Crossed

[captain_slinky]

Was heading to bed about 3 hours ago, picked up the "Crossed" trade paperback (written by Garth Ennis) on my way there thinking I'd read a few pages before rolling over and falling asleep.

I am now done with the book. I... I can't...

I'm pretty jaded, pretty numb to sex and violence and evil and... and you know, just, like, all the stuff that we've been warned that we'd be desensitized to if we listened to rock-and-roll music or watched horror movies or played video games. My favorite movie of all time features a scene where the hero cuts off his own hand with a chainsaw, and I'm an avid fan of films where dead people eat living people. I *delight* in this stuff! The gorrier the better!

With "Crossed", Garth Ennis has written a story that has left me... shaken. No, that's not strong enough. Garth Ennis has written a story that has scared the SHIT out of me.

(If you read these posts often enough or know me IRL, you know that I RARELY EVER curse).

I'm sitting here, SHAKING, afraid to go to sleep because I fear the nightmares that are going to come. The artwork conveyed the visuals of the horror in a way that was less graphic than my beloved horror films, but the way it was presented... it was... I think it was just the story itself that was so...

Three times. While reading the book there were THREE TIMES when I dropped the book because I was so shocked/horrified by what had just happened. THREE TIMES where I almost stopped reading the book because I didn't want to know what happened next yet picked the book back up and kept reading because I NEEDED to know what happened next.

And in the end I felt good about that, because of the message in the book. It's... I can't really explain it.

All I can say is DON'T READ THIS BOOK. It'll give you nightmares, or at the very least question your own humanity.

Comments

[pete23.livejournal.com]

I thought it was marvellous, if unremittingly bleak.

Have you read The Filth?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

The Filth will probably be my next stop in the Ennisverse... slowly working my way through everything the man has written. Thank goodness for the Analog Torrents (aka "The Public Library)!

[khristle.livejournal.com]

It gets worse? hard to believe.

[aurora77]

There are some types of violence and gore which don't bother me. Then there are other things which disturb the hell out of me. I don't know how to explain the difference, but it's there. Some things are really disturbing. I can't handle them.

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

Ennis and Ellis are who I look to if I want to be shocked. They do their jobs skillfully, even after 20+ years. Long term, I think their work holds up better even than Moore, Miller, and Chaykin. (heresy, I know).

For some reason, I'm particularly fond of Ennis' 'The Boys'. And my 'Hitman' trades are re-read often. Warren Ellis' 'Gravel' series is an interesting read as well.

If you find 'Crossed' that disturbing, I'll have to track it down.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

The Boys is my current favorite ongoing series :) Need to go pick up Hitman soon, I have like the first 4 or 5 issues in my collection if you count the "Bloodlines" annual and always meant to come back to it :)

I hope I haven't hyped "Crossed" too much here and ruined it's potential for you...

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

It's Ennis; it would be pretty hard to over-hype at this time. He has not begun repeating himself.