Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

35 reviews

kimib79's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This wasn't written for me. It can best be described as "WTHeck did I just read?"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Grief

ciebeanie's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

for perspective i did this collection for my a-level coursework and to this day i still go back and reread it. despite the pain it caused me i routinely return!

angela carter is a master of prose. she revels in the dark, the gory and the sexual and boy does she do it well - these short stories will leave you thinking about them for weeks. deeply entwined with the second wave of feminism and themes of female identity and sexuality, carter’s work is unrestrained and shines brilliantly because of it, even in all of its complexity. the deeper you start to dive into these stories, the more you find, though they’re certainly enjoyable as surface-level fairy tales, too!

my personal favourites are ‘the bloody chamber’, ‘the erl king’ and ‘the tiger’s bride’. if you’re a fan of british band wolf alice, this collection is where they got their name from.

i would very heavily recommend carter’s essay ‘the sadeian woman’ as an accompaniment to this collection, as it explores more explicitly her thoughts on pornography and women’s sexuality. speaking of which - this book does not shy away from darker topics, though it does handle them with grace, complexity and thought (and the occasional bite of humour to balance the equation). carter was master of her craft and this is arguably her magnum opus - enjoy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty

rowanelisa's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

blueshirt's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Beautifully written. A few of the stories I did not really understand. Like, I didn't get the message of "The Snow Child" beyond my initial (and superficial) "man suck" reaction. But that's more on me as a reader than Angela as a writer.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

soniajoy98's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Excrement, and Sexual harassment

mericat's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

breamfish1138's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Carter has an amazing writing style that blends reality and dreams better than most authors I've ever read. Sure, the stories can get repetitive but when the descriptions are that vivid I really didn't care at all. Also, the feminist subtext? Yes please. Bear in mind the fairytales are, umm, of the German bedtime story varieties so expect a lot of macabre, weird, gory, horrific stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing and Sexual assault

It's super gory and messed up and weird. Would not recommend use as actual bedtime stories. And it doesn't TECHNICALLY count as cannibalism but a lot of people do get eaten.

heartofhorrors's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

probably more like a 3.5— carter's rendition of classic fairy tale stories are frankly quite beautiful. it hits you with a punch in ways that are incredibly vivid, incredibly reflective, incredibly feminist, and— at times— incredibly erotic. i initially read "the bloody chamber" in high school, but we never read anything in the collection beyond that story. thus, to conclude my summer of horror readings, i honestly couldn't think of any better ending than revisiting an old book to see what i used to believe were the important aspects of the stories and what i believe them to be now. it also serves as a way for me to test how my interactions with the horror and gothic genre has evolved, so pretty neat!

that being said, i think this time reading it in full has given me a stronger sense of carter's capabilities as a writer and as a storyteller. each story left me thinking about a lot. considering the more feminist aspects of this text, she approaches far beyond what i expected it to: from detailed accounts of performativity within gender roles, to characters that openly embrace the "wild" regardless of the costs, even to leaving me thinking about how masculinity and femininity are both two sides of the same coin vastly effected under the patriarchy (a move that most feminist writers and thinkers barely consider!). i rate this a 3.5 because, as is the case with all short stories, some left me feeling great and others not so much. i also think that it would have been a better experience for me had i actually read most of these stories in their original forms, since carter adapts a kind of writing style that seems to replicate that (great for symbolism, but hard for accessibility). overall, i think it is worth the read if you're up for it. in particular, i liked "the bloody chamber," "the courtship of mr. lyon," "puss-in-boots," "the snowchild," and "the lady of the house of love"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Misogyny, and Dysphoria

rhi_'s review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Physical abuse