Càilo Arsano
Dimensione delirio

Finding or rather uncovering some genuinely alternative and unconventional reading materials today requires meticulous research and discussions with a network of readers who aren't entangled in the logic of commercial publishing. That's why it's challenging to get hold of some interesting titles. Sometimes the effort is rewarded, as in the case of this "Dimensione delirio," which was recommended to me by a friend. Someone who reads truly out-there stuff, if only by cultivating an unhealthy passion for extreme and not well-defined genre stories, thus escaping the usual clichés.

Càilo Arsano, an obscure author who seems to be making his debut (I couldn't find anything else about him online), writes stories that are not easily forgotten. This is not a true novel; it's more a collection of stories somehow connected by a pretext (a character, an indirect link). We are halfway between fantastic, horror, and pure science fiction, with a delirious edge and an erotic undertone not suitable for all tastes.

Bodily mutations, doppelgangers, unsettling enigmas, identity swaps, abductions, dreams within dreams, and all other sorts of oddities are blended with fluid and engaging writing. The narration is at times in the first person but manages to maintain a certain emotional detachment even in the most shocking passages.

The first short story is a sort of prologue in which a guy takes the wrong path and ends up in an unknown part of the city, enters a kind of cinema or theater where he becomes the protagonist of a projection that is actually a beastly ritual of supernatural entities.

In the second story, a couple of artists (she and he) abroad for a performance find themselves at the center of a dark, hallucinatory affair. A luggage swap gives life to a series of mysterious events, splits of identity, necrophilic sexual interactions. Aliens are involved, or at least some entities from elsewhere.

The third story is an interlude that connects two longer stories and centers around an alien abduction.

In the fourth, with a space-dystopian sci-fi plot, two mercenaries undertake a dimensional journey to procure a strange extraterrestrial gem, accompanied by a sort of priestess-huntress. A story with absolutely engaging atmospheres and a truly delirious, mutant erotic ending.

Finally, referencing the character from the first story, two guys come into contact with an unexpected reality by entering a bar that - apparently - shifts their bodies to another planet, after yet another mutation and space-time distortion.

Stories with strong tones, very explicit in descriptions, but without transcending into the pornographic or vulgar. I repeat, not for all tastes, but it is definitely a read that greatly satisfies enthusiasts of contemporary weirdo stories. I recommend it to connoisseurs of the genre.