Wednesday, January 30, 2013

"An Encounter With Death" reviewed

An Encounter With Death, by Dawn Akemi
I used to read Edgar Allen Poe stories like they were going out of style. The Tell-Tale Heart, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death. I LOVED those stories back in the day.

I just finished reading the short story An Encounter With Death by Dawn Akemi. It transported me right back to the days when I read Poe religiously. In particular, I found myself thinking about both Ligeia and Morella. 

An Encounter With Death featured a female protagonist who courts death, literally. If Edgar Allen Poe had written gothic Erotica, he would have written this story.

Vanessa, the heroine of An Encounter With Death, has grown tired of living in an era when over-achievement is the norm. In both her marriage and her work, she has failed. The emotional pain is too much for her to bear, so she decides to end her own life. She invites Death into her bedroom, but she had no idea that Death would be so handsome....

Equal parts Literary short story and Erotica, An Encounter With Death by Dawn Akemi is thoughtful, provocative, and thrilling. 

A great read for people who enjoy darker themes. In particular, I enjoyed the vivid imagery Akemi painted of the afterlife. She crafted some uniquely entertaining imagery I've never read elsewhere. Think: Cerberus + The River Styx = Love it!

Dawn Akemi also writes a great blog with loads of entertaining observations about life in general. You can find her blog here:




4 comments:

  1. Wow. That sounds awesome, Dave! You've piqued my interest. Thanks for reviewing it. I didn't know you loved Poe too. Yeah, his work amazes me.

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  2. Thanks MK! I love it when I get to pique things! Yeah, I was obsessed with Poe and read just about every story he ever wrote back in the day. Thanks to Iron Maiden, of course! "Murders in the Rue Morgue! Someone call the Gendarmes! Murders in the Rue Morgue! Flee before the killer goes free!"

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    1. Yeah, I love it when art begets art. I remember the Cure doing a song based on the "Stranger" by Albert Camus. Pretty cool.

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