Three books this month.
The Fisherman by John Langan (Word Horde, 2016)
A quiet horror story about loss, loneliness, and grief told in three parts. I thought it lost momentum with the start of part two, the story-within-a-story, but it picked up again after a few chapters. There are still slow moments throughout as the story takes its time building up characters and situations, but it does so effectively. It all leads to situations with very Lovecraftian and cosmic horror vibes. I enjoyed it.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (Bantam Books, 1980. First published by Harper & Row, 1971)
This one was on my to-read list for a long time. A mother seeks help after her daughter appears to have become possessed. I really liked the writing and the characters. Very well paced, from the quick set up, to the various investigations, to the finale. Intense and incredibly creepy at times, as characters dealt with doubt, guilt, and shocking circumstances.
The Lt. Kinderman character reminded me a lot of Colombo. After finishing the book, I read an interview with Blatty in which he says Columbo was a rip-off of his character as a pre-publication manuscript of his book was making the rounds in Hollywood around the time Columbo was developed. I have no idea if that's true, but it sure seems possible, I thought of Columbo every time Kinderman showed up on the page. There's also the possibility that Blatty actually based Kinderman on Columbo though, so who knows.
I had never seen the movie so after finishing the book I watched it for the first time. Blatty also wrote the screenplay for the film. It’s an excellent streamlined adaptation of his book with great direction by William Friedkin. I became a Friedkin fan recently after watching Sorcerer (1977) and To Live and Die in L.A. (1995).
Peaceable Kingdom by Jack Ketchum (Leisure Books, 2003)
This is a collection of thirty-two stories by Dallas Mayr aka Jack Ketchum, known for his dark horror fiction. Most of the stories are horror but there are also suspense stories and a weird western. Except for one novella they're all pretty short. In just a few pages Ketchum is able to develop characters, evoke emotion, and make some kind of commentary on human nature and society. He's a master of the final sentence. The stories often end with a punch to the gut or a profound sense of loss. While I didn’t care for every story and some stories were too dark and unsettling for me, others were terrifying in a good way, and a few were quite touching. In every case I thought the writing was excellent.
Peaceable Kingdom won the 2003 Bram Stoker Award for Best Collection. “Gone” won the 2000 Bram Stoker Award for Best Short Fiction.
Favorite stories:
*****When the Penny Drops
A love story that turns into serious noir.
*****The Work
A semi-auto-biographical story about a writer. Brutal but so well done.
*****Gone
A devastating story about tragedy and grief.
******The Visitor
I wasn’t expecting a story with zombies to be so touching and deep, but here we are.
*****Forever
A bittersweet story about a couple dealing with cancer. This one crushed me.
New Authors to Read
All three authors were new to me, and I'm now a fan of each. I’ll be reading more of their work in the future.
