Kriss Morton - In the Loft of the Cabin Goddess

The idea of Limbo always frightened me though. The what if's I pondered at the young age of 13. "What if I kiss Shaun" "What if I kiss Susie..." "What if I drink Dad's wine?" What if? It as never the idea of hell that scared me because I did not believe hell, it was the idea of limbo and purgatory, being left with the what if and never having resolution. The question we still have at the end of this tale... what if they left never went down, and he never came back up... what if?

What makes it interesting is if you take the quote I gave you from Canto IV, it is about darkness and seeing nothing... the story is reversed in that the protagonist, our narrator, is seeing everything. A true and easily understood idea of LIMBO, "Cold Corpse Carnival" is more than just a "flipped" retelling, this flip and reversal, well... here is the thing, Ms. Connie is tricksy, she is! Is it really flipping what Dante said? Is it a reversal? Let's look at another, the second in the book, and it is from LUST.

"The Shell". Those of you who know me, know my history and are going to say, WTF Kriss? Well I will tell you WTF my people, it is all Connie's fault!! It was a tale about a particular man who is part of a particular group of carnivorous monsters. About the drive of insanity and the unquenchable thirst which no one in their right mind could attribute to the idea of lust. Innocence lost, no wait...ripped and shredded, torn and bled almost dry. Ot is also about crossing the road that has always been in front of you, right smack dab in front of your face. These are just the first two tales!! Keep going it goes up, down, sideways south and east and around and around...

Our author plays with blatant metaphors in such a way I was able to go "oooooooooooooooooooooh" But, if I were to have read this after a certain incident it may have been to much. In fact, I re-read several of these on Saturday, and it was to much subject wise because it was after Newtown and I was raw on emotional levels. However, if you read them at the right time, you won't be disappointed, even if you have never read Connie's writing. She has amassed a style in telling a truly horrifying tale and making it palatable, real, challenging your boundaries of what is enough for you.

My suggestions to prepare for reading this. Do not read it when emotionally distraught. Do not read it when you want to kill your ex-husband for reasons unmentionable as they may incriminate you in the eyes of the law (kidding.. no really .. I am kidding) Read it for what it is meant to be read for. TO MAKE YOU THINK as well as entertain those dark shadowy corners we all have .. you know the ones we hide our kill-kit. If you are a lover of Dante, take this in mind but do not take it to terribly serious in that aspect. She has dumbed it down for the masses, and for one that reads and listens to Dante's for for fun? I saw the cleverness as well. Do you need a formal education get "get" this? Oh heck no! It is all wrapped up and circles round and around spiraling up when you expect to go down, makes you question whether you turned right or left, or were suppose to take the southern route at the cross roads of Route 66. *wink* And wait to read the intro till you are done, and then you will get why I suggest this.

I liked the read, for a bit of mind melting, I would suggest reading the collection. And remember, make sure you take it when you go down into your shelters tonight because you are going to want something more horrific than the world is ending tomorrow, just to keep your mind off things...