By Tony Jones 
Nathan Ballingrud returns with a journey into The Atlas of Hell
the stories are ultra bleak and examine the darker side of human nature, split between those set in Hell itself and those dealing with murky earthly goings on, sometimes with a dark fantasy vibe. In parts gory, others very funny, this is a complete smorgasbord of the nastiness which might be lurking ahead for many of us if we’re not good boys and girls.
A Horror Book Review by Tony Jones
The Strange (2023) was my eye-opening introduction to the weird world of Nathan Ballingrud, one of my favourite novels of 2023, an unsettling science fiction tale set on the desolate dustbowl of Mars. This highly regarded author is particularly well known for his short stories, with The Atlas of Hell being an expanded rerelease of his second collection, Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, which originally came out in 2019.
Ballingrud’s short stories have picked up notable awards, back in 2007 ‘The Monsters of Heaven’ won the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award, later securing a second Jackson for the North American Lake Monsters in 2013. His widely admired weird fiction has been nominated for most top genre prizes, including the Bram Stoker, the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award.
After The Strange Ballingrud made a splash with the whacky Crypt of the Moon Spider and sequel Cathedral of the Drowned novellas, being the first two parts in his Lunar Gothic Trilogy. These are bizarre books, even by Ballingrud’s exulted standards of weirdness and best of luck figuring out the inner workings of the moon spider! Confusing certainly, but still highly recommended.
Dead Ink Books are responsible for rereleasing this latest, challenging and complex collection. They are no strangers to weird fiction, earlier in the year their bizarre Lost in the Garden won the Nero Award for Adam Leslie. Their impressive roster of authors includes Dan Coxon, Lucie McKnight Hardy and Gary Budden.Dead Ink are one of the finest independent publishers in the UK, going out of its way to support weird and non-mainstream fiction.
Long term Ballingrud fans will have undoubtedly read the earlier version of original version of The Atlas of Hell and I would question whether there is enough new stuff on offer here to merit buying this, unless they are looking to complete a collection. However, for anybody new to this author, then this is a perfect jumping in place. Many of the extra stories are very short, almost interconnecting points or descriptive pieces, and you cannot get past the fact that the best known stories remain the strongest.
To many seasoned horror fans ‘The Visible Filth’ will be familiar and at one point was published as a standalone novella on the excellent This is Horror (2015) range. The action opens when a bartender discovers a cell phone after a bar brawl, after checking a few messages, he wishes he had never picked it up, as his life descends into a chaotic nightmare with the phone at the centre of the problem. This was an outstanding story with a grimy, seedy feel as the loser barman begins to spiral.
This new version of the collection centres around the theme of Hell, with the new pieces patching together some of the narratives. Ironically, ‘The Visible Filth’, possibly the strongest story, has little directly to do with Hell. The longer stories are often the strongest, as they are more plot-driven and less descriptive than many of the shorter pieces, which often end abruptly. I felt some of these very short pieces broke up the momentum, giving the collection a slightly ‘stop-start’ feel, impacting the potency of the original stories. Sometimes more is not always better.
But there are still plenty of exquisite stories to test drive. ‘The Maw’ is another beauty, New Orleans has been overrun by Hell and become no-go area. However, down at heel teenagers act as guides for cash for folks who want to revisit their old homes, for mementos, look for somebody, or another reason. The story revolves around a teenage girl taking an old man back to his former home, but who or what is he looking for? ‘Skullpocket’ is another highlight, an odd tale of the dead and alive living together, evaluating the place of the dead in their society with a fair bit of black humour along the way.
I also enjoyed the opening title story, a grim tale of a New Orleans book dealer seeking an atlas drawn from Hell itself and now hidden in the swampy bayou, as he does not want to end up as alligator food himself! The closing novella length story ‘The Butcher’s Table’ is an even more distinctive look at Hell, a mad and incredibly imaginative tale of a boat trip into Hell to track down the Devil himself.
Overall the stories are ultra bleak and examine the darker side of human nature, split between those set in Hell itself and those dealing with murky earthly goings on, sometimes with a dark fantasy vibe. In parts gory, others very funny, this is a complete smorgasbord of the nastiness which might be lurking ahead for many of us if we’re not good boys and girls.
Tony Jones
The Atlas of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud
“Nathan Ballingrud is one of my favorite short fiction writers.” — Jeff VanderMeer
In New Orleans a rare bookdealer is forced to track down an infernal atlas dragged from hell itself and now stashed in the swamps of the bayou. A dive bartender picks up a phone left behind after a brawl and is pulled into a waking nightmare. On a sea voyage, a decadent group of diabolists are intent on an audience with the Devil himself. Across six tales The Atlas of Hell takes us to the fringe of sanity, the limit of infernal ambition, and the very border of our reality.
Nathan Ballingrud has earned a reputation as one of the leading voices in contemporary horror fiction and in The Atlas of Hell he shows us the deepest and darkest recesses of his imagination. Ballingrud probes the wounds that are the human condition and peels back the skin to reveal the monstrous and miraculous beneath. From the author of North American Lake Monsters, this is a collection for readers unafraid to gaze into the abyss and meet the eyes of what stares back.
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Jim Mcleod