His Pain Review

I don't hide the fact that I am a lover of all things horror related. I've been pretty stuck on my regular horror authors. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, Peter Straub. Now, on occasion I have dabbled outside of these regulars. It wasn't until I read Snuff by Adam Huber and Eric Enck, that a book had really disturbed me. Since reading Stuff, I have dipped in and out of the more extreme horror stuff. It wasn't until mid-last year that I found out extreme horror is actually a thing, a legit sub-genre of it's very own.
I found the book that is about to be reviewed COMPLETELY by accident. Actually, I was watching a movie on netflix called "Come Back to me". I found the story interesting and I found out it was a book first. Of course I had to look that shit up. The book is called The Resurrectionist  by Wrath James White.  I didn't end up buying it until later, but it lead me to His Pain by the same author. The cover was disturbing, yet intriguing. The rest is kindle downloading history.
This is a story that stays with you long after you finish it. Hell, I read it a year ago and it is something that still sticks in my mind a year later.

Jason is born with a very rare disorder. He is hypersensitive to everything. Touching, tasting, sound, smells: they all bring him nothing but mind numbing pain. His own mother (Melanie), can't even hold Jason when he screams out in pain. Jason surprises his doctors by living far beyond his life expectancy of a few years and makes it to 18.  Jason has made it through life so long because Jason lives his life in a bubble, (literally), to keep safe from the world around him. they have Jason on a heavy regiment of drugs, (both legal and illegal), triple boil all of his food and try as hard as they can to keep his room sound proof. What a way to live life right?
 Jason's mother long ago considered what no mother would even dream of thinking about, killing her own son to save him from a lifetime of misery. Appalled,  Melanie's husband, (Edward),talks her out of doing it every time it's suggested. That doesn't stop Melanie from thinking about doing it daily. (I mention this because it comes in to play later in the book.).
One day, Melanie comes across Yogi Arjunda on a local talk-show. Yogi claims with time he can cure any ailment. Having run out of medical and spiritual options, Melanie sends Yogi a desperate email asking for his help. When all is said and done, both Melanie and Edward (who is reluctant, but agrees anyways.), agree to allow Yogi a month to work with Jason and hope everything turns out for the best.  
Yogi's treatment does work....in a way, and  also back fires in a huge way. Yogi's method is unconventional. His idea is to make Jason feel all of his pain and learn to embrace it all instead of fearing it. Jason does learn to live with and even enjoy pain. Unfortunately, he also wants to show his parents and the world what his pain has felt like for the past 18 years. Shit gets real after Yogi "cures" Jason.

My feelings on this book are so conflicted. I don't really want to admit that I liked it, because that just makes me sound like a fucked up human. But I did not hate it. I commend Mr. White for NOT taking the typical, "backwoods, cannibalistic, redneck route", that so many other extreme horror authors take. Mr White went for something that felt believable and real. Mr. White also touches on some controversial issues as well. Is it okay for a mother, who gave birth to this child who is constantly in unbelievable pain every single day, too want to kill her own son to save him from more pain? Personally, I would be asking that question too if I were in Melanie's shoes. I might even act on it, given a kid like Jason's condition in life. I liked this book because it does bring up such taboo subjects and forces you to think about them.

Despite all of his horrendous actions later on in the book, Jason is very easy to sympathize with. Even after his rampage it is, (as much as I hate to say this), it's still kinda easy to see where he's coming from, (except the long scene with his mom after he gets "better". That bit was just fucking gross.). He is a kid who lives with nothing but pain, and once he learns to live with it and go about his daily life, he finds himself suddenly lost; unsure where he fits in to the world. It is kind of sad in a way, and I found myself feeling a little bit sorry for the kid.

The gore is....well it's extreme horror. You can pretty much expect the gross, unexpected and depraved. There were some parts that even had this horror princess cringing and gagging a little. Any book that can do that is alright by me.
 
 I will not be giving away the ending, but there is one thing that really stuck out to me. It actually comes back to Melanie wanting to kill her own son. Jason is face to face with his dad (Edward  is looking into the unpopular end of a shotgun), and Edward can't believe his son would want to kill him. Naturally, Edward asks him why. Jason tells him because you always said no. (This is paraphrasing a bit, but it is close enough to what was actually said in the book.) Edward asks him what he means. Jason says something to the effect of: you always said no when mom wanted to kill me and end my suffering. Killing me would have been the kindest thing you two could have done.    
     I thought those these were very powerful words. I actually thought about this scene long after I finished this book. You will have to read it for yourselves and determine for yourself what is the right or wrong course of actions in this case. I haven't really come across too many EH books that actually have me pondering it's moral contents long after I finish reading.

I know earlier I said I can't say I like this book. Screw feeling the a horrible human being. I liked this book. As soon as I'm able to forget it, I'll most likely drag it back out and reread it again. Mr White's stories are always though provoking, unique and touch on taboo subjects. I like that in a writer. If you are looking for something a little more disturbing than a Stephen King story, than I suggest starting with this story. Then work your way into White's other works. This novel is actually rather tame compared to his other stories. Sad but true folks.
I proudly ,(as a decent human being), give this story a 5/5