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Book Review: Goblin by Josh Malerman

Goblin

 

Goblin by Josh Malerman
Earthling Publications, October 2017
ISBN: Not available
Available: Limited edition numbered hardcover copies, direct from publisher only

 

It’s the time of year when horror is in the air, a celebrated author is called up, and Earthling Publications turns out another Halloween masterpiece. This year, the newest superstar in the genre, Josh Malerman, takes the helm and delivers one of the best offerings in the history of the series. Malerman, fresh off the success of his second novel, Black Mad Wheel,  and the news that his novel Bird Box will soon be a major motion picture, displays consummate skill in Goblin, a book comprised of six novellas all taking place in the small town of Goblin, Michigan.

 

Goblin, Michigan is Derry. It’s Oxrun Station. It’s Cedar Hills. It’s Green Town. It’s all of us in our hometowns, and yet, it’s something brand new.. Think of Goblin as Derry’s disturbed little brother, filling the reader with uneasy pleasure from cover to cover.

 

“A Man In Slices” shows that friendship can be a tricky concept, as a boy does whatever he can to help his lonely friend, at any cost. “Kamp” is a lighter tale, about a man petrified of a seeing a ghost. Everyone in Walter’s family has, and he knows his time is coming. How he copes with the expectation will make many readers feel a bit better about their own issues with  things that go bump in the night.”Happy Birthday, Hunter” displays the heart and obsession of a man who cannot give up the hunt. Nash’s addiction comes to a boiling point during his 60th birthday party, when he decides to kill Goblin’s most prized game in the north woods, a place from which no one ever returns.”Presto” is a love affair with magic, the oldest and darkest kind, where a young boy seeks to learn the secrets behind his favorite performer in a story that channels classic Bradbury.”A Mix-Up At The Zoo” details the inner struggle of Dirk, a man who switches jobs to become a tour guide in a zoo, a far cry from his other employment in the slaughterhouse. He finds a talent for understanding the mighty beasts within the cages but feels a certain darkness brewing when he drifts off in thought. In “The Hedges,” mazes, both ones built out of corn and the famed topiary in the film version of “The Shining,” emerge. Young Margot claims to have solved the unsolvable creation by Wayne Sherman.  What she finds at the end causes her to alert the Goblin police.

 

The mythology about Goblin’s history is richly drawn within these stories and connects them effectively, with a style that keeps the pages turning. Malerman has created a town that may even be darker than something that King, Grant, and Bradbury have created. Goblin should be listed on every horror reader’s itinerary, with the lights turned low and the night breeze creeping into the room. An incredible Halloween find for all. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on November 1, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman


Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman
Ecco, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0062259684
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook
 

When  Bird Box hit the horror scene three years ago, readers discovered a new voice. Lyrical, rhythmic, and brutal, Josh Malerman wrote like a musician carving away at an album of great songs. The result was a true original that should have won the Bram Stoker award.  Malerman is the singer and guitarist of the rock band The High Strung, and in this second novel, Malerman has used his experience to pen a novel about the power of music, both good and bad.  Black Mad Wheel is incredibly accessible, with strong characters and a narrative that flows like the best classic rock and roll.

 

In the post-World War II era, the members of The Danes, a band with a one-hit-wonder, are looking for their next big thing. They find it when an officer from military intelligence makes them an offer that could put them all back on the path to wealth. The officer claims there is a “sound” emanating from the African desert that can disarm any weapon, but can also destroy a human in a horrific manner. The band accepts, and heads to the desert to find the source of the sound.

 

Meanwhile, in a parallel story, Phillip Tonka awakes from a long coma in a strange hospital, unable to move. Nearly every bone in his body is broken. He is a miracle to those who care for him. Ellen, his nurse, begins to unravel the mystery of what is happening to him, and why he is still alive and healing at a rate that is physically impossible. Both stories weave around each other like a great vocal riding atop a harmony, a guitar riff alongside a backbeat rhythm that can transform the simplest of songs into something magical. What the band finds in the desert is something most won’t see coming; Phillip’s tale is both mysterious and thrilling, and, as Malerman develops the bond between the man and his nurse, heartwarming as well.
Black Mad Wheel proves that Josh Malerman wasn’t a one-hit wonder. The story is just as enticing as Bird Box, with as much heart as horror. Do not miss this. Highly recommended. This ranks near the top of any thriller written about music.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on July 30, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: I Can Taste The Blood edited by John F.D. Taff and Anthony Rivera

I Can Taste the Blood  edited by John F.D. Taff and Anthony Rivera

ISBN-13: 978-1940658728

Grey Matter Press, 2016

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

This anthology contains five stories, or “visions”, all written with the same title: I Can Taste the Blood. The editor gathered five authors, each presenting a unique take on the phrase, which originated from graffiti in the bathroom of a dive bar, which read “I can taste the blood.”

The first vision, by Josh Malerman, is the story of Rab, a traveler who begs for help at the home of Madmannah, Sammi, and their child, Aart. It is a windy night when the desperate traveler knocks on their door and demands shelter for a short time. At the encouragement of their visiting friends, they admit the stranger into their home. Rab then tells them the story of how he came to be in their humble abode, what is chasing him, the horrors that he faced in this person’s presence… and what he has done. Everything is not as it seems with the traveler, or with the entity pursuing him.

The second vision, by J. Daniel Stone, is one of violence, underground snuff films, and heroin. Bok can’t escape the clutches of Laurenz, an elderly German man with a taste for extreme violence who creates films to feed his urges. Bok discovers, through his lover Jared, that the old German’s films hold a transformative contagion. As a warning, this story is extremely explicit in its depiction of bloody violence, snuff film material, and sex.

Joe Schwartz presents a vision of a man who earns his keep as a hired strong-arm for someone known simply as Caretaker. The man and his partner, Joe, kidnap a young woman as she leaves her home. We get a series of short memories of crimes he has committed when he first started in the “business,” and snapshots of his personal life. As the story returns to the present, and the kidnapped woman, things don’t quite go as planned for the dastardly duo.

Erik T. Johnson’s vision tells of Canny, who is trying to cope with his strange mother and her death… I think. I read and reread this story a few times, and I’m still not sure what to make of it. It reads like a stream of consciousness piece, and Canny’s thoughts are incredibly disjointed. There are subtle, perhaps too subtle, connections between his thoughts. At times I felt like I should be getting more from this story than I was, but things just weren’t connecting for me. I will say it is very poetic, and there is a lot of rich imagery in this story. Just be prepared for an exercise in attempting to follow a lost man down the rabbit hole.

The final vision in the anthology, by John. F.D. Taff, is probably my favorite out of the anthology. Merle, a divorced father of one, lives in the small town he was raised in, where he knows everyone and everyone knows him. One evening at the local bar, his friend, Gun, points out a bandage on his arm. Merle doesn’t remember giving blood, but the alcohol he loves so much tends to make him forgetful. Things change that night, when the two men venture to the VFW for the weekly spaghetti dinner. Merle gets very sick, and experiences disturbing and hyper-realistic hallucinations. What happens to him in the following days is enough to make anyone crazy. He struggles with his illness, he sleeps for days on end, his ex-wife is a constant nag, and all he wants to do is see his daughter. Oh, and his hands are growing teeth.

I Can Taste the Blood is an incredible anthology, full of nightmare fuel. I don’t recommend it for squeamish readers, though. There are times where the material delves into uncomfortable themes, or it just gets gross. If you don’t like transgressive dark fiction, this won’t be your cup of tea. If you do, dig in. You won’t be disappointed. Recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, sexuality, torture, rape, body horror

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker


Posted on October 7, 2016 by , Reply
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