There’s nothing here that you can’t get from a dozen other cabin-in-the-woods stories. It’s a rehash of Evil Dead, gothic ghost tales, and the “teenagThere’s nothing here that you can’t get from a dozen other cabin-in-the-woods stories. It’s a rehash of Evil Dead, gothic ghost tales, and the “teenagers go to the woods” slashers. ...more
This is a highly enjoyable short listen. It is read by Roger Clark, who has one of the best “gravelly western cowboy” voices.
The book reminds me a loThis is a highly enjoyable short listen. It is read by Roger Clark, who has one of the best “gravelly western cowboy” voices.
The book reminds me a lot of the Dresden Files. Instead of a modern urban setting, you get the old West. Instead of a whiny young man, the protagonist is a tough-as-nails gunslinger, who is sort of undead. But also kind of not. (The book explains that.) other than that, it is a similar style. The story is narrated by the protagonist with whimsy and sarcasm. The enemies are supernatural beasties. Much of the action is framed around a mystery which needs to be solved.
If you like the Dresden books and Westerns, this will pretty much be the perfect book for you. If you can’t stand either of them, skip it. There’s plenty of other great stuff out there to read. ...more
This wasn’t really what I was expecting and, because of that, it was better. I expected some sort of nautical ghost story. You know, “ghost pirates” aThis wasn’t really what I was expecting and, because of that, it was better. I expected some sort of nautical ghost story. You know, “ghost pirates” a la Scooby Doo or something like that.
What I found in stead was a sophisticated precursor to the weird fiction movement that culminated in people like Algernon Blackwood and H P Lovecraft and continues to this day in the people like Jeff VanderMeer. It was spooky and creepy. It gives a strong reminder that we know less and 1% of the universe and it is probably much larger and stranger than we imagine.
The author spent a lot of time in his young life on boats and it shows in his superb command of nautical language. ...more
I have enjoyed greatly every single book that I have read by Darcy Coates. As I look back at the reviews I have posted I see a field of four and five I have enjoyed greatly every single book that I have read by Darcy Coates. As I look back at the reviews I have posted I see a field of four and five star books. She never seems to disappoint. This book is no exception.
Coates seems to always start with a simple, tried and true (maybe even over-tried) haunted house premise. In this one we meet a woman named Jo who lives next to a house which she has always suspected is haunted. After the former resident leaves in a hurry (don’t they always?), she befriends the new occupant. They become good friends. Slowly, Jo gets pulled into the drama of the house, it’s history, and it’s ghostly inhabitant.
It has taken me a while to figure out what it is that I like so much about Coates’ books. I’ve always vaguely known that it has something to do with her writing. But I couldn’t quite place it. Her stories always seem classic, tried and true. Like there is nothing new there. So, I always dismissed the idea that what I liked most was the specific stories.
I finally figured out that that is inaccurate. Yes, I like her writing. It is crisp, flows well, and conjures her scenes vividly in your mind. But what I really like is that they are not old, tried and true formulas. That is their husk, their broadest form. But what she’s managed to do is fill those old forms with a host of modern themes which makes them very compelling.
In The House Next Door we have the old trope of someone getting sucked into the drama of a friend’s haunted house. But it is also a book about domestic violence. It is about the power dynamic between men and women. It’s also about the assumptions we make regarding those dynamics and how sometimes they are right but sometimes they are wrong. It’s about finding healing when that dynamic goes wrong, violent, destructive. The story is about suffering, madness, and the inability to let go of the past. It is about the damage done by parents with narcissistic personality disorder and climbing out of the whole those parents would place their children in. It’s about the strange and often strained relationships we have with neighbors in our modern communities. Coates isn’t writing the same old haunted house stories. Her writing is very fresh, modern, compelling stuff and it speaks to me....more
Andrew “The Weirdling”
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Books:
weird-fiction
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