AUTUMN VS WELCOME TO VALENTON

Is Basile Lebret’s “Welcome to Valenton” a Work of Extreme Feminism? Autumn Leaves Says “Yes”!

TITLE: Welcome to Valenton

AUTHORS: Basile Lebret

GENRE: Splatterpunk

PAGES: 75

 PRICE: Ebook $1.99, Paperback $7.99,

PUBLISHER: Carnage House

PUBLICATION DATE: May 1, 2026

At only 75 pages, “Welcome to Valenton” is a beautifully written swift punch to the gut. Lebret uses his masterful command of language to paint a story which is equal parts ethereal beauty, dark eroticism, and pitch black macabre.

The story is told in 5 parts or chapters, each serving as standalone stories and parts of the greater story of the community of Valenton, a place where only female “monstresses” can survive. I will break each story down before diving into my main point on the book’s overall theme.

A Place There’s Only Women

During the summer of 1986, toxic mists from Chernobyl made their way to France and a local eccentric man called Old Paul encountered these mists in the woods of Valenton. He spent the next 3 days brewing a mysterious occult moonshine, different from any he made before. After these 3 days, he disappeared, leaving behind 3 barrels of his brew which were brought back by local men.

This strange brew, which came to be known as Chernob’ Wine had an unexpected effect on the women who drank it. It turned them into monsters that absorb men during sex, leaving the absorbed men’s testicles as a new addition to the women’s perineums. Having these new testicles meant that the women would end up pregnant without further contact from men. The testicled women became pregnant at least once a year, giving their babies to neighbors to dispose of them in the mountainous forest.

We learn that Valenton has 2 rules: do not have sex and kill all babies. In this story, the reader is Cynthia, a woman who loses her virginity to her boyfriend Marcel, absorbing him and ending up with a baby that she keeps: Eva. Eva was born a monster and must be fed and kept in secret.

You’d Date a Guy

The story has moved to Paris and the reader is Sarah. Sarah moved from Valenton to Paris and identified as Ace. This made her believe it was safe to date a man named Alex. However, Alex soon begins to crave more than oral gratification and has sex with Sarah, leading to him becoming absorbed by Sarah’s body, his face an imprint on her abdomen.

…here be White Knights

In this part, the reader is a woman named Estelle who still went to nightclubs looking for boys to bring home and devour, knowing that “women from Valenton don’t have sex for they melt their partners”. Estelle also moved from Valenton to Paris where she absorbed her first man, Emmanuel. Estelle fetishized the men dying as they reached orgasm. Estelle is the first to have her testicles cut off by a man named Bastien. This is the first time we see fetishism by women.

Heartsleeve

You are a woman living with your partner of 20+ years, Alain. Gentle, “Autistic Alain” wanted his heart to be eaten, uncoiled, envious that his heart was “just a sleeve”. Alain is described as gentle and simple, not minding a sexless relationship. The female character saw eating Alain’s heart as freeing it from “the spider that was his abdomen”.

Where Men Disappear

The reader is now a 60 year old woman, having moved to the woods of Oweinmer to escape the memory of an absorbed lover, Richard. The woman felt like Oweinmer itself: fluid, ever changing and endlessly hungry.

The woman learned of a nightclub in an abandoned warehouse in the woods called The Maw. After her body became masculine as a result of absorbing Richard, the temptation to visit The Maw became too great. But, it was not an ordinary nightclub. Violence, shows of toxic masculinity, and the filming of r*pe pornography had replaced dancing. Men who viewed themselves as Alpha males after frequenting The Maw gangbang women to death, their bodies thrown into the woods, made into “Rotting Ophelias”.

The “solace in the violence” came to an abruptly end with the discovery of the true purpose of The Maw, to gather rapists to sacrifice to the creature who dwelled in the pit which split the building in two. The creature is a familiar character, exacting revenge on the violent men.

So, why do I see this as a work of extreme feminism considering all that happens to the female characters of this story? I have two reasons:

1. This can be seen as a Pro-Choice work because when the affected women become pregnant against their will, their neighbors take the child (who will grow to become a monster) and throw it into the woods. This can be seen as symbolically freeing the woman and is an example, extreme though it is, of women enforcing rights over their own bodies and lives

2. The men at The Maw who r*pe and kill women are chosen by a female monster to be fed to her as sacrifices. This can be seen as punishment for their violence against women and toxic Alpha male behavior.

In closing, choose any reason you want to read “Welcome to Valenton”, be it curiosity, fascination, or disgust. I am confident that the result will be the same: this story will surprise you, affect you, and you will not be able to forget it, at least not anytime soon.

If you enjoy “Welcome to Valenton”, I recommend “Candy Dish” by Matthew Lutton.

Autumn Leaves is a Canadian author and poet. Her poem “Siren’s Song” was published when she was 15. Autumn is in love with the dark and has an affinity for all things horrific and disturbing. Autumn is also an avid horror reader and book reviewer. Her favorite author is Jack Ketchum. She lives with her children and army of fur babies on a small island off the coast of Maine.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.