{"id":18546,"date":"2024-08-12T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=18546"},"modified":"2024-08-12T22:43:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T02:43:07","slug":"review-drencrom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-drencrom\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Drencrom by Hamelin Bird"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"18547\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-drencrom\/drencom\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/drencom.png?fit=177%2C284&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"177,284\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"drencom\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/drencom.png?fit=177%2C284&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-18547\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/drencom.png?resize=177%2C284&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of Drencrom\" width=\"177\" height=\"284\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Drencrom-Hamelin-Bird\/dp\/1735489182\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3IA8LQ04B0WTU&amp;keywords=Drencrom+by+Hamelin+Bird&amp;qid=1705089924&amp;sprefix=drencrom+by+hamelin+bird%2Caps%2C458&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Drencrom\u00a0<\/em>by Hamelin Bird<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Piper House (May 2023)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>144 pages; $12.95 paperback; $5.99 ebook<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HaleyNewlin22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Haley Newlin<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hamelin Bird&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Drencrom\u00a0<\/em>is a graphic and poetic love letter to Lynchian horror and\u00a0<em>A Clockwork Orange<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Since getting kicked out of her home, Coda has indulged in a hippie-soul existence without much direction. All of that changes when she scours the dark web for an allegedly &#8220;mythical&#8221; drug called Drencrom, a crimson-colored liquid with unimaginable power. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Soon, something sinister festers inside Coda. She can feel it bubbling and cramping in her bowels after each Drencrom dose. But when the vial touches her lips, she knows she&#8217;s in for a mind-bending high like no other, where she&#8217;s free to observe and roam. But much like in <em>A Clockwork Orange<\/em>, such sovereignty exposes Coda to the darkest corners of humanity, where people cheat, kill, and fall victim to what lies on the outskirts of our understanding of the world.<\/p>\n<p>David Lynch&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Eraserhed<\/em>\u00a0is known for its surrealism and ambiguity, and this reviewer believes\u00a0<em>Drencrom,\u00a0<\/em>too, obtains these qualities and, therefore, omits a straightforward meaning or purpose. Readers will note the hellish nightmares, the immersive and, at times, stomach-churning body horror, but the interpretation is subjective. There&#8217;s something rebellious in that style of storytelling &#8212; what are critics supposed to make of something so lucidly meticulous yet unconventional?<\/p>\n<p><em>Drencrom\u00a0<\/em>also achieves a comedic effect that sometimes makes an otherwise dark novella humorous. If you&#8217;re new to the unsettling, often grotesque world of bizarre horror, you&#8217;ll appreciate these fleeting moments of relief.<\/p>\n<p>Psychedelic dreamscapes aren&#8217;t all they&#8217;re cracked up to be, and Bird holds readers tight as they descend the dread spiral of\u00a0<em>Drencrom<\/em>. Admittedly, some of the more unsavory parts of the story, featuring a &#8220;sh*t gremlin,&#8221; made this reviewer skip a handful of pages throughout\u2014a previously unknown sensitivity. Thank you, Mr. Bird, for the introduction.<\/p>\n<p>*audience laughs*<\/p>\n<p><em>Drencrom<\/em>\u00a0is a technicolor, psychedelic thrill that proudly carries nods to Anthony Burgess and David Lynch without dampening Bird&#8217;s unique style and stunning prose. This one is enigmatic. Unsettling. It&#8217;s the most what-the-f*ck-provoking book ever. A weirdo-triumph.<\/p>\n<p>You have to read it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drencrom\u00a0by Hamelin Bird Piper House (May 2023)\u00a0 144 pages; $12.95 paperback; $5.99 ebook Reviewed by\u00a0Haley Newlin Hamelin Bird&#8217;s\u00a0Drencrom\u00a0is a graphic and poetic love letter to Lynchian horror and\u00a0A Clockwork Orange. Since getting kicked out of her home, Coda has indulged in a hippie-soul existence without much direction. All of that changes when she scours the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-drencrom\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: Drencrom by Hamelin Bird&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[3072,2299,3074,79],"class_list":["post-18546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-drencrom","tag-haley-newlin","tag-hamelin-bird","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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