Ivo Torello
L’Harem delle vergini dannate

The Harem of the Cursed Virgins is a delightful adventure that is part of The Strange Cases of Ulysse Bonamy, through which the Genoese writer continued, after the acclaimed The House of Shells, along the lines of a genre that effectively combines erotic novel, "weird" suggestions, and retro atmospheres, all set in a solid historical context (specifically the Roaring Twenties in Paris), where we find both real characters and fictional ones. Torello has nailed the formula: these booklets present themselves well right from the refined covers by Elena Nives Furlan, inspired by the historic magazine La Vie Parisienne. This time, Ulysse Bonamy will be facing the mysteries lurking within a girls' boarding school. I am not sure if Torello was inspired by it (probably not), but I immediately thought of a 1969 film by the Spanish director Serrador, namely The House That Screamed (which is said to have also inspired Suspiria by Dario Argento). In that film, coincidentally set in France at the end of the 19th century, we encounter characters like the terrible headmistress, several nude scenes, a morbid erotic atmosphere, and pure sadism situations. To be honest, I also reminisced about another French erotic film set in a girls' boarding school, namely English Education by Jean Claude Roy from 1983, which didn't lack soft sadomasochism scenes.

In any case, the plot of The Harem of the Cursed Virgins works. The scandal erupts when a friend of Bonamy, Maurice Jollain (who, quite surprisingly, considering his past as a pornographic writer, taught at the girls' boarding school "Ecole des filles"), is accused of corrupting and seducing the young students. Bonamy hides him in his house, where Jollain will mainly prove to be an alcoholic, and decides to infiltrate the boarding school himself under a false identity, getting hired as a handyman. He succeeds and, during the night, sneaks into the building where he meets three terrible and sadistic girls (especially Rosso Tiziano). Soon Bonamy realizes that the entire school environment is involved, at different levels and with opposing factions led by Professor Delasse and Madame Corneille, in a sort of strange cult that today we might associate with the new age culture. It is the Temple of Anin-Horsan, a religion for bored bourgeois whose charismatic leader is Abdul Ben-Azel (the name reminiscent of Abdul Alhazred!). The cult is characterized, as was the trend of the time but, if we are to be honest, also of modern experiences, by oriental knick-knacks and other curiosities. But Torello manages to give a touch of authenticity to the whole by inserting "Lovecraftian" citations and deities such as the famous Shub Niggurath. Not that this shifts the atmospheres towards cosmic horror (although some shards can be found in the lucid delusions of Ulysse Bonamy), but the whole is well-calibrated and never descends into bad taste. The perverse atmosphere hovering inside the building located in the French countryside is truly masterfully rendered. Ultimately, the suspense is certainly not lacking (the ending will surely surprise), and, most importantly, the book, as usual, is well-written (a detail not irrelevant). With sloppy writing, the risk would be facing a product of inferior kitsch.

Highly recommended to lovers of good literature, the weird, and the erotic novel. Available on the Edizioni Hypnos website: http://www.edizionihypnos.com/ and on the main online stores, as well as in the Feltrinelli bookstores network.