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Bloodsongs Issue 1
Book Reviews
Terror Australis This one, as the first Australian horror anthology to receive mass distribution in this country, comes as a real landmark in the publication of home-grown fright yarns. Edited by Leigh Blackmore (who is interviewed by myself elsewhere in this issue), writer, Lovecraft scholar and horrorphile, as well as having previously edited three issues of Terror Australis (the magazine), is certainly qualified to edit such a book. In fact, if Terror Australis sells well, there is every chance that Hodder and Stoughton may decide to ask Leigh to follow up with a sequel. The cover, I felt, could have been a lot better. The title, although well drawn, blends into the background a bit too well making one look twice (or even thrice) to be able to read it, especially when standing back a few feet as one often does in a shop. To me paperback covers –- well, effective ones anyway –- demand to be examined, they jump out at you as you walk past it in the bookstore and say “pick me up!” This one sits quietly in the back, not really hiding, but not making itself known either. TA opens with the inevitable introduction by the editor. In this case Leigh gives us a well written and succinct summation of the state of horror literature in Australia, past, present, and (hopefully) future. Leigh Blackmore’s thoughts, criticisms and writings on the genre always make interesting reading. Being an editor myself, I can appreciate the difficulties Leigh must have faced in putting this together. And here Leigh has opted –- possibly at the suggestion of the publisher –- to try and cover the horror scene in its broadest sense, which means that not all stories will be to the reader’s liking, but that everyone should be able to find at least a couple of pieces that appeal. Leanne Frahm opens the fiction with "Catalyst", a psycho killer yarn which manages to turn this over-worked sub-genre inside out –- I really enjoyed this one and was disappointed to see it end so soon. Next, Terry Dowling serves up "The Daemon Street Ghost Trap", your more traditional ghost story and with a surprise ending that surprises –- although some of the dialogue, especially at the beginning, I found a bit stilted and unrealistic. "Mabuza’s Plum" by Eddie van Helden I previously published in EOD #5 as poetry -– it’s only a couple of paragraphs long but manages to pack quite a punch regardless. Louise Steer gives us "Losing Faith", a witch-burning story that is not only well told but acts as a vehicle for Louise to point out a few nasty things about ourselves. "Remorseless Vengeance" by Guy Boothby only got into this anthology for historical reasons as far as I can tell … then again, it being written over a hundred years ago, what is now cliché, may have been new then, but I doubt it somehow. B.J. Stevens’ "A Gift From Gehenna" is a good read. Bryce’s work rarely disappoints. Next up is Kendall Hoffman’s "Johnny Twofeller" which contained some of the most stereotyped dialogue I’ve read in a long time –- do outback aborigines really speak like this? I don’t think so. "In the Light of the Lamp" by Steven Paulsen is a Cthulhu Mythos piece, and well told one at that, but I’ll have to admit to having a soft spot for this type of fiction. Rick Kennett’s "Out of the Storm" evoked a great sense of dread, and contained some genuinely spooky moments. "Twist of the Knife" by Sean Williams (previously published in EOD #5 and which also came third in the shirt story competition run by the magazine) is a story about a serial killer stalking a small town. In some ways I’ll have to agree with Bill Congreve’s comment that this reads more like a synopsis than a short story, but what the hell, I enjoyed it. Editor Leigh Blackmore gives us "The Hourglass", a well told story of madness, love and the occult that conjured up some dark and evil sensuality. A feature of this anthology not often seen is the inclusion of artwork, in the form of story illustrations. Although some of the illos gave away too much of the plot in a couple of instances, the artwork was of high quality and generally enhanced the fiction. Although of inconsistent quality, Terror Australis does accomplish what it sets out, which is to offer the novice horror reader an anthology of fiction and artwork that sums up the current state of the genre in this country. Definitely a worthy addition to any horror library.
Bloodlust Carol Page travels around the world –- well mainly the USA and England -– talking to various people who have a fetish for drinking blood. They’re not really vampires, but would like to be and act like one as much as possible, from sleeping in coffins, wearing black, drinking small amounts of blood, to even having prosthetic fangs installed by their dentist. It seems as though there is a whole subculture of would-be vamps out there. When I picked up this book I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was sucked in by the blurbs which promised to introduce me to some real-life vamps. What I got instead was a bunch of inadequates who have trouble facing reality and have therefore created their own world of blood-drinking and would-be vampiredom. Although an interesting read, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for some of these idiots.
The Vicar of Morbing Vyle I understand that this is a joint self-publishing venture by Richard Harland and Karl Evans Publishing. This effort is attractively packaged and even comes with a publisher’s note on the front page warning readers “to exercise extreme caution in relation to Chapter 45 and the Vicar’s intended ‘Ultimate Work of Art’. The nature of the actual work should not be contemplated. Readers who attempt to hypothesize beyond the words of the text do so at their own risk. The publishers accept no responsibility for any mental, emotional, or psychosomatic damage incurred.” Ahh, a book with a sense of humour and which doesn’t take itself too seriously methinks. The blurbs on the back also hinted at promises of some extreme weirdness to come, including a supposed “pair of underpants that go scurrying across the floor”! And, unlike many other books I have come across that make grand promises, this one delivers the goods. Plot: Morbing Vyle is a mysterious remnant of a village in the English countryside and what happens when a visiting Australian student’s obsession to find out more about it and its even more mysterious Vicar. When he does find it, he gets to meet some real weird inhabitants including … Mr Caulkiss, who has a weird machine that runs on human blood; his wife Craylene, who keeps feeding these mysterious “Little Ones” that she keeps in the cellar, and whose character gets even more bizarre when we find out what the “Little Ones” really are; Mr. Quode, who is the weirdest chef ever to wear a funny white hat, and who also comes with some strange sexual fetishes to boot; his wife, Melestrina, a cowish, overweight would-be actress with some rather weird hang-ups; then there’s Mr. Scrab who prefers to live under a drain; plus an assortment of other whackos; not to mention the mysterious Vicar, whose sinister presence still lurks in Morbing Vyle eighty years after his death. Yeap, ol’ Morbing Vyle, cut off from the world for eighty years, has a thing for attracting some real fruitcakes. This book contains a set of characters weird enough to have David Lynch, Peter Greenaway and Charles Addams all drooling in envy. Harland has an uncanny ability to conjure up some really weird situations, even darker humour, and some nice macabre touches. The imagery is skilfully handled, characters are brilliantly bizarre –- very leanly written (yes, there’s hardly any padding in this tome) page turner, which I finished in two sittings: recommended.
Ghost Beyond Earth This is another landmark in Australian horror publishing. (These landmarks seem to be popping up all over the place lately … never mind.) Advertising blurb on the cover tells us that this is G.M. Hague’s “Terrifying New Bestseller”, which at best is wishful thinking as I received a review copy of this a couple of weeks before it was due for publication. Then there are the thick pages with a large 12 point Roman font used with bigger spaces between the lines than one usually gets with this type of book. With a smaller font and narrower line spacing this book would have been just over 300 pages, instead of the almost 600 that we get. My guess is that this is a marketing ploy by Pan Macmillan, who must have wanted this to appear like a Stephen King doorstop … seems as though the “punters”, as Arthur Daley would call them, prefer a real thick book, even if it has big writing, so they can swat the mosquitoes while reading it late at night on the front porch. Enough about the packaging and onto some reviewing: this is G.M Hague’s first novel, and, considering this, a worthy effort. This is one guy to keep an eye on in the future. And like most first novels, it “aint Poifect”: as a whole it is uneven and Hague uses a very visual writing technique and incorporates too many movie clichés in his writing for my liking. The ending I found disappointing, especially after all that build up I somehow expected something more. But I’m glad to say that the positives far outweigh the negatives. Ghost Beyond Earth is an entertaining, well paced, and generally well-written novel. And there’s some real chills here too, especially some extremely creepy scenes on the space station. The characters are mostly well-rounded, the dialogue natural, and the build-up is subtle. Overall, a worthy first effort. |
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All material on this site is Copyright 2007 to Chris A. Masters
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