Horror World Book Reviews
November, 2005
FORGOTTEN SOULS by T.G. Arsenault
Reviewed by Nate Kenyon
To
almost everyone who knows her, Andrea Varney is the quiet
librarian in the small backwoods town of Durbin, Maine,
content with living a lonely, simple life. But Andrea
has a secret; she sees dead people, the forgotten souls
of those who are not able to pass into the next realm.
She has spent years preparing for the coming of the chosen
one, who will help her release these souls from their
torment.
When
little Darren Jacobs first visits the library, Andrea
knows immediately that he is the one she's been waiting
for, but she must wait until he has grown up in order
to let him in on her secret. As the years pass, Darren
begins to have strange encounters of his own, as the spirits
of the dead make themselves known to him. Eventually he
and Andrea find each other once again, and begin a journey
that will take them across the State of Maine, to visit
cemeteries long forgotten and crumbling to dust.
But
a monstrous evil has plans of its own, and it will stop
at nothing to end their quest. Helped by an old woman
on her death bed, and various others along the way, Darren
and Andrea battle the minions of the very Devil himself
as they struggle to remember those who have been forgotten,
and set those souls free from their prison before it is
too late.
Arsenault
is dealing with some heavy themes in Forgotten Souls,
but he keeps his story moving with simple prose and short,
punchy chapters. The book is ultimately a commentary on
our modern lifestyle and the speed with which the world
moves, the distractions that divide our attentions, the
obsession with the next big thing. It is no accident that
Andrea Varney still uses card catalogs in her library,
and the smell of musty stacks buried in basement levels
is stronger than the smell of hot plastic. She's one of
the few remaining souls of a fading race, a woman content
with a simpler life. As she says, "No one wants to
live with the basics of life anymore. They only seem determined
to create some alternate dimension with a blinking cursor
as a gateway." Her task, and Darren's too, is to
remember those who went before, as if by keeping their
memory alive she is holding on to the last vestiges of
a civilization on the brink of extinction.
The
book starts a bit tentatively, but picks up speed and
purpose, particularly after the introduction of Frank
Carlson. Carlson may be the novel's strongest character,
vicious and yet compelling, and strangely sympathetic
as he is seduced by the evil forces that eventually overwhelm
him. Arsenault does some neat things with automatic writing
and channeling of the dead, and the member of the devil's
army, when they come, are remarkably nasty creatures.
Arsenault
has written a story that exists in a very sharply defined
universe that seems just slightly removed from our own,
where lives move at a different speed. Forgotten Souls
is raw, and rough in places with a writer who is still
finding his voice-but its imagination and emotional resonance
is undeniable. Overall the book is a compelling read.
It will be very interesting to see where this writer takes
us next.
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RIGORMAROLE
By Michael A. Arnzen
Illustrated by John Skipp
Reviewed by Patricia Snodgrass
What
can be said about zombie poetry? Michael Arnzen says a
great deal in his short book, Rigormarole. Some of these
little ghastly poems were previously published in Gore
Zone, and have taken on a new life in his book.
Composed
or (perhaps decomposed?) of poetry reminiscent of the
film Shawn of the Dead, and written in an e. e. Commings
type style, Rigormarole tells a story of a world inhabited
by zombies. Some of the poems are funny, others are unsettling,
and some are simply disgusting.
Arnzen's
poetry is predominantly free verse, but he does employ
other techniques, such as the haiku and the limerick.
The imagery is vivid and disquieting, although the use
of certain words such brains is overdone. Some of the
imagery duplicates itself in many of the poems making
it seem as if the author is experimenting with the use
of word number the way an artist uses monochromatic colors
to enhance the theme of the work. Adult readers might
find this redundant and a bit tiring, which could be a
downfall to this work. This technique is effective, however,
when writing children's and some teen literature.
All
in all, Rigormarole might not be of interest to all adults,
but teenagers and middle school children will find this
an entertaining read.
Naked
Snake Press
*********************************
THE
BACKWOODS By Edward Lee
Reviewed by Nate Kenyon
A
very successful, happily married attorney, Patricia White
has spent most of her adult life trying to forget her
past. The victim of a vicious rape while in her teens,
she has avoided her quiet backwoods hometown for as long
as she possibly could. But when her brother in law dies
under suspicious circumstances, she has no choice but
to return home to Agan's Point to help her sister Judy
deal with the devastating loss.
She
arrives to find the town--and the family business--in
disarray. A wealthy developer has been trying to get Judy
to sell her land; Judy is drowning her grief in alcohol;
the squatters who serve as laborers for Judy's crabbing
business are disappearing, one by one; and there are rumors
of strange voodoo curses among the townsfolk. To make
matters worse, Patricia begins to have vivid, explicit
sexual fantasies about Judy's handyman Ernie. Ernie has
had a crush on her ever since they were children growing
up together, but nothing ever happened between them. But
that doesn't stop Patricia's suddenly rampant sexual urges,
which both confuse and threaten to overwhelm her.
As
she slips deeper into the odd lives of the townspeople
of Agan's Point, and begins to uncover the mystery of
her brother in law's death, more people begin to die,
under bizarre and unsettling circumstances. Someone--or
something--is out to destroy the town and everyone in
it. Dark secrets are slowly revealed, and eventually the
violence hidden among the townsfolk threatens to overflow,
taking Patrica down with it.
Lee's
diehard fans (and those who are attracted to the back
cover description) will be disappointed with the lack
of gore, and that's a shame, since there are a number
of things to like about The Backwoods. Lee's prose is
generally strong and clean. The greatest strength of the
book is its vivid descriptions of the town of Agan's Point,
and the strange characters living there. Lee captures
the squatters' unique customs, dialogue and strange history.
Running throughout the novel is a constant, underlying
current of eroticism mixed with violence, which is established
from the very first scene.
Unfortunately,
all this is not quite enough to carry the novel.
The Backwoods is not so much a horror novel as a mystery
or dark suspense thriller, with elements of the horrific.
But Lee chooses to let us in on at least one of the secrets
from the very beginning, which undercuts the suspense
and takes at least some of the mystery out of the story.
The twist at the very end, when it comes, isn't really
central to the plot and doesn't ring true with at least
one fairly central character.
Ultimately,
The Backwoods will appeal to a more mainstream crowd,
and in some ways Lee seems to have been writing specifically
to that audience, toning down the violence (apart from
one particularly vivid scene involving an axe) and concentrating
on the eroticism and interplay between characters painted
in fairly broad strokes of good and evil. If you're a
huge fan of Lee's bloodiest works, you may want to avoid
this one; if you prefer your horror light, it may be just
the thing to lend a little steam to your late nights.
Leisure
Books
*********************************
FINISHING
TOUCHES By Thomas Tessier
Reviewed By Patricia Snodgrass
One
technique of creating a successful horror story is to
place characters in an ordinary, realistic situation and
then slowly guide the reader into places that disturb
the deepest part of the human psyche. That's what Thomas
Tessier does with his novel, Finishing Touches, and he
does it with style.
The
plot is skillfully executed. There are no cheap shots,
no stereotyped characters, or over the top gore fests.
It's just you, the reader, and Tessier, slowly and calmly
dissecting your sense of reality. Even when Dr. Sutherland
starts doing things that are, in the real world, appalling,
you can't help but cheer him on. You want him to succeed
because, despite how awful his fantasies are, Nordhagens'
are far, far worse. And you have to keep reading to find
out what happens in the end. And in the end, you can't
help but wonder about your next doctor's appointment.
So,
what is your fantasy? After reading Finishing Touches
you may never want to know the answer to that.
Highly
recommended.
Leisure
Press
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