PainSpace – Jon Athan

4.5 stars

I went into PainSpace expecting over-the-top gore and was extremely pleasantly surprised to get psychological instead. I’m a big fan of liminal spaces in horror and have been thoroughly enjoying the boom in the genre since The Backrooms content started coming out! Athan offers a unique perspective on the liminal space with this upcoming novella.

A lot of times, creators focus on the monstrous aspect of liminal spaces, but Athan instead chose to delve into the psychological and give us a protagonist tortured by the events of his past. In an effort to find his daughter, he enters the tubes in a very old McDonald’s-esque play area and is suddenly transported to a whole different world full of memories and horrors.

I really felt for Lucas a lot. He was just a regular guy trying his best to support his family and unknowingly creating rifts in the process. I got a direct shot to the heart once I realised what was actually happening and man, that one hurt! Athan packed so much punch into his characters and made me really root for them and want to succeed. And THAT ENDING…..I had chills!

PainSpace was claustrophobic and anxiety-inducing and ridiculously sad, and I’d argue it’s one of Athan’s best of his recent releases.