Why yes, WordPress Daily Prompts! There is a book that I regret reading! I read it six years ago, and still think almost daily about how much I regret reading it. An absolutely despicable trash heap of an excuse for literature. Seriously — may as well bind up a bunch of used bathroom tissue between two covers and call it a book. Buckle up folks!
(– oh, wow. Now I actually feel kind of bad writing this. I just Googled the author to see if he was still alive, because if so I wanted to begin my post with a quick little aside directed at him personally, to say that I mean him no offense; my revulsion and horror at his book is a clear sign that he accomplished his goal to a T, and he’s actually a very gifted writer; he set out to write something despicable, gross, and nightmare-inducing, and did so perfectly, more memorably than anyone else I’ve ever read. I was going to write him this little note, here, and then saw, upon Googling, that he apparently died earlier this year. I had no idea. May his soul rest in peace.)
The author in question is one Dan Simmons (1948-2026), and the horrible book of his that I regret reading is Song of Kali.
Have any of you ever read this? If so, then you know what I’m talking about. If not, then don’t read it — especially if you’re a parent.
Why did I even read this book? I don’t usually go for dark horror. (I do enjoy some fun paranormal horror sometimes, like a bit of Stephen King, but not the heavy/grisly stuff.) The reason is, my husband and I were looking for a book to read together, as we often like to do, and a coworker of his, knowing that my husband likes horror, recommended this Dan Simmons book. We didn’t know what to expect, but decided to give it a shot.
I am going to spoil this book for you (TW), because I don’t believe it merits not spoiling, so, stop reading here if for some reason you actually plan on reading this piece of garbage.
The baby dies. An eight-month-old baby girl dies brutally. Why, I still wonder, did my husband’s coworker recommend this book to him, knowing that he had an eight-month-old daughter at home at the time? FFS.
Sometimes a tragedy in a book is good, is meaningful. Sometimes it’s earned. This one… was not. Everything leading up to the death was horrible and miserable, and the death just felt like: “oh wow, okay, we’re really gonna stoop this low now.” It wasn’t even the thrilling, exciting kind of horror. It was just dreary and miserable from start to finish; not a single moment that made you feel like any of it was worthwhile. Horror should at least be fun, imo.
“Well, that doesn’t mean dark horror is bad, Mith, it just means you don’t like it.” Wrong! If Song of Kali is a good example of “good” dark horror, then the entire genre is objectively shit and anyone who believes otherwise needs to see a psychiatrist.
If you’re going to make your audience straight up miserable from beginning to end, you’d better have a very good reason for it (exhibit A: the movie Calvary). “Look at how horrible I can make you feel” is not a good reason.
The other thing that pissed me off about Song of Kali was, it left a really bad taste in my mouth for anything relating to the beautiful nation of India. I’ve always appreciated India (some of the best vegetarian cuisine in the world!), which was one reason why this book appealed to me at first. The novel focuses on an American family’s trip to India, and is very much about India, and dwells a lot on the sensory details of its scenery, cityscapes, customs, and culture — always casting it in an extremely unappetizing light. Making the whole country look like one big nightmarish circus sideshow. I think if I were of Indian descent, I’d be downright offended! It’s a truly unflattering portrait of a perfectly decent country. From the time I read this book, for a long time, any mention of anything Indian gave me the major ick. (Until I discovered this absolute gem of a song, that is; thank you to this artist for singlehandedly healing my India trauma.)
Well, that’s enough. I’ve already wasted too much time on this book. In conclusion: Song of Kali is trash. No offense to Mr. Simmons, who clearly was a sick genius of some kind. I wish him all the best, but, dear reader, if you value your time and/or your inner peace, do not read this book. I’m still mad about the hours of my life that I wasted allowing myself to be tortured by this book for no reason.