Darkity Darkity

Lately I finished reading Marc Laidlaw's The 37th Mandala and started in on livia_llewellyn/Livia Llewellyn's Engines of Desire, each of which are wonderful in entirely different ways. Laidlaw's novel came out in 1998, back when the Horror Boom was in its death throes and I had personally had all I could take. If I ever even saw it, I don't remember, but I'm glad I'm seeing it now (tip o' the hat to mr_earbrass on both). A creepy, clever takedown of all things New Age that has both visceral horror and cosmic awe. Llewellyn's collection came out a couple months back, and it's a powerful, lyrical collection of stories that are by turns dark, fantastical, and erotic. imago1 wrote the introduction, which seems more than fitting, given the horrifyingly hallucinatory paths she travels. Thumbs up for both of these books.