Horror Book Review: Rent (Matt Shaw)

From the dark mind of Matt Shaw comes Rent, an extreme horror novel. It proudly displays a disclaimer on the front cover saying that it is not intended for those who are easily shocked or offended. Attention grabbing? Very much so.

Rent tells a horrifying story, the kind to make you shift a little uncomfortably in your seat. It’s a horrible reminder of how, when it comes to the death of our loved ones, we expect and rely on those who services we paid for to make sure they are taken care of with respect.

No-one wants to think about what goes on behind the scenes of a funeral parlour. We trust those who work there, we don’t really have a choice but what if things weren’t as they seem? What if behind closed doors, our loved ones were being auctioned off to twisted and sick individuals who paid for the right to do whatever they wanted to them?

Rent answers those questions as we meet the owners of a funeral parlour who run a side business of auctioning corpses as playthings.

Matt Shaw’s imagination, while pretty twisted, makes for an enjoyable read provided you can stomach the gruesome details on show here. It’s a novel designed to shock but also tells a story of addiction, blackmail and revenge.

For all it’s shock value, it has enough of a narrative to keep you turning pages especially as it is short.

I’m not sure if the choose your own ending quite works though. Coming out of the blue, you’re suddenly hit with a choice that results in two wildly different finishes. One puts you in the shoes of a character as if he is some sort of avenging angel but up to this point his behaviour has been despicable. How are we as readers supposed to get behind a character who pays to have sex with corpses?

The other is far more abrupt but decidedly less interesting. Either path doesn’t really satisfy though. A shame as Rent is a perversely fun read.

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