IN VERMIS VERITAS by Poppy Z. Brite

Short Story Review: IN VERMIS VERITAS by Poppy Z. Brite

This story is fantastic as it puts so many images into your mind with the words/phrases used. The author starts with a quote from Francis Bacon. This introduces you to the topic and hooks you straight away. It will either put you off from the start, or invite you to read more.

I love this story, but as with most of this authors stuff, I am a huge fan. I work in Forensic Science, in a mortuary, so I can clearly appreciate the descriptions used.

In Vermis Veritas is, essentially, a short look into the world of a maggot in a slaughterhouse. It was written as an introduction to a graphic novel, Registry of Death by Matthew Coyle and Peter Lamb, in which all the characters are worms or larvae. Have you ever read/written a story where the characters are worms or larvae? I imagine it would be an incredibly difficult task. Poppy Z. Brite pulls it off beautifully.

Phrases like, ‘connoisseur of mortality’, ‘spongy purple of drowned meat, translucent rose of fresh viscera, the seething indigo of rot’, and, ‘The glistening whorls are dissolving, coming unglued, breaking down into their chemical components,’ rouse incredible images, and capture these moments perfectly. 

The story starts with the introduction into the world of a maggot devouring flesh, describes how the maggot saves its energy for the ‘sweetest meat’. It talks about reducing a carcass to the bone, and revealing qualities of the deceased. The maggot lives thousands of lives, memorises thousands of tomes, constructs and destroys dynasties. It has ‘been a foetus in a womb and a guru in a cave’. It tells us the way people die; for sport, love, or, for fun, and finally, it concludes with the harsh reality (punchline) that it is better to be a maggot in a slaughterhouse than a man. It is a complete life to death story.

This story seems perfect for sensory description but I cannot find any instances where it is used, which is a shame, although the story does not need them to work.

At not even 500 words, this story would be hard to discard unread. It’s so easy to read. You don’t have to know who Francis Bacon is because the quote is used as an introduction to the topic – a maggot talking about the many lives it has lived through the many bodies it has devoured.

I imagine an older audience for this piece as it talks about decomposing flesh and liquefying organs, or perhaps readers into horror. I recommend it to anyone who wants a visually provocative piece.