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Gardens of Night
GARDENS OF NIGHT is the extraordinary new novel by Greg F. Gifune.
Recovering from a violent trauma, Marcus Banyon comes to perceive a different reality. Has he suffered a psychotic break as his doctors suggest? Or have his eyes been opened to forces long hidden from the rest of humanity? As he and his wife retreat to an isolated cabin, Marc's visions lead them to an ancie...more
Recovering from a violent trauma, Marcus Banyon comes to perceive a different reality. Has he suffered a psychotic break as his doctors suggest? Or have his eyes been opened to forces long hidden from the rest of humanity? As he and his wife retreat to an isolated cabin, Marc's visions lead them to an ancie...more
Paperback, 196 pages
Published
October 31st 2010
by Uninvited Books
(first published October 2010)
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From my blog: http://serialdistractions.com
Still recovering traumatic incident of seemingly random violence, Marc Banyon, along with his wife and best friend, travel to a secluded cabin in the New England woods to relax and forget their troubles for a time. But while there, Marc experiences violent and perverse visions of three women who hold his destiny in their hands and call to him to complete the cycle that he began in his home on that fateful day. What is real and unreal, vision and reality...more
Still recovering traumatic incident of seemingly random violence, Marc Banyon, along with his wife and best friend, travel to a secluded cabin in the New England woods to relax and forget their troubles for a time. But while there, Marc experiences violent and perverse visions of three women who hold his destiny in their hands and call to him to complete the cycle that he began in his home on that fateful day. What is real and unreal, vision and reality...more
This is a very ambitious work to say the least. Dipping into a myriad of religious and mythological concepts, Gifune weaves a complex tale that sets reality against illusion in a profound way. The protagonist Marc, a victim of a horrific crime, discovers he has walked through a door into an alternate understanding of the world around him. This new understanding is similar to what theorists call Simulacra and Simulation. Arguing that all of society has replaced true meaning with symbols and signs...more
2 AND ½ STARS
I was a big fan of Greg F. Gifune's "Children Of Chaos", but this new book had me underwhelmed. I thought the characters were complex and engaging, but after the first 70 or so pages, things began to deteriorate. The thoughtful and poetic writing soon bordered on the pretentious. Author Gifune began to throw in abstract images, dreams, and random, repetitive voices to the extent that I was not the least bit scared and stopped caring about the characters he so finely crafted in the...more
I was a big fan of Greg F. Gifune's "Children Of Chaos", but this new book had me underwhelmed. I thought the characters were complex and engaging, but after the first 70 or so pages, things began to deteriorate. The thoughtful and poetic writing soon bordered on the pretentious. Author Gifune began to throw in abstract images, dreams, and random, repetitive voices to the extent that I was not the least bit scared and stopped caring about the characters he so finely crafted in the...more
WOW!!! That about sums up what I feel about Uninvited Books initial offering, the simply stunning new book by Greg F. Gifune "Gardens Of Night".
If you want to plumb the depths of the human soul where suffering, anguish, pain and madness reign you won't find a better place to start than with Greg F. Gifunes "Gardens Of Night". It is in my opinion one of the darkest, most disturbing books I have ever read. I was literally shaking, with my mouth hanging open saying to myself, "Did I actually just r...more
If you want to plumb the depths of the human soul where suffering, anguish, pain and madness reign you won't find a better place to start than with Greg F. Gifunes "Gardens Of Night". It is in my opinion one of the darkest, most disturbing books I have ever read. I was literally shaking, with my mouth hanging open saying to myself, "Did I actually just r...more
Gardens of the Night is a haunting and melancholy work of psychological horror that strikes a deep nerve in the reader's psyche. Marc and Brooke, a married couple are survivors of a brutal home invasion and sexual assault that has left Marc particularly damaged. Drifting out of hospitals and mental institutions, he hears sounds and voices that haunt his dreams and lead him to believe that the world is far more complex and dangerous than we imagine. At the urging of his wife and friend, the three...more
Probably the only book that almost brought tears to my eyes that I can remember reading in the past 5 years.
This slowly brooding and terrifying tale of a man deeper descending into psychosis is at once scary, horrifying ( with a couple of disturbing scenes of hardcore horror thrown in - although don't expect this author to delve as far into the gross-outs as a Lee, Jacob or Curran) , surrealistic and sublimely beautiful.
All of the characters in this book become people of flesh and blood. The ha...more
This slowly brooding and terrifying tale of a man deeper descending into psychosis is at once scary, horrifying ( with a couple of disturbing scenes of hardcore horror thrown in - although don't expect this author to delve as far into the gross-outs as a Lee, Jacob or Curran) , surrealistic and sublimely beautiful.
All of the characters in this book become people of flesh and blood. The ha...more
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Wishful thinking by a mad Literature reader who discovers a world of powerful darkness within himself. Is it a head injury? Is it complete insanity, caused by unbearable losses? Or is it he has stepped into the veiled portal invisible to most of us until tragedy rips the veils aside? Strong atmospheric language laced with the poison of horror and despair, this is not the book for depressives. However, it will expose the mythmaking process of a human mind in distress and provide a window into the...more
We're VERY pleased with the critical response to this book.
“Suspense builds and builds until you’ll practically be climbing the wall.”
~ Nights & Weekends
“This is dark fiction as it is meant to be written.”
~ Literary Mayhem
“Works on so many levels and Gifune succeeds brilliantly on all of them.”
~ Horror World
“An eerie, disturbing tale of violence and redemption.”
~ Shroud Magazine
“Magnificent.”
~ Tomb of Dark Delights
“Suspense builds and builds until you’ll practically be climbing the wall.”
~ Nights & Weekends
“This is dark fiction as it is meant to be written.”
~ Literary Mayhem
“Works on so many levels and Gifune succeeds brilliantly on all of them.”
~ Horror World
“An eerie, disturbing tale of violence and redemption.”
~ Shroud Magazine
“Magnificent.”
~ Tomb of Dark Delights
A good work of horror with hypnotic prose and engaging characters. Still, I couldn't help but think I was reading a short story that was artificially lengthened into a novella. There's no reason this story couldn't be told in 20 pages.
Well written. Spare language used to maximum effect. Symbolism and mythos are richly explored. I reviewed this for Shroud Blog.
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The son of teachers, Greg F. Gifune was educated in Boston and has lived in various places, including New York City and Peru.A trained actor and broadcaster, he has appeared in various stage productions and has worked in radio and television as both an on-air talent and a producer. Earlier in life he held a wide range of jobs, encompassing everything from journalism to promotions.An acclaimed, res...more
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“Hans Christian Andersen said 'Every man's life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers.' Maybe he was right, maybe not. Either way, just remember: enchanting as they may be, in fairytales the forests are always dark.”
—
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