Dark Awakenings

by Matt Cardin

From its earliest origins, the human religious impulse has been fundamentally bound up with an experience of primordial horror. The German theologian Rudolf Otto located the origin of human religiosity in an ancient experience of "daemonic dread". American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft asserted that weird supernatural horror fiction arose from a fundamental human psychological pattern that is "coeval with the religious feeling and closely related to many aspects of it." The American psychologist William James wrote in his classic study The Varieties of Religious Experience that the "real core of the religious problem" lies in an overwhelming experience of cosmic horror born out of abject despair at life's incontrovertible hideousness.

In Dark Awakenings, author and scholar Matt Cardin explores this ancient intersection between religion and horror in seven stories and three academic papers that pose a series of disturbing questions: What if the spiritual awakening coveted by so many religious seekers is in fact the ultimate doom? What if the object of religious longing might prove to be the very heart of horror? Could salvation, liberation, enlightenment then be achieved only by identifying with that apotheosis of metaphysical loathing?

This volume collects nearly all of Cardin's uncollected fiction, including his 2004 novella The God of Foulness. It contains extensive revisions and expansions of his popular stories Teeth and The Devil and One Lump and features one previously unpublished story and two unpublished papers, the first exploring a possible spiritual use of George Romero's Living Dead films and the second offering a horrific reading of the biblical Book of Isaiah. At over 300 pages and nearly 120,000 words, it offers a substantial exploration of the religious implications of horror and the horrific implications of religion.

Contents:

FICTION:
- Teeth
- The Stars Shine Without Me
- Desert Places
- Blackbrain Dwarf
- Nightmares, Imported and Domestic
- The Devil and One Lump
- The God of Foulness

ESSAYS:
- Icons and Supernatural Horror: A Brief History of the Angel and Demon
- Loathsome Objects: George Romero's Living Dead Films as Contemplative Tools
- Gods and Monsters, Worms and Fire: A Horrific Reading of Isaiah

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Lovecraftian, Weird Fiction, Fantasy, Religion

319 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2010

About the author

Matt Cardin is a writer, pianist, and Ph.D. living in North Arkansas. He writes frequently about the intersection of religion, horror, creativity, and the supernatural.

His books include Writing at the Wellspring, What the Daemon Said, To Rouse Leviathan, and A Course in Demonic Creativity: A Writer’s Guide to the Inner Genius. His editorial projects include Horror Literature through History and Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti. His work has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, long-listed for the Bram Stoker Award, and praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Asimov's Science Fiction, Thomas Ligotti, and others. His blog/newsletter is The Living Dark .

Reviews

[John H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first became aware of Matt Cardin after reading his introduction to the collection of interviews of Thomas Ligotti called Born to Fear. His intro piqued my curiosity enough to seek out some of his short fiction or collections, my subsequent purchase of this book being the result.

Dark Reckonings is a collection of seven short horror stories and three essays that I've been looking forward to reading since I first heard of it. Looking at the description of this book and you can see why I anticipated reading it: praise from highly regarded authors of the weird such as Ligotti and Barron is something to take note of; alone, that is cause for me to want to at least check it out - ignoring the subjects of the collection, which is what first made me purchase it in the first place.

I'll leave a more in-depth description of the subject matter of the book, and his similarities to Ligotti and Lovrcraft, to somebody more articulate that I am; as stated on the dust jacket "What if the object of religious longing mighty prove to be the very heart of horror? Could salvation, liberation, enlightment then be achieved only by identifying with that apotheosis of metaphysical loathing?" One more quote by Lovecraft that I found interesting that is used in the first story:

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

The actual book itself is fairly nondescript and average, at least compared to some of the other small-press books I've bought this year. I've never bought a book from Mythos Books, so I always find it interesting when I try a new publisher since I'm slowly learning about books and how their made. The book is cloth bound in blue and gold-foil stamped on the spine with a white h/t bands. There might have been a ribbon marker, I can't say for sure since I found a loose one next to the book but don't remember it having one. The dust jacket has some nice art to it that I might have seen from an issue of Postscripts - maybe, it also looks a somewhat low-resolution. Plain end sheets are used and the paper used is about the same thickness as other books I've bought, the finish is more smooth and non-matte also. I did find the formatting of the text on the page to be odd, the page numbers are centered at the bottom but doesn't seem properly spaced relative to the edge of the page.

I'll update this review the more I read of the book. Having only read one story all I can say is the prose is mostly functional, nothing too special so far. Though I've admittedly read far more "sequential art" books this year than books of prose or poetry I'd say he's middle of the road in terms of prose, though comparing him to writers like Thomas Ligotti, Gene Wolfe, or Sebastian Barry is very unfair.

Having finished the seven short stories and two of the essays so far I can safely say that this is one of the best short story collections I've read. The more I read the more I began to like his prose, I still think its somewhat plain but there are some great moments, for example some of the descriptions of the main character's thoughts as he was on the verge of a revelation.

One criticism I've heard about Cardin's two collections, Divinations of the Deep and Dark Awakenings, is that they can be repetitive in theme. While reading each of the seven short stories I could see the similar thematic elements but never was I bored or wanting to get a story over with due to disinterest. There's a couple sub-genres of horror represented such as Corporate Horror, Occult, Cosmic, Comedic etc.

A few of my favorites were:
The Stars Shine Without Me - An employee of the Brand Corporation finds out his reason for employment after years of ennui filled inactivity and mindless doodling.
Nightmares, Imported and Domestic - An artist lives another life while he dreams. A series of accidents inspire him to create his masterpiece.
The God of Foulness - After the worldwide appearance of a cult who worship their God made flesh - in the form of the diseases afflicting the members of the "body" - a reporter is assigned to investigate and find out more about the cult.
Of all the stories I'd say that six were very good to excellent; one, The Devil and One Lump, wasn't really to my liking, mainly because I've never been much of a fan of comedic horror. It was still a decent story.

The first essay is about the origins and usage of Angels and Demons in Supernatural Literature. Interesting to see how an Angel is used in one of Cardin's own stories The Blackbrain Dwarf. Good essay. The second essay is a spiritual analysis of Romero's zombie trilogy. Never been a big fan of the trilogy, decent essay though. The final essay, which surprisingly might be my favorite, is a horrific reading of parts of Isaiah from the Bible.

Overall an excellent collection of short stories and essays. I need to get my hands on Divinations of the Deep sometime soon because I'm itching for more stories of a similar vein. Either that, or wait for the eventual release of the omnibus edition of both Divinations of the Deep and Dark Awakenings, along with new fiction, called To Rouse Leviathan - whenever that may be.

"No boundary means no escape."

#1 - Texas

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intersect between religion and cosmic horror has always seemed, to me, a natural one. Unfortunately, too few have bothered to explore the possibilities. Well, Matt Cardin, who I believe has a Masters in Religious Studies, in Dark Awakenings, has done just that. The book is an unusual one, in that the first part of the book is devoted to short stories, and the last third given over to essays on horror and religion. The short stories are, for the most part, excellent. The essays all hold up nicely as well, showing Cardin to be quite thoughtful about subjects that are largely ignored by academia. A few brief comments below:

"Teeth." Good opening act, though I was thrown a bit by narrator, Jason, in the first few pages, who has a purple vocabulary that borders on fairy tale archaic. But things settle down quickly, as Jason gets sucked into another student's demented notebook. Cardin tosses a lot of intellectual baggage around in this one, maybe a tad too much, but the horrific payoff is well worth it.

"The Stars Shine Without Me." A man working for the Brand Corporation sits around doodling all day. He does this for years, until he gets the call to see the Big Man himself. It's kind of like Kafka meets Phillip Dick. This story might be the best written in the collection, and something that could easily appear in an adventuresome literary magazine. It goes beyond genre, and is really outstanding.

"Desert Places." A man returns from a self imposed exile to confront a couple of friends, one a former lover, who betrayed him in the past. There may be one more betrayal in store, but the man has learned a few things. Excellent.

"Blackbrain Dwarf." Good use of the double here. A small town lawyer isn't going to take it anymore. Not at work. Not at home. This one had that weird Jim Thompson feel to it. Brutal and unpredictable. Excellent.

"Nightmares, Imported and Domestic." This one was written with another writer. I couldn't get into it. It was like a tone thing, given the preceding stories. I can appreciate a writer showing range, but this one didn't work for me -- though it is well written. At 30 pages or so, it was a major disappointment.

"The Devil and One Lump." I didn't like this story. It's pretty slight given the previous stories, and could of easily been left out. It's only 10 pages or so.

"The God of Foulness." This one started out a little awkwardly, as the narrator, a reporter, goes on for several pages talking about what a prodigy he is. But things quickly settle down, as he investigates a weird religious cult called the Sick Seekers. They're sick all right. This one reminded me a bit of Laird Barron's powerful and dark novellas. Very Lovecraftion (as is the collection as a whole) and very dark. Excellent.


Essays.

I'm not going to on too much with these. They are all interesting and well written.

"Icons and Supernatural Horror: A Brief History of the Angel and Demon." Cardin covers a lot of ground, touching on history, scripture, and popular culture. I learned some things.

"Loathsome Objects: George Romero's Living Dead Films as Contemplative Tools." I was only so so on this one. Cardin does do a good job explaining "Day of the Dead," a movie I've never really cared for.

"Gods and Monsters, Worms and Fire: A Horrific Reading of Isaiah." My favorite essay. Cardin admits up front that he is isolating and analyzing only a few chapters in a much larger composition. But those chapters are indeed horrific, written with devastating economy and power. The selected chapters are more disturbing than anything a horror writer can crank out. Check out 66:24.

Cardin is a writer to watch for.

[Adam Nevill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the combination of philosophical and religious ideas with cosmic horror absorbing. With Lovecraft and Ligotti lighting this approach in the past, it was great to read a new author who really goes for the bigger themes around existence and consciousness. All the stories reach for the numinous, and the perpetual threats of chaos are really well wrought.

I enjoyed the essays as much as the fiction because you can't beat a really good essay, written by an authority, on something that interests you: the history of the angel and demon and their respective interpretations in horror, a Buddhist reading of George Romero's first three undead films, and parts of the old testament as a horror story. Quality.

Lovely Mythos edition too, so I suggest jumping on those still available.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cardin has been called one of Ligotti's children, but despite the pejorative nature of the term, there is some truth to it. Not because he apes or mimics Ligotti, but instead has learned from that master the art of synthesising one's worldview and philosophies with the work. And Cardin's work can be absolutely stunning. Tales like "Teeth" and "Desert Places" are more ambitious than what nearly all his contemporaries are attempting. My own despair is the knowledge that this volume won't be given near the attention it deserves. Recommended highly to any fan of thinking horror, and for anyone willing to look beyond life's reflecting glass to see what horrible truths lie unadorned there.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprises of seven (and previously uncollected) short stories of cosmic/weird horror and three essays: "Icons of Supernatural Horror: A Brief History of the Angel and the Demon", "Loathsome Objects: George Romero's Living Dead Films as Contemplative Tools" and "Gods and Monsters, Worms and Fire: A Horrific Reading of Isaiah".

I skim read the first essay and didn't bother with the other two (I wasn't familiar with the original material they referred to) but the short stories were just sublime.

Cardin demonstrated his deep understanding of the genre and what makes a good horror story. "Teeth" is a quintessential cosmic horror tale that is perfect in almost every way. One I would recommend to someone new the genre as a good way to sample what it is all about. "The Stars Shine Without Me" a great piece of corporate horror up there with the best I have seen from the likes of Ligotti and Samuels. In the stories "Desert Places" and "The God of Foulness" we see the author explore the view that life itself is a foul putrescence and itself a source of horror. He turns the idea of a guardian angel on it's head in "Blackbrain Dwarf" (although in light of his essay on the history of angels perhaps restores its original conception). And there's even a humorous, semi autobiographical (perhaps?) story in "The Devil and one lump".

Cardin writes prose economically, urbanely and engagingly. I found myself quickly drawn into each of the stories and enraptured from start to finish. Clearly influenced by the likes of Lovecraft and Ligotti although he writes less verbosely than the former and less obliquely and surreal than the latter.

Reading this collection makes me hungry to track down more fiction that he has written. Unfortunately there does not appear to me a huge amount so here's hoping that he publishes some more soon...

~ Revisiting the collection around ten years later ~

I very much enjoyed all the stores the second time around, pretty much as well as I did the first time. Again, I look about for more of his fiction but it seems that he is mostly known for his published criticism in the genre rather than for his own contributions to fiction. Still, I'm glad to have this collection and look forward to reading again in another ten years!

[Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://tealiterarylove.blogspot.com/2...

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is some ‘teeming’ kaleidoscope that is in this story that conjoins my own via some common daemon muse, I sense. It allows me not to worry about things I could be doing if I weren’t doing something else. Thanks, story.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[Liv Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the idea of horror as a genre, but I find I'm very picky when it comes to reading it. And that's probably because I cut my teeth studying the genre under the likes of Matt Cardin. Ghosts and jumpscares are all very well, but let's just say I'm still a little unnerved by the concept of teeth 15 years after reading one of the short stories in this volume.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non nonsense: old-school in writing, lovecraftian in approach, with a unashamed quoting and speaking of philosophy, bridging the existential gap (which is, in truth, a bridge) between horror and philosophy and opening thus the abyss of the terror of the absolute.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted very much to like this book. From the promotional material: "What if the spiritual awakening coveted by so many religious seekers is in fact the ultimate doom? What if the object of religious longing might prove to be the very heart of horror? Could salvation, liberation, enlightenment then be achieved only by identifying with that apotheosis of metaphysical loathing?" That certainly got my attention. Unfortunately, the writing isn't is good as it needs to be for a subject as ambitious as this. It's not awful, just...passable. A few examples: "He cut off my look of blank confusion with more words." "I took the notebook and examined it while my mind whispered the word 'anticlimax.'"
"More than anything else, those years had taught me that the confusion I had felt upon the death of my former sense of identity with a life mission was merely the front end of a long initiation into the arbitrary caprices of the inner life." Paragraphs tend to begin something like: "To my deep dismay, etc..." or "To my astonishment, etc..." I found myself too distracted by examples like this to get into the stories themselves.

[Henrik]

Oct. 26, 2010:

I've read the first two stories in the collection. I am suitable impressed!