Book Review : The Black Hunger

I received this book for free from Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen
Published by Redhook on October 8, 2024
Genres: Gothic, Historical fiction, Horror, LGBTQ
Pages: 400
Buy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org
Find on Goodreads

Source: Orbit Books

A spine-tingling, queer gothic horror debut where two men are drawn into an otherworldly spiral, and a journey that will only end when they reach the darkest part of the human soul.
“The Black Hunger is a bleak, gothic masterpiece. A devastating exploration of humanity's capacity for evil."​ – Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters
John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore.
He must write his last testament before it is too late.
It is a story steeped in history and myth - a journey from stone circles in Scotland, to the barren wilderness of Ukraine where otherworldly creatures stalk the night, ending in the icy peaks of Tibet and Mongolia, where an ancient evil stirs.

The Black Hunger sounded like the perfect historical horror novel just in time for the spooky season. I was expecting a read similar to The Historian, but with more elements of horror. Unfortunately, though the premise of the novel is incredibly fascinating, the execution of it just didn’t work for me. The Black Hunger is plagued with pacing issues and doesn’t get into the horror elements until well into the book.

 

The novel centers around characters coming to grips with the existence of a dark sect of Buddhism, known as the Black Helmets, with mysterious and terrifying supernatural resources at their disposal. Unlike regular Buddhists, the Black Helmets believe True Nirvana can only be achieved through the annihilation of the planet and everything in it. Pretty standard villain goals, but with some added scariness involving terrifying creatures, cannibalism, and an insatiable hunger. I have to say that I am a pretty big coward when it comes to scary things and though the creatures of this novel are definitely creepy, nothing actually outright spooked me. So if scares are what readers are looking for The Black Hunger may not be the right read for them. 

 

“The line between madness and religious experience is often rather indistinct….”

 

While the marketing of the novel informs that “terror is a journey,” I did not expect to have to undertake such a long one for the horror elements to even come into play in the novel. In fact, the first appearance of something supernatural was on page 121. In a 325 paged book* marketed as a horror story that seems to be pretty far into the story in my personal opinion. Perhaps the wait would have been more tolerable for me if I had liked the first section of The Black Hunger, which focused on a young queer nobleman, John Sackwell, pursuing his (supposed) passion in Oriental Studies at Oxford with his secret lover (and servant), Garrett Benson, in tow.

 

I was indifferent to most of the characters in The Black Hunger, unable to really care much about them at all, but John was the one that I was detached from the most. His two defining character traits are loving Garrett and being a nobleman. John is supposedly passionate about Oriental studies, but the novel frames it more like he wanted to be different and that is why he chose to study Sanskrit and Buddhism. We also never really see his education or supposed expertise in action, as he always seems completely bewildered and out of his league. Though The Black Hunger does devote quite a bit of page space to his understanding of Buddhism and its roots, and its clear that the author did a ton of research into the religion, but sadly, the content is pretty dull and I worried that the set up would never be over. 

 

I wondered at the choice of the novel to open with John’s portion, as his life of privilege is pretty easy except for the unique challenge of hiding his lifelong queer romance, which is frowned upon during this time period. I was much more invested in the parts of the novel that featured Dr. Samuel Abravanel and his investigations into the alleged madness of his former fiancée, Clara, who lost her husband to an untimely death of a mysterious nature. Nothing says horror quite like a (potentially) madwoman locked away in a Gothic manor in the middle of nowhere with family members with ulterior motives lurking behind every corner. I would have happily read an entire novel centering around this part of The Black Hunger.

 

“Some things are not learned lightly. Perhaps later you will understand.”

 

Despite my heightened interest in this portion of the novel, I was a bit thrown that this section switched to an epistolary style. Suddenly everything is told through letters and diary entries when it wasn’t before and isn’t after. Perhaps this switch is why this is the most immersive part of the story of The Black Hunger. This part of the novel, especially a revealing letter that flashbacks to events from the past with huge potential repercussions for the future of the world, was my favorite part and pretty gripping. I think it would have also been a stronger place to start the novel, even if it was just snippets from that letter at the beginning of each chapter that hinted at the bigger picture and the horrors to come. 

 

Perhaps excerpts from the letter would have created a more cohesive feel to The Black Hunger, which I felt struggled with pacing issues. In the beginning, I felt like almost nothing was happening and was confused where the novel was even going, and then it switched perspectives on me, also ramping up the action. With the action scenes themselves, I was flabbergasted at how quickly the events played out. On one page, a violent scene is shared to be unfolding, a character rushes to the scene to witness it firsthand—barely unable to process what he’s seeing—and then it’s all over within mere paragraphs. I had to reread that part because I thought there was no way something supernatural and that powerful could have been dealt with so quickly. What little tension and concern I felt at the pronouncement of the horrific scene was quickly replaced with disbelief at how soon it was over.  And this isn’t the only time something like that happens in what amounts to mere moments in the novel. This might not be a problem for some readers, but I found it required enough suspension of disbelief on my part that it took me right out of the events of the novel.

 

Unfortunately, though The Black Hunger has a fantastic premise and a really interesting middle portion, the rest of the novel just didn’t really work for me. I feel like I just wasn’t the intended audience. I think fans of historical horror that don’t mind patiently muddling through plenty of story setup and waiting for the actual horror elements to come into play will find plenty to love here.

 

*I read an ARC of this novel, page numbers may vary in final publication.

 

 

 
 
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