The Croning by Laird Barron

The Croning starts off in medieval times with an evil dwarf claiming the baby of the queen unless she can tell him his name. The spy she launches to lsame earn this information fails miserably. Fast forward in time to Donald Miller in the fifties, a descendant of this spy, who nearly is killed in Mexico in a strange ritual while searching for his wife. The story jumps back and forth in time in interval of thirty years, leaving the reader to piece together what has been going on with Don and his wife, who it is clear to the reader but not to Don that she isn’t just an anthropologist that she claims to be. Lurking behind this is a Cthuluian creature known as Old Leech and the servants of Old Leech, who are creatures somewhere in between aliens and monsters.

The prose in this novel is high quality. Laird Barron is a skilled and talented writer, which is evident in this story. The skeleton of the plot is also a good one. Donald Miller gets jostled around by forces greater than him, and the reader can feel his confusion as the story moves along. On the down side, the story is difficult to follow at times. The jumping around in time makes it tough to follow, as well as the holes in Don’s memories. I would also criticize the lack of originality of the Old Leech and his followers, which seem to be taken right out of an HP Lovecraft story. Despite these things, I found the novel to be an enjoyable read, and something that fans of horror fiction will want to read.