“The year that Florida fell into the sea, I killed a man and joined a cult and ran away to Mexico. I ate human flesh for the first time.
It’s another sticky summer in New Orleans, and the world is ending. Tourists are descending on the city, natural disasters abound, and Marcy’s old boxing scar has reopened. It’s enough to make any girl want to take her seemingly perfect life and set it all on fire.
So when Marcy meets a crew of degenerate filmmakers hell-bent on summoning the apocalypse, she lets herself be swept into their world of filth, arson and debauchery.
They think her scar might mark her as their Chosen one, and she’s never been able to resist a bit of flattery. Who wouldn’t want to bring about a revolution? But the more entangled she becomes in their world, the harder it is to resist the very power she swore to burn . . .”
Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Welcome to the Chaoskampf by Jane Flett. Welcome to the Chaoskampf was published by Doubleday on 14th May 2026 and is available in hardcover and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of Welcome to the Chaoskampf but that has in no way influenced my review.
Jane Flett is the author behind Freakslaw, which I read and enjoyed in a dark and twisted way a couple of years ago. When I saw that Flett was on the brink of publishing a new book, I knew I had to read it. There’s something about this author’s characters and the overall feel of her books that draws me to them. Welcome to the Chaoskampf was everything I hoped it would be and more.
Marcy is living a life she doesn’t really want. Somehow, she’s ended up married to Owen, a rigid, uncompromising man whom she doesn’t really have any feelings for. She dreams of being free, living each day as it comes with no restrictions. When she meets a group of guerrilla filmmakers, she immediately falls in with them. They’re as drawn to her as she is to them. Helped by an old boxing scar that has opened up on her chest, the group deem her to be the Chosen One. The apocalypse is coming, they’re heading back to their camp and they want Marcy to go with them. But at what cost? On arrival at the commune, Marcy feels like she is finally home. But it doesn’t stay that way for long. Not everyone thinks the sun shines out of Marcy’s behind. Far from it. With the end of the world approaching, Marcy realises she’s moved from one frying pan into a raging inferno of a fire…
Welcome to the Chaoskampf is an entertaining fever-dream of a novel which drew me in and didn’t spit me out again until I had reached the final page. If you hadn’t told me, having read Freakslaw, I would have guessed this book was written by Flett. There’s something so wonderfully unhinged and expressive about it: the freedom the characters have to be themselves, there’s no shame (nor should there be), no holding back, and I really appreciated the change in tone and pace from the books I usually choose. The characters are unique and interesting. I did like Marcy. I felt angry for her when she was trying to leave her controlling husband behind. The lengths he went to to trap her in their marriage were utterly shocking, stomach-churningly so. The group of filmmakers Marcy befriends are all unique and wonderfully diverse, which I feel the author excels at. Together, the well-written cast helps move this story along, but in a way so you can’t really see where things are going. Sure, the end of the world is supposedly nigh, but there is a lot more to this book than that.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Welcome to the Chaoskampf is a decadent, immersive book which I think defies simple categorisation. It’s classed as a horror novel, but I’m not sure it fits snugly in that particular box. Satire? Speculative fiction? Genre-blending is probably the best description. There are several characters involved in the story but I found it easy to keep track of who everyone was. They’re all so beautifully unique and different. Marcy is a strong lead. Embracing her flaws, loving herself no matter what and owning who she is. She’s chaotic and wonderfully messy. All in the best way possible. The atmosphere of the novel builds over the course of the book. The impending sense of doom is strong but not knowing where it is coming from heightens the overall effect of the story. All in all, Welcome to the Chaoskampf is a queer, dark, unsettling, unpredictable tale. I was entertained from start to finish, and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. Recommended.
I chose to read and review a free eARC of Welcome to the Chaoskampf. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
Jane Flett is a Scottish writer who lives in Berlin. Her fiction has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4, featured in Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, Highly Commended in the Bridport Prize and performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She is one half of the riot grrrl band Razor Cunts and a founder of Queer Stories Berlin. Freakslaw is her first novel.
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