Status Updates From Strange Epiphanies

"It was, she reflected, a threshold; and it made her ponder, not for the first time here in the islands, on the frailty of civilization and our craven. dependence on its trappings."

No doubt the trappings are Margaret's wine, whiskey, and smokes. But if I were living on a haunted island, I would probably want the first two, anyway.

From the title to the last paragraph, Nostalgia, Death, and Melancholy weave a cohesive triptych of . . . well, just what the title says. This is the kind of tale that seems to meander until you find you're on a one-way path and there's no other way, yet the plot didn't feel forced in the least bit. There's an emotional depth here (nihilistic, to be sure) that one doesn't often find in horror shorts. Five *

While reading "A Midsummer Ramble in the Carpathians" I was mostly listening to the black metal band Reverorum ib Malacht. There could not be a more appropriate soundtrack to this gothic novella redolent with illness, dreadful forebodings, and sweeping vistas of dark beauty. I hate mentioning the "V" word, but Transylvania + illness + wolves + Vlad = . . . well, you do the math. This was an amazingly realized story.

Note to self: quote last para, p. 132.

I've read a lot of creepy doll stories in my day, but "Inheritance" has to be among the best. The creepiness is beyond bounds, but what makes the story marvelous is it's strangely redemptive ending, an unexpected conclusion that, through its banality, pushes the story into the transcendent. You may have read a creepy doll story like this, but the resolution is nothing like anything you've read. Five *.

"An American Writer's Cottage" was just plain scary. I've put the book down, but every flash or shadow has me spooked. I'm hoping to never discover any heretofore-unseen attic doors in this house. I can't even think about that right now. Time for me to go hide under the covers until I can sleep.

"The Light of the World" has a sense of completeness that is hard to describe. It is wrapped up very neatly, perhaps just a touch too neatly, but only enough to strain credulity a bit, definitely not enough to ruin the tale. A satisfying read about destiny and connections across time and space. Having lived in both the UK and Italy, I greatly appreciated the settings, which Bell illustrates perfectly.

"M.E.F." is pretty much perfect from beginning to end. I tend to like creepy stories that hint and infer, rather than openly shock. There's a certain warmth to the narrator not only accepting fate, but gently, smoothly easing into it. A kind of radiance of oncoming ineffable transformation suffuses the story. It glows with grayness. Five stars for this wonderfully gloomy, yet comforting story.

"Resurrection" ticks off all the checks on the folk-horror list. Quite predictable, but still well-written. The emotional state of the protagonist at the end is an interesting twist. Four stars burning in effigy for this little tale.

Just setting out on this journey.