Eric Nash's Blog, page 7

Reviewed: House of Leaves

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski is a brick of a book. Inside is text within text, typed and printed, inverted or spiraling, upside down and downside up. With the initial flick through the many pages comes the knowledge that one has to be committed to read it (perhaps in both senses of the word). The novel is about a house, or it’s about a movie, maybe it’s about the academic work documenting the movie about the house. Oh, and there are two narrators, Zampanò and Johnny Truant, who are mad as cheese. Have I put you off yet? Don’t be. House of Leaves is a great read!

Peter Beaumont, of the Observer, sums HoL up when he says the book is “at once a genuinely scary chiller, a satire on the business of criticism and a meditation on the way we read”. Danielewski’s use of footnotes, appendices, and citations from academic work already in existence, along with quotes from well-known people about the movie itself, reinforces the idea that both the movie and the house exist. This of course then leads the reader to question whether what they have in their hands is just fiction; in this case particularly, it’s a disturbing notion. In addition, the roles of the two narrators complement each other in a similar way as teacher and student. Zampanò’s scholarly yet wholly readable approach, which slowly uncovers more and more about the house, contrasts with the initial light relief of Truant’s viewpoint.

For me, the novel is a modern-day haunted house story, though there are no ghosts between the pages. It opens with the line: ‘This is not for you.’ A warning, and of course, a lure. Danielewski makes the impossible credible by diverting and exploring topics and details most novels would either ignore or lose in an edit. He drops in perfectly timed one-liners or even single words that are so exquisitely gut-twisting that all one can do is smile. The word, house, appears differently to all the other text in the book, like it’s been written on an old typewriter that’s had the arms for those five letters damaged. The effect is a little cheesy at first, but over time it turns into something quite unsettling.

The combination of all this, and much more, makes Danielewski’s debut novel a skilful experiment in unease. But maybe, as the book says, ‘this is not for you.’

The Woodwose And His May Queen

It’s Spring and the wild man has come out to play!

[image error] ©B Anne Adriaens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/b-anne-adriaens/albums)

Featured in the April issue of Terror Tract, The Woodwose And His May Queen is the horrific tale of Gabriel’s return to the woods where memories aren’t the only thing waiting for him.

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086Z7RC7B

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Z7RC7B

[image error]

 

 

 

5 Star Review for Magic!

A lovely reader has given my short story, Magic, its first review, and I am absolutely delighted.

The [image error] [image error] [image error] [image error] star review says, Magic delivers a great dose of dark matter that nourishes the imagination.

This is a fantastic read for those who want a touch of well written menace without the blood & gore. The story engages immediately as the main character strives to put right the relationship with his young daughter, unexpectedly incorporating the darker side of his paranoia that would ordinarily be associated with night demons. But these demons come in wonderfully recognisable yet grotesque guises, some animal some pooka like, coming at him fast and furious in broad daylight.

An intriguing clever story that depicts images that will stay with you well after lights out and demands a second read.

Fancy giving it a go?

Paperback – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0851LL3QY

Kindle – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07R9X72QZ

If you’ve read Magic and enjoyed it, please also consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It makes all the difference.

Stay safe,

Nash

New Edition Magic

My chapbook, Magic, which pits Grange up against the shape-shifting terrors of the Wild Hunt, is now available in paperback at Amazon UK and Amazon US, courtesy of Demain Publishing.

[image error]

April Showers

 

April Showers, an exploration into sibling rivalry and loss, is now available in Aggregate Vol 1 published by Writerfield.com.

As explained in the foreword, the last story, A Night And A Morning, is written in collaboration with a GPT-2 language model trained and released by OpenAI. Interesting concept, which hopefully doesn’t mean I’ll be out of a job soon!

[image error]

Print version

Canada – https://www.amazon.ca/Aggregate-Stories-Intersection-Science-Fiction/dp/B084P21YSV/

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aggregate-Stories-Intersection-Science-Fiction/dp/B084P21YSV/

US – https://www.amazon.com/Aggregate-Stories-Intersection-Science-Fiction/dp/B084P21YSV/

Kindle version

Canada – https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B084NWB7KD/

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B084NWB7KD/

US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084NWB7KD/

Sneak Preview

Ahead of the publication of the Aggregate anthology, the lovely people at Writerfield have made my story, April Showers, available on their website. AS is a story about sibling rivalry and puddles, while Aggregate is a collection of stories ‘at the intersection of science fiction and horror’ featuring a rather special author.

Here’s the link to my story if you fancy a five minute read, https://writerfield.com/april-showers/

 

Publication Review 2019

As 2019 comes to a close, I’d like to thank all my readers for taking a chance and reading my fiction, I hope it was worth it. I’d also like to thank all the editors that believed in my work enough to include it in their publications.

May this year saw the publication of my chapbook, Magic, as part of Demain Publishing’s Short Sharp Shocks! series. In Magic, ex-con Grange races against the shape-shifting terrors of the Wild Hunt for one last chance to see his daughter.

Amazon UK or Amazon US

[image error]

 

In October, when the veil between worlds thins, Horla Horror – the Home of Intelligent Horror published Jake. A tale of summer loving and a haunting from within. “Swimming helped Michael connect with the other person inside his body…” Carry on reading here.

[image error]

 

And in December, Hellbound Books featured my 2014 story, The Red Spot Murders, in their Christmas anthology, Ghosts, Spirits and Specters. If you fancy a haunted house origin story and gruesome horror is your thing, click here.

[image error]

And that’s 2019!

Happy New Year to you all!

The Red Spot Murders

Published today in time for the holiday season, the first volume of the Ghosts, Spirits, and Specters anthology series from Hellbound Books, which features my haunted house origin story, The Red Spot Murders. To find out what waits for you in Flat 314, Solent Heights buy the book here.

[image error]

Jake

“Swimming helped Michael connect with the other person inside his body.”

I’m very pleased to announce that Jake, my new short fiction, is now LIVE on Horla: the home of intelligent horror in time for Halloween. You can read it here.

[image error] image source: Horla.org