![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/5D7CD5E9-35DC-4F2F-9E58-EB7F631E0CBF.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMidnight Masquerade <\/span><\/em>by Greg Chapman<\/span><\/p>\n IFWG Publishing Australia 2023<\/span><\/p>\n ISBN: 978-1922856432<\/span><\/p>\n Available :\u00a0 paperback, Kindle edition (pre-order, ships Oct. 31)<\/span><\/p>\n Buy:\u00a0Bookshop.org<\/a> |\u00a0Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is my first encounter with Greg Chapman (and I\u2019m sure it won\u2019t be the last).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The present collection, assembling both previously published material and brand new stories, has been, to me, an enticing reading experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In her introduction to the book, Lisa Morton states that Chapman\u2019s\u00a0 spiritual father is Clive Barker, and this already explains many things. But Chapman has a voice of his own, a narrative voice able to scare and to delight, never ordinary and never boring (which nowadays is a rarity, at least for me).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reviewing this collection is both an easy and a difficult task at the same time. You have to read it to understand what kind of writer Chapman is.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So I will simply mention the stories which, to me, really stand out. And I will avoid the use of adjectives such as \u201cunusual\u201d, \u201coffbeat\u201d, \u201cbizarre\u201d, \u201castonishing\u201d etc., although they keep coming to my mind.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe Last Night of October\u201d is a tense and quite\u00a0 terrifying novella, although it may be a bit overlong to fully maintain suspension of disbelief until the very end.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSecond Coming Circus\u201d features a priest facing an abnormal situation which is totally beyond his understanding, while in \u201cOctoberville\u201d, a traveling agent has a car accident in the outskirts of a very peculiar town.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cVaudeville\u201d is a very imaginative tale, blending fantasy and reality, taking place in a forest populated by half-alive, half-dead monsters, hungry for young people\u2019s flesh.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A new collection by Chapman is scheduled for 2024. I\u2019m already eagerly looking forward to it.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reviewed by Mario Guslandi<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Midnight Masquerade by Greg Chapman IFWG Publishing Australia 2023 ISBN: 978-1922856432 Available :\u00a0 paperback, Kindle edition (pre-order, ships Oct. 31) Buy:\u00a0Bookshop.org |\u00a0Amazon.com This is my first encounter with Greg Chapman (and I\u2019m sure it won\u2019t be the last). The present collection, assembling both previously published material and brand new stories, has been,<\/p>\n