Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

My first book I read from this author was Crypt of The Moon Spider, from there I knew this would be an author I just had to read more from. I can't explain exactly why it works for me, but it absolutely does. So I was super excited to read this collection. Short stories especially have been really helpful as I have been in a reading slump. I loved the theme, still a big fan of the writing and I will continue to read books from this author in the future!

Published by Dead Ink books, The Atlas of Hell is a reworking of Nathan Ballingrud’s second US collection, Wounds: Six Stories from The Border of Hell.

The Atlas of Hell is an astoundingly imaginative piece of horror fiction that weaves its inventive spell through the six stories and the interconnecting vignettes.

Ballingrud has a brilliant imagination, and his stories are highly original in their content. His stories are full of dark fantasy and horror and at times can be quite disturbing in their imagery and have an exquisite surrealness to them, much like his latest novella, The Crypt of the Moon Spider.
There are many standouts in this collection. The first, The Atlas of Hell has an almost Keith Rosson quality to it, mixing hard boiled crime with the fantastical and supernatural. However, the collection then moves into weirder territory as we meet Allison in The Diabolist, who after losing her father, a noted Diabolist, finds a strange creature in the cellar of her house.

For those that don’t know Ballingrud’s work, his short story, The Visible Filth was made into a film called Wounds. The story takes place in a bar in Orleans, where after a fight in the bar, a bartender discovers a phone that has been left by the group of brawlers. He then starts to receive disturbing images and messages on the phone. In this story, Ballingrud masterfully creates a mounting feeling of dread that leads to a shocking conclusion.

Each of the stories in this collection is utterly beguiling in their weirdness. In interviews, Ballingrud has stated that besides the other plethora of influences on him, Clive Barker was a transformative force in his look on horror, and this is quite recognisable in his writing, However, it is not just the imagery of Barker that he has embraced, but is also the punk ethic of Barker’s early writing that pushed the boundaries of horror and gave seasoned horror readers something new.

The Atlas of Hell is a fantastic collection of stories that will keep readers, both old and new coming back for more.

The Strange (2023) was my impressive 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 short story collection, Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, originally released back in 2019.

Ballingrud’s short stories have picked up major awards, back in 2007 ‘The Monsters of Heaven’ won the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award, later securing a second Jackson in 2013 for the North American Lake Monsters award. His widely admired weird fiction has also 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 novella Crypt of the Moon Spider and sequel Cathedral of the Drowned, 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!

Dead Ink Books are responsible for rereleasing this challenging and complex collection. They are no strangers to weird fiction, earlier in the year their Lost in the Garden won the Nero Award for Adam Leslie. Their terrific roster authors, includes Dan Coxon, Lucie McKnight Hardy and Gary Budden. Dead Ink are one of the finest independent publishers in the UK, with their shop going out of its way to support other indie outfits and authors.

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 here to merit buying this unless they are completing a collection. However, for anybody new to this author, then this is a perfect jumping in point. 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 very well known and was as one point published as a standalone novella on the excellent This is Horror (2015) range. In this story the action opens when a bartender discovers a cell phone after a bar brawl, after checking a few messages he wishes he never picked it up, as his life descends into a 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 repackaging of this new version 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 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 rather ‘stop-start’ feel, reducing the potency of the original stories.

But there were still plenty of exquisite stories to explore. ‘The Maw’ was another beauty, New Orleans has been overrun by Hell and has become no-go area. However, down at heel teenagers act as guides for cash for folks who want to revisit their old homes, for memories, 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’ was 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 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 an urban fantasy vibe. In parts gory, others very funny, this is a complete smorgasbord of the nastiness which might be lying ahead for many of us if we’re not good boys and girls.

Such a well written collection of dark, fantastical and gory horror stories, that are all connected through hell.

"The Atlas of Hell" is the UK release of Nathan Ballingrud's second short story horror collection, better known as "Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell," first published in the States in 2019, to wide acclaim (and containing "The Visible Filth," a story that became the basis for a not entirely successful movie). One of the stories, the wildly inventive "The Butcher's Table,” was justifiably nominated for the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella. The UK edition includes short vignettes following each story, a sort of tour guide snippets, describing certain geographical places and important personages of Hell mentioned in the stories themselves, from the infamous "Still Harbor" to "The Black Iron Monastery," whose monks aim to be the cartographers of Hell, and thus wander with their heads permanently enclosed in boxes, so as not to be influenced by the atrocities they would have witnessed in Hell.

The stories are superbly written and spectacularly imagined, though the bleak atmosphere, the strong sense of disjointness, and the heavily descriptive prose won't be for everyone. The title change (following a special edition and the book's French translation) better reflects the content, since the collection is literally about people visiting or otherwise related to the realm of Hell, "The Visible Filth" perhaps excepted. The stories, thematically linked and frequently explaining each other, are horrific enough, though what stood out for me was the terrific visuals, coupled with twisty, absolutely original ideas, occasionally giving strong dark fantasy vibes, other times turning to historical horror tropes to make a point about humanity. This is not our Earth, however (again, "Filth" perhaps excepted).

The quality of Ballingrud's fiction is so high, I really don't have much to add to what has already been said about his storytelling skills in the years since the US edition. If you like horror or dark fantasy, or even grim and occasionally grotesque mythology, this is the real deal; the urban horror tale of a New Orleans bartender going slowly insane after picking up a cursed mobile phone in "The Visible Filth," well, that's just a bonus. Highly, very highly recommended!

I really liked The Atlas of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud. It’s a dark, imaginative horror collection that explores Hell in vivid and unsettling ways. The stories mix gritty reality with supernatural twists, tied together by a strong mythology. Favorites like “Skullpocket” and “The Butcher’s Table” stood out with their blend of dread and dark whimsy. Not for everyone, but definitely worth a read if you’re into atmospheric horror.

Grimmer than I expected but an interesting read that I still don’t quite know what my thoughts are…. Maybe I’ll say more at a later stage, but I need to sit with it for a bit

With every book and story that I read from Nathan Ballingrud, he further cements himself as one of my favourite writers. The stories in The Atlas of Hell all touch on hell in creative and imaginative ways. Not only are Ballingrud’s ideas fantastic, but his writing style perfectly executes them. His language is lush without ever feeling like a thesaurus was used and the elements of horror are perfectly placed and described.

The two standouts of this collection for me are the dark and whimsical carnival-set “Skullpocket” and the novella “The Butcher’s Table,” which brings diabolists and pirates together in an adventurous and creepy tale that is likely going to be one of my favourite stories of the whole year.

4.5 stars

If I understand correctly, this is an older collection of Ballingrud's that is being republished. All I can say is, wow. If this is the quality of his older work, I need to hustle up and read his more recent stuff!

The short stories in this collection are thematically connected, as the title would suggest, by the geography of Hell as a physical location. Their storylines also weave together to create a more complete narrative by the end of the book. I really enjoy collections that do this but it does limit you to reading them in the order they've been presented; if you dip in and out, you'll miss the linking moments. This can be challenging in THE ATLAS OF HELL because there is a huge, quite jarring, tonal shift between the first story (The Atlas of Hell) and the second (The Diabolist). Half the stories follow the first in being more grounded in grimy present day reality, scraping the underbelly of untoward society. The other half, set more firmly in Hell, are more fantastical, and even a little whimsical. Although the imagery in both halves of the collection is phenomenal - I loved the language Ballingrud uses to sketch some truly grotesque scenes - it's tempting to skip between the stories to keep a consistent vibe.

My favourites were the gritty, human-first stories: The Atlas of Hell, The Visible Filth, and The Butcher's Table. Although I also really enjoyed Skullpocket, which was unexpectedly gentle in its description of grief.

Unfortunately, the style did not sit with me at all. I gave it a real good go, but I gave up after 60 pages.

This was a great collection of stories, all with a connecting theme, Hell. Although as with most collections there are some which are better than others, for the most part they were all beautifully written and conjured up many a hellish image in my mind. I also loved that as I progressed through the stories I noticed more and more connecting themes from story to story. This added another aspect to the collection and is testament to how well crafted this collection is.
I'd definately recommend this to some friends, even though it isn't a book which will appeal to all

I was really excited to read this, having loved North American Lake Monsters earlier this year, but this collection just didn't click for me. No shade on the writing, it is rich and excellent, but I just couldn't fall into it and the stories failed to grab me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!

I’m very happy that Dead Ink are bringing Nathan Ballingrud’s stories into print on this side of the Atlantic. If the previous collection, North American Lake Monsters, concentrated mostly on, duh, monster stories, this one Is more explicitly supernatural, with all the stories tapping into an overarching mythology of Hell and the creatures that live there. It’s potent, fiercely imaginative stuff with vivd and intense imagery throughout. Ballingrud appears to have all the power and imagination of the early Clive Barker, and I am more than ready for whatever comes next.

The Atlas of Hell is quite a collection; it sets its stall out early with the title story, a grim tale of a New Orleans book dealer seeking an atlas drawn from Hell itself. Short vignettes describing hell are effectively stomach turning, and the highlights for me are the visible filth (made into the film Wounds) and the Butcher’s table - a boat trip into Hell to meet the devil. Less effective for me is the Diabolist - I genuinely wondered if the book was for me during that one but I’m glad I persevered for the horrific tales that followed.

I wouldn’t recommend this to many of my friends - it would be a select crowd who I know would appreciate its grim atmosphere.

"The ache of need is a music in hell."

Nathan Ballingrud's new collection features a great blend of grotesque and weird horror tales. Taking the darker corners of human nature, these stories push the characters to the cliff's edge leading them towards something much darker than one can anticipate.

Having recently read "North American Lake Monsters" I was excited to see this new collection.

Included are the following:

The Atlas of Hell
Still Harbour
The Diabolist
The Mountain that Breathes
Skullpocket
The Concert Hall
The Maw
Persons of Interest In Hell and Its Environs
The Visible Filth
The Black Iron Monastery and the Bright Road
The Butcher's Table

There's one where 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 (Wounds). On a sea voyage, a decadent group of diabolists are intent on an audience with the Devil himself.

I enjoyed reading these stories, there were many that I won't be forgetting quickly.