Customer Reviews

Orgy of Souls

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In about 130 pages, authors Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus have constructed a very dense and unique horror story.

Samson is a strikingly beautiful, but none too bright, model who is desperately trying to save his brother's life, arguably the only person in the world he has ever cared for. Samson's brother, Samuel, is a priest slowly wasting away from HIV, struggling with his faith and desperately trying to reach out to Samson whom he fears is spinning out of control.

Samuel has no idea how far out of control Samson has gone.

The first half of the story is the strongest. There is a real sense of suspense and dread that creeps in as you learn about these two brothers and the strained, yet deeply powerful love they share for each other, a love that is going to cost them both dearly. Once the story reaches about the half-way mark, it becomes a roller coaster ride, and you just have to hang on.

This is a story both authors should be proud of and one I strongly recommend.

"Christian Horror" is a loaded term, and it's been thrown around much as of late. In its worst examples, it describes thinly veiled moral tales short on plot and long on evangelizing. In its best form, it defines a work that utilizes the trappings of horror to consider the spiritual and divine. The term itself is considered controversial; ironically those who utilize it best are reluctant to fall under its categorization, simply because they are artists and wish the work to speak for itself.

Whatever the label's legitimacy, "Orgy of Souls" - a novella co-written by Maurice Broaddus and Wraith James White - certainly uses the horror genre to ponder the nature of the soul, and the best part: it's done so well. The pairing of White and Broaddus is seamless, and it produces an emotional, gut-wrenching tale that will leave the reader pondering eternal questions long after the last page.

Brothers Samson and Samuel are as different as can be. Father Samuel has lived a life of faith and purity, a holy man who has trusted God since entering the seminary. In stark contrast, Samson lives to excess. A wildly successful fashion model, he indulges in every earthly pleasure. Father Samuel, however, has been saddled with a crippling test of faith: he's contracted HIV and his health is failing. Though he knows the words to all the prayers, his own resolve falters in the face of his own mortality and escalating pain.

If there's one thing Samson truly loves in this world, it's Samuel. Not willing to entrust his brother's fate into the hands of a God he hates, Samson takes matters into his own hands and summons dark powers to save Samuel's life. Everything changes forever after a bloody ritual, when Samson hears these enticing words: "Twenty for one". Twenty souls, in exchange for his brother's life. This pact marks the beginning of a bloody swathe of destruction that has only one end: and it's not anything either brother could ever conceive, even in their worst nightmares.

This is the perfect novella: it's an engaging, lean story that delivers a striking message. Though perhaps neither writer would consider it a work of "Christian Horror", it certainly provides a powerful template for the spiritual potential of horror and dark fiction.

Brother's Samson and Samuel have always been close. They've each secretly admired the other for different qualities in their characters. Samson became a high fashion male model while Samuel followed his calling and became a priest. Samson saw this as a wedge God placed between them. When Samuel develops a resistant strain of HIV from a blood transfusion, Samson sees this as further proof God is trying to take his brother away from him.

With Samuel's disease literally taking his life, his faith is wavering. Samson is desperately searching for something to help save his brother. He ends up bargaining with the Devil for souls to save Samuel's life. Samson must provide twenty souls in exchange for Samuel's life. He uses his seductive powers, drugs, and sex to acquire the souls he needs.

Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus have crafted a riveting tale that takes the fight of good against evil to new heights. They have brought their writing styles together to give readers a hefty dose of suspense, erotica and evil mayhem woven into a story about faith, the occult and brotherhood. I was drawn in from the first page and could not put this book down. My love for well-written, lengthy horror reads, drove my desire to have more of this story. By the end of ORGY OF SOULS, I was screaming for more.

Reviewed by Brenda Lisbon
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

ORGY OF SOULS
By Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus
Apex Publications
Trade cover--$13.95


With Apex Publications' release of ORGY OF SOULS, we have the dream pairing of Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus, two authors that have consistently excited the small press world with their individual and collaborative efforts. Putting these two together just seems like common (good marketing) sense. What makes this such a thrill for horror readers is that we have two utterly divergent authors. One works in almost a completely faith based, spiritual arena of horror; the other, writes visceral horror of a physical and sexual nature. Not to say that either hasn't transgressed from time to time to the other's territory, but for the most part, these two writers couldn't be more different from one another in style and aesthetic.
ORGY OF SOULS finds them melding their worlds into one nearly seamless tale of two brothers. Samuel, an AIDS riddled priest, is having a crisis of faith as his death approaches. The other, Samson, is a jetsetting model playboy who lives for the earthly delights of the flesh. But when he discovers his brother is dying, he decides to buy souls from the living to extend his brother's life. Of course, things aren't quite so simple when Samson's told by a demon that it's a `twenty for one' deal and the souls have to be taken from the living in a violent manner to count towards the deal. Samson soon finds that he likes killing, especially people that make him angry. Soon, it's a bloodbath of a novel, leavened by scenes of Samuel trying to save his brother from eternal damnation, while coming to grips with his own inevitable end.
It's pretty easy to tell which character goes with which writer, but in their collaborative strength they manage to transcend the expected, and deliver a tale rife with violence and love. By story's end, it feels as if one hand is writing with two minds.
I enjoyed ORGY OF SOULS, but like many joint fans of White and Broaddus, I think it would be great to see these two power houses take on their respective spiritual and moral stances and really go for the throat in another book.


--Nickolas Cook

Fantastic use of actual magickal practice in a fictional story but the view on theology was a little too simple.

REVIEWED BY THE FUNKY WEREPIG


I'll be honest with you. I didn't read this book because I heard it a ton of hype or it was already a best selling book. I read ORGY OF SOULS because I wanted to see how in the world Maurice Broaddus, The Sinister Minister, and Wrath James White, Master of Coloring Way Outside the Lines, would be able to work together to create one cohesive novella.

What I found was more than just the answer to how Horror's Odd Couple could make it work. I found one helluva great story.

ORGY OF SOULS is wisely set up as the tale of two brothers. Samuel is a man of the cloth, a good soul who is trying to hold on to his faith as he struggles with HIV. Samson is a short sighted stud who has skated through life on his beautiful male model looks. He abuses every advantage his celebrity status brings him- sex, drugs, money. These two complete opposites share only one thing in common. Their brotherly love. And it's this love that sends them both spiraling towards Hell. Literally.

Samson makes a deal to save his brother's life. All he has to do is kill 20 people who have willingly given their souls over to him. From the first murder this story grabs you and sucks you in as if you've made the bargain. The combination of Broaddus' insightful religious prose and Wrath's taboo shattering scenes melds together perfectly. You see the light and you see the dark. It's there in both brothers and the worlds they live in.

Not only does this create a sensation that no one is safe in this book, it transcends the page and causes the reader to think about themselves and the people around them. Sure, we can all say we're in the `grey' areas. But Broaddus and Wrath force us to say `Yes, in a world of black and white, I have stood clearly in both.' And that's quite a nod to their wisdom and their skill as writers.

When all is said and done, ORGY OF SOULS gives the Full Monty. Deep characters. Original plot. Strong dialogue. Intense introspection of faith in God. Disturbing chapters filled with sick brutal slayings. And an ending that glues you to the final chapters all the way to the very last page.

I bought this book because of a curiosity of how Maurice Broaddus and Wrath James White could possibly work together. I walked away with one of the best horror stories I read in 2009. And maybe a nudge to rethink a few things myself.

This was a very disturbing read. It left me with more questions than it provided answers for, and I think that I will be carrying it with me for a very long time. The writing was visceral and brutal, and the characters were compelling. Overall, very good.

With Wrath James White involved, I was expecting something more edgy, and although I enjoyed this latest outing (co-written with Maurice Broaddus), I felt a few things were lacking. The nature of a novella perhaps wasn't a large enough canvas to lay out the tale they needed to tell.

With a few exceptions, the story seemed to have very little atmosphere. The characters would move from action to action, barely giving the author an insight into their motivations. I wanted to know more about them before throwing them into such a violent and dangerous world. And while the last 20 pages had an interesting twist, it wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the book. Wrath's work on his collection, The Book Of A Thousand Sins, seemed more layered, more mature, and more creative. Orgy Of Souls, while well intentioned, was too simplistic for my tastes. Don't get me wrong, this is a solid tale, but not what I was expecting.

Orgy of Souls by Wrath James White & Maurice Broaddus is a graphic, demon-filled tale of good versus evil. We are introduced to two brothers who are so different that the only thing they have in common is their unconditional bond of love for one another. Meet Samson, the younger brother; supermodel, lover who detests anything that has to do with God. Samuel is the other brother who is a priest and is trying hard to convince his brother that he should turn his life over to God.

Meanwhile, Samson is living the fast life, filled with drugs, sex , plenty of drama. Samuel has given his life to the church, visiting the sickly, listening to confessions and doing God's work. Samuel is dying from AIDS and Samson wants to know why "his God lets him suffer like this"? So, he strikes up a deal with the devil; twenty souls for one, which means he will kill and deliver twenty souls to save his brother's life. This book is fast-paced, and has more tricks than Halloween. You will hold on to your seat as you stare the devil in the face on more than one occasion. I questioned the motives of Samson but a brother's love runs deep. This tale is filled with creepy, deranged, and outrageous characters that will have you begging this dynamic duo to create a sequel or a series of gorish tales.

I loved this book and was mortified by the graphic details but craved more. I give this book two thumbs up and I recommend to readers of all genres.

Reviewed by: Cheryl H
APOOO BookClub

I liked many things in this book. From the short chapters to the deceptive quiet and loling pace of the narration, along with the familiarity of the devices and tropes used without the horrible clichéd feeling one sometimes gets. For though there's nothing terribly new about this tale of brotherly love taken to extremes, it does succeed in taking us from the familiar into estrangement without us protesting against it. In other words, it plays with our expectations and grabs us by the neck while we're not looking...squeezing gently till its natural end.

This nicely rendered story revolves around two brothers. Being a horror tale, we'll anticipate the terrible deeds done and suffered, But Wrath and Maurice - as the two characters one might add - are very distinct authors and the result surprises us for its seamlessness. Because, you see, the question put by the story to the reader is an ancient one: Why does God allow Evil to exist? And every single person develops a strong emotional response answer to this.

Wrath James White, a professed atheist who dwells a bit on the question in an interesting afterword to the story, and Maurice Broaddus, who happens to be a church minister (of all of the things that could happen to a horror writer), each has its own answer, but they try to step out of the expected personal bias in order to just tell the story. And they succeed. Undoubtedly when you look at the story, but some qualms emerge when you think about it. The effort is laudable, and for what it's worth, it may well work with a lot of readers. Oh, there's some obvious stances played out between the two authors, and the are not badly played, but ultimately, I think they didn't manage to achieve that Absolute non-answer they were searching for. They get to an exquisite telling (and you'll definetly enjoy reading it) but God is, even by definition, a big enough concept to subsume everything, as long as you allow for it to be present (even if you clearly don't believe in him, and that is curiously what happens to one of the brothers in the story). Though you may thrash about and finally choose some sort of reasoning for the existence of Evil and Human Suffering, you are still aknowledging God's presence. This is why most stories, even in the horror genre, Good always prevails...though I won't tell you if it really does in this one - go read it!.