A review by howlinglibraries
Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison

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

1.5

 
If only she were dead.
None of this would be an issue.
But she isn't.
She's alive.
And something has happened—is happening—and it terrifies me.

Let's go ahead and address the obvious: this book is hyped as an incredibly fucked up, extreme horror story, and it definitely fits the bill when it comes to depravity. The main character's necrophilia is on full display from the beginning, but we also delve into some scenes of cannibalism, pedophilia, and glorification of rape. Morrison doesn't hold back from the messy details in any way, so this isn't a book I'd recommend to anyone who isn't already accustomed to extreme horror.

All of that said, something about the detached and repetitive nature of the narrative voice made even the most disgusting and graphic scene in this book fall short of actually affecting me. I thought based on the hype that this would be the rare book that would be "too much", but honestly, I frequently found myself bored and wishing for the story to end.

I feel bad giving this such a harsh review, but I have to say my piece: the main character is so focused on being as much of an antisocial edgelord as he possibly can be, it overshadows the gruesomeness of the entire plot. I'm not saying I needed him to feel guilty or be less of a "monster", I just needed him to stop devoting his entire life to impressing 14-year-old white boys on reddit.

I see a lot of people saying Morrison's writing is brilliant and unique because all of this is intended as satire, and maybe that's true and I'm the one who's missing something here, but either way, Dead Inside didn't work for me, and not for the reasons I expected. I'm glad it's such a successful and harrowing novella for so many other people, but given that my issues with this story were so similar to my issues with the last Chandler Morrison novella I read, I'm thinking it's time to accept that his writing isn't for me.

Also, the character who talks about how much she loved being raped at 7 years old? That entire segment made my eyes nearly roll out of my skull. 
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