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Book Review: Those That Pursue Us Yet by Kyla Lee Ward

Cover art for Those That Pursue Us Yet by Kyla Lee Ward

Those That Pursue Us Yet by Kyla Lee Ward

Independent Legions Publishing, 2023

ISBN: 9791280713797

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

Those That Pursue Us Yet is a pretty well-written but frustrating novella.  The wording is very good, and the descriptions and settings are well-done, but the plot feels like a bit of an afterthought, and the minimal dialogue doesn’t help move it forward.

 

Almost the entire book takes place in dreams, which is both good and bad. The good is that it allows the author to get away with some pretty wild things that aren’t possible in reality, but the bad is that it makes the whole story seem disjointed.  There are a lot of good set pieces, but it starts to seem like the story is done more for that purpose, as opposed to driving a narrative forward.

 

In the story, Wander and Madeline, patient and shrink, are two women caught in a weird kind of dream hell whenever they fall asleep, as they are pursued by an entity, Phobetor,  Unfortunately, there really isn’t any information given to flesh out Phobetor as a character. It’s simply there.  Both Madeline and Wander can manipulate their dreams to some extent, although they aren’t supposed to pass beyond some sort of metaphysical barrier, as that puts them in Phobetor’s range.  They have safe areas, symbols to link to different dreams, and so on. If it sounds kind of confusing, it is. The whole story is focused on brief moments of wakefulness spaced among numerous dream sequences, and it just doesn’t feel cohesive. More dialogue and keeping focused on the plot would have helped.

 

The author has talent: many of the dream sequences are really well written.  The beach scene of skulls was well done, and the sections in the catacombs beneath Paris were also excellent .  The story just needed the same amount of attention paid to the characters and the narrative as to the descriptions and settings.  This might have been something pretty impressive.  As it is, it feels more like an art piece that a select few will get blown away by, and everyone else will just not understand.

 

Bottom line: This will probably find a niche audience that regards it as brilliant, but other readers may want to skip this one.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

 

Posted on April 30, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: The Taxidermist’s Lover by Polly Hall

cover art for The Taxidermist's Lover by Polly Hall

The Taxidermist’s Lover by Polly Hall

Camcat Publishing, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-0744303810

Available: Hardcover, large print paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook (Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com)

 

There are books that just spin into something unique, something that could either crash and burn or catch fire and pull the reader into the pages from the opening chapter. The Taxidermist’s Lover claims to be a modern gothic horror novel, yet it is a bit more than that. Its brave form and writing elevates it from your typical horror yarn.

 

Polly Hall has penned a different sort of novel, with a second person point of view that, while not typical, works well for the story of Scarlett in her love with husband, Henry. Henry has the odd profession of a taxidermist, which obviously seeps into the relationship that undoubtedly turns twisted.

 

The readers follow the strange couple, along with twin sister Rhett and rival Felix, as true love has consequences.

 

Henry has a predilection for creating “special” animals for Scarlett, often mashups of beasts both beautiful and grotesque. She comes to develop a fondness for them, despite their nightmarishness.

 

As Scarlett’s psyche begins to fracture, the story spirals into a hypnotic ellipse that in lesser hands, would fall apart.

 

Hall has created a thing of beauty, with poetic prose that entrances as the sparse story and dialogue swell into a fever dream.

 

Recommended for all gothic horror fans, especially those who enjoy literary fiction.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Editor’s note: The Taxidermist’s Lover is a nominee on the final ballot of this year’s Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

Posted on May 17, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Hexis by Charlene Elsby

Editor’s note: Straight up, Monster Librarian needs $45 to cover hosting fees. I mean that is the absolute base. To revamp our static site would be a much larger cost but this is what we need to keep moving forward. We are one of the oldest horror fiction review sites online. If you find any benefit at all to what we do, I really need the financial support. I can’t do it all alone. Please use the link to Bookshop.org to purchase the books we review through our affiliate storefront or contribute through PayPal  using the red “contribute” button in the menu on the right to support our work. And now our review of Hexis by Charlene Elsby.

Cover art for Hexis by Charlene Elsby

Hexis by Charlene Elsby  (Bookshop.org)

CLASHbooks, February 2020

ISBN: 9781944866525

Available: Paperback, Kindle

 

Hexis, the slickly crafted debut novella from Charlene Elsby, is entertaining, while using almost none of the conventions of typical horror writing.  Linear stories, easy to follow happenings…they don’t exist here.  Instead, you get a down-the-rabbit-hole journey into the inner mind and musings of a seriously disturbed lady.  This is what might have happened if Aristotle and Timothy Leary had decided to pool their intellectual resources to create their own version of serial killer Aileen Wuornos.  Sound insane?  So is the book.

 

Hexis is written in an extremely vague, open-ended fashion, so much so that even describing the book is difficult, a lot of it will depend on how the reader interprets it.  It seems to be about a lady who is never even named, so for this review, she’ll be called ‘X.’  X had a crummy relationship with a man at some point in her younger years, so she killed him.  From time to time as her life progresses, the man shows back up in her life, so she kills him, again…and again…and again.  The End.

 

If only it were that simple.  Due to the vague way this is written, even determining what actually happens will depend on personal perception.  Is he somehow brought back to life each time, forcing her to kill him again?  Is she simply killing people who look like him, and her deranged mind fills in the blanks to make it seem like the same person?  Does the whole thing take place completely in her mind, and none of it really happened?  No explanation is ever given, and that’s the enjoyable part about the book; the story allows the reader to decide what actually happened.  The whole book is an introspective study of X: what she feels, her anti-social tendencies, how she perceives her reality, or lack of it.  The story does not move in a linear fashion; it’s more akin to jumping in and out of the river of time at different points, for a brief moment.  Some of those moments are loaded with graphic sex and violent, gory killings, and that’s about the only nod to conventional horror writing.  This is written to appeal to a certain type of horror fan: the ones who like a lot of psychology and musings, and aren’t as interested in fast-paced plots that zip from Point A to Point B.  It’s a very well written piece of work, it just works best for a certain type of reader.  The book works best if you read a chapter or two at a time.  Take a break, think about what you just read, what it means to you, and what you think happened.  Then, read another chapter or two, and prepare to have your cerebrum twisted yet again.  Trying to burn through this book cover to cover in a sitting or two won’t work, you really need to take the time to think about it and enjoy it.  Otherwise, you’re missing the point.  This is meant for you to ponder over, not have everything explained and handed to you.  That’s why it’s so much fun, you can almost mold the story to your own liking.  It’s an unusual way to write, and makes for an “out there” reading experience.

 

Also worth noting is the author’s ability to write long passages that at times, don’t really mean anything at all… but they sound really good.  It’s not just rambling for the sake of wasting pages, it’s done to sound incredible, without really saying much at all.  It’s as if the words are no longer words, they are musical notes that form a melody, and it’s a quite a melody.  You may find some meaning, or it may mean nothing at all, but the melody sounds beautiful.  It’s not something you find often in horror writing; I really can’t think of any other examples to compare it to.  Well done, and truly original.

 

Bottom line: if you are looking for something that is truly unique and different from a standard horror novel, and you want a mind-breaker of titanic proportions, this is the way to go.  If you prefer straight-ahead stories where all is explained, look elsewhere.  It will be interesting to see where author Elsby goes next; she’s got an original and enjoyable style.  Highly recommended, for the reader type mentioned.

 

Contains:  graphic violence, profanity, graphic sex

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on December 9, 2020 by , Reply
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