Horror

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

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PREMISE: A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. 

Look at me, being all professional and writing this literally straight after I’ve finished it. It’s almost like I do this shit for a living. I say ‘straight’…it’s been 24 hours or so. I kind of like to let a book settle in after I’ve finished it. Like letting a big meal go down before I hit the gym or go out fell running. Hahahaha…like I do either of those things. But I do like to digest a book (like a big meal or a solitary scotch egg) and kind of figure out how much I liked it and why. And when books are as tasty as a scotch egg (your bog-standard scotch egg that is, none of this artisan shit where they make it with black pudding or chorizo) they are worth savouring.

This one was actually a slow-burner for me and, weirdly, I find myself thinking about it now much more than I did whilst I was reading it. It’s fantastically written, but understanding a lot of the language – particularly the native American terms – is all part of that slow burn. It’s probably not for everyone as it’s graphically violent and, ultimately, is a horror story at heart but it’s vastly different from any horror story (and most non-horror stories) I’ve read and I really enjoyed it.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

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PREMISE: January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely, and desperate to change his life, so when he’s offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year, Gruhuken, but the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice: stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return–when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark…

I reckon horror is the toughest genre to write. That is, if you’re writing horror to scare people that is, rather than shock them. Any idiot can write something down that shocks people and nowadays violence is pretty much everywhere so to really shock with brutality and gore you have to go to extreme extremes, but to properly scare (or at the very least, make someone feel uneasy) with words alone is a toughie. Michelle Paver without doubt knows how to do that and, for me, Dark Matter is still her best book. Beautifully written, completely absorbing and is genuinely unsettling throughout.

Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford

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PREMISE: Ada and her father, touched by the power to heal illness, live on the edge of a village where they help sick locals—or “Cures”—by cracking open their damaged bodies or temporarily burying them in the reviving, dangerous Ground nearby. Ada, a being both more and less than human, is mostly uninterested in the Cures, until she meets a man named Samson. When they strike up an affair, to the displeasure of her father and Samson’s widowed, pregnant sister, Ada is torn between her old way of life and new possibilities with her lover—and eventually comes to a decision that will forever change Samson, the town, and the Ground itself.

This book blew me away (so much so that it’s my Portland Award winner for 2020). Sooooo (the more O’s, the bigger the emphasis) beautifully written and a really unique premise and story. It stayed with me for ages afterwards too, floating around the largely blank space of my mind and coming to the forefront every so often. It’s one of the few books that I know I will find time to read again at some point when all this ‘new novels’ malarkey calms down and there’s no new releases for a year or two. Bound to happen at some point, surely.

Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowski

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PREMISE: The Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowski is a collection of interconnected thriller novels that focus on true crime investigations, often with a dark, folkloric or supernatural edge. Each book follows a central case where six individuals connected to the event share their accounts via interviews on a podcast hosted by journalist Scott King.

In my blog manifesto (copies available by request) I state that I don’t write anything negative on here. Not because I’m a good person or that I’m trying to attract sponsorship from the Church (the constant swearing may have put paid to that) but mainly due to the fact that who am I to judge someone’s work? All book reviews (you’ll find none here) are completely subjective and ultimately one person’s view on whether they liked the book or not. One man’s Dr. Zhivago is another man’s Dr. Shipman. Or something.

Anyway, with all that said…sometimes to explain how good something is you have to compare it to something shit. And there are two authors I’ve previously read who are insanely popular but whom I will likely never read again who could benefit from reading Matt Wesolowski’s books and see how proper plotting and pacing, twists and reveals, suspense and pure page-turning addictiveness is done. All six of these babies are top notch.

House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

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PREMISE: A young couple – Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson and his partner Karen Green – move into a small house on Ash Tree Lane. It soon becomes clear that something is terribly wrong – their new home is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. What happened next is loosely recorded on videotapes and in interviews, and impelled an eccentric old man to compile – on loose sheets of paper, stained napkins, crammed notebooks – a definitive account of what took place at Ash Tree Lane that seems to unveil a thrilling and terrifying history.

When you have a minute, go on Goodreads and check out some of the reviews on this book. Particularly the 1 star ones. I could pick any at random to make my point but I’m choosing one of the twattiest by a guy named David (cool name, bell end) who states his “overpowering disgust at the people who continue to naively read this book“. He relates the authoring of this book to the downfall of society (?) and concludes by saying “I fear for the future of humanity”. What a wanker.

I love this book and would urge anyone to read it. It’s like nothing you’ve ever read before. But that’s just my opinion. Some people clearly don’t like it and some do. That’s how reading works. And, in general, any type of art. I’ve read a few books I didn’t like but I can’t think of any time I then felt disgust at people who did like them. Fuck off David. I fear for the future of humanity mainly due to colossal fucknuggets like you.

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark

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PREMISE: In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan’s ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die.

Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan’s demons straight to Hell. But something awful’s brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up.

A book about a group of demon hunters who kill Ku Klux Klan members who are actually demons from Hell? Fuck yes. Aside from all those redneck, racist motherfuckers in the States, I’m assuming there’s nobody who can argue with the fact that book premises don’t come much better than this. Short, but great fun to read.

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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PREMISE:  By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice, and painful absurdities that Black men and women contend with every day in this country.

These stories explore urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and the ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world. In “The Finkelstein Five,” Adjei-Brenyah reckons with the brutal prejudice of our justice system. In “Zimmer Land,” we see a far-too-easy-to-believe imagining of racism as sport. And “Friday Black” and “How to Sell a Jacket as Told by IceKing” show the horrors of consumerism and the toll it takes on us all.

My second book of 2024, which I picked up after reading the jaw-droppingly great Chain-Gang All Stars. A collection of dark-as-fuck stories which are well worth reading. Top notch.