Oh, but if I could forget this book and start it all over and fresh, I absolutely would. It was absolutely engrossing, dark and twisty. I devoured it in one sitting and I almost wish I'd taken more time to savor it. I've already recommended it to like minded friends, and will continue to do so. This authors other works are definitely getting bumped to the top of my tbr.

A Lush and Seething Hell is made up of 2 novellas, The Sea Dreams it in the Sky, and My Heart Struck Sorrow.

The Sea Dreams it in the Sky, the first of the stories is about a young woman and a mysterious poet who strike up a friendship. It was written so realistically, even the horrendous torture descriptions, that one would almost believe that "The Eye" was a real poet.

The second story was my favorite of the two. My Heart Struck sorrow is the story of a librarian/archivist and his journey to find the mysterious origins of the song Stagger Lee (Staggolee by some) Through his journey, he finds a secret recording that may have come from the Devil himself.

The torture scenes in The Sea Dreams it in the Sky were pretty awful, as torture is known to be. I'm a bit squeamish about some things, so it was particularly bothersome to me.
However. My Heart Struck Sorrow was, for me, one of those stories that kept me up at night. For several days if I'm being honest. Despite the supernatural horror of it, there were many realistic qualities in this one as well in the archiving details. While I greatly enjoyed this one, I'm not sure I'll ever attempt it again. And that's exactly how I like my horror stories to be,

4/5
*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my review.

DNF less than 2 hours in. The story was impossible to follow and I threw in the towel at the description of shooting, stabbing with a knife, and burning of a pig. I'm not typically a super sensitive reader, but not being able to follow the story along with the gore, this just doesn't feel like a good use of my time.

I originally asked for this book because the two novella idea did sound interesting. I'm not sure if this is too far out of my wheelhouse, but I don't get all of the super high reviews on Goodreads. I have only listed 3 books prior to this as DNF in my entire life. I guess this book makes 4.

I'm good. Based on the reviews I've read on Goodreads, all I miss in the second story is the excessive use of the N word. No thank you.

I'm a huge fan of horror and the like, unfortunately this just fell a little flat for me. I didnt hate it, but it left me wanting a little more.

5 stars just for the mood.

While I think both stories included in this book could have been a bit more fulfilling I respect the thoughtfulness that went into crafting each.

The first story was mesmerizing, and reminded me of my tween years being obsessed with Neruda. Great care is taken to ensure that the reader feels pulled along full immersed in the story.

The second story... whoo what a wild ride. I was really deep into reading this and again the writing here just sucks you in and makes you feel like part of the story yourself. But boy do I have questions. I may take it upon myself to write the author to clarify some things. Overall though, deeply unsettling and creepy. I'd like to see this one turned into a tv series.

This book was a bit of a roller coaster ride for me, because as disappointed as I was with the first story, I was just as in love with the second one.

I mean, I guess they say life is all about balance, right? So for this review, I’m really going to have to separate the stories in this into two, because I had wildly different experiences with each.

The one thing I can say about both is that when it’s creepy, it’s creepy—there’s no two ways about that. Jacobs does an amazing job of building a dark, insidious atmosphere that builds slowly and will have you checking for shadows in your peripheral vision.

In that aspect, this book was everything I had hoped for going in, even if the first story didn’t quite deliver plot-wise for me.

The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky (★★☆☆☆)

Listen. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but everyone seems to have loved this story … except for me. I went in with such high expectations, considering how highly rated it was and people seemed to love it. After I got a ways in and realized, wow, this story was going nowhere fast, I lowered my expectations a bit.

- Avendano’s manuscripts deliver all the slow-build horror, existential dread, and paranormal darkness that one might expect from the summary. For me, this was the real pleasure of this story. The manuscripts were a joy to read, because there’s this slow devolution and breakdown of what seemed like a perfectly satisfying life to … something else.

- When it felt like it was finally getting going and getting good, something always undermined that feeling. Sometimes it was long, tedious descriptions of quotidian life, long passages of travel, or just some sort of randomness. I felt like the dark, creepy atmosphere it was building never had a chance to fully coalesce, because it was constantly bogged down by these slow, meandering sections that yanked me out of the creepiness and action.

- The story just … ended. I don’t even know what happened. This story was so hard for me to get through, but I felt like there would be such a payoff that of course it would be worth it, and there just … wasn’t. I don’t necessarily need things spelled out, but I felt like this ending was too abrupt and abstract to feel satisfactory for me.

- There’s just too much in this story that’s left open and unexplained that by the end of it, I just felt confused and like there was something missing. Other people seemed to have loved it, so I guess this is just me? But I just didn’t get it. Even now, I can’t actually tell you what this story was really about or the point of it. I for sure can’t tell you anything about how it ended or the meaning of the ending, because I just … I don’t know, guys. I’m still so confused.

My Heart Struck Sorrow (★★★★★)

This story is everything the first one wasn’t and everything I’d hoped for going in, and I just loved it. Okay, end review, now go read this. If you’re looking for some seriously delicious creepy, sinister, and sometimes downright surreal vibes … read this story.

- I’m totally biased in that I already love unreliable narrators, but Jacobs takes it one step further by giving us an actual reliable narrator who becomes unreliable … only the reader doesn’t know exactly when it happens. Maybe he was unreliable from the start? I suppose it could very well be. you’ll have to decide that for yourself.

- I’m usually a little hesitant with split storylines, but here, I thought it was super effective, especially given that Cromwell’s situation is so relatable. Whereas Harlan’s timeline is one fueled by selfish obsession, Cromwell’s struggle is one of a highly relatable inner turmoil, where he’s on the brink of becoming like Harlan but still has a choice to make. While I thought Harlan’s story was, by far, the most thrilling and creepy, Cromwell’s was the most emotional and made it so easy to see how someone can be led astray.

- This is more of a psychological horror/thriller, so while there are no real big scary moments, there are quite a few WTF moments where things just don’t seem quite right. Mostly, because they’re not, but you sort of just have to wait and see. If you’re going in expecting all the answers, you’ll be sorely disappointed, because this story leaves a lot open-ended and up to the imagination of the reader to fill in the gaps. It draws the overall picture, and it’s your job to color it in. I know I sort of complained about the first one being too open-ended to where I just didn’t get it, but that was so not a problem with this, and I ended up loving how it played out in this story.

- There’s not a whole lot I can say about this story, because the beauty is in the build-up. Even though it may sound a bit like a cop-out (and okay, maybe it is), this is one of those stories that you just have to experience for yourselves. I honestly don’t know what else I can say about this without spoiling something, because everything has to come together just so, and the reader discovers things as Cromwell discovers them, which is the wonderful thing about this piece. I’d hate to ruin that.

I just couldn't get into this book. The story was extremely sluggish to get going, and I found both of the main characters annoying and pretentious.

Slipping Into the Macabre

What a gifted writer! An example is there in the first story's title, "The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky." Only seven short words, but the phrase resonates and looms large with unknown significance.

As I turned the pages of these two unique novelettes, it was as if I were slipping into a dream state that quickly morphed into nightmare. The author's prose was so comfortable and lyrical, as each story progressed, I became as disconnected as if I had suddenly gone from a relaxing soak in a warm bath to treading water in a deep sea, with no idea how I'd gotten there. Or, how I could get back.

The two stories are distinctly different from each other in content and tone, but each is deeply affecting in ways that still haunt me. The first was so disturbing that I had to take some down time to recover before moving on to the last story.

I enthusiastically recommend this excellent book and plan to seek out more from this magnificent author.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

This book Was everything I was looking for in a horror novel. The writing style is so unique and beautiful. I could NOT put this book down. Read it.

ALush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs is indeed a lush and seething read for those who lust after delicious prose and a leisured literary journey toward madness, the inexorable threat that many fear because it lingers nestled in their unconscious minds, patiently waiting to reveal itself. Fans of H.P. Lovecraft and Ramsey Campbell will love A Lush and Seething Hell. While most cosmic threats exist in the exterior, poised to ensnare the unwary individual, Jacobs’s threats could be considered more frightening because each is an internal, ineffable potentiality of the human condition.

A Lush and Seething Hell is composed of two masterfully paired novellas. The cosmic menaces in the set of novellas resonate with each other like entrained tuning forks. The first tale feeds on the impact of words and their unquestionable ability to warp reality, to twist minds—the second on the magical, almost ceremonial nature of music. Both tales are driven by characters possessed by the insidious, burrowing sovereignty of guilt. The novellas display an enchanting sense of place made real by organic metaphors and musical language that color each moment with magic. Touches of dialect create authenticity without insult. The characters are so real and hypnotic that they will pair with readers and drag them along on their decent into the abyss. Some characters that appear real might in truth be tulpas, self-created manifestations, or thought forms, thus blending the apparent world with the supernatural.

The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky takes place in an imaginary country in South America. The setting, language, characters, and politics are exquisitely drawn and harken back to the magical realism of Jorge Borges.

Rafael Avendaño, a mysterious author who prefers to be called The Eye, lures a young university lecturer into his sphere of influence. Before long, Isabel’s life changes when Avendaño embarks on a dangerous quest into his past, leaving her to oversee his apartment. She soon begins to read a text that Avendaño had been translating. It is filled with arcane symbols and profane content. Isabel follows Avendaño’s lead and becomes the next translator, which compels her to initiate her own journey of transformation. Jacobs dares to go one step beyond Roland Barthes to coerce Isabel and the reader into becoming something much more than co-authors.

Of his missing eye, Avendaño says: ”It had seen too much, so I plucked it out.”

Harlan Parker: A Dream of Mother Chautauqua takes place in the American South. Steeped in Southern lore, this tale narrates the journey of Cromwell, an employee of The Library of Congress, who must travel to the home of a music aficionado who has willed his recordings and fortune to the Folklore Center. Mirroring the first tale, Cromwell finds Harlan Parker’s research journal and becomes entranced by it and fixates on a specific traditional song—Stagger Lee. Cromwell’s continued research reveals that each new version he discovers, the lyrics grows darker, and so does he.

“Pain becomes an offering and sacrifice becomes a beacon.”

A Lush and Seething Hell is a masterpiece, a unique and frightening glimpse into the danger and addicting power of obsession. It deserves multiple close readings, each of which will no doubt unearth new, stunning revelations and uncertainties.

A Lush and Seething Hell belongs in hard copy on the shelf of every enlightened reader and comes very highly recommended.

Rougeski Reviews

A haunting peek into a dark and punishing world. Lingering dread drags itself from page to page. It has the feel of Lovecraft with its characters always being the outsiders and whose futures are bleak.

A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs is two books in one, a novella The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky and a short novel My Heart Struck Sorrow. Both stories challenge idea of death and hell on earth. They both involve the past and choices made, fro the better or worse. Both stories have good wrap ups and ending that will leaving you thinking for a bit after the story has ended. My Heart Struck Sorrow was the new story The Sea Dreams It is the Sky has been published before. I enjoyed My Heart Struck Sorrow quite a bit more. Chuck Wendig author of Wanders does really cool foreword to the book. Thanks to HarperCollins Publishing and Netgalley for letting me read an Advanced Readers copy of A lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs in exchange for an honest review. It was first Published on October 8th 2019 with an expected mass market publication on October 29th 2019.

The Plot for The Sea Dreams it is the Sky:Rafael Avendano, a former poet, has escaped Argentina and now lives in Spain. The Poet now wears an eye patch has now goes by the Eye, it is a mystery to how he lost it. He meets Isabel a Teacher of poetry in Spain, and originally from Argentina knows a little of his work but found it crude and juvenile. She and most of the world thought Avendano was dead, during the takeover of Argentina. She befriends him as he is called back to Argentina in hopes of a reunion. Isabel watches his apartment in it she finds a secret manuscript telling just how he lost his eye, she keeps getting mysterious notes with just a latitude and longitude on them, pointing to a place in Argentina.

The Plot for My Heart Struck Sorrow: Cromwell needs a distraction from the recent deaths of his wife and son, he with his partner Harriet find that distraction as there job being part of the library is to go through a collection bequeathed to it. The Parker estate is one such donation, they are excited to too into the collection since Parker was a member of the Library of Congress in the music division collection folk songs and stories. Cromwell and Harriet discover a secret room that was locked away, of Parkers last assignment. Where Parker went searching for a particular song about a man and hell.

What I Liked: Both stories blend fact and fiction pretty seamlessly. Both stories are about lyrics in a song or in a verse of poetry, and the writing in both are really great, the folk songs especially, I could almost here them. The endings in both stories really work well, and end a in a very full circle way that I always appreciate. I really loved the characters in My Heart Struck Sorrow, they felt very real and grounded I understood their obsessions. I really like the work with the untrustworthy narrator. The flow in My Heart Struck Sorrow is so good such an easy read.

What I Disliked: The story flow of The Sea Dreams it is the Sky is so slow in the middle I loved the first couple chapters but then it slows down so much. My Heart Struck Sorrow is almost double The Sea Dreams it is Sky but it took me much longer to read Sea Dreams, because of the flow. I also had a little thing with The Sea Dreams it is Sky and it's use of pronouns, sometimes I was confused with it and had to read passages over as a pronoun is switched to a dream person.

Recommendations: I will recommend this collection of two tales, my favorite by far being My Heart Struck Sorrow. My rating for stories is The Sea Dreams it is Sky 3 out of 5 stars and My Heart Struck Sorrow 5 out of 5 stars. I would highly recommend this to readers who like historical horror, or horror with a great deal of real life with a twist. I rated A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs 4 out 5 stars.

Brilliant. The power of the novella is too understated in the industry and I’m excited to see a publisher embrace a different way to ensure they’re read by combining two in one book.
This is for sure one of my favorite reads of the year. Lush, compelling, and intelligent. I can’t wait to read more from John Jacobs.

Just couldn’t get invested in the story on this one. I thought this was a short story collection, and was surprised to find it wasn’t.

A LUSH AND SEETHING HELL is the first book that I have read by John Hornor Jacobs, and I can honestly say, I really like his writing style. I especially like how Jacobs divides each narrative using passages from journals. I have to admit when I started reading ’My Heart Struck Sorrow’, I was really on the fence about that one because of the slower pacing and content, however, as I got closer to the ending – when all is revealed – hands down, I knew I was going to give this story and this book five stars!!

’My Heart Struck Sorrow’ – 5/5*
’The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky’ - 4/5*

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of A LUSH AND SEETHING HELL in exchange for an honest review.

A Lush and Seething Hell is the kind of novel that you hope will, and even expect to, take an author’s career to the next level. It’s the sort of work that, if you haven’t been reading John Hornor Jacob already, you’ll be kicking yourself for this oversight and scouring bookstores for his past releases. The good news is that you’re getting two sublimely literary tales of cosmic horror here, one a novella and the other a short novel. The first, The Sea Dreams It Is Sky, is one I had read previously when it was released as an ebook-only edition in late 2018. It subsequently made my best of the year list, and below is a very slightly modified review of what I wrote about it then and published elsewhere. The second story, My Heart Struck Sorrow, is exclusive to this release and was a read I’d been anticipating ever since finishing The Sea Dreams It Is Sky last year.

First up…

The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky
Although H.P. Lovecraft is the most familiar name in the genre of cosmic horror, a number of other authors writing in this vein have shown themselves to be far better wordsmiths and storytellers - Victor LaValle, Brian Hodge, Laird Barron, and Caitlin R. Kiernan immediately spring to mind. I feel comfortable adding John Hornor Jacobs to this list now, with his novella The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky proving to be one of the best titles I've read in 2018 (and 2018 was absolutely flush with incredible horror titles, I might add).

Racism was absolutely endemic in Lovecraft's work, with the man's total fear of Otherness, which is to say blacks and immigrants, pervading his mythos. Jacobs, however, writes entirely from the perspective of The Other - his central characters, Isabella and Rafael Avendaño, are South American expats living abroad in Spain. Their home country, the fictional Magera, has fallen to a Pinochet-like military junta. If either were ever to return home, it would mean certain death. Isabella is a lesbian, and, perhaps worse for those in power, both educated and an educator. Avendaño is a poet and outspoken critic of the despot ruling Magera.

Whereas Lovecraft's horror arose from racist anxieties, in Jacobs's novella, political anxiety is the topic du jour, and certainly one that's far more relatable for this reader. Although set in 1987, The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky is unfortunately timely. The far-right threats of political violence stemming from the fictional Vidal's rule that threaten Isabella and Avendaño echo current global trends and the rise of nationalism. Brazil recently returned to a military dictatorship with the election of Jair Bolsonaro, the 'Trump of the tropics,' and with him came military raids of that country's universities earlier this week, a turn of events that makes Isabella's fears of returning to Magera sadly relatable. The threats to Avendaño's life simply for being an outspoken critic of an authoritarian regime vividly echo life under Trump part and parcel every bit as much as they recall life under Augusto Pinochet, and one can't help but wonder if a bomb is going to make its way into Avendaño's mailbox at some point in the narrative. The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky functions as a fictional examination of historical incidents that occurred in the 1960s-1980s, while also encapsulating the worries of political extremism circa 2018.

Much of the horror stems from the fear of the Mageran junta, with the comic elements playing only a minor role in the story's backdrop. The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky certainly has its share of horror, and a few squirm-inducing scenes to be sure, but it's of a quieter, slower, and highly literary nature. The characters come first in Jacobs's story, and we get small hints of their history and past lives in the homes they were forced to flee. It's not until nearly the half-way mark that we experience a fully unflinching view of the junta's atrocity as told through Avendaño's view, and the horrors that unfold therein are almost entirely human, with only brief glimpses of the supernatural.

Primarily, we experience this story, and Avendaño, through Isabella's eyes. Her position as an educated woman informs Jacobs's style, as does Avendaño's pedigree as a poet, and the writing is whip smart with the prose taking on a deeply literary aspect. Avendaño speaks with a poet's grace, his words reflecting his perspective. When he speaks on even minor topics, such as the luchador horror films he routine frequents at the cinema, he speaks of grander philosophies: "Misery is a condition that we are all promised," he tells Isabella early on. "On the screen, painted in light, that misery is very small." Isabella lives the life of a professor, but is far from cloistered within the halls of academia - she has passions and love interests, and can be tough when required. Jacobs subverts one's expectations of the nerdy damsel in distress, and even Isabella reminds us in her narrative that "I am as sensitive to situation and intuition as any person. The idea that academics—especially female academics—are cloistered aesthetics that retreat from the real world to content themselves only with books is nonsense."

The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky is a smart and deeply layered novella, and its depth routinely belies its page count. This is a lushly literary narrative, one that is first and foremost a character study of political exiles, and Jacobs's authorial skills are tack sharp.

My Heart Struck Sorrow
Reeling from the death of his wife and son, Cromwell returns to his job at the Library of Congress’s folklore division in time for news of another’s passing. Matilda Parker, the grandniece of a former employee of the folklore division, Harlan Parker, has bequeathed her estate to the department. In cataloguing Parker’s belongings and readying the estate for sale, Cromwell and his partner, Hattie, discover a hidden room holding a number of acetate recordings made by Harlan, as well as his journal, which slowly reveals a number of mysteries of Cromwell. Before his death, Harlan had become convinced that there was an ur-version to the song “Stagger Lee,” and that an arrangement of infernal lyrics had been forgotten, or deliberately hidden, and his obsession leads him into the darkest corners of the American South. Cromwell, for his part, finds himself growing obsessive over Harlan’s journal and the dead man’s stories of his search.

As with The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky, My Heart Struck Sorrow is a masterfully written piece and the concept of a bedeviling and arcane version of an old American folk song is a top-notch premise. As with the preceding story in A Lush and Seething Hell, the horror elements are supremely quiet, but Jacobs still manages to pull the rug out from under his readers on a few occasions, and to startling effect. The real meat here, though, is the grief shared across time and space by Cromwell and Parker.

These two men of the folklore division present a truly intriguing duality that Jacobs slowly unravels over the course of the story. Both are grieving and blaming themselves for the loss of their closest loved ones, while also carrying the guilt of their various transgressions. We learn early on that Cromwell had an affair with a coworker, which only ratchets his guilt and self-blame up a few more notches. Parker’s journal and decades old recordings are opportunities for Cromwell to lose himself in, but also to connect with a man he never knew but whose interests are shared by him — and possibly reconnect with those he has lost.

Grief is a sort of madness in its own right, and if left untended can lead to a sort of insanity. The question then becomes just how far down the path of irrationality are these men willing to let their wounded hearts lead them, despite knowing better and despite the dangers of the unknown. The infernal verses of “Stagger Lee” and their own particular illustrations of a very different kind of descent into hell have been left unsung for a reason, and yet Parker persists in his search, jeopardizing his own safety, as well as that of his partner, even as they encounter the inexplicable. But in the throes of grief, how much of Parker’s writings can be taken reliably, or has he been lost to madness?

Jacobs layers My Heart Struck Sorrow with levels of meaning, raising a number of questions along the way while providing little in the way of certainty, even as some answers seem wholly resolute. It’s a story that sticks with you and keeps you pondering its mysteries for days after.

The horror part of this book wasn't the supernatural, but rather the horrors of what humanity will do to one another. I didn't know this author before, but I did enjoy these two stories. The dread is slow building but it's effective.

This title contains two novellas, one is perhaps shorter than the average novella and the other is longer than average.

I'll start with the first, The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky. This one takes up about 30% of the book, or somewhat over 100 pages. This story gave a fantastic first impression and would get five stars on its own. The writing style is immediately noticeable for its artistic and insightful range.

The story takes place in a South American country not unlike Chile and makes references to dictatorial regimes and political figures. Augusto Pinochet and Pablo Neruda for example. There are allusions made to victims of the atrocities during that time. Having some minor familiarity with the subject matter, this story was vastly effective and gut-wrenching.

I recall watching this film called Missing directed by Costa-Gavras. It's about a young journalist that was "disappeared" during the Chilean coup d'état, likely tortured and killed as many were around that time of political upheaval. I had felt a sense of dread wondering what all he likely went through. This story really brought back memories of watching that film for the first time and provides a grisly example of what political prisoners endured.

I highly recommend reading this novella in one sitting as a break between can really impact one's handling of the mood and nuance leading up to the finale.

If this entire book was in line with that first story. this would be an easy 4-5 stars. But, and admittedly for mainly subjective reasons, I did not find the second story appealing.

There is a quiet dignity and sophistry to the writing at large and I would like to emphasize that in terms of technical quality, both stories are consistent. But where The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky deals with heavy subject matter that lends a pulse to the proceedings, My Heart Struck Sorrow struggled to capture my interest.

The lead character, Cromwell, has lost his wife and child. Though still in a state of mourning, he keeps busy with as a librarian of arts. He and a co-worker find a hidden door that leads to a bunch of journal entries and old recordings from the 1930s. They proceed to explore the collection as its very relevant to their area of expertise. I found Cromwell a less than sympathetic figure.

Most of these chapters have to do with a character named Harlan Parker who traveled throughout the southern states of America during that time, archiving folk music. I was so uninterested in Harlan himself. Those sections with him permeate the vast majority of this novella.

Another pet peeve- songs being transcribed in novels. While there is nothing wrong with the songs here and they seem thoughtfully poetic, they are numerous and were lost on me. There was also an overuse of italics, though this may or may not be in the final version of the book. I do intend to track down a hard copy of this book on its release date to see if that's the case and will update this review accordingly.

So between the italics, the plentiful song lyrics, and Harlan and Cromwell being less than thrilling to read about, this novella wasn't quite a hit with me.

The final thing I'd like to note is that this book's month of release, its cover, even its title- A Lush And Seething Hell- brings it to the forefront as a perfect Halloween read.

It could be, depending on your tastes. The horror present here is very down-to-earth and psychological in nature and mainly only frightening in its violence. This isn't a spooky/scary or heart-pounding type of horror and this novel's best strength is in literary prose that could be off-putting for people looking for a more fast-paced scare. A Lush and Seething Hell is cerebral and intellectual, a meditation on humanity's ills and best catalogued as dark fiction.

Why You Should Try It - Two novellas that are extraordinarily different in setting and scope but consistently written. Fabulous literary prose and sophisticated style. The setting and aims of the first story really got to me.

Why You Might Not Like It - The stories might be a little too different. For mainly subjective reasons, I really didn't care for the second story. Since it takes up two-thirds of this book, that's a weighty amount to feel ambivalent toward.

Disclosure : I received this title as an e-ARC from Netgalley for the purpose of review.

Two brilliant novellas that meld Lovecraftian weird fiction with Latin American magical realism ("The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky") and Southern Gothic ("My Heart Struck Sorrow"), respectively, to make for some very refreshing and imaginative cosmic horror. Searing, smart, and scary as hell.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this title.

After reading THE SEA DREAMS IT IS THE SKY, I became an instant fan of John Hornor Jacobs. A LUSH AND SEETHING HELL reassured me that my respect and high esteem for the man was earned and well placed.

This book is comprised of two stories, the first a novella, (the aforementioned THE SEA DREAMS IT IS THE SKY), and the second, a short novel titled MY HEART STRUCK SORROW. This review is going to focus almost solely on the second tale.

When I saw on Twitter that this book was coming out, I clicked the pre-order button right away. (There wasn't a description there yet, and I didn't know that THE SEA DREAMS IT IS THE SKY was going to be included. When I did discover that, I didn't care because...support.) You can find my review of THE SEA DREAMS IT IS THE SKY here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2581295778?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I went into MY HEART STRUCK SORROW almost totally blind. I was excited to find out that music was a central theme to this tale. I'm a lover of Blues music and I'm fascinated by many of the old artists who were the basis for a lot of the popular music of today. You cannot imagine how stoked I was to find a deep connection with music from the old south in this book.

Cromwell and Harriet are called in to the Parker estate to itemize and catalog Parker's extensive collection of old acetate recordings and journals. I loved this way of framing the story as we are then taken to Parker's point of view for much of the book. He was traveling the south interviewing and recording musicians as an ethnomusicologist, (like the real-life Alan Lomax), dedicated to capturing and preserving music. He traveled with a SoundScriber, the heavy, awkward machine with which he recorded said musicians.

These artists and the areas in which they lived were brought to vivid life in my mind's eye. I easily pictured them. I smelled them. I felt the humidity and heat of the south. I felt the humanity in their songs, and how they changed from one town to another, especially the songs about Stagger Lee. (Or Stacker Lee, or whatever title was used.)

"In Mississippi, in the delta of Arkansas and northern Louisiana, they speak in harsh tones, clipped syllables, as if their entire morphology of communication were angry and inflamed."

One of the men he interviews, Honeyboy, is actually in prison. Parker is able to obtain permission to interview and record him. During those scenes I came across this passage:

"Even the guards laughed at this, and for a while the barracks were full of the laughter of incarcerated men. They sounded like any group of men gathered together. Each full of his own particular sorrow, his mirth, his guilt, the comet's tail of his existence pulling wreckage after him."

This got me to thinking about my comet's tail and what kind of wreckage I carry around within it.

Jacobs deftly weaves the threads of the past and the present, most especially those of Parker and Cromwell. Turns out they had a few things in common. I didn't see what they were at first, but as this tale unraveled, I did. Grief, loss and most of all, guilt, come to each life-how we handle those things, or not handle them as the case may be, made for an engaging and stunning denouement.

I find myself lacking the words and/or skills to properly communicate to you how this book made me feel and why I think you should read it. The tales within are distinctly different from each other, one more a tale of torture, politics and cosmic horror, the other- for me, being at heart a story of loss, guilt, and grief, well framed and partially hidden in a tale about blues and folk music. I'm not going to pretend that I "got" everything there is to get with this story, I already know I will read it again. I'm not going to pretend that I know a lot about ethnomusicology, but I can say I want to learn more about it and about Alan Lomax in general.

Leaving behind my inadequacies in getting across how this tale made me feel, I'll wrap with saying that both stories here are extremely well written, unique, thought provoking and powerful. I'll leave you with this quote:

"We are sound waves crashing against the shore with no SoundScriber to take down our likeness, our facsimile. Words like these are just echoes of that original sound. We are but small vibrations on the face of the universe."

With that, my fellow small vibration on the face of the universe, I give A LUSH AND SEETHING HELL my HIGHEST recommendation!

*Thanks to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. I'm buying the book anyway, but I got to read it sooner this way!*

**Please forgive me for the quotes, but I felt they were necessary to help convey me feelings.**