Icelandic Author Villimey Mist's 'Visceral Discoveries', Is A Bold And Brutal Horror Collection

All fictional works are voyages of discovery. The audience embarks upon imaginary worlds, eager yet unknowing where its creators will lead them. Whether it be a slam-bang cinematic spectacle or the more intimate patterns of prose, a certain trust exists on such journeys; our time and emotion is invested in the hope that we’ll be ushered to places both entertaining and enlightening. Sometimes, however—as the enduring popularity of horror proves—those escapist excursions can become dark, dangerous affairs. The fear genre’s wisest creators understand that unspoken covenant with their audience and accept the responsibility, temporarily guiding us through blackened nightmare forests. All we have to do is take their hand…

One such guide is Icelandic author Villimey Mist. Hot off the success of her four-book Nocturnal series of vampire novels and the 2022 debut compilation As The Night Devours Us, Mist returns with another spine-tingling trove of terror tales in the Macabre Maiden Press release Visceral Discoveries.

Subtitled A Collection of Ill-Fitted Horror, the collection wastes no time setting its creepy stage with ‘All Aboard The Yokai Train’, about a Japanese teen and the grotesque gallery of creatures she encounters after missing her after-school ride. The misuse of technology and blind faith in the Powers That Be are highlighted in ‘For Our Freedom’, where a video gamer employed by the military learns the kill count of their first-person shooter is all too real. ‘Your Body For My Bugs’ is a pleasing romp that follows Dracula’s servile madman Renfield as he searches for a new Master in the modern world. A field of lupine flowers holds a small town’s grimmest secret in ‘The Lure of Heliotrope’. Oscar Wilde’s classic ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ gets a 21st century cosmic horror makeover in ‘Beyond The Portrait’. Japanese folklore and shapeshifters lie at the heart of the intricate horror haiku ‘Of Frostbites & Sorrow’. ‘Deep Romance’ sees a delusional young man going to deadly lengths to fulfill his girlfriend’s undersea fantasy. And all is not what it seems when a teen finds out his parent is intentionally poisoning him in the hair-raising epistolary finale ‘Mother Knows Best’.

One of Mist’s most impressive skills is the diversity of her visions. Each of Visceral Discoveries’ proffered tales is distinct from the other, with scenarios that neither repeat themselves or rely on overused horror tropes. That ingenuity extends to the characters as well; these protagonists aren’t the standard clueless teens in peril, nor unflappable badass clichés. They’re realistically drawn individuals, with idiosyncrasies and insecurities that make them instantly relatable. A thoughtful thread of societal commentary weaves through many of the stories as well, but unlike some socially conscious authors, Mist never trades scares for soap-box sermonizing. With their dread-inducing pace, brutal violence and grisly, often vengeful, endings, these are yarns crafted explicitly for the hardcore horror fan. And while there’s nary a dud in the baker’s dozen, five tales deserve special recognition for their inventiveness and overall execution.

An old witch goes looking for a skin-tight outfit to wear during Halloween season in ‘That New Costume Feel’. Women’s reproductive rights are front-and-center in ‘The Forced Alternative’ when a young woman living under the watchful eye of a puritanical mother becomes inexplicably impregnated by malevolent forces. The action-oriented ‘Sundown Showdown’ stars a whip-wielding female Icelandic bounty hunter tracking down a deadly spirit in a backwater Old West town. And the traumatized daughter of a doomsday prepper has to protect her life-sustaining supplies once rising temperatures makes water a scarce commodity following ‘Day Zero’.

Yet hands down ‘Ascension’ is the volume’s most visceral discovery; told from the perspective of a cult member so heavily indoctrinated by his false messiah’s teachings that even his own mother’s unexpected presence won’t deter him from committing a terrorist atrocity, it’s a horrifying and tragic depiction of a mind given to the extremes of religious fanaticism.

Given the volume’s brevity (barely 200 pages), the only complaint that can be lodged against Mist’s new collection is that there simply isn’t enough of it. With work as potent and unique as this, fans seeking to quench their literary lustmörd will be thirsty for more the moment the book closes. Yet for once there’s nothing to fear: a companion tome is slated for release later in the fall and, like this compendium, it will surely be one discovery worth making.

I give Visceral Discoveries the full 5 (out of 5) on my Fang Scale. Thank you for guiding us through the dark, Ms. Mist. Our trust has not been misplaced.