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Contemplad el vacío

Philip Fracassi (Goodreads Author),

José Ángel de Dios (Translator),

Laird Barron (Goodreads Author) (Contributor)

4.08 · Rating details · 481 ratings · 107 reviews

Contemplad el vacío...

La telequinesis utilizada como medio para la venganza; una piscina que se convierte en un escenario de pesadilla y sacrificios; un ladrón de caballos perseguido por poderes que no comprende; una niña entregada a la oscuridad que habita en el bosque; un sacerdote haciendo frente a una asesina en serie de la era victoriana; un joven disfuncional que se ...more

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Paperback, 370 pages

Published October 2018 by Dilatando Mentes (first published March 10th 2017)

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Mar 14, 2017 Karl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-03-books-bought, journalstone-own

This book contains a signed book plate signed by Philip Frasassi and an inlaid hand corrected manuscript page (page 245).

In his first story collection titled “Behold the Void” screen writer, producer, director Philip Fracassi offers up an collection of stories aimed at the wyrd and cosmic horror reader and will truly engage every reader interested in a well told story.

Mr. Frasassi first came to my attention in 2001 when I noticed his name on a DVD as the producer of a video titled “The Psychedel ...more

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Sep 11, 2017 Richard rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stuff, horror

One of the things that's very apparent in every story in this collection, and with all of Fracassi's work, is the intense focus on developing character. Some might say that it's even too much and not necessary for the short scary stories he writes, but I would respectfully disagree and it's an aspect in his work that I really appreciate. Good horror, to me, is inherently linked to character, and even more so here. Yes, these 9 stories feature occult horror, ghost stories, and cosmic horror, but ...more

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Jul 21, 2017 S.P. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Most of today’s horror writers fall into one of two camps. They revel in beautiful language and atmosphere, or their stories are constructed to achieve a high level of suspense from the first sentence, and to provide a twist or a payoff at the end.

Fracassi combines the best of both worlds. His prose is as fresh and surprising as his storylines are satisfying.

The supernatural mirrors psychological distress and cultural dissonance in these tales of barely missed dreams and opportunities. The five- ...more

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Dec 31, 2017 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books

4.2 Stars

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Mar 21, 2017 Jake Marley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fracassi's debut collection, BEHOLD THE VOID, showcases one of the strongest new voices in Horror. Fracassi doesn't shy away from deeply powerful emotion, and he's not afraid to scare a reader silly. Dreamlike and unique, BEHOLD THE VOID contains nine stories that crawl under a reader's skin and become part of them. Stories that will reach into your heart and make it race. Stories that will infect your subconscious and make you feel like there's something beneath the surface of the world, and th ...more

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Mar 13, 2017 Shane Douglas Douglas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'll be writing a full length review of Behold the Void as soon as I get caught up with a few other things but wanted to drop a quick note here now. Fracassi had already proven himself to be a top shelf horror author in Altar and Mother. This book merely cements that impression as something more than a fluke. Much more. Behold the Void is one of those rare collections that stands out for the fact that, not only is there not a bad story in it, it can truthfully be said that every single tale is s ...more

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Apr 23, 2017 Waffles rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If you missed out on getting the chapbooks for Altar and Mother, they are collected here. Every story is strong. My favorite was Surfer Girl. All of these stories pack a punch. You will be smooved. Buy this book and show some real support for contemporary horror. This is guy is a real thing. ...more

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Sep 11, 2017 Jeremy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was on the fence until the last story/novella shot out and screamed across the sky. Fracassi has King-sized talents, superb creativity, and an eye for a killer sentence. I just wish he would abandon the nasty and cynical characterizations at times.

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Aug 05, 2017 Michael Adams rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: strange-stories, modern-weird-fiction, modern-horror, psychological-horror, monsters

Literary horror of the highest caliber. Professional, polished prose. Well-rendered and delineated characters and realistic settings and situations which deepen and broaden through the course of the story into something else, something far stranger and more disquieting. Fracassi excels at exploring fears grounded in the everyday, but as the stories progress we start to find find breaches in the fabric of our reality, glimpses of horrors untold from the depths of the void.

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Sep 15, 2017 David Agranoff rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-collection

A short story collection is one of the best ways to get to know an author. I heard Philip Fracassi on A podcast, a epic 3 part interview on This is Horror, and was convinced the guy seemed legit. I looked him up at my library, saw nothing so I requested a purchase and within two months I got a notice it was there. I knew he had worked as a screenwriter but honestly had never heard of him before the interview. Well it was clear I have to fix that.

Introduced by cosmic horror master Laird Barron th ...more

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May 24, 2019 Horror DNA rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: jonathan-lees

In the hands of author Philip Fracassi, we are molded into flawed, tiny figures lost in ourselves too deep to fathom. We are slaves to ritual and quiver in the face of unknown entities. We are subject to turning on our loved ones, our friends and each other to service sometimes selfish needs and a deeper understanding of our regret or rage. In other words... we are human.

Each of the stories collected here in Behold the Void peers behind shimmering veils, allowing us entrance to a mirror of our e ...more

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Dec 15, 2017 Christian Orton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Incredible collection, just buy it.

This year has been a tough year for me in horror. I’ve read a lot of disappointing books, to the point where I was thinking i was done with horror for the most part (Malfi is still a release day purchase for me). But this collection....

I’ve tried reading Lovecraft for years and have enjoyed a lot of his stories, more for the ideas and the prose than the execution. And I’ve read some Lovecraftian collections in the past few years, which have largely been mixed ...more

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Jan 26, 2017 Christopher Payne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: journalstone

BEHOLD THE VOID

Introduction by Laird Barron

BEHOLD THE VOID is nine stories of terror that huddle in the dark space between cosmic horror and the modern weird, between old-school hard-edged horror of the 1980’s and the stylistic prose of today’s literary giants.

Revenge takes a monstrous form when a scorned lover acquires bizarre, telekinetic powers; a community swimming pool on a bright summer day becomes the setting for a ghastly nightmare of sacrifice and loss; a thief does bloody battle with a ...more

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Jun 22, 2017 Donald Armfield rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, ebooks-kindle, short-stories, weird-fiction

I own "Mother" which was my first time reading Fracassi's work. That small little chapbook blew me away. Following "Altar".

This collection has those two mentioned

Soft Construction of a Sunset: Love is within the power of the mind. Like a setting sun things will melt away or self destruct. Power is what one man wanted more of.

The Horse Thief: A great shootout scene at the end and a hard kick from a horse.

Coffin: The secrets of the wood will be buried with the ones who knew.

The Baby Farmer: All ...more

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Jun 30, 2019 Aditya Deshmukh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It’s hard to believe Behold The Void is Philip Fracassi’s debut collection; it’s just so fucking good!

Behold The Void is a collection of nine horror stories. Though all stories are horror, the horrifying elements in each of them is distinct. The horror spectrum is wide. There are many sub-genres. And Philip has used all of them for his stories, making the collection very diverse. There’s horror no one can explain, the supernatural kind, where unknown powers of the universe come uninvited to dest It’s hard to believe Behold The Void is Philip Fracassi’s debut collection; it’s just so fucking good!

Behold The Void is a collection of nine horror stories. Though all stories are horror, the horrifying elements in each of them is distinct. The horror spectrum is wide. There are many sub-genres. And Philip has used all of them for his stories, making the collection very diverse. There’s horror no one can explain, the supernatural kind, where unknown powers of the universe come uninvited to destroy our lives. There’s also horror where we are the antagonists. The darkness deep within men comes to play.

We start with Soft Construction Of A Sunset. A panicked man calls his friend in the middle of night. In a very vivid way Philip tells the story of the scared, then not-so-scared, and finally mad and scary Marcus. The story shows struggles of real life and fuses them with the terror of the supernatural. It’s a perfect opening to grab any horror fan’s mind. When I finished reading this one, I knew I was in for a terrific ride.

Next is Altar. Fun fact: Philip loves pools. Obviously he had to include one pool story in his collection. Unlike the first story, this is kind of slow-paced. It takes a while to get into the gist of the story, which is hard to figure out because the story focuses not only on the supernatural element (which comes later) but also fleshes out all the characters and show their fears or actions. Something unexpected and bizarre happens at the climax.

The Horse Thief is based on the very real practice of people stealing horses to sell them elsewhere. Here, the story revolves around a horse thief commissioned to steal a rather fine horse for purposes not so fine. I won’t reveal it because it will spoil the fun. I’ll just say that we don’t really care for thieves. Let the karma get them, yeah! But I really liked the protagonist, especially towards the terrifying climax.

We love our grandparents. If angels exist, they’re already here with us in the form of our grandparents. In Coffin young Sylvia has a unique relationship with her Nana. There are woods, there is magic, there are difficult human emotions…it’s another lovely horrifying tale.

The Baby Farmer is based on a real serial killer. I won’t go into the details. You can read it on Wikipedia, or better yet, here in Behold The Void where Philip gives his own twists and fictionalizes the story. We also read actual words written by the real serial killer. If that isn’t creepy, I don’t know what is. And the way Philip writes it makes the story so much more chilling. It’s not my favourite of the collection (thanks to the brilliant quality of every story) but it definitely gave me a sleepless night. Self-note: Don’t read Philip Fracassi at night. Yes, you’re yourself a dark fiction writer and you can take horror, but apparently not Philip’s horror.

I have mixed feelings about Surfer Girl. No doubt it’s a good story. We follow the story of a boy who’s raised by a single mother who brings a new man in his life. He has trouble accepting him. The story progresses slowly, making this discomfort apparent and the weird ways the boy channels his emotions, developing the darkness within. It’s when the family goes on vacation that the real stuff starts. Towards the end something really weird happens.

Mother is a story about another struggling family. Marriage is slowly falling apart. Julie used to be an artist and she decides to give it another try. But her tastes have changed. She now paints occult symbols, and the delicate bond of her marriage is about to break. We see a moment of hope, but it’s actually the calm before the storm. This is a horror story. Things of course don’t go well.

The story that made me question the most is Fail-Safe. It’s just such a weird concept that I found myself asking: “Wait, am I reading this right? Holy Fuck…(a series of curses)” In earlier stories we saw ordinary families with ordinary problems. The horror slowly crept into these families. The horror was external. But here the supernatural is a very solid part. A boy’s mother is always locked in a hidden chamber every once in a while. Whenever this happens, his dad has few guys over. Initially the boy is not allowed near the chamber. It suggests of some real problems haunting our society, but it’s not. It’s something more bizarre. The ending is left open, so I really haven’t figured out what I make of the story. While not my favourite, it certainly is a terrific story.

And now we come to my favourite story of the collection: Mandala. I like pools. Fracassi ruined it for me. I like woods. Yes, now I’ll always look over my shoulders when I step into the raw embrace of nature. Sea and beaches is pretty cool, right? Not anymore. I cannot forgive you for this, Philip. But it also happens to be one of the best stories I read in a while. So I’ll give you a hug and try to forget this minor inconvenience. Okay, sorry for going off-topic. Here’s what I think of Mandala: horrifyingly beautiful. It takes time to develop. Philip fleshes out his characters very well so we feel a lot for them when the actual shit-storm starts (why you sadistic bastard?). Once we get to the middle, it’s that moment where we can’t read and breathe at the same time, much like our protagonist. The climax is a series of ups and downs (yes, I mean it. The climax of this story is long, so the series is possible, and it makes the plot more unpredictable and the experience more thrilling). The ending is smart. At first it appears its a perfect full stop to the story, but there’s one disturbing detail. The author note further confirms that the ending is ambiguous. This is also the story where the title of the collection Behold the Void appears. It’s such a powerful moment. I had to close the book and sit still for a while, actually feeling the depth of the words. Void has always been a powerful word for me and Philip feels it perhaps as deeply as I do. It’s a strong word for us dark fiction lovers, and this strong word is very fitting to this powerful collection.

Behold The Void is one of the best short story collections I’ve ever read. The stories themselves are amazing, but so is the writing. The descriptions are spot on. It’s vivid and very visual. The pacing for most stories is excellent. The climaxes and endings are definitely something you will not forget for a long time. It’s an excellent collection filled with incredibly delicious and diverse stories. Do I recommend this book? Hell yeah! ...more

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May 15, 2017 Simon Avery rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A stunning collection of strange tales from Philip Fracassi. Vivid, strange, vicious, unrelenting... Philip's background as a screenwriter really comes across in the pictures he paints with his tight, muscular prose. I'm left with a head full of weird and beautiful imagery, families often fragmented, haunted by loss or cruelty or suffering, and the pitiless sound of the Void, waiting, fangs bared at the fringe of each of these stories. The final story, Mandala is pure early Stephen King-quality ...more

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Apr 12, 2018 Alan Baxter rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, horror, dark-fantasy, urban-fantasy

This is an outstanding collection. There’s variety and depth here in subject and length (short stories and novellas are included), but everything has the stamp of a powerful authorial voice. I’ve read a couple of Fracassi’s novellas before and really enjoyed them. It was a treat to read more of his work collected like this. Highly recommended.

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Dec 08, 2017 Jim Cunningham rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I picked this one up because one of my favorite authors recommended it and because all the story ideas sounded good. I seldom read collections of short stories because they so often feel like the dregs of the writer’s filing cabinet … failed attempts at novels, writing exercises, vehicles for exorcising whatever chip on their shoulder felt particularly heavy that day or the demons of past relationships and marriages … self-therapy. Even in short story collections that are supposed to fit a theme I picked this one up because one of my favorite authors recommended it and because all the story ideas sounded good. I seldom read collections of short stories because they so often feel like the dregs of the writer’s filing cabinet … failed attempts at novels, writing exercises, vehicles for exorcising whatever chip on their shoulder felt particularly heavy that day or the demons of past relationships and marriages … self-therapy. Even in short story collections that are supposed to fit a theme, many feel like something the author dug out of the cabinet and re-purposed. This is the first collection I’ve read in a while where all the stories felt intentional.

“His sanity leaps from him like a burned animal ...”

I have a good feeling about Philip Fracassi. Some people are just made for this stuff. There are those who choose to write horror and others who, well, that’s just what they are. For some, it’s “I want to be a horror writer! Now what shall I write?” For others, it’s more organic, and the formulation of an idea and the need to write it are one and the same. I, at least, can tell the difference. And I can tell this isn’t someone who just thought it would be neat-o to write horror. This is someone who’s compelled to it.

“She was a wicked old thing, the moon. A prankster if there ever was one. Liked to pull and tug at mankind. To make waves.”

Needless to say, I liked the stories. These were original. The kind of thing that makes you think, “How the hell does someone dream up something like that?” Even the old tropes (I usually close a book at any hint of werewolves or secret cults, but this time I didn’t) were, mercifully, 90% different than what we’re used to.

One thing that this author seems to understand that many authors don’t -- and far worse when readers (and reviewers) don’t -- is that we, as readers, don’t need to have everything explained to us. Something can exist in a vacuum and not all holes need to be filled. It’s entirely possible for a reader to think to himself “What the hell did I just read?” and still feel 100% satisfied. Fracassi either gives us a lot of credit as readers or possesses the confidence to not care if some are left wanting. Either way is perfectly fine with me!

I do have one major gripe. It’s when the supernatural is superfluous. Sometimes a scary story is just a scary story, and putting a ghost in it just puts a ghost in it. I’ll remind you that Jaws did not have a ghost in it. Neither did Cujo. Didn’t need ‘em. Would have been silly with one. And if the supernatural elements had been removed from one of these stories, it might have been even better.

Not everyone’s going to like every story in a collection and I’m no exception. The one about the priests ... I ended up skimming it and read the end; it wasn’t my thing.

But this review does have a happy ending. The final story in the collection was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever read.

I still prefer novels, and you can be sure I’ll be reading one of his soon. This was my first experience with Philip Fracassi. I can’t wait to see how he takes one of these creative concepts he seems adept at dreaming up to novel length. ...more

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Jul 15, 2019 Jon Hilty rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Man I should have known that between the publisher, the Laird Barron intro, the praise from so many other great authors, and more, that I would love this one. Still it sat on my shelf for a good several months before I picked it up. This collection is fantastic! The stories really feel alive, and varied in their particular breeds of weirdness and horror. All of the stories were great, but the few that I'd highlight amongst giants were Soft Construction of a Sunset, The Horse Thief, The Baby Farm ...more

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Apr 13, 2020 Matthew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-horror-and-supernatural, favorites

”His dead wife stood up, stepped to him, draped her arms around his shoulders, brought her mouth to his lips, then to his cheeks, his neck...She smiled, and the grin seemed to break apart the reality of her face.”

This is yet another brilliant, must-read, essential collection of 21st century dark supernatural fiction. Nine enthralling character-driven tales steeped in “Twilight Zone” weirdness, eloquent literary gothicism, cosmic terror, and in the final novella “Mandala,” genuine edge-of-your-s ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Eugene Novikov rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Quite simply, the best modern single-author horror collection I've ever read. These stories are like Stephen King at his absolute best, but more streamlined and less sentimental; cosmic horror in the Lovecraftian tradition but transmuted with absolute confidence into a recognizable milieu and permeated with human sadness, regret and loss. I can't think of enough superlatives for "Altar," which turns the ancient unfathomable unknown into a metaphor for everyday trauma and pain without turning it ...more

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Aug 15, 2017 Ben Loory rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Loved this book, especially the final story, "Mandala," which I've been thinking about for weeks now; it doesn't let go. The danger in horror collections is that the stories all tend to go in the same direction, and after a while everything feels so ridiculously predetermined, but this book doesn't do that-- you never know which way things are going to break for the characters, so there's still room for hope, which in turn makes room for heartbreak. Anyway-- really enjoying all things Fracassi, ...more

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Aug 19, 2020 Toolshed rated it liked it · review of another edition

I was deciding between 3 and 4 until "Mandala", and that one didn't persuade me (the ending was cool, but not sure it warranted the length). Generally a pretty nice encounter, Fracassi is a good writer reminiscent of King in that his stories are clearly character-driven and he is quick to make you invested in (or at least familiar with) his characters. At times I felt that I liked the subject matter of the respective stories more than their execution, but I really enjoyed "Horse Thief", "Baby Fa ...more

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Jul 10, 2017 David Haendler rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an astonishing collection of stories, haunting in the best ways. Fracassi finds the messy humanity in his characters even as he hurls them into the abyss. He's also sadistically adept at pacing, especially in Mandala, a sustained and measured exercise in gut-churning dread. Weird fiction fans should stare deep into this void. ...more

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Sep 16, 2017 Nickronomicon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was a great short story collection. Philip Fracassi does a great job writing stories that you can connect with and immediately become invested in. Very reminiscent of the way Stephen King tells stories, great character depth and getting into the mind of children and pre-teens. All of these stories were excellent. I will definitely be reading more of his work.

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Jun 14, 2018 Anna Liandi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have never written a book review before but this book is fucking amazing! There is not a single story that is not good, each story is better and better and better and better! Epecially the "baby farmer" made me shaking... ...more

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Jul 30, 2017 Logan Noble rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an easy 5 star review. Every story in here is a winner. For horror/weird fiction fans, this is a must read.

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Jul 24, 2017 Mindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm so glad I've found this author. I loved all the stories in this collection to a varying degree. I must say, the suspense in the last story, Mandala, made me realize more than once that I needed to breathe. That always impresses me. ...more

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Mar 03, 2020 Ryan Croke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So good! The prose is amazing and the stories are paced so well. I could not put this down - every story had something to offer. How did I not know about this earlier???? I want more.

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Apr 27, 2018 Adam rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: weird, short-stories, ebook, horror

Before I started it, was a bit wary this collection would be another one of the many Laird Barron imitations that make up a big chunk of modern weird landscape. I was pleasantly surprised at first to find that its sensibilities feel closer to a Junji Ito (and especially obvious comparison really only the first story) or ultimately, Stephen King. That is to say, while there are a few hints of cosmic horror lurking around the edges, this is mostly a "classic" or generic horror collection. I might Before I started it, was a bit wary this collection would be another one of the many Laird Barron imitations that make up a big chunk of modern weird landscape. I was pleasantly surprised at first to find that its sensibilities feel closer to a Junji Ito (and especially obvious comparison really only the first story) or ultimately, Stephen King. That is to say, while there are a few hints of cosmic horror lurking around the edges, this is mostly a "classic" or generic horror collection. I might be less interested in seeking something like that out, but I'm not necessarily opposed to enjoying it.
And it turns out that Fracassi is a pretty skilled writer. The stories are full of characterization, densely detailed sketches that evoke a person, not just a camera for the gruesome stuff to come. A lot of the stories have some structurally or conceptually cool ideas, or at least unique ideas. I just found it really hard to relate to a lot of it.

The Stephen King comparison goes a fair bit deeper than I initially realized. Fracassi is thorough and practiced in sketching his characters, but that skill doesn't extend to their conception. These people are on a spectrum from flat and insipid to stupidly, grotesquely misanthropic. Far too much of their character derives from the same traumatic childhood events, dead parents or parents who left them. Every story opens with a few pages of character back story sketches, and while these are executed in a relatively entertaining way, as these things go, the fact that they are so repetitive and familiar makes them kind of tedious.

The preponderance of boring or mean characters kind of soured the whole collection for me. I'm sure there are some people who like this kind of bitterness in there horror, but I just find it tiresome. This isn't the philosophical misanthropy of Thomas Ligotti; it's clearly intentional, but it doesn't feel justified. Seeing the world through these characters' eyes is a cheap way to permit disgusting language, but their imaginations are so tawdry that the kind of things they find disgusting aren't aesthetically interesting to the reader. That last bit maybe isn't fair to apply the whole collection; there's one story that felt really extreme on it and it's kind of coloring the rest of the stories.

The settings of the stories also have a kind of King-esque limitation. A lot of them evoke a simple, childish 1950s Americana perspective, even if their actual setting date is unclear. More importantly, the horror ideas feel incomplete or inadequately imagined. A few of them are abrupt, ambiguous endings, and I have nothing against that necessarily. But few of them feel like they're trying for something more and producing a crayon drawing where an elaborate painting is called for. The last story, especially, is a very Stephen King piece of horror. That has a lot of characters, but they're all very boring, but yet it spends a tremendous amount of time outlining their psychological back stories. It centers around the same handcuff gimmick as Gerald's Game, with the same supernatural implication layered on top, and it fails, just as thoroughly – though it doesn't do so through a trashy twist, at least. The witch story and the I guess other witch story both fail on the same grounds – they have a cool concept, but lack the detail and imagination to land what they're trying to do.

I did enjoy some of the stories earlier on, but the only one that really stands out as great is the historical fiction piece. Here, Fracassi's skill with character voice is applied to capturing period-appropriate thought and language, and it produces a really fun and engrossing historical witch (apparently there are three of these?) story with a decent grotesque Satanic tableau at the end. It also benefits from having the least ugly-minded characters in the collection, and even bothers to have some positive goals.
...more

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About Philip Fracassi

Philip Fracassi

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Philip Fracassi is an award-winning author and screenwriter living in Los Angeles.

His debut collection of short horror, BEHOLD THE VOID, won "Story Collection of the Year" award from both This Is Horror and Strange Aeons Magazine.

His stories have been printed in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year, Black Static, Cemetery Dance, and Nightmare Magazine. His work has ...more