Editorial Content for Bodies of Work
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Reviewer (text)
Over the past few years, Clay McLeod Chapman has offered readers his singular vision within the horror genre that has resulted in dynamic reading experiences. His latest offering, the novella BODIES OF WORK, is no exception.
Winston Kemper is an artist with a penchant for the ultimate in violence to achieve his individual and unique vision. Like all others who have been labeled serial killers, he was created --- not born --- and we get to witness the personal history that shaped him into what civilized society would deem to be a monster. At the time of this story, he is 66 years old but has spent the majority of his life letting his desire to hunt and kill young women fuel his art.
"BODIES OF WORK may be a short read, but it is memorable and chilling. Once again, Clay McLeod Chapman has played all the right notes in a work of disturbing vision that will resonate long after the final page is turned."
What drives the prose here are the voices of Winston’s victims that speak both to the reader and to Winston throughout the novel. They can only hope that their collective consciousness might prevent more victims from being added to his sick collection. These voices symbolically and literally have been turned into butterflies, an image that also has inspired much of Winston’s art. We all know that once butterflies emerge from their cocoon, they are beautiful to behold. However, they do not wish to be collected or trapped, and the ones in this story plan to fight back at any cost.
Winston watched his most recent victim, Kendra, very closely and took advantage of the fact that she was suffering from a personal setback, which made it easy to overcome her at her weakest moment. Even the butterflies of his past could not save Kendra, as she may have always been destined to join their number.
Now a retiree, Winston is starting a new chapter in his life. He is living anonymously in a tiny apartment above the garage of his landlords while also finding escape through faith in the church. He was baptized in hopes of seeking redemption and moving on from a past that still haunts him. The shears that he stole from his mother as a child and used in many of his slayings still exist with other trophies in his tiny abode. Those items keep the spirits of his victims connected to him forever.
There are passages from an apparently fictionalized story that speaks in the voices of the butterflies, each of whom have had their names changed to reflect fairy tale characters. At some point, this work is titled The Butterfly Girls: or, the Epic Tale of the Final Battle in the Nether Realm of Nevermore, the Last Siege of Sisterhood, the Ending of the Century of Slavery Once and For All, and Liberating Every Lost Boy and Girl. To uneducated outsiders, it might appear that Winston had written himself into this tale, but they would be wrong as this is a collection created from a lifetime of evil.
BODIES OF WORK may be a short read, but it is memorable and chilling. Once again, Clay McLeod Chapman has played all the right notes in a work of disturbing vision that will resonate long after the final page is turned.
Teaser
At 66 years old, Winston Kemper has always been a nonentity. No one notices him. His simple existence barely registers for those who come into contact with him. Winston is a collector of voices, and his magnum opus --- The Butterfly Girls --- is a sprawling epic of untapped imagination. It has no single canvas, no particular frame. It is everywhere --- scribbled on the walls, the floor and countless notebooks. Winston is creating a fantasia that exists in words, images and blood. As part of his “art,” he has been murdering forgotten women. Poor souls who slip through the cracks of society, who no one is looking for. Winston takes their lives, their voices. But now he can hear them. They whisper to him. They talk of revenge. Winston might not believe in ghosts, but he is about to learn they are very real. And they are very, very angry.
Promo
At 66 years old, Winston Kemper has always been a nonentity. No one notices him. His simple existence barely registers for those who come into contact with him. Winston is a collector of voices, and his magnum opus --- The Butterfly Girls --- is a sprawling epic of untapped imagination. It has no single canvas, no particular frame. It is everywhere: scribbled on the walls, the floor and countless notebooks. Winston is creating a fantasia that exists in words, images and blood. As part of his “art,” he has been murdering forgotten women. Poor souls who slip through the cracks of society, who no one is looking for. Winston takes their lives, their voices. But now he can hear them. They whisper to him. They talk of revenge. Winston might not believe in ghosts, but he is about to learn they are very real. And they are very, very angry.
About the Book
A murderous artist is haunted by the spirits of those he has killed in this surreal and chilling supernatural revenge novella.
From the acclaimed author of GHOST EATERS and perfect for fans of Joe Hill and Delilah S. Dawson.
At 66 years old, Winston Kemper has always been a nonentity. No one notices him. His simple existence barely registers for those who come into contact with him. Some call him feeble-minded. He is a janitor at the local church, a groundskeeper by default, and that’s it. No friends, no family. When he’s done with work, he returns home --- a remote, single room apartment located above a garage --- and that is where his true work begins.
Winston Kemper is a collector of voices, and his magnum opus --- The Butterfly Girls --- is a sprawling epic of untapped imagination. It has no single canvas, no particular frame. It is everywhere: scribbled on the walls, the floor and countless notebooks.
Winston is creating a fantasia that exists in words, images and blood. As part of his “art,” he has been murdering forgotten women. Poor souls who slip through the cracks of society, who no one’s looking for. Mothers, sisters, daughters to someone, but no more.
Winston takes their lives, their voices.
But now he can hear them. They whisper to him. They talk of revenge.
Winston Kemper might not believe in ghosts, but he is about to learn they are very real. And they are very, very angry.
A surreal and dreamlike novella about the ghosts of our past and the dangerous, obsessive pursuit of art, from the "true master of horror." (CJ Leede, MAEVE FLY)
Audiobook available, read by Hannah Cabell
