{"id":8970,"date":"2021-11-06T17:08:03","date_gmt":"2021-11-06T21:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=8970"},"modified":"2021-11-06T17:11:23","modified_gmt":"2021-11-06T21:11:23","slug":"book-review-thanatrauma-by-steve-rasnic-tem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-thanatrauma-by-steve-rasnic-tem\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Thanatrauma by Steve Rasnic Tem"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Thanatrauma <\/em>by Steve Rasnic Tem<\/p>\n

Valancourt Books, 2021<\/p>\n

ISBN: 978-1954321052<\/p>\n

Available : Paperback , Kindle edition\u00a0(\u00a0\u00a0Bookshop.org<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Amazon.com<\/a>\u00a0 )<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Steve Rasnic Tem is an iconic author of horror fiction who doesn\u2019t need any introduction. Any new book written by him is an event for any lover of dark fiction.<\/p>\n

The present collection assembles seventeen previously published stories and four original tales, most of which are imbued with a sense of dread– the curse of getting old and the feeling that death is waiting just around the corner. What else can be more horrific than that?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0 gloomy title story, \u201cThanatrauma\u201d, sets the tone by portraying a widower\u2019s gradual downfall after the death of his beloved wife. Similarly, \u201cSaudade\u201d is a perceptive, melancholy tale about a lonesome widower taking a cruise.<\/p>\n

The angsty \u201cA Stay at the Shore\u201d is the distressing report of a long train ride to an untraceable beach by an elusive ocean , and\u00a0 \u201cAugust Freeze\u201d is a veritable nightmare, depicting how a house set in the middle of nowhere becomes prey to cold and freeze, whereas all around it a glorious summer is at its peak.<\/p>\n

In the disturbing \u201cForwarded\u201d, a man returning home to celebrate his brother\u2019s retirement finds himself overwhelmed by the memories of a long gone past.<\/p>\n

To me the two best stories in the book are the outstanding \u201cThe Parts Man\u201d, an insightful piece about a man making a supernatural deal to briefly bring back to life some\u00a0 deceased family members (for a price), and the disquieting \u201c Reflections in Black\u201d, depicting how on a Halloween night a man is allowed to fleetingly see a lost love from his past.<\/p>\n

Although some themes tend to recur, the collection remains an upsetting but engrossing ride provided by a master storyteller.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanatrauma by Steve Rasnic Tem Valancourt Books, 2021 ISBN: 978-1954321052 Available : Paperback , Kindle edition\u00a0(\u00a0\u00a0Bookshop.org\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Amazon.com\u00a0 )   Steve Rasnic Tem is an iconic author of horror fiction who doesn\u2019t need any introduction. Any new book written by him is an event for any lover of dark fiction. The present collection assembles seventeen previously<\/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":[1356,2699,495,5039,2363,5040],"class_list":["post-8970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-death","tag-grief-in-fiction","tag-short-story-collections","tag-steve-rasnic-tem","tag-supernatural-horror","tag-thanatrauma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8970","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=8970"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8973,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8970\/revisions\/8973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}