{"id":6503,"date":"2019-05-05T12:18:52","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T16:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=6503"},"modified":"2019-05-05T12:18:52","modified_gmt":"2019-05-05T16:18:52","slug":"book-review-spectral-evidence-by-gemma-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-spectral-evidence-by-gemma-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Spectral Evidence <\/em>by Gemma Files<\/p>\n

Trepidatio Publishing, 2018<\/p>\n

ISBN-13: 1947654181<\/p>\n

Available:\u00a0 Paperback, Kindle, Nook<\/p>\n

Spectral Evidence<\/em> is a short story collection that has a bit of something for everyone: old gods, vampires, witchcraft, and even a few stories about monster hunters saving ordinary humans from the deadly extraordinary. The stories, with the exception of \u201cSpectral Evidence\u201d, flow smoothly together, anchored well by short stories about an antagonistic alliance between a mountain witch and two female hunters that are scattered throughout the work.<\/p>\n

It is clear in the dialogue of her characters that Ms. Files does extensive research in each story\u2019s subject matter, from a doomed archaeologist describing the architectural structure of an ancient temple in \u201cA Wish from a Bone\u201d, to the incident report-like format of \u201cSpectral Evidence\u201d, to the medically specific ways a zombie-turning drug affects the protagonists in \u201cImaginary Beauties.\u201d This attention to small details gives a vivid credibility to each storyline.<\/p>\n

There are no wholesome protagonists in these stories: even the hunters are significantly flawed, which actually creates a more realistic portrayal of the archetype than in other works. While Sam and Dean\u2019s illegal activities are opaquely glossed over in Supernatural<\/em> (e.g., stolen credit cards, fake IDs, trails of bodies), for example, Ms. Files\u2019 hunters embrace them, even flaunt them. The opening story of the witch Allfair Chatwin and the hunters Samaire and Dionne (!) Cornish begins in the maximum security unit of a female penitentiary.\u00a0 \u201cCrossing the River\u201d is about the planning of a prison break, and, while there are no heroes here, the character development was compelling enough that I was excited when I realized \u201cBlack Bush\u201d, placed two stories later, picked up where \u201cCrossing the River\u201d left off.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpectral Evidence\u201d is a unique short story. As mentioned, it is in an incident report format, describing photographs and other evidence of an investigation gone horribly wrong. Descriptions do leave more to the imagination, but this choice over actual pictures resulted in a few re-readings to get a complete understanding of what was going on. I admire the attempt of the experimental storytelling, but its format made the story feel out of place with the rest of the selections. It may have been better served in another collection.<\/p>\n

Spectral Evidence<\/em> is recommended for all horror fans. There are many strong female protagonists in these stories, which may appeal to specific audiences.<\/p>\n

Contains: gore, graphic sex, violence, witchcraft<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reviewed by Wendy Zazo-Phillips<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Editor’s note:\u00a0Spectral Evidence<\/strong> is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Stoker Award in the cagegory of Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files Trepidatio Publishing, 2018 ISBN-13: 1947654181 Available:\u00a0 Paperback, Kindle, Nook Spectral Evidence is a short story collection that has a bit of something for everyone: old gods, vampires, witchcraft, and even a few stories about monster hunters saving ordinary humans from the deadly extraordinary. The stories, with the exception of \u201cSpectral<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3802,2608,2889,3801,3667,3299,2363,628],"class_list":["post-6503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gemma-files","tag-monster-hunters","tag-short-story-collection","tag-spectral-evidence","tag-stoker-awards-2018","tag-supernatural","tag-supernatural-horror","tag-witches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6503"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6515,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6503\/revisions\/6515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}