all also seems to “happen off stage” for the most part, so it’s nothing at all like “Off Season” for over the top gore. Also the lack of description seems to lighten it a bit because there really aren’t the big disgusting details that some of the other authors use to make us cringe while reading. I do, however, now know how to run all kinds of paranormal psychic testing and ghost detecting equipment courtesy of the long and involved owner’s manual that resides about a third of the way into the book. Actually it wasn’t that bad, but the over explanation made me wonder at that point if I was going to be able to continue on to the end of the book, happily I made it past all of the technical jargon and the class on “Abbreviations used by Psychics.”

In actuality this is a fairly standard haunted house book… it seems to be very similar in plot to the bad movie version of “Haunting of Hill House” only replace the people who can’t sleep with psychics and replace the child murderer with “owner of porn studio” and you pretty much have this book. It’s nothing new, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a bit fun to read. You can fly right through it because the lack of description keeps your mind from bothering to picture much of it. Pretty good read if you’re bored and looking for something quick and mindless.

[Cobwebby Eldritch Reading Reindeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: FLESH GOTHIC by Edward Lee.

Extraordinary novel. Edward Lee is a master of the macabre. This 2004 novel is "out of this world" superb (sometimes literally). I read it in one day, 12-13 hours reading, because I COULD NOT STOP. . I read the original 2004 paperback version, which intensified the immediacy for me, as if I was reading at the initial publication date.

FLESH GOTHIC is true horror wrapped in extreme horror (very) wrapped in gore wrapped in sensuality (very) wrapped in satanism wrapped in psychic powers wrapped in "other-worldly" (Hell) delivered in an engrossing,unstoppable, no-happy-endings-here story.

In a well-concealed house in St. Petersburg, FL, a multi-millionaire gathered porn stars, prostitutes, loyal employees, and victims, all in preparation for his plans to open a portal, in service of his "Lord." High body count, slaughter, and rampant deception. All to succor a Lord of the underworld. In the hands of this master, it is all believable--and riveting.

[Gregor Xane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did this book live up to my expectations? Yes. I went in expecting a schlocky, over-the-top, gory B-movie experience in book form and that’s exactly what I got. The story moved along quickly. It was filled with raunch and blood and silly occult happenings. The one thing that struck me as quite unbelievable (from a character perspective) was the female psychics/mediums shrugging off sexual assaults by otherworldly entities as merely routine workplace hazards and no big deal. I think most folks would get into another line of work after the first spectral gang rape.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly unlike a lot of other horror fiction I've read of late, graphic, tense, grotesque. Think I may look out for some more Ed Lee.

[Dollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reginald Hildreth is an extremely wealthy man who owns a company which produces sex films. He is a sex addict who worships the devil. Not Satan, the Prince of Darkness, but Belarius, the Prince of Carnal Pleasures. He disappears one night during an orgy in his mansion where a number of people have been beheaded and their blood drained. His widow, Vivica, hires several people to stay in the mansion and investigate what really happened there. Several of them are people she’s paid a lot of money to. People who have talents, such as the ability of have out of body experiences, do remote viewings and who can see touch things and know all about them, all of them who have sexual related issues. She also hires a reporter to keep an eye on everyone else in the mansion and to keep her informed of what is going on. Things go south very quickly. This was definitely a different kind of horror story for me - lots of sex, lots of rapes and gruesome, bloody deaths. I only found a few of the characters were likable, but the story is a mystery, so I had a hard time putting it down until the end, which (to me) was unexpected. My Lee writes well, but this really isn’t the type of book I usually read, so I probably will skip any of his other books.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sleazy, violent spatterpunk novel by Lee, but then again, that could be said of most of his work. If you know Lee, you would expect _lots_ of sex and violence, and that you get here in spades. In a mansion in Florida, Hildreth house, a satanic debauchery/slaughter takes place, leaving about a dozen dead and the owner, Hildreth himself, absent. Hildreth's wife hires a team of psychics to go to the house and discover whatever energy is there, and to find out what happened to her husband. No surprise when they determine the house is haunted.

Mr Hildreth a year prior had purchased a porno company and moved the actors into the mansion for films, and the sexual energy helped to break down the 'door' between the spiritual realm and reality. The team of psychics know something is going on, but they are not sure what. Not the most complicated plot to be sure, although Lee does through a surprise in the end. Not the best of his books, but not the worst either.

[MamaKate4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book like I've not read before. Captivating, I really enjoyed reading it, and an intense deep dive. I was feeling more eloquent earlier, lol, but this is a book well worth reading. Lots of TW's, esp **x, **use, and sat**ism. I am definitely going to check out more books by this author.

[Lucas Mangum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great time.

[Brainycat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flesh Gothic came recommended as a steamy horror book. It's very accessible and I was able to read it quickly. This is the first Lee book I've read, and I will definitely be reading more.

It's your basic haunted house story, painted with a Philip Marlowe style protagonist. Despite the standard tropes being trotted out yet again, Lee makes it work with an involved plot and characters that are unique and quirky. After a brutal mass murder with overtones of occult ritual, a disparate group of people are paid exorbitant sums of money by the eccentric widow (she's the beautiful, dangerous client) to live in the house and discover the truth about what happened. There's the fanatically loyal houseservant, the manipulative bombshell, the hardboiled cop and the innocent witness etc. Most of the other characters are psychics with varying areas of expertise, but of course not all is as it seems. As they spend time researching what happened a picture of satanic worship and drug fueled orgies quickly surfaces. Sexual tension abounds, aided by the fact that each character has some sexual trait that drives their interactions with each other and the supernatural goings-on.

The story took a while to get going; I was about 25% of the way through it before I felt like the plot really started going anywhere. This is because Lee drops a lot of background on most of the characters, which in retrospect I appreciate, since the characters drive the plot later. Don't give up on this book too early. The investigation part of the book moves right along, aided and abetted by the sexual tension and my own fascination with things macabre and erotic. The ending, however, was a bit of a letdown. I hesitate to use the term "premature climax", but there you have it. That's exactly what it felt like. The twist was hardly surprising, but well played.

This book is a very quick read. It seemed he sacrificed a lot of descriptive opportunity for the sake of telling the story through character's actions and dialogue. For example, the sense of smell is used descriptively at most about half a dozen times, and most of those are describing women's hair. It seemed to me that while they're out wandering around in the woods in the Florida spring that the air would be alive with bugs and flowers and trees and dew. This is exemplary of the book; Lee is visually vivid but I never felt like I could put myself into the setting. There are a lot of overtly sexual situations, but the sex itself could have been much more explicit IMHO. Reading this for an erotic charge is like watching latenight softcore: it's specific enough there's no question about who's doing what to whom, but it's vague enough you'll have to fill in all the details yourself.

Overall, I liked the book and as Lee covers a lot of territory that interests me in his other books, I'll definitely be reading more of him. I would recommend this book for people who like occult, macabre and erotically charged stories and are looking for a couple of hours of fun if not especially innovative entertainment.

[Amanda M. Lyons · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't say I hated this book outright but that doesn't mean I didn't have several problems with it. Overall it has a pretty decent start. I can get into the headspace of the male character and the mood is set quite nicely. Unfortunately as the book progresses the mood is overshadowed by several flaws in the writing.

The characters who are called to the house aren't bad as a start but Lee doesn't do much with developing them and we never really get to know them or where they're coming from (this is a serious problem for someone who loves character driven narratives and this plot really requires some of this sort of work to convey it properly). As a result many of the events that take place come off as contrived or jarring because you don't know the character enough to have perceived those things about them even after those points are made to you.

There are also several scenes where rape is shrugged off out of hand by the victims of that assault. This just WOULD NOT HAPPEN! A psychological or paranormal rape of the sort written here would be just as traumatic as a physical rape (also constantly present in the book)! Repeated rape is not any less so and is actually more likely to be a more serious blow as it occurs. As a matter of fact the amount of 'oh yes I was raped but oh well' reactions in this book just adds to the jarring effect created by the lack of character development and overlooks an excellent opportunity to get into the characters' heads.


There are also several areas toward the end where the scene is rushed and clearly not invested in by Lee as if finishing something of a plot to get to the end was more important than making that plot complete and interesting. I don't find his evil cult members and sexual predator monsters terribly threatening and a bit too repetitive in their actions. To be fair part of that may be that I'm also usually bored by Satanic horror plots but I've read some that certainly worked better than this one.

Sadly this isn't a case of bad writing as much as it is a case of LAZY writing. Clearly he knew how to set the tone for the book and he created a great setting for a premise that could have been really inspired if he'd invested his time as much as it required. I really wish he had! More than anything I felt disappointed and frustrated that the book wasn't as well written as it promised to be at the beginning.

I'm not going to rule out trying his books again down the road but this one left me feeling the need for an editor's pen and the ability to request several changes.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think you've seen it all, heard all that could be said? Unless you've read Lee, you haven't even scratched the surface of true in-your-face Horror. There is nothing safe and nothing sacred to Edward Lee. The man is a pitiless psycho. He gets a kick out of making woman cross their legs whenever his name is simply spoken. He can hijack the wills of men and women everywhere, leaving them desperate to escape from the book and even more desperate to delve deeper into his twisted little worlds. What does he have that all of you don't, what is his 'it'? The power of Edward Lee is his ability to do what the other man wouldn't.

Attractive and repulsive, the plot is a trial of psychosexual horror. Using the bare bones of a been-there-done-that outline, Lee adds muscle and flesh with energetic originality. I must warn you though; this book is not for the easily offended or prudish-types. The scenes are graphic, and the dialog is raw. Thanks to Lee, I avoided any intimate interaction for a week. By the way Mr. Lee, Mr. BloodyMary is currently stalking the streets with your picture in his hand. Beware.

All having addictions and weaknesses to sex in one form or another, the characters are both pathetic and admirable in their individuality. Each player is an aspect of what we choose to hide from ourselves and the outside world. While I can respect their personalities, can even place a few among my nearest and dearest, I never once felt close to them. What a waste. Lee’s style of writing is violent, and unique. Eliciting your most primitive fascinations, he attacks your senses, and you inhibitions with unflinching glee. I’m not sure how he does it, but he manages to quiet your fears while simultaneously exciting them. His descriptive technique is extreme, and at times repellant and hard to stomach. I loved it!

Almost operatic, the pace is slow, but comforting. Believe me, between the overall depravity, and the numerous tensions that mount throughout, the speed’s a blessing. Creating a moody masterpiece of eroticism and savagery, the atmosphere is taut and tense. The bitter smell of fear and dread sticks to your skin and invades your pores. To get rid of that nasty grime, I suggest you lather. Rinse. Repeat.

-As posted on Horror-Web

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flesh Gothic starts off a little slow, and confusing, but its worth sticking with. The book is filled with plot twist, some you'll see coming, and others are pretty surprising. As far as gore goes, I'd say it's a mild read. There is a lot of sexual acts, rape, etc... If you get offended by that sort of stuff, you may or may not enjoy this little treasure. I did find part of the book to be a tad "out there", for me. A demon with 10 penis like fingers, hmm. This one did leave me pondering over a few other pieces of Lee's work I've read, and I'm curious as to what sort of metaphysical background he has.

[Ken B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gore, sex and violence. Okay, I'm good with that. All-in-all not a bad book, some original ideas, but in general nothing that really jumps out and says "rate me higher than 3 stars".

a solid 3 STARS

[Adam Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come. Too tired at the moment. What an awesome read.

[Bug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gross, but also really average

[Niko]

DNF

[katooola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Początek kwietnia, w księżycową noc do ogromnej rezydencji Hildretha wkracza dwadzieścia siedem osób aby wziąć udział w orgii przypominającej satanistyczny rytuał. Dwudziestu sześciu z nich znaleziono zarżniętych, jednej osoby nigdy nie odnaleziono. Hildreth, ekscentryczny miliarder popełnił samobójstwo, ale czy na pewno? Co tam się wydarzyło?

Żona Hildretha wynajmuje grupkę osób, które mają zbadać czy dom jest nawiedzony oraz odkryć, co tak naprawdę planował jej mąż?

Fabuła jest intrygująca, wciągnęła mnie. To nie jest książka dla osób wrażliwych i pruderyjnych. Autor nie patyczkuje się z czytelnikiem, opisy mordów są surowe. Jest brutalnie i obrzydliwie. Krew gęsto się leje, kończyny latają. Nie brak tu perwersji seksualnych. Wyobraźnia autora nie ma granic i potrafi zadziwić.

Opis tej mrocznej rezydencji z korytarzami niczym labirynt robi wrażenie. Atmosfera jaka w nim panuje jest gęsta, duszna i przesiąknięta erotyką. Ten dom pełen tajemniczych zakamarków oddziałuje na zmysły przebywających w nim osób. Czuć gotycki klimacik tego miejsca.

Śledztwo prowadzone jest niespiesznie, każda postać ma tu swoją chwilę, dzięki temu poznajemy jej lęki i sekrety. Bardzo zaskoczyło mnie zakończenie.

Gorąco polecam fanom horroru ekstremalnego. To moja pierwsza książka Edwarda Lee jaką przeczytałam i żałuję, że dopiero teraz go poznaję. Świetna rzecz.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good read, I had a little trouble getting into it but it's nothing against the book I am just feeling burned out on horror. this one had a lot of stuff with the psychics and out of body experiences and deviners that reminded me of the inferno series, so did the flesh temple and opening the rift and everything on the other side of it. at the same time it was more of a ghost story and also reminded me of the house party of pig and house which is one of my favorites. all together it was good and probably would have gotten a five if I was in the mood for it.

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent writing. This is what I'm looking for in a horror novel and Ed Lee is becoming a fast favorite. Fans of Hell House can't go wrong with this one.

[Chris Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flesh Gothic by Edward Lee is my first foray into the author's work. To say that Mr. Lee's writing is extreme is to undermine the word itself. This story is at once a haunted house story, a ghost story, a tale of the occult, a mystery, and an exercise in absolute excess in all things macabre and taboo.

The storyline, as it develops, becomes more interesting as it goes on towards its gruesome climax, unfolding and unpacking more and more information as it moves along, and by the end, you have to wonder just how the hell we got here from where the story seemed to be heading in the very beginning. It's truly surreal in many parts, and always able to make you squirm and feel uncomfortable and dirty.

The characters were interesting, if not terribly diverse. They were different, but because the story revolves around demonic entities and sex and depravity, they all share many commonalities which forced their diversity to be very little. Yet, they were interesting enough characters to cause me to want to see how things turned out, but I wasn't heartbroken by the demise of any because I didn't care enough about them.

The dialogue was the weak point in this book. It was serviceable throughout most of the narrative, but there are quite a few parts where I chuckled to myself because it was almost like listening to dialogue in a low-grade porn in the opening minutes before they get down to business. Perhaps this was intentional on the author's part because many of the characters are former porn stars, now aging, and the villain had owned an adult movie production company.

All in all, however, this was a fun ride. The violence and gore certainly go far beyond the norm, even for horror, and the extreme depictions of the temple of flesh and walls of skin with pulsing veins were stark in their imagery and will stay with me for some time. Do NOT read this if you're not into extreme horror. I'm usually not, but once in a while will check one out. Large amounts of violence, gore, sex, and general depravity are present in this book (part of what makes them extreme), so be warned at the outset of this. But if that's your bag, grab the straps on this one and hang on. It's a lot of fun.

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Splatterpunk genre isn't a sub-genre of horror that I would expect to have haunted house stories written for it, but mad lad Edward Lee really took a risk here with a very interesting spin. I've been dying to read this story for some time and now I've finally given it a go!

Hildreth Mansion isn't like most houses. On a warm night, an entire studio of porn stars was slaughtered for a satanic sacrifice. Now weeks later, a group of gifted people comes together to find out what Hildreth, the owner of the mansion was up to. But it isn't long before things go haywire. This place may be haunted, but it's also the gateway to something far worse than ghosts.

Edward Lee has written the most disturbing and nastiest haunted house story I have ever read. It's filled to the brim with gore, violence, sexual assault, and mutilation. You name it, it's probably here. But much like Monstrosity it does have a purpose and the sexual aspects of the novel do make a lot of sense in terms of who the villain of this piece is and what they mean in terms of Satan and hell itself.

Despite it being dark, bleak, and gruesome from page one to its very end, the characters and atmosphere in this novel are incredibly well-written. We have an incredibly diverse and complicated group of characters, some who are likable, others who aren't. It's a very bleak and creepy novel with some of the most disturbing imagery written to paper.

Overall: This novel won't be for everyone because of how extreme it can be in places, but it's most certainly a terrific one. If you love the splatterpunk genre and Haunted House stories, you couldn't do any better than giving this underrated classic, a go! 10/10

[Damiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wild ride.
I saw it recommended by some horror booktubers but sadly it seems like most of them just focused on the sex and gore.
Yea, that's there, but so are great characters, a fun plot, and twists and turns that didn't let me put it down. The characters were refreshing, in my opinion. As soon as I learned this was a story about psychics investigating a haunted house, I had expectations. Those were not what happened. The psychics and other characters in attendance were all very different to ones I'd read before. Kudos.
I honestly think its an underappreciated horror novel that is up there with the work of Barker and King.
I recommend Flesh Gothic to fans of Hell Bound Heart, Books of Blood, and Rose Red.

That said, there are a few issues that made this a 4 and not a 5 star read for me despite really enjoying the work.
The biggest issue I had was the fatphobic bullshit. It just wasn't necessary.
The second issue I had was probably just me and my mindset/worldview varying from mainstream and that is the taboo around sex, kink, and sexwork. It felt heavy handed and I kept wondering what this book would look like if the characters and writer(?) weren't so closed minded about sex. Like can demons manipulate you if you're not morally charged around sex? Fun questions.

That all said, it was a good book and I look forward to seeing if Lee's other work is similar.

[suspense_books · Rating 3 out of 5]

💀Zwykłe nawiedzone chaty, to już przeżytek💀

Czytaliśmy o niech w wielu wydaniach - u Shirley Jackson "Nawiedzony dom na wzgórzu" emanował typowo gotyckim klimatem, w którym na pierwsze skrzypce wychodzi suspens. U Sagera mieliśmy okazję zapoznać się z bardziej thrillerowym podejściem do tematu przy okazji "Wróć przed zmrokiem", z kolei "Całopalenie" przedstawiło nawiedzone domostwo jako klasyczne zło, które wysysa z człowieka witalność i przejmuje nad nim kontrolę. Jak przedstawił nawiedzoną chatę Edward Lee?

Ano jak zwykle - po zboczonemu!

Wchodzisz na własną odpowiedzialność, od razu zapowiadam - być może (raczej bankowo) już nie wyjdziesz. Tak jak przed laty, w pewną księżycową noc, gdy grupka osób postanowiła tu spędzić czas i oddać się pełnej erotycznych doznań orgii. Dom ciała nie bez powodu nosi taką nazwę. Popełniono tu wiele grzechów natury cielesnej. Nie tylko stanowi bramę do samego piekła, do którego można dostać się dzięki erotycznym uniesieniom. Jego świątynię stanowi Twoja cielesność.

Trzynaście sypialni, każda otwarta na fantazje wszelkiego sortu. Sześćdziesiąt sześć pokojów, każdy czyhający na to, by uwolnić głęboko skrywane zło. Oczy kamer obserwują bacznie ekipę poszukującą odpowiedzi na pytania, na które trudno udzielić tej jednoznacznej i sensownie uzasadnionej. Parapsychologia wkracza tu na najwyższym poziomie - pomijając sferę duchową, dotyka również tej cielesnej, seksualnej. Gwałty z bytami pozaziemskimi, satanizm, okultyzm - z tymi doznaniami będzie musiała się zmierzyć tu nasza śmietanka towarzyska zatrudniona przez żonę zaginionego w upojną noc Hildretha. Czy uda się go odnaleźć? Przekonajcie się sami.

Od pierwszych stron w prozie wyraźnie wyczuwalna jest kwintesencja narracji gotyckiej, którą Lee postanowił poddać destrukcji. W przepiękne opisy rezydencji wplótł sporo cielesności, erotyzmu i totalnej oblechy, z której to jest najbardziej znany.

Ulokowane w dostojnym i monumentalnym budynku studio pornograficzne z całą pewnością przyniesie Ci wiele nietypowych doznań. Patrząc na nie od razu poczujesz pożądanie, wkraczając w jego progi doznasz sensualnych uniesień, a w trakcie całonocnego pobytu niejednokrotnie przeżyjesz niezapomniane chwile z totalnie nieziemskimi istotami.

Niestety, w moim uznaniu książka jest lekko przydługa, co sprawiło, iż w drugiej połowie zainteresowanie nieco klapło. No ale jakkolwiek, taka nawiedzona chata, to niezły rarytas dla każdego fana ekstremy.

[Mcf1nder_sk · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you mention "sex and horror", usually the first name you hear would be Richard Laymon. While Laymon utilizes graphic sexuality and violence in an over-the-top, almost campy, way, the incomparable Edward Lee makes his usage an integral part of the story. Flesh Gothic is the tale of a "haunted" house, the scene of a sex-fueled massacre, which is where several people of various psychic abilities are invited to discover what really happened on that fateful night. .
Lee writes with a raw, gritty style that grabs the reader's attention almost from the first page. However, he is also a master of creating characters that the reader can also visualize, empathize and sometimes even root for. Despite the supernatural overtones of the story, the characters' actions and dialogue actually seem believable.
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This isn't my first time reading Edward Lee, and after reading this gripping tale, it definitely won't my last.
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My Rating: 4.25/5 stars