#nicholas pullen

[freckles-and-books]

Last, current, maybe next (a little too soon to say, but it’s what I’m currently leaning toward)

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer Gothic Horror

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen Catfish Lullaby by AC Wise Grey Dog by Elliott Gish What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

View On WordPress

[readingtillmidnight]

The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen

Release date: 10 October 2024

Genre: adult historical gothic horror

If you like: cannibalism, cults, epistolary

Synopsis

A spine-tingling, queer gothic horror debut where two men are drawn into an otherworldly spiral, and a journey that will only end when they reach the darkest part of the human soul.

John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore.

He must write his last testament before it is too late.

This is a story steeped in history and myth - a journey from stone circles in Scotland, to the barren wilderness of Ukraine where otherworldly creatures stalk the night, ending in the icy peaks of Tibet and Mongolia, where an ancient evil stirs.

Content warnings

Death, murder, gore, body horror, blood

Cannibalism

Torture

Homophobia

Anti-semitism from the antagonists, anti-semitic speech, anti-semitic imagery

Blackmailing, threats

Sexual harrassment

Mentions of war

I am not sure if I managed to get all the content warnings, so please proceed with caution as this book gets quite dark.

Review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I am not sure how to talk about this book. I have many feelings about it, some of which are rather complicated, which I am not sure if I will be able to express adequately.

Firstly, I really enjoyed the writing style, which reminds me of classic gothic novels in the best ways. I loved the epistolary format of this novel, and the way it's interspersed with diary entries and (more) letters. The atmosphere is haunting at times, and downright terrifying at others. I could sort of guess how this book would end, but at the same time, the story is riveting and I couldn't put it down.

I will say, there are only five chapters in this whole 400 page book, which could make it a tough reading experience. For me, I struggled to find intervals where I could put the book down, which isn't really a problem I guess, because I wanted to keep reading anyway.

I also loved the romance, which was really sweet but also heart-wrenching. I appreciate how the characters navigated their dynamic, of being master and servant, as well as how dedicated they are to each other. However, I should note that this is NOT a romance novel. If you want to read this for the romance, refer to the synopsis and reevaluate.

One important aspect I have to discuss is how Buddhism factors into the story. Given that the Evil Cult in this book follows a (fictional) heretical branch of Buddhism, I was a little worried about how Buddhism would be portrayed. Barring the Evil Cult, I think the author did a good job of being respectful to the religion and culture; the main character is a white guy who studies Buddhism, and he is portrayed as respectful and fascinated by Buddhist/foreign culture and texts. (I have seen some other reviewers criticise this book as being too "woke", so.) However, this book references and quotes translations of Buddhist texts, as well as features important historical figures like the Dalai Lhama. Given that I have zero knowledge of early 20th century Tibetan Buddhism, I have no idea how accurate or realistic this portrayal is.

I was raised Buddhist, so I know some of the basic lore enough to know what's going on, as well as which aspects of the story are fictionalised. When reading other reviews of this book, I realised that a lot of readers know basically nothing about Buddhism. This makes me worried that people may read this book and form incorrect, or even damaging beliefs about Buddhists or Buddhism.

My version of this book is an eARC, so this may have been included in the final version, but I believe that the above issues I mentioned could be easily rectified by including an Author's Note to clarify which aspects of the book are fictionalised, as well as references to research sources.

I will say, I do appreciate Buddhism being such a large focus. Most gothic novels take place in western settings and focus on Christianity or Catholicism, and lots of horror genre cults are some variation of Satanic, so I quite enjoyed getting to read a gothic novel inspired by my own religion for once, even if some bits might be blasphemous.

There's a lot more that could be discussed about the book's approach to, like, religion in general, but I'm going to leave my thoughts on this as is, simply because I am not knowledgeable enough to analyse this.

I think this could be a divisive novel; as far as I can tell, people either love or hate the writing style and format, and the inclusion of Buddhism seems to have left other reviewers confused (people who don't know what's going-on) or conflicted (people who do know what's going on, enough to point out that the depiction of Buddhism is worrying).

Personally, while I am still somewhat conflicted about the portrayal of Buddhism, I would still highly recommend this novel to gothic horror enthusiasts.

Overall, this is a phenomenal novel, one that fascinated and moved me.

[ragnarockz]

Picked up The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen from the library and this is the first book I've ever read that has a trigger warning list INSIDE the book

[whatcha-reading-today]

The Black Hunger | Nicholas Pullen

Oh hooo hoooo this was GOOD. This is written as recollections before our MC John Sackville dies. He tells us about his history as it swirls with mystic nightmarish stuff throughout time. I like how our MCs are written and how well their story intertwines with the gothic nightmarish. I did think the ending wasn't as explosive as I wanted and there were definitely swaths of text that got a little on the explain-y but this was so good.

Read in: February 2025

Format: Physical copy

Favorites 2025

[only-when-i-write]

From a writers point of view I have mad respect for the author of The Black Hunger Nicholas Pullen bc he wrote this and this being a weird mix of historical adventure + gothic horror + an academic paper about the unexpected (fictional) impact of tibetan religious believes on 19th ct. European history + a dracula-style imprisonment (which I liked so much) + a number of dubious russians, various brits and scotish men and the Dalai Lama + love HE WROTE THIS and got it published? This?

He sat at his desk and typed down this novel and then went to find an agent/editor/publisher for it and got them? This is so wild bc it works yk? It does. But how could he possibly know that there would be a market for this tale? On first glance it hits the current gothic/dark academia/horror hype point blanc but misses it at the same time by about a mile. He didnt know. He couldnt. And wrote it anyway?

Ich ziehe meinen Hut.

[biblionerdreflections]

The Black Hunger - DNF Thoughts

Hello, everyone! Today I’m doing something that rarely happens… Talking about a book I’ve decided to DNF. That book is The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen. Continue reading The Black Hunger – DNF Thoughts

View On WordPress

[drowninginabactatank]

The Broken Binding's first Halloween book box is now live!

The box includes a gorgeous special edition of The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen 🍇💀

Features: Signed by the author, royal hardback, digital edges (fore-edge, top & bottom), custom foil on boards.