A Review of The Quarry, by Mark Allan Gunnells

The Quarry by Mark Allan Gunnells

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I now consider myself a Mark Allan Gunnells fan, even if I am not quite a horror fan. The Quarry is a "tale of ancient evil" set on the campus of a small private school, Limestone College, in Gaffney, SC, where there IS an old limestone quarry, now filled with water. These are places Gunnells knows well. He grew up in Gaffney and went to Limestone College, and he uses this intimate knowledge to make this a richer, a more textured tale.

The Quarry, as locals call Lake Limestone, is a character itself, with secrets hidden in its watery depths. They say when the mine closed in 1951 an underground spring filled the Quarry in days, forming Lake Limestone. But some locals know otherwise and they aren't telling. When some thirty years a chunk of land falls into the lake, these men remember the secret hidden below, and are glad that "swimming, fishing, and even boating are prohibited on the lake."

Flashforward to 2010. And we know that what lurks down below is still there. But Emilio Gambell, a Limestone student doesn't, nor does his best friend, Dale Sierra--Dale who decides to break a few rules and go scuba diving into the Quarry at 1 a.m. in the morning. Dale is one of those who likes to not only push the envelope, but break through it on occasion. When two hours pass, the amount of air in Dale's tanks, Emilio panics and starts pulling his friend back up. When Dale finally surfaces, something is wrong: "somehow he's lost his tanks and mouthpiece and even his LED light. He had only one flipper, and there was a tear in the left arm of his wetsuit" (24). Dale is weeping and muttering, "It kissed me." He shrugs off Emilio's help, refuses to talk about whatever trouble he had run into down below and goes home to sleep. Emilio watches as "the darkness slowly swallowed Dale, and Emilo was left alone by the lake" (25).

And so this dark tale begins and darkness continues to swallow the innocent and the damned. Emilio knows things aren't right with Dale, and enlists the aid of Dale's girl friend, Connie, for help. Dale's violent repulsion of their help confirms this, but he was tired, he was injured--he'll get better, right? Emilio becomes desperate to help his friend and at the same time, continue to live his student life of classes and work, and deal with his alcoholic mother and come to terms with his homosexuality. Connie wants to believe Dale is better, that he is still her lover. Dale knows better: something is happening to him, he is missing hours of time, and the Quarry keeps drawing him back. Then a student disappears. And another. Things get more complicated for Emilio when he meets and falls in love with a campus security guard as Dale's behavior gets worse--breaking things off with his girlfriend, telling, then begging Emilio to stay away.

Darkness has come out of the depths for this small little college in a small South Carolina town. Gunnells skillfully and gracefully weaves together these different narrative threads of friendship, love, coming out, growing up, and a malign and old evil into a compelling and layered story. Emilio's drunk mother blames him for her ruined life and humiliates him time and again. Norman, the guard who becomes Emilio's boyfriend, is trying to work at a job that is getting increasingly dangerous and go to school. Dale, whom Emilio describes as a "sweet guy who went out of his way to make everybody feel included," becomes suspect number one for murder and kidnapping. These layers--the back story, the tangential narratives--make this a rich novel and the horror all the more terrifying. The mundane, the normal craziness of life, coupled with an evil that is almost beyond comprehension, that has waited centuries to be set free. Events, mundane, ordinary, sweet, and dark and light, culminate in a terrifying climax. Does evil win--or lose--and what price must be paid, what sacrifices will have to be made?

This is a compelling novel by an up-and-coming novelist. I hear there is a sequel coming. I can't wait to read it.



View all my reviews