Awakened in Blood (Depraved Monogamy Splatter Counseling)

 

A couple finds themselves in a group marriage counselling retreat, and ends up getting the sex and desire from their partner that they always wanted….the end? Not at all!! Awakened in Blood begins with a prologue that’s split into two, one section from 1893 and the other from 1994. What makes it fun is they both link via a singular house where gruesome deaths happen. Written from a third-person POV, the plot changes fluidly between the characters in the story. This was done without any confusion between who was being spoken about, and it worked well with the flow. Whilst it has some brilliant and descriptive gore scenes, it’s filled with tons of sex, which comes after the behaviors and thoughts of the main characters changes. The sex scenes are descriptive, yet not cringey, which is definitely a plus and I always find they work well with mind fuck stories like this. One in particular actually leads into a really gruesome vision-esque experience a female guest has, crossing the boundary from sexy to sick. The use of such grim descriptions right next to explicit sex was different from the majority of horror and sex-filled books, which sometimes still try to be hot, even when describing gore.

 

“She looked down, watching a gout of maggots pour from Marty’s mouth. She leaned in, kissed him on the lips, tasted the rot and filth. Maggots wriggled into her waiting mouth. She feasted on them, feeling them dance on her tongue and down her throat. Her anxious fingers wandered down to her cleft, parting short pubic hair. Dripping wet lips grabbed at her fingers as she entered herself, shuddering. Something was missing and she knew what it was. Her free hand grabbed a fistful of writhing maggots and stuffed them deep into her awaiting cunt. “

 

Now, is it this gruesome all the way through? Not quite. But these parts are written in such a way that just because there’s not a lot, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. The story really holds its own and when the retreat hosts start to stir the pot, everyone starts getting murdered. I’d love a little bit more information about why things happened the way they did, but for 116 pages, there’s a lot in it, and you go for one Hell of a ride whilst reading it. My suggestion is, when you get to the sex scenes, don’t get too excited, and that’s not because they’re written poorly.

 

Daniel J. Volpe Official Website

Written by Arianne, Sovereign Deity of the Damned

Awakened in Blood (2022)
Daniel J. Volpe
Independent
4 / 5