This Is The Way The World Ends: Apocalyptic Erotica

A little while back I received an email from Kit O’Connell, a self-proclaimed ‘freelance writer, a web-geek, and a professional proofreader’…and many other interesting bits about himself on his about page. He asked if I would be interested in reviewing a rather unusual erotica anthology in which one of his works was published. Through that exchange of email Kit happily joined our Kinky Sex Link family as well. I am very thrilled to have him on the kinky team!

After showing some interest he got me in touch with the publishing house of the book. A lovely person from Freaky Fountain Press told me more about this book and although it did not sound like my normal cup of tea I decided to agree and check out this apparently sexy work of the macabre. Really I had zero idea what to expect and I tried to keep my mind a blank slate as I read the anthology.

“This Is The Way The World Ends: an anthology of apocalyptic erotica” may have corrupted me and shown a dim light in a dark unknown place of my mind where the really forbidden taboos are indeed alive and pleasurable – at least in a literature fantasy way. The some odd 160 pages will take you down 10 paths (stories) you never would have dared to explore. This is exactly the kind of writing Freaky Fountain Press seeks out as they try to fill in the gap that usual mainstream publishers block: necrophilia, non-consent, violence, cutting, snuff, gore, and cannibalism to name a few.

Obviously this is hardly a book for everybody. And the publishers are quite aware of that. So a brilliant trigger warnings list was created. At the end of the book you see a list of all the stories and if a trigger warning is applicable it will mention it. So if you are fine with reading all the stories except those including incest, you’ll know to skip that story with such a trigger warning. Two stories did not list triggers I believe should have been mentioned: We Angels Eat Roses should have incests added and Come on Down should list beastiality. Besides that the warnings were spot on. Also these are wonderfully written stories by truly skilled writers. It is a crude pleasure to read.

As the title suggests, every story has one common element: an apocalyptic setting. Sometimes its is a real and sometimes it is in the mind but you get an “end-of-the-world” scenario in each work. And all of these stories make you think of one thing at the end: just exactly what would you be willing to do to survive, to create a sanity for yourself, how deprived can you be to stay alive. A very dark theme to explore but a really interesting one. I’ll give you a few examples from some of my favorite works found in this book:

Slave King Fuck Star by John Burks. Earth has been invaded and the surviving humans are enslaved to work with pick axes in dark underground tunnels. Mickey was lucky, he was puled at random for a special job…hand out glasses of water to his fellow humans. His new status goes to his head as he obliges forced sexual acts from anybody. Should they refuse well they will not get water. The end of the story is so unexpected and warped, I loved it. This one really left me with my jaw dropped down.

Man/Woman by M. J. Nicholls. Society as we know it is over, its kill or be killed. The government has started rebuilding civilization in a secluded and totally controlled impenetrable safe area. How do you get in? A straight heterosexual couple. This is the story of a lesbian and a gay man trying to fake their way in. Will they have the safe home they desire and are they willing to pay the price?

An Apple A Day by Maxine Marsh. Very Adam and Eve thrown for a deviant sexual loop. A starving woman  decides to stay with a much older man she comes across as he will feed her an apple a day in exchange of sexual favors. The semblance of domestic life settles in but both are tortured inside. How long will she really stay? I adored the mental aspect of this story.

Blood Plague by B.G. Thomas. The basis of this story is very close to the film “I am Legend” where humans turn into zombies and kill the survivors they can catch for food, only at night. A survivor hides out at night in a church. A mysterious handsome man, unafraid of the darkness falling, spend the night with our survivor, and then is gone again. Who and what is this mysterious man? Our survivor slowly unravels a hidden story as he goes out hunting for his lover.

If you like to read about subjects that break all the rules and you have a very open mind then you should definitely get a copy of This Is The Way The World Ends: an anthology of apocalyptic erotica. Trust me, I am will to bet my life (at the apocalypse only – I am not stupid he he) that you have never read anything like this before.