Tag Archives: Christmas

December 19, 2024 · 1:00 am

A Review of The Christmas Mourner

Book cover for The Christmas Mourner by Marian McCarthy. Image on cover shows a closeup painting of a few branches of a white Christmas tree decorated with red bulbs. You can see snow gently falling in the blue background.Title: The Christmas Mourner

Author: Marian McCarthy

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 10, 2021

Genres: Holiday, Paranormal, Contemporary

Length: 11 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A lonely Christmas Eve turns lively for mortician Perrie Spock when a late-night mourner shows up at the Rose Funeral Home.

Content Warning: Funeral home setting. Death.

Review:

Christmas ghost stories are one tradition that should never die.

I adored all of the little moments in this tale that showed Perrie’s dedication to her work. She really seemed to be passionate about preserving the dignity of the dead and giving their loved ones a chance to say goodbye in a peaceful, healing place. Grief is never easy, but it can be less difficult if the people surrounding the mourners are kind and compassionate like Perrie was. Look for the small things this protagonist does when she thinks nobody is watching that demonstrate just how much this matters to her. One of the best ones happened shortly after she turned off the light in the viewing room and prepared for a quiet Christmas Eve.

While I understand that this is part of a series and I did not go into it expecting to understand every reference to past events, it would have been helpful for me as a new reader to have a little more backstory on Perrie. For example, why was she so nonchalant the first time a ghost spoke to her? Even a line or two about how maybe she’d had this happen to her before or she expected it for some other reason would have been enough for me to choose a much higher rating as this was a heartwarming read in general.

The world building was sweet and lovely. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of what it feels, looks, sounds, and smells like to interact with a friendly ghost. Anyone who is familiar with ghost stories, especially of the Christmas variety, will know just what to expect here, but that is not a criticism of this work by any means. Sometimes readers – or at least this reader – find comfort in tropes they’ve read many times before. It’s like eating a favourite meal or putting on a soft sweatshirt after a long day in the outside world and relaxing into the moment. That is to say, it’s blissful.

The Christmas Mourner made me smile.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

December 12, 2024 · 1:00 am

Winter Solstice Delights: A Review of Midwinter Magic and Mayhem

Book cover for Midwinter Magic and Mayhem edited by Frances Evelyn. Image on cover is a drawing of a pale-skinned woman who is standing outside in a snowstorm with no clothes on. (You can only see her face, neck, and a little bit of her shoulders). Her straight, dark blonde hair is swirling around her head and she is staring at the audience with a serious expression on her face as the snow blows around her. Title: Midwinter Magic and Mayhem

Author: edited by Frances Evelyn

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: October 15, 2022

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Holiday, Romance, Contemporary, Historical

Length: 199 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

Short stories for the darkest of nights
Midwinter fantasy from award-winning fantasy authors

Witches, demons, spirits and ghosts haunt these pages, tricking, trapping and seducing unwary mortals. Humans, meanwhile, are wielding magic and the spirits for their own ends, with no guarantee of good intentions or great success. Along the way, God and Lucifer wash their hands of us all.

Real-world and epic fantasy rub shoulders with fantasy romance and horror in this new collection of short stories by much-loved authors. Ration yourself to one a night to colour your dreams or binge through them all in search of your next favourite series.

Why so cheap? What’s the catch?
Don’t you worry about that. Just put out your hand and let us take you into the chill of a winter night. What could possibly go wrong?

Content Warning: Migraines. Ancient curses and ancient blessings. Characters drinking alcohol. Hypothermia. Death. I will not discuss any of these topics in my review.

Review:

Prepare for something delightful.

Galyna received warnings in her dreams from one of her ancestors about various forms of danger that were threatening her and those she loved “The Horse Woman.” This was something established pretty early on on in the storyline, so I don’t consider it a spoiler. What I found interesting about this tale is that Galyna’s ancestor had lived so many generations ago that nobody in the family knew anything about her other than these few sparse facts. Imagine getting warnings from someone so far back in one’s family tree. Where the storyline went from there surprised me and made it difficult to stop reading. What creativity! I’d read an entire book about these characters if such a thing existed.

“Daisy” showed what happened when Janie decided to adopt an odd little stray cat that showed up in her garden one autumn. There are so many details of this story that I can’t share without giving away the plot twists, but what I can say is that I loved Janie’s compassion for her new pet no matter how strange life became for the two of them. One of my all-time favorite tropes involves ordinary people performing acts of kindness for those who can’t possibly repay them. There is something so wholesome about someone who simply wants to make the world a better place in whatever small ways they can without any expectations of being noticed or thanked, and I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of reading about these quiet, sweet moments that happen regularly both in fiction and and in real life.

One of the things that frightens me the most about winter is the possibility of getting stuck outdoors in the cold for too long. After Jessica’s car died, she became so hypothermic she fell asleep and then woke up in a bizarre bar in ‘The Spirit of Winter.” Due to the dangerous beginning of this story, I was pleasantly surprised by where it meandered off to after Jessica’s exposure to the cold weather began to affect her so seriously. It was not at all what I was expecting, but it worked well for the characters and plot and gave me multiple hints about how it could be interpreted depending upon how a reader reacts to certain clues.

Midwinter Magic and Mayhem was the perfect read for the holiday season.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 5, 2024 · 1:00 am

A Review of Christmas Inc.

Book cover for Christmas Inc. by Tim Vee. Image on cover shows one row of metal shelves in a warehouse that are stuffed full of boxes. The florescent lights overhead are dimmer than one would expect and give this scene a sad feeling, especially when combined with the fact that there are no people to be seen anywhere. Just what feels like endless merchandise. Title: Christmas Inc.

Author: Tim Vee

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: November 15, 2024

Genres: Fantasy, Satire, Political, Contemporary

Length: about 181 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

When a new US president is elected, and war is declared on illegal immigration, there is one “illegal immigrant” to America firmly in the cross-hairs of this new president, who was always a very naughty boy and was never, not even once, on the nice list.

Christmas Inc. tells the story of Mrs. Claus, four elves, the reindeer, and a little red crab, and their battle to save Santa and Christmas from the forces of greed, hubris, and dysfunction.

Christmas Inc. is an anarchic, subversive, timely, and satirical look at populist politics, greed, capitalism, slave labor, the cult of the billionaire, and (of course) the magic of Christmas.

Content Warning: Reindeer being harmed. Smoking. A detainment camp for undocumented people. A few brief references to waterboarding (but it wasn’t actually shown). Pigeon pie made from pet pigeons. Someone choking on a bone while eating.

Review:

Not even Santa is safe this Christmas.

It takes a lot for someone to end up on naughty list year after year. Santa would much rather see everyone be judged as nice from what I observed! Some of the most memorable passages for me were the ones that explored how the North Pole worked in this universe and what Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves did in the lead up to Christmas Eve to ensure everything ran smoothly. As someone who wasn’t taught to believe in Santa, there were a lot of things about his mythology that I quietly wondered about as a kid when children who did believe tried to figure out how it all worked. It was amusing to see how these characters explained it all and what happened to people who consistently disappointed Santa with their naughtiness.

I thought the satirical elements of the storyline were a little heavy-handed, especially in the beginning. In my opinion, satire works better when it requires some additional work from the audience to figure out what the author is poking fun at. It will be interesting to see if other reviewers agree with me there as I do agree this is a subjective topic and that some readers do need things to be spelled out more clearly in order to understand what’s going on.

With that being said, I enjoyed the thought of Santa of all people being one of people the president targeted as immigrants were identified and removed from society.  One would think that Santa would be loved and admired by everyone who believed in him, but that wasn’t so for reasons I’ll let other readers discover for themselves. This was a fun twist that helped to smooth over the heavy satire in the beginning as it drove home the author’s points.

Christmas Inc. made me chuckle.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

November 7, 2024 · 1:00 am

A Review of Veterans of Love and War: A First World War Ghost Story

Book cover for Veterans of Love and War: A First World War Ghost Story by Steven Glick. Image on cover is a black and white photo of a young, white, male soldier who is wearing an old uniform and, oddly enough for this era, smiling a little. Title: Veterans of Love and War: A First World War Ghost Story

Author: Steven Glick

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, LGBTQ, Historical

Length: 15 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

Dreams and reality merge in this fateful story of a World War One soldier’s homecoming.

Content Warning: Grief, war, and death. Nothing is graphically described,  but World War I was not exactly a cheerful era.

Review:

The destructive forces of war should never be underestimated.

Social conventions can change rapidly over the generations, so I appreciated how clearly Mr. Glick explained exactly what and wasn’t expected from men, women, spouses, and children in the late 1910s as far as how they behaved and what interests they were supposed to have. For example, men were expected to suppress certain emotions no matter what was going on in their lives. These details were important for understanding part of the reason why David, the young soldier who was coming home for a short leave, felt so out of place in the world.

In some other genres, the foreshadowing here would have been too strong, but for this particular tale it was perfect. Claire, David’s mother, had access to so little information about how the war was going or how her son was doing that readers needed these hints in order for her walk home from Christmas shopping to make sense. (It was roughly 1918, after all, and decades away from anything like the Internet to keep families connected during tough times). Figuring out the plot twists in advance wasn’t the point here in my opinion. Instead, I gently followed along as Claire bought some very last minute gifts and worried about her child.

The ending fit the themes of this story nicely. Interestingly enough, it also provided the most mysterious elements of this piece!, so keep reading if the beginning and middle don’t feel like a typical mystery to you. I enjoyed the way the author played around with the expectations of this genre and thought it blended in well with the paranormal and LGBTQ+ themes, too. Sometimes things need to be rearranged a little in order to successfully mix genres together, and it worked quite well here, indeed.

Veterans of Love and War: A First World War Ghost Story was poignant and beautiful.

 

(If you liked this review or want more paranormal World War I stories in your life, go check out my reviews of An English Heaven and The Last Photograph of John Buckley.)

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorised

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

December 28, 2023 · 1:00 am

Christmas for Everyone: A Review of Snowfall

Book cover for Snow Fall: A Prophecy Series Short Christmas Story by Liz Bullard. Image on cover shows a black woman with an Afro standing outside and looking at a large snowy mountain. She’s wearing a warm, dark jacket and looks cozy. Title: Snowfall

Author: Liz Bullard

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: August 22, 2022

Genres: Fantasy, Holiday

Length: 54 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Sometimes spreading holiday cheer leads to a bit of disaster…

In “Snow Fall,” readers are transported to a fantastical world filled with elemental magic and mighty warriors. In this short side adventure, readers are introduced to the world of Zodia and the central characters. The Chosen One, Tabatha, longs to share a piece of her native land with a strange world full of fierce warriors, but her naivete may bring about the opposite of holiday cheer. As Tabatha struggles to control her abilities and spread holiday spirit, she must also navigate the path to doing the right thing in a world filled with danger and uncertainty. Will she be able to make amends and save the holiday season, or will her actions lead to devastation and ruin?

The Prophecy Series, a three-part adventure, is set in a fantastical world rife with elemental magic and mighty warriors. This novella, a short side adventure, introduces the world of Zodia and the central characters.

Review:

Hope is essential for a good life.

Christmas isn’t celebrated in Zodia, so Tabatha has her work cut out for her when she attempts to help the people who live there understand the many bizarre traditions like cutting down trees that nobody in Zodia would think to do for perfectly understandable reasons that other readers should discover for themselves. Some of the most interesting scenes were the ones that explored all of the reactions to this holiday, from confusion to horror to curiosity to cautious joy.

I would have liked to more attention paid to a mistake the main character made that had serious repercussions for the village she was staying in. It involved her performing magic without knowing how to properly guide her powers or ensure that they had the right effect on the land. When her actions destroyed some crops, I was expecting her to be in huge trouble. What actually happened was disappointing due to how quickly everyone around her brushed it off. Just because she’s the Chosen One doesn’t mean that everything she does is the correct choice, after all, so I wish those scenes had been explained better.

Speaking of mixed reactions, I loved the way the characters reacted to each other’s opinions about Christmas as well. There was so much kindness in their interactions, and no one was pressured to feel any sort of way about this new experience for them no matter whether their impression were positive, negative, or somewhere in between those two extremes. This is something I wish were more common in our world as the pressure to express nothing but happy feelings about Christmas can overshadow the moments of joy I might otherwise find in it. Kudos to the author for creating such sensitive and sensible characters!

Snowfall was an interesting glimpse into a new fantasy world.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , ,

December 21, 2023 · 1:00 am

Reporting to Santa: A Review of Hellf on the Shelf

Book cover for Want to read Buy on Amazon CA Rate this book Hellf on the Shelf: A Christmas Short Story by Rumer Haven. Image on cover shows a ceramic toy elf looking up and over at a Christmas tree behind them.

(If anyone from the Top Ten Tuesday community is reading this, it’s a book I mentioned in a Top Ten Tuesday post last December. I saved it for this Christmas season to review!)

Title: Hellf on the Shelf

Author: Rumer Haven

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 3, 2017

Genres: Fantasy, Holiday, Contemporary

Length: 17 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

‘Tis the season for Santa’s elves to deck the shelves, but this one’s on Mom’s naughty list.

No matter where or how she arranges the toy at night to surprise her sons in the morning, Mom wakes to find it just sitting on the shelf each and every time. Are the kids messing with her? Is her husband a traitor? Or is there more to the grinning elf on the shelf than its package advertised?

As Mom keeps trying to make spirits bright this season, she learns the true mystery and magic of Christmas.

Review:

Christmas magic is anything but effortless.

I adored the message of this short story. Too often the holidays are wonderful because women – and especially mothers – perform hours of invisible, unpaid work behind the scenes to ensure that the house is sparkling clean, the kitchen is stocked with plenty of delicious things to eat, invitations have been sent out for the parties organized by women, and there is a large pile of presents beneath the tree to suit everyone’s interests among countless other tasks. This isn’t to say this work is joyless. It can make amazing memories for everyone, but that doesn’t detract from the point that the labor is unevenly distributed and not always done happily. Keep this in mind while reading because it’s an important part of what plays out for one exhausted and confused mom as Christmas inches closer.

The unnamed family featured in this tale were genuinely nice people who loved each other and enjoyed spending time together. That’s not always present in what I read, so I sighed with relief when I realized that the twist had nothing at all do with anyone being unkind to each other. It was relaxing to get to know these characters better and wait to see what marvelous things might await them.

There was a gentle quality to the storyline that I appreciated as well. Yes, there were fantasy elements to it, but they all seemed like stuff that could occur at anyone’s house at this time of the year if that family believed in elves who watch over households and report back to Santa on what they find. I liked the ordinariness of the magical scenes and thought it blended in well with the sort of metaphorical magic that exists in our world.

Hellf on the Shelf was a breath of fresh air.

4 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , ,

December 14, 2023 · 1:00 am

Looking for Monsters: A Review of Forest of Bones

Book cover for Forest of Bones: A Short Winter Horror Story by Jessie Thomas. Image on cover is a close-up photo of someone wearing a black dress and holding the skull of an animal that has two long, mostly straight antlers protruding from its head. Title: Forest of Bones – A Short Winter Horror Story

Author: Jessie Thomas

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 17, 2019

Genres: Horror, Holiday, Paranormal, Contemporary

Length: 53 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

Armed with her well-worn Field Guide to Cryptids of North America and a macabre sense of enthusiasm, Ana’s mission to visit and capture evidence of every known cryptid in the United States puts her on the trail of the elusive Covey Devil. Not many people are willing to spend their winter break looking for monsters, but Ana’s trio of friends seem up for whatever the adventure entails.

Review:

Content Warning: Blood and death.

Cold, dark forests are nothing to fool around with.

I loved the fact that the author chose Christmas time as a setting for this tale. The cold weather and long nights of that time of year in certain climates definitely sets the mood for scary things to lurk in the shadows. No matter how you personally feel about this holiday, there’s something to be said for acknowledging that it isn’t a shiny, happy season for everyone for a wide variety of reasons. I also appreciate the juxtaposition between the audience’s expectations for a Christmas story versus what was actually waiting for the characters in the Forest of Bones.

It was difficult for me to understand why four teenagers who had  only limited camping experience and no self-defence or first aid training so far as I could tell would head into a forest with such a frightening reputation in the middle of the night in December. While the storyline did eventually explain why this happened, I would have appreciated far more details about how this was supposed to look and how all four young women, one of whom was extremely nervous about the trip, were convinced to take such serious risks with their health and safety when they could have just as easily gone on a warm June afternoon with a much larger group of explorers instead.

Speaking of the ending, it was exactly what I thought it might be. It was nice that the author trusted the audience so much to connect the few clues about what was going on. Not everything always needs to be spelled out directly, and in this case it was much more fun to be a little confused at first than to have everything explained before it strictly needed to be.

Forest of Bones – A Short Winter Horror Story made me shudder.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 7, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of When Sam Met Santa and Other Stories

Book cover for When Sam Met Santa by Samantha Moon by J.R. Rain. Image on cover shows Santa flying in his sleigh pulled by reindeer against a full moon.Title: When Sam Met Santa and Other Stories

Author: J.R. Rain

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: November 12, 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Holiday, Contemporary

Length: 43 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

 

Santa’s surprise visit, a backroom deal, a rare map, and someone’s been really, really bad. Five holidays tales, including an all-new Samantha Moon short story!

“When Sam Met Santa” – When Santa Claus shows up at Samantha Moon’s door, it’s hardly the strangest thing that’s ever happened to her. What happens next, however, is another story…

Also included:

“The Santa Call” – After accidentally forgetting his wife at home during a weekend getaway, ol’ St. Nick returns to discover she’s left him. At wit’s end, Santa turns to a radio talk show for some much needed love advice. But will he win Mrs. Claus back in time to save Christmas?

“The Deal” – Where does Santa get his coal for all those stockings? You’re about to find out.

“The Christmas Map” – Purchased from eBay, one young adventurer is about to discover if this map really does lead to Santa’s village.

“Santa Snitch” – Sometimes the Big Guy has to step in to deal with those who grow up to be really, really bad…

Review:

Content Warning: Life-threatening illness in a child, and a small amount of blood in one story.

Since the blurb already provided brief descriptions of every stories, I’ll stick to sharing my impressions of them in this review. The interesting thing about “When Sam Met Santa” was how it turned many common beliefs about Santa – among other magical beings – on their head. It reminded me of how gossip can take a sliver of truth about someone and wildly distort it into something that is all but unrecognizable in the end. Of course humans would do this to Santa, too!

“The Santa Call” was a humorously accurate snapshot of radio culture and advice programs. Regardless of how you feel about that sort of entertainment, it was well done.  I liked the brusque manner of the Love Doctor as well as how Santa responded to him when he refused to help. The deep dive into Santa’s personal life and problems with his wife and elves was also worth reading.

Mr. Rain tends to write pretty dialogue-heavy stories, and this technique worked especially well in “The Deal.” It involved a conversation between a buyer who urgently needed more coal and a seller who quickly grew more mystified by the details their client was providing. Due to how short this one was, I can’t say much else about it without giving away spoilers other than to note I wish more details had been included as there was a lot more the author could have done with such a concept.

Anything can be bought online, and if you’re a character in “The Christmas Map” it might even be the real deal! I appreciated the fact that the author was willing to write such naive and selfish characters for this one. Those were exactly the personality traits needed to take the Christmas map seriously and try to see if the village drawn on it really existed. With that being said, I did find myself wishing more time had been spent exploring why these characters behaved this way and what might have happened to them in the past to explain it. Not having that information made it harder for me to connect with them than I would have liked to see.

Can I give “Santa Snitch” a little extra credit for using the name Earl for its protagonist? That name is sorely underused in modern fiction in my opinion, and it gives me a thrill every time someone decides to use it. As everyone knows, only good kids receive toys on Christmas Eve. This tale expounded on that idea by introducing readers to a man who had been on the naughty list for many years. This was the darkest instalment in the collection, and I only wish more time had been spent developing  Earl’s backstory and explaining why he was in such big trouble.

When Sam Met Santa and Other Stories was a gentle, playful look at Santa lore.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , ,

November 23, 2023 · 1:00 am

Making Good Choices: A Review of Snow

Book cover for Snow by Howard Odentz. Image on cover shows a blue-washed photo of an old man with a white beard who is standing in a snowstorm. There is a hood covering part of his face and not much else can be seen. Title: Snow

Author: Howard Odentz

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 12, 2016

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Holiday, LGBTQ, Contemporary

Length: 34 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Words to live by: Never steal from a drunk in the woods.

An epic and sudden blizzard is blanketing Mount Tom Regional High School . . . in October. A dangerous man is stalking the hallways, and three teens harbor a secret that may get everyone killed if they don’t figure out how to stop the snow and the rampage.

Review:

Content Warning: Drug and alcohol use, inebriation, bullying, violence, a little blood.

Nothing remains a secret forever.

This is one of those tales where it’s best to avoid all spoilers in advance. Yes, some readers might figure out the twist ahead of time, but I’d hope that everyone else would allow themselves to be surprised if possible. There is something to be said for that in my opinion, especially when reading an author who has taken as many creative liberties with his subject matter as Mr. Odentz has. He did an excellent job of providing a few clues early on without totally giving it all away, and I enjoyed the process of seeing if my first impressions of what I was about to read were correct.

I was disappointed by the way the ending fizzled out. The beginning and middle were so strong that I went into the final scene expecting the same sort of pacing and plot twists. There was so much more the author could have done with those pages, and I would have happily gone with a much higher rating if he’d taken his premise to its logical conclusion.

All of the main characters were bored teenagers who regularly used various substances and refused to obey authority figures. I struggled to relate to them due to how wild they were and how often they tested the boundaries of everyone around them, but I also thought they were accurate depictions of the sort of teens who make these types of life choices. Not every character is going to be lovably and cuddly, after all, and it was interesting to see how they reacted once the dangerous man arrived at their school.

Snow was a fun autumnal read.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

November 9, 2023 · 1:00 am

Winter Worries: A Review of Driving in the Dark

Book cover for Driving in the Dark by Jack Harding. Image on cover shows a dark country road from the perspective of someone driving on it at night. You can just barely make out the road, the pine trees on either side of the road, and the starry night sky above. It is all very, very dark as if this is set in a very rural area where few people drive. Title: Driving in the Dark

Author: Jack Harding

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 6, 2021

Genres:  Psychological Horror, Paranormal, Holiday, Mystery, Contemporary

Length: 24 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and 29 year old analyst Riley Coupland has just wrapped-up work for 12 whole days. There’s something in his bag. Something silver, something shiny and glittering with hopes and dreams of a bright and beautiful future. The only thing standing between him and his soon to be fiancée Emma is his arduous, mind-numbing drive home.

But something isn’t right. His phone, his hearing, the music, the traffic, everything just seems out of sync and off, and Riley can’t quite put his finger on it.

All he has to do is keep his eyes on the road…

All he has to do is take it slow…

In this brooding and deeply moving short story by Jack Harding, buckle up and settle down for a journey that will stir your senses and pull on your heart strings, keeping you guessing right until the end of the road.

Review:

Content Warning: Car accident.

There’s no better feeling than finally getting to rest after weeks of hard work.

Riley’s character development was handled nicely. There were times when I connected with him and other scenes when I was irritated by how distractible he could be. Yes, it’s understandable to lose focus on a long drive home after working all day, but as an experienced driver he knew that this was one of his faults and that a cold winter night is not the best time for daydreaming. Characters don’t have to be perfect to be memorable, though, and I’ll certainly remember him for a long time.

I thought there were too many clues about what was going on during Riley’s long, lonely ride home as his Christmas vacation began. Anyone who is already familiar with certain horror tropes will probably figure out the twist pretty early on. As that was a major part of what made this story so interesting, I would have loved to been challenged to figure it out with less foreshadowing. This was especially true near the beginning when there was a throwaway line that all but told the audience exactly what to expect.

With that being said, this was a great example of why psychological horror can be so effective at frightening its audience. Sometimes all you need to feel fear is to imagine driving down a quiet winter road at night when hardly anyone else is out and the night sky looms overhead menacingly. There are plenty of ways such a journey can go wrong without any classic horror antagonists showing up, and I though the author did a good job of showing how sometimes the most ordinary experiences in life can also be the most horrifying ones.

Driving in the Dark was chilling.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,