Asphodels

In Greek mythology the asphodel is a flower associated with death; the souls of ordinary mortals are sent to the Asphodel Meadows vast fields of the underworld. In the twelve stories of Asphodels Mexican author Bernardo Couto Castillo (1879-1901) a cult figure in Mexico due to his short life and French-influenced Decadent writings explores death in its many varieties from Lady Death wandering the streets of the city in merciless search of her next victim to a hypochondriac who goes mad out of fear of death to an ultra-refined killer turning to murder due to the beauty of its symphony in White and Red to the extraordinary final metaphysical account of the torture of a soul. Although asphodels do not make a single appearance in this collection they are like death itself: invisible everywhere. Asphodels originally published in 1897 was the only book to appear in the authors lifetime. Presented here for the first time in English in a superb translation by Jessica Sequeira it will be sure to gratify lovers of Decadent fiction horror and modernismo.