M. Rickert (1) (1959–)

I was approved to receive an e-Galley ARC of The Shipbuilder Of Bellfairie, authored by M. Rickert, cover artwork by Tithi Luadthong, cover design by Vince Haig, interior design, editing and layout by Courtney Kelly and proof-reading by Carolyn Macdonell-Kelly, from Edelweiss and Undertow Publication. What follows below is my honest review, freely given.

I rated this novel 5 stars. This is a title I pre-ordered, and it has arrived before release date; I want to mention how gorgeous the show more physical copy came out! The craftsmanship and care the publisher put into the title helped bring this story to the height it deserves to reach, just a beautiful pairing.

This is a novel that leaves a soreness that radiates like a bruise perpetually pressed by an unseen hand, a wound from which your emotion fountains, a forever weeping part of you now. The main character Quark is the lost child that can be found in so many of us, where a bruised smile and faraway eyes are part of the everyday dress. To hear remarks to the more painful remembrances of his childhood from Bellfairians, not even uttered with affection or apology, more almost in an offhand way after not seeing him in town for years, it just gouged something from me. The impression, this claustrophobic panic that grips you as the reader, is that you can never escape the corner you’ve been backed into when you’ve live in a small town. Even if you have left, as Quark did, all that is reset to how they remember and treated you. And he is a disadvantage, poor Quark, a gentle giant without emotional armour to deflect even the softest of volleys. But as his initial reason for returning to Bellfairie lead to an unexpected result, and then dubious happenings cause the town folk to look to him in distrust, the volleys do not remain soft, growing barbed and poisoned.

The author’s voice is magical and mournful in turn, I found myself swept up in the ‘truestory’ of Bellfairie with Coral one chapter, and rudderless beside Quark turning over a new corner of his own forgotten history the next. “Grief is a ship without a captain” will be a phrase I remember to the ends of my nights, even now it brings a prick of tears to my eyes because it immediately causes me to think of Quark, tipping his hat. His hat, oh how my heart dropped over his hat too (when you know, you’ll understand)! Even now, I am horrified, broken by the indecision I have over Quark. And that final chapter, leading me to the most poignant, just brutal final two sentences. They ended the book so beautifully, I adore and abhor them with the very essence of my being, I am that extra over this, when I finished the book and I honestly just teared up again dammit. I closed the book and couldn’t do anything for several minutes, I didn’t want to end the moment. This is horror that is tied to our humanity, it will not shake from your shoulders easily, but you may find you welcome it as I did. The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie is a modern classic of horror, mark my words, and M. Rickert will be a lasting voice. show less

I received a copy of this novella from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Roanoke Syger is an aspiring horror writer with a troubling past. One Christmas she and four strangers gather to memorialize their favorite diner. They exchange cheap gifts and tell ghost stories. One that captivates them all is the story of the Krampus. Then they drift apart as “friends” forced by circumstance are want to do. Decades later, they once again meet to celebrate Christmas, but now a show more mystery looms over the party. Is everything as creepy as Ro feels it is, or is she just a paranoid horror novelist? In addition, exactly what or who is Krampus?

When I received this novella from the publisher, I was ecstatic. I am a huge Krampus fan. I have been to Krampusnachts around the country and I even have a mask to hang on the wall. There is just something about the monster that is appealing to me. Maybe because during a time of year of magic and jocularity, Krampus reminds us that the night is longer than the day and that there are consequences to our actions. Krampus is the antidote to too much Hallmark Holiday Cheer ™.

Yet, this is not the kind of Krampus story I was expecting. Not even, close. Instead of a long-tongued holiday demon, this is a look at the monsters around us. The demons we walk past every day and ignore. The monsters waiting for the chance to strike, but we are too naïve to see them.

Despite the initial slight disappointment, I found myself really enjoying this novella. M. Rickert has a good voice in their prose. There was this sense of dread that was pervasive throughout. Even in the most mundane scenes, there was a feeling that something was just off. As if we were reading seconds before a corpse was discovered. It made for a gripping page-turner.

I definitely recommend it. If this winter you are overdosed on holiday cheer, then give it a read. It will put thoughts of jingle bells out of your mind and make you appreciate the Christmas lights that hold back the winter night. show less

Holiday is a themed collection of short stories and novellas by Mary Rickert aka M. Rickert, winner of the Nebula, International Horror Guild, World Fantasy and Crawford Awards. Dark fantasy, magical realism, myth and (quiet) horror -- though, I dare you to read Mary's stories and fit them into just one tidy little box. And don't expect simple, literal "holiday" stories; think, Joe Hill's exploration of "ghosts" in 20th Century Ghosts. From the Introduction:

"Not everyone has happy holidays; show more the stories collected here are not, for the most part, what I would call happy. I am inclined not to call them sad either...People sometimes find my stories strange, but what could be stranger than life? For me, I choose to celebrate the strange, the misshapen, the forgotten, even the inevitable death. For many people this is not what holidays are all about. For me, this is what everything is about. (ix)"

I absolutely loved that I had no idea where each story was going. So often I find myself, without conscious effort, predicting what's happening, where it will end. Not the case with Holiday. I'd recommend this collection to anyone who favors the darker side of fiction with deeper meaning, heart and maybe even truth, but only if they don't mind mashed up genres or ambiguous endings.

4.5 stars

After The Memory Garden and now this collection, I must read everything I can get my hands on by Mary Rickert. show less

"What happens when the Krampus come?" "Chaos."

After her family are murdered and the family house burns to the ground, Ro finds herself at a diner during the holiday season. There she meets 4 other people, all strangers, all alone. She invites them to an impromptu Christmas dinner where they share holiday ghost stories…

What Ro doesn’t know, all the years later when they all meet up again at the home of Grayson, that sometimes stories are more true that the imagination can comprehend. And show more that the monsters are real.

This novella is a nestling tale with a perfect atmosphere. And the ending of this story is indeed shocking. But this is less a creature holiday feature with Krampus at the center and more of a psychological horror tale of suspense that examines the cruelty of human nature. This is a tightly packed and elegantly told novella and yet it left me wanting more. And I'm not gonna lie, it isn't really a Krampus story per se. We don't see the horned beast terrorizing the characters and whipping them like we do in the movies. Here Krampus serves as a metaphor for Ro's chaotic life.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this novella. But it is certainly well-written and atmospheric and a bit shocking. Well worth an hour or two of your time on a cold winter afternoon. show less