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I have a bunch of reviews in this issue, on purpose, of course, because this is the annual Booklist issue that focuses on Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
I have three reviews, two STARS. And I will be giving away my ARCs on the Horror Blog starting this week. Let's get started with my draft reviews and bonus appeal info.
The Hollow Kind by Andy DavidsonOct. 2022. 448p. Farrar/MCD, $28 (9780374538569).
First published August 2022 (Booklist).
With his third novel, Davidson plants his roots in Horror’s soil as one its most talented voices. Summer, 1989. Nellie leaves her abusive husband, 11 year-old son Max in tow, and heads to Empire Georgia to claim an inheritance from the grandfather barely knew– Redfern Hill, 1,333 acres, and its abandoned turpentine mill. With only a few belongings, they move into the property’s long neglected but stately home with plans to start over. But, very quickly it becomes clear that they are not alone. Told mostly through two perfectly balanced timelines, over ten days in 1989 through Nellie and Max and another from 1917 to 1932 focusing on August Redfern, this is a character driven story of a place, the evil that has always lived there, and its ever tightening grip on the family. The steadily increasing dread bursts open at the one-third mark, as terror takes over, past and present merge, and the Redfern family comes together, across generations in an epic battle. With similarities to The Book of Accidents by Wendig, shades of T. Kingfisher, and a dash of The Ruins by Smith, this is a southern gothic epic that masterfully weaves elements of body, folk, and cosmic horror knitting it all together into something wholly new, immersive, terrifying, and utterly breathtaking.
YA Statement: With its 1980’s setting, combined with a storytelling style that is reminiscent of Stephen King from that era and Stranger Things, and a middle school protagonist, there are a plethora of reasons why Teens will love digging into this Southern Family Horror Epic.
Further Appeal: This Book!!! I already love Davidson-- In the Valley of the Sun is one of my ALL TIME favorite Horror books-- but this is also STUNNING.
I am not sure I can take a walk in the woods again. Seriously. That’s a compliment.
This is THE Horror epic of the year. Just buy multiple copies and hand it out freely. See my extended readalikes below to see just how wide an appeal this book will have.
Also one of my favorite lines from the book, near the end [and I am cutting it short because it would give too much away to have the whole quote] “... humans always taste best.”
Three Words That Describe This Book: perfectly paced, strong sense of place, immersive terror.
More readalikes: I had so many readalikes I wanted to give. The three in the review above where what I settled on to give you the best overall snapshot of the appeal of the book.
Stephen King yes. Mexican Gothic because of the family curse and the growing evil in the basement– but I did not put it in the review because I wouldn’t be able to explain why and I think it matters here since Mexican Gothic is sometimes used as a comp title for other reasons.
The Toll by Priest, Jennifer McMahon– The Winter People and The Invited. Definitely Wonderland by Stage. Also, his character development is fantastic– reminds me of Brian Keene who I hold up as a master of character development in Horror. Both good and bad people– we get the full story without sacrificing the pacing.
Now onto a book that already has already proved itself but is now going to be widely available in America.
Little EveCatriona Ward
Oct. 2022. 288p. Tor Nightfire, $27.99 (9781250812650); e-book, $14.99 (9781250812667).
First published August 2022 (Booklist).
Ward is back but this time she presents a proven winner, the American release for her 2018 Shirley Jackson Award winning novel. Readers are whisked away to 1921, to an island, just off the coast of Scotland, with high cliffs and a reclusive family, as Dinah recounts the winter morning when the local butcher found her entire family laid out in ritualistic style, all but her dead. Immediately, Dinah’s sister, Evelyn is identified as the killer, but she has gone missing. Atmospheric from those opening lines, this disquieting story is unveiled through intertwined threads with Dinah narrating the story’s present and Evelyn from 1917. For the first 70 pages, the reader will squirm as the discomfort, characters, and plot slowly emerge, but as the details begin to come into horrifying focus and the time frames begin to converge, it is impossible to look away. And when that inevitable twist comes it is an disturbing gut punch, not because of the shock, but from the deeply unsettling ramifications that ripple out from its center. While its ties to Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle are strong, this psychological horror gem will also appeal to fans of creepy, character driven cult stories like Mr Splitfoot by Hunt and other new, original takes on the traditional Gothic such as Mexican Gothic by Moreanu-Garcia.
Further appeal. Here is a note I took immediately after finishing this book: "An excellent, twisty, Gothic but Ward excels at how she unfolds the "truth for the reader." The "past" of the story [1917 and forward] and the "present" [1921 and forward] slowly converge with two perspectives: Dinah and Evelyn. And of course there is a twist, this is a Ward novel. But it is not the twist that is the gut punch, it is the emotional, gut wrenching ramification that ripple out from the center of the twist that makes this a STAR review."
This book was deeply unsettling. It took a little to get into it, to get the background details and the voices of the two narratives and to get settled into the place, but once I did, I could not stop reading.
Again, the "twist" is there, but that alone wasn't why it is good. What the twist as meant over the decades tat followed the main action, that is where the story has its emotional center.
Three Words That Describe This Book: dual time frames, Gothic, atmospheric.
Readalikes: The three above in the review plus, The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed, The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay and really any Shirley Jackson nominee or winner. It is one of my favorite awards to use as a readalike resource.
And my last review in this issue...
by Andy Marino
Oct. 2022. 304p. Redhook, paper, $17.99 (9780316629522).
First published August 2022 (Booklist).
Lark, a famous artist, eschewed life in NYC, returning home to historic Wofford Falls, a place where he can create while protecting his troubled, but brilliant, painter sister. However, that idyllic life is destroyed when Lark delivers his latest piece to reclusive clients, and is informed that Besty has been kidnapped, only to be returned if he completes a series of sculptures as described in a 300 year old text. Enlisting the help of his childhood best friend and agent, Lark begins creatting, but his actions immediately invite malevolent forces, long held at bay, back into the world. Marino draws readers in quickly, creating sympathy for the characters, unveiling the necessary details to immerse them in a world of art, siblings*, deadly intrigue, and a centuries long nefarious quest. Dread is present from the start, but it quickly escalates into a disorienting cosmic terror that touches everyone. Booktalk it to readers as The Twisted Ones by Kingfisher meets Slade House by Mitchell with a touch of Lovecraft Country by Ruff.Further Appeal: This is a very Cosmic Horror title with a huge art and artist frame. That should be enough to handsell it to the right readers. But I also have a booktalking statement in the review's final sentence. That also will work well.
Come back tomorrow for the lists and articles featured in this issue as well. Including some HUGE news about one of the books I will bye mentioning.
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