The Decadence

'Lush, complex, and close to the bone, The Decadence filled me with horror in the best way'

Krystelle Bamford, author of Idle Grounds

'An exquisitely claustrophobic exploration of the places we do and don't belong... This is a triumph of the queer gothic'

Jane Flett, author of Freakslaw

'The Decadence is both a deeply unnerving read and a sly commentary on the skeletons in Britain's closet'

Victoria Gosling, author of Bliss & Blunder

At the height of lockdown, a group of flailing twenty-something friends makes an illicit break for freedom.

A grand country house stands empty. Once the home of Theo's great uncle, it seems like the perfect place to get high and hang out in the spring sunshine, as they eschew adult responsibilities.

Since meeting as teenagers, rifts have grown amongst the group. Even as they are determined to enjoy themselves, tensions cast shadows between them - politics, sex and lies. The house, too, has its own dark history and exudes a palpable sense of menace.

Where do the drugs end and the supernatural begin? Will anger and jealousy tear the friends apart, or will it be more ominous forces? Their stay at Holt House will change them all...

Praise for Parallel Hells:

'It's the queer horror book of your dreams' Kirsty Logan

'A queer carnival of monsters and masks' Julia Armfield

'A book for anyone who likes to play in the dark' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

The Decadence is an exquisitely claustrophobic exploration of the places we do and don't belong. Sequestered in a pressure cooker of hedonistic excess, the horror creeps in insidiously - from the first tendrils of unease to the final horrible denouement. This is a triumph of the queer gothic -- Jane Flett, author of Freakslaw
Lush, complex, and close to the bone, The Decadence filled me with horror in the best way - the horror of a classic haunted house tale, but also the horror of your twenties, with all its dead-ends, debauchery, self-doubt, and longing -- Krystelle Bamford, author of Idle Grounds
Not since The Haunting of Hill House have I read anything as simultaneously poised, claustrophobic and rank with evil as The Decadence. Bringing together an incestuous cohort of friends, buried secrets and unlimited intoxicants in a location of sentient malevolence, The Decadence is both a deeply unnerving read and a sly commentary on the skeletons in Britain's closet. If the idea of Iris Murdoch meeting Mariana Enriquez in a country house during lockdown appeals to you, I urge you to read The Decadence. It delivers on its promises in spades -- Victoria Gosling, author of Bliss & Blunder
Lush, sinister, and blackly funny, The Decadence sings with suffused spite and the specific horror of personal and physical inertia. Trapped in idyll, its protagonists suffer both their own worst proclivities and the inverted menace of their closest relationships. Rich, intelligent prose underpins delicate exploration of some of our most profound moral quandaries, while the expansive, decaying house smothers its occupants with the weight of its own gasping history, resulting in a finale as sadistic as it is satisfying." Kate Collins, author of A Good House for Children -- Kate Collins, author of A Good House for Children

Leon Craig is a writer from North London. She studied English at UCL, Medieval Literature at Oxford and Creative Writing at Birkbeck. Her writing has been published by the White Review, the TLS, Another Gaze and the London Magazine, among others.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.