A Head Full of Horror

It was with great sorrow that I recently read horror author Thomas Tessier had died on March 26th, at age 78. Tessier was a rare writer, respected by those in the genre as well as critics outside of the horror community. His prose was seductive, often in the literal sense of the word, since he didn’t shy away from embracing eroticism. With his seminal work, The Nightwalker (1979), Tessier redefined the werewolf novel by bringing it into the modern age with its carnal canine uncanniness. The protagonist is bestially brutal and spellbinding. To honor Tessier’s memory, I have selected a short story that exemplifies the author’s ability to captivate. “Blanca”…

Making the decision to review Payback, after receiving a copy from a publicist, came with a question: Is this novel by Elizabeth Rose Quinn, applicable in subject for a horror fiction website? The book is published by Thomas & Mercer, a publishing house geared to the mystery and suspense genre. Payback indeed falls squarely into that category. There are nods to Agatha Christie, especially her renowned novel And Then There Were None, and one of the principal characters employs mentally manipulative machinations comparable to those of Hannibal Lecter. There are also major hat tips to the Knives Out series of films. After finishing Quinn’s narrative, I was left with another…

These Familiar Walls by C.J. Dotson is a horror novel that posits an interesting question: Does aberrant behavior in adolescence signal a mental health warning in adulthood? Of course, the term “aberrant” is subject to interpretation. And, as author Dotson splendidly points out, juvenility is difficult even for those who are very grounded. In the case of protagonist Amber, who was an insolent preteen in 1998, navigating those years left scars. Embittered and distrusting, the adult Amber in 2020 now must cope with the Covid pandemic while moving back into her parents’ house, which she inherited after they were brutally murdered. Joining her for the transition are her fireman husband…

Catriona Ward is an author who likes to mess with readers’ heads. I have referred to her as “The Mistress of Marvelous Misdirection” largely for her excellent use of unreliable narrators in previous novels (https://aheadfullofhorror.com/little-eve-by-catriona-ward/). With Nowhere Burning, Ward’s narrative is structured in a manner in which the trajectory of the plot bends and turns onto itself, a literary version of a mathematical non-orientable surface. It thus mirrors the topological Möbius strip that poetically symbolizes, among other things, a fluid connection between outer reality and an individual’s inner world. If that sounds intellectually burdensome, bear with me. The book’s unusual construction is certainly a stylistic element of note, and the…

Horror aficionados may find the sentimentality of Valentine’s Day unseemly. There is, however, a way to cope with the hearts and flowers. Read Sweetheart, Sweetheart by Bernard Taylor. There is an abundance of flowers, especially an ominously fragrant variety of rose, featured in the narrative. And as for hearts, a formerly beating one is gifted as a wedding present. The novel’s first-person narrator David passively summarizes: “It’s so important to be loved, to be needed.” David is an expat Brit who has lived in New York for eight years. During the last two, he formed a romantic relationship with a fellow teacher named Shelagh. They live together, but David has…

My first reaction after finishing The Body by Bethany C. Morrow was that the novel’s themes could be simplistically distilled in two words: infidel and infidelity. Mavis, the protagonist in the narrative, is familiar with infidelity in her sexual relationships. And in the congregation led by her judgmental and controlling parents, she is perceived as a religious infidel. Deeply embittered by such experiences, Mavis isn’t the most likeable of characters. She is, however, extremely introspective and expressive. This renders her accessible on an intellectual basis. For psychological self-preservation, she is the architect of a precariously structured emotional edifice. Thus, Mavis is already on shaky ground when the supernatural intrudes and…

Were you aware that the Society for the Study of The American Gothic has pointed out that January is International Gothic Reading Month (IGRM)? It was news to me. I looked at the suggested reading list that corresponds to the observance and while I questioned some of the selections being labeled Gothic, there was no quibbling about the inclusion of Daphne du Maurier’s quintessentially Gothic novel Rebecca. The celebrated author was renowned for creating suspenseful narratives in which the central character is consumed by compulsion. Often her driven-to-distraction protagonist is female, but in the case of “The Apple Tree” the central figure is a man. A man who becomes obsessed…

Horror fiction icon Robert Bloch (1917-1994) had an often-quoted quip: “I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” Indeed, Bloch had a deliciously deviant sense of humor. Irony permeated his writings, and the ending of his short story “The Night Before Christmas” exemplifies Bloch’s penchant for twisted wit. Originally published in the seminal anthology Dark Forces edited by Kirby McCauley in 1980, the tale remains shocking and consummately Blochian. The narrative is told in retrospect by an artist in Los Angeles who receives a commission to paint a portrait. Although reluctant to engage with the shipping magnate who requested his…

The collection of stories featured in The Dark Will End the Dark by Darrin Doyle display a fondness for the surreal. There’s a sense of reverence for Franz Kafka, most particularly his famous novella “Metamorphosis,” in which the protagonist wakes up transformed into a giant insect. Doyle’s writing also exudes a fondness for the Theater of the Absurd, finding a sort of solace in the comedic aspects of preposterously taxing situations. Reading fifteen tales in this vein can become rather repetitive. Perhaps that’s why I am choosing to focus on one story; a yarn that differs from the rest in terms of more detailed characterization, and more depth in general.…

The Christmas ghost story is a component of horror fiction. Knowing that made me wonder about ghost/horror stories pertaining to Thanksgiving. Did such things exist beyond the standard Thanksgiving non-fiction anecdotes of a party going disastrously awry, or an accident involving a frozen turkey? I turned to the Internet and found AI suggestions regarding slasher movies that seize upon various holidays, Thanksgiving included, for subtext. And was also guided to regional folk tales that purportedly took place on the day. Digging deeper, I happened to find a reference to a Joyce Carol Oates short story that had the title “Thanksgiving.” I tracked it to a collection of her stories published…