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Nathan Ballingrud
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The Visible Filth Paperback – March 31, 2015

by Nathan Ballingrud (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 158 ratings
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When Will discovers a cell phone after a violent brawl his life descends into a nightmare. Affable, charismatic and a little shallow, he's been skating across the surface of life in a state of carefully maintained contentment. He decides to keep the cell phone just until the owner returns and everything changes. Then the messages begin. Will's discovered something unspeakable and it's crawling slowly into the light.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    68 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    This Is Horror
  4. Publication date
    March 31, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    5.83 x 0.14 x 8.27 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0957548192
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0957548190
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ This Is Horror (March 31, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 68 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0957548192
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0957548190
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.32 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.83 x 0.14 x 8.27 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 158 ratings

About the author

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Nathan Ballingrud

Nathan Ballingrud

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I'm Nathan Ballingrud. I live in Asheville, NC. I write dark fantasy and horror. I think the world is pretty dark and unforgiving, but I think it's beautiful too. That's what I like to write about.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
158 global ratings
A tense story of rising unease
4 Stars
A tense story of rising unease
Cockroaches and a neighborhood dive bar in New Orleans. A bartender. A fight. A forgotten cell phone. Using these as a launching point, Ballingrud creates a tense atmosphere of unease born of past and future infidelity, fear of inadequacy, and violence. Of disconnect from parallaxing reality. Of inevitable mistakes and decay. And - coming to us filtered through texts and pictures on the cell phone - the hint of the uncanny and grotesque. With clear and at times beautiful language throughout, culminating in a beautiful, horrible finale. 100 minutes very well spent, left with an unease that has lingered in the week since reading.
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Top reviews from the United States

William M Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Consistently Dark and Disturbing.
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2016
Verified Purchase
4 AND 1/2 STARS

What a great introduction to this author. I am constantly searching for adult books that are dark and twisted and this really hit the spot. I've heard Nathan Ballingrud's name mentioned in various podcasts as being one of the premiere writers of the weird and dark fiction genre. Winner of the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award and a finalist of the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards, this relatively new writer has taken the dark fiction world by storm.

Atmosphere is one of my favorite elements to seek out in horror, and this book delivered, and then some. Solid characters, believable dialogue, and an intriguing mystery make The Visible Filth one of the best horror Novelette/Novellas of the year. My favorite type of writers are ones that are as strong technically as they are in telling a great story, and Ballingrud fits the bill perfectly. Perhaps the ending revelation could have had a smoother transition to what was happening, but it is sometimes nice to fill in the blanks with ones imagination.

I've already purchased Ballingrud's short story collection and as long as he writes material this strong, I plan to buy everything he puts out. This disquiet little tale, although short, is well worth your time and money. I believe in quality, not quantity, and this story is a real gem of quality. Highly Recommended.
2 people found this helpful
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Kenneth A. Hall
3.0 out of 5 stars I must say that I was very disappointed with the size of this novel
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2016
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First of all, I must say that I was very disappointed with the size of this novel. When I pulled it from the box, much to my chagrin, I found it light in size being all of about 64 pages long. This to me is more of a short story than full novel. It seems to me that it looks like a self-published work. The story is okay and I won't go into any detail because I don't like giving out spoilers. But... the price of the book just doesn't seem justified by it's size. If anyone is interested I'd say wait to find it second-hand or in a book store bargain bin somewhere. I'll eventually give it away or donate it to some book charity and maybe get a slight tax write-off on it if I bother to declare it. Again, save your money and wait to find it cheaply somewhere.
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Lynda Rucker
4.0 out of 5 stars Creepy, disturbing, and highly recommended
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2016
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Nathan Ballingrud has been one of my favorite writers of dark fiction since I read one of his first published stories, "You Go Where It Takes You," years ago, and from the very first pages here, in which he deftly sketches memorable and fully-realized characters as well as the New Orleans dive bar where the story kicks off, you know you're in good hands. "The Visible Filth" is a terrific novella that moves the weird into the age of technology. Ballingrud combines the chill of an urban legend or particularly effective creepypasta with a deep literary sensibility and a profound character study of an aimless bartender who imagines himself to be living the dream, until the wrong people walk into his bar one night, and what follows shatters that illusion.
One person found this helpful
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S. P. Miskowski
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and disturbing
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2016
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What a fascinating novella. Nothing is wasted in the story. This is my favorite kind of horror--subtle, gathering momentum through each perfectly drawn scene, and taking shape from the worries, fears, and disappointments of every day existence. Without any sensationalism or implausible leaps, Nathan Ballingrud conveys a pervasive dread, a sense of evil creeping inexorably into every crevice of the protagonist’s world.

The story begins with an apparently idle observation. Will notices an abundance of cockroaches in the New Orleans bar he tends. Later he watches a vicious fight between two patrons. When an acquaintance jumps in to stop the violence, Will becomes aware of his own hesitation.

Following the fight, Will finds a cell phone left behind by a customer. Will pockets it with the intention of returning it to its owner. Instead he begins a strange personal journey.

I won’t describe the rest of the story because the final, chilling scenes rely on the slow build Ballingrud has masterfully constructed, based on the circumstances and psychology of the main character. The story chronicles Will’s growing awareness that there is something not right about his life, his outlook, his soul. This is one of the best modern tales I’ve read on the banality of evil and its cancer-like ability to attach to, and gradually overwhelm, our consciousness.

I'm not surprised the novella was a finalist for a Shirley Jackson Award. Highly recommended.
5 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Mystery Thriller Novella
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2018
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I prefer novellas to novels any day. with novels writers typically tend to be guilty of dragging the story much longer than they should go, for no good reason (other than filling the book with ballast of words to get a few dollars more for the novel format).

Nathan Ballingrud is a master of words whose talent speaks through smaller format: stories and novellas. This novella packs enough punch to outweigh most bessellers in the genre, without giving you filler material. I wish more talented writers did the same.

It's a perfect, juicy, sharp, interesting mystery story, somewhat Lynchean in it's plot (think Lost Highway vibe criss-crossed with Paul Auster's meditative mood) that leaves a lot of leeway for reader's imagination to go wild, not spoon-feeding you or patronizing you with simplistic explanations.
It's a cool book with a lot of 'replay value', cuz I I've been re-reading it pretty damn regularly.

Highly recommended for Weird fiction, mystery thriller aficionados. Ballingrud is a master of the genre.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars but I did wonder at the things not gone into - like the cult
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
I didn't have any difficulty following the story, but I did wonder at the things not gone into - like the cult, and what they hoped to accomplish. Not to mention how they latched onto such powerful magic in the first place.
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George Knapil
1.0 out of 5 stars Yea, don't buy it.
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2017
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I am actually embarrassed that I bought this book. I anticipated an edgy modern-noir style story that would be an indication of society's obsession with their cell phones. What I got was a pamphlet about a dude that works in a bar and has two many hot chicks in his life. Just not a good book and I need to be more careful when purchasing books in the future.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Thomas Joyce
5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy as hell!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2015
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Yup. Definitely creepy as hell. This story was brought to my attention by the This Is Horror podcast (operated by the same people who published Mr. Ballingrud's novelette) and I have only just gotten round to reading it. It is an atmospheric story, complete with a realistic setting and well written characters (taken from the author's own past experiences). I had a vague idea of where the story was headed due to what I had gleaned from his interview on the podcast but then I was grabbed by his writing and I just couldn't put it down. The pressure just builds right up to the finale and then...well, let's just say, the visual horror depicted by his prose will stay with you. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it!
2 people found this helpful
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The Grim Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Bleak, dark Horror.
Reviewed in Australia on April 7, 2015
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I have been hearing a great deal about Nathan Ballingrud. This is only his second book but already he reads like a veteran. Very few books creep me out and scare me. This did. It can be read in one sitting but the pacing makes it just perfect. It is dark, disturbing horror and for once the hype is entirely justified. Superb. 5 stars.
One person found this helpful
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