Some Recent Horror Recommendations

A few hasty words on the cream of the crop of horror books I've read over the past few months:

The End by Gary McMahon (UK | US)
Stories about the end of everything are rarely light reading, but trust Gary McMahon to come up with an apocalypse that's even bleaker than anyone else's (with the honourable exception of Cormac McCarthy). The End begins with an epidemic of suicides and things only get grimmer and more violent from there on in. The scenes of society collapsing are some of the best I've read, chilling, plausible, gut-wrenching. Often these kind of stories limp to a conclusion as the author writes themselves into a corner: the world's ended, now what? But McMahon caps The End with an effective denouement, that manages to turn the screw one more time.

Born With Teeth by Conrad Williams
I loved this collection of short fiction by Conrad Williams (one of the highlights from the many books I picked up at last year's Fantasycon). Williams's fiction is intricate, atmospheric, and at times inordinately creepy. His prose is constantly a delight even as it leads us through the dark events of the stories here. Nearly every story is worthy of your time, but my own favourite pieces were Recycled, Haifisch and The Pike. 

The Lost Film by Stephen Bacon & Mark West (UK | US)
The Lost Film is a collection of two novellas, one by Stephen Bacon and one by Mark West, both dealing the same theme: that of lost films. Bacon's story, Lantern Rock, references both Hammer and Amicus early on, and his tale is very much in the spirit of those films. His two protagonists are seeking out the director Lionel Rutherford who lives as a recluse after his son died years before. Gradually revealing its secrets, this is a fun, atmospheric story. Mark West gets to follow that, and he does so by doing something very different. The Lost Film has a noir feel to it, as a PI is hired to track down the director of a film which sends people mad... There's some truly chilling imagery and ideas at play in this one, especially concerning the few snippets of the film itself that are uncovered. A very different story to Bacon's but one that contrasts it nicely.

Recent Recomendations

Some books that have rocked my world recently:

Leytonstone by Stephen Volk: I reviewed this for This Is Horror, and it's an utterly fabulous story about a young Alfred Hitchcock. If you were worried whether Volk could equal the superb Whitstable, rest assured: he bloody well did.

Within The Wind, Beneath The Snow by Ray Cluley: another review for This Is Horror, and another belter. Cluley's latest is a compelling novella set in the arctic. If you liked Michelle Paver's Dark Matter (and if you didn't, I'm very disappointed in you) then you'll like this.

The Derelict by Neil Williams: a deliberately old-school, nautical horror story, this one was like a mixture of Conrad and MR James. It's a quick read and thoroughly engrossing whilst it lasts.

Glass Coffin Girls by Paul Jessop: a collection of bizarre short stories, chock full of strange imagery and out of context fairy tale references. If you like Robert Shearman and Helen Marshall(and if you don't, I'm very etc.) you'll like this.

Recomendation - Drive by Mark West

Mark West’s latest novella is in some ways a departure from the author’s previous work; there’s none of the supernatural horror of The Mill here. But despite its realism there are scares aplenty in Drive and its small-town English realism adds to the effect. Drive’s set up is simple: David and Nat are on their way back from a party; they've never met before but David has offered Natalie a lift home. On the way, they encounter a group of drunk and possibly high boy racers in a souped up car, who they see nearly run over some women in the street. Almost at random, David and Nat are targeted by these youths, and the two spend the rest of the night driving round the estates and one-way system of Gaffney, attempting to flee their pursuers, who become increasingly violent and unhinged.

It’s a tense ride indeed for the reader, and ideally one read in a single sitting with no pit-stops. The story is pared down, barely giving you room to breathe. The characterisation and changing relationship between David and Nat is well done, occurring for the reader in the brief windows between the action. By contrast, the yobs with their laddish banter and blaring music are presented with no back-story, no real explanation for their acts. This seems a deliberate ploy by West, emphasising the essentially random nature of the violence, and giving the car that pursues David and Nat some of the impersonal, relentless horror of the truck from Duel. (It’s certainly a more inventive and original reworking of that theme than the recent Stephen King/Joe Hill collaboration.)

In short this is another impressive work from West, who seems to be mastering the novella form. Published by Pendragon Press, and available both as an ebook and as a limited edition paperback, this one is very much worth a test drive.