BOOK REVIEW: VOIDHEADS BY CHRIS KELSO
13/3/2023
 The beauty of nihilism, the art of a brilliant mind. Kelso gets so much pain across the page in so few words Voidheads by Chris Kelso ASIN : B0BTCRSYPF Publisher : Independently published (29 Jan. 2023) Language : English Paperback : 70 pages ISBN-13 : 979-8375390192 A Horror Book Review by Thomas Joyce In a world devoid of hope and meaning, what is the point? We were all teenagers once and, for some, that nihilistic feeling never truly departs. But, while you dealt with these complicated feelings in any number of (hopefully) harmless ways, the teenagers in Voidheads take self-harm to a whole new level. Thanks to the thing in Ori Dreyfus’s basement. Told in Kelso’s typically atypical style, where the point of view seemingly drifts from character to character to void at will, with some added graphics to hammer home the alien nature of the void, Voidheads is an examination of the ennui suffered by a group of students from Ishim Lin High, in the fictional city of Ishim Lin. The exact geography of the city is never revealed, and some of the language hints at a British location while some hint that it takes place in a version of America. But, as long-time readers of Kelso’s work will know, he has been known to take certain landscapes of Earth and transpose them to his infamous Slave State. Either way, the location is irrelevant to the story. Sure, most readers in the West will recognise some version of their teenage selves in the main cast of characters. That is the most important aspect of the story, where Kelso reminds us of the empty feeling many of us experienced in our youth. Instead of shoplifting or graffitiing or cutting, these teens want to make a more permanent statement, offering up limbs and genitalia to the void that exists in Ori’s basement. Whatever you put in that hole, you aren’t getting back. We see through the eyes of those who are curious, those who wish to impress, those who long to feel something larger than themselves – even if what they are feeling is the ultimate nothing, the “big zero” – and there are those who begin by wanting to help the teens but ultimately lose themselves to the void. What begins as an extreme statement, an addiction to some, becomes something altogether more horrific when Ori’s younger brother tries to understand the void and a teacher from the school leaves his encounter with his physical body seemingly intact. We follow the characters from their initial experience with the void and the voidheads to seeing how the terms change meaning in Ishim Lin, and we are left with a feeling of… hope? It is hard to tell, as Kelso does reference superficiality in the closing pages. Are these the choices we are left with? See the world – the void – for what it truly is, or accept the superficiality of life and just enjoy the simple things while we can? The beauty of nihilism, the art of a brilliant mind. Kelso gets so much pain across the page in so few words (the story could have been longer, and it could have followed a more straightforward narrative style, but where’s the fun in that?). For fans of the text who may be craving more from the void, there are rumours of a companion comic and audiobook being produced in the near future. And, if you simply can’t wait for more in this vein, just take a look at Kelso’s back catalogue. He explores similar themes in The Dreg Trilogy and The Black Dog Eats the City, as well as the numerous works set in his Slave State. Voidheads |
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