Jeffrey Ford (1) (1955–)

Big Dark Hole is a collection of fantasy and horror stories by Jeffrey Ford. Comparing it to his previous collection A Natural History of Hell, I find that the Hole is more this-worldly in its choices, with only two stories ("The Inn of the Dreaming Dog" and "Sisyphus in Elysium") set in realities that do not at least seem to be our world within the possible stretch of living memory.

In fact, there are a number of stories where the speaker is Jeffrey Ford, an aging writer of stories and show more teacher of writing, one who likes to spend the evenings at his Ohio farm house drinking wine on the porch with his wife Lynn. But these stories, which notably include "The Match," "The Bookcase Expedition," and "Five-Pointed Spell," are not a bit less weird in the events they recount than the bizarre carnival story narrated by a man with two faces ("Hibbler's Minions") or the one in which a perennial dinner guest turns out to be no one's friend or relation and perhaps not human at all ("Thanksgiving").

There's a bit of additional self-referentiality in "Five-Pointed Spell" where a Hex Doctor tells "Ford" that "In real life, the supernatural declines to explain" (186). This refusal is supposedly different than in fiction, where "it must" explain. Yet in most of Ford's stories here, the characters grope for explanations, largely in vain, when confronted with horrors and wonders outside the scope of the mundane. If the reader is able to settle on a rationale, Ford's touch is light enough that it will seem like a discovery.

These pieces are largely reprints from multi-author collections and periodicals, but I had not read any of them before. This book confirmed Ford as a favorite of mine among twenty-first century writers of weird fantasy. show less

Captivating and provocative, Jeffrey Ford’s Ahab’s Return is a refreshing extension of Melville’s character Captain Ahab and various themes and ideas from his novel Moby Dick. Unlike its predecessor, Ford’s reclaimed version of Ahab is more relatable and in some ways more compelling than Melville’s deranged and bitter watery autocrat. Rather than chasing a whale embodying good vs. evil, man vs. nature, and so on, this Ahab’s quest is more of a journey involving many of the same show more binary conflicts but with great differences. Ahab, obviously, is still alive, and he has read Ishmael’s tale. After calming down at being pronounced dead, he wants to self-resurrect and seek out the wife and child he left behind. For Ahab nothing is ever easy or straightforward. It seems his fate to engage in existential battle. At first, it simply seems his son has fallen in with a bad crowd, but it is far worse. Now added are dynamic monsters, both metaphorical and physical and far more viscerally deadly than a giant whale. The fight deepens the examination of humankind and malignancy. Old characters reappear and stake their claim in the fight. Thankfully missing is the stilted and technical language that placed barriers between reader and effect. This is no dystopian sci-fi nightmare. It is too real, too accurate, and grounded firmly on earth, but a bit of otherworldly magical realism.

The novel begins with Ahab’s arrival at the door step of The Gorgon’s Mirror, a popular newspaper that publishes narrator George Harrow’s sensational “confabulations.” Ahab is looking for Ishmael, who briefly worked at the newspaper and who sold the world a story of Ahab’s death and the demise of his crew while they were on a fool’s errand of revenge. Harrow is hard up for inspiration and working against deadline. Ahab’s return is the answer to Harrow’s momentarily saharan imagination, and so things begin. Harrow joins Ahab in his quest to find his wife and child but soon the effort conjoins a broader journey to locate and destroy Malbaster, a being that may or may not be human and who preys upon the vulnerable, exploits the fear-filled, and threatens those who don’t fit his social and political agenda—in short, he is a threat to civilization and human decency. The backstreets and impoverished neighborhoods of mid-19th century Nantucket are scoured for villains and provide a wonderful setting for this dark tale. The plot takes us through Manhattan and Seneca Village, while opium dreams, roving gangs, cheap gin and coach travel add to the action. In Dickensian style, Ford conjures many memorable and aptly named characters, including Garrick, the Gorgon’s extravagant, yet fatherly publisher, and ancient but stalwart Mrs. Pease with her labyrinthian file system that presages a mainframe. We join the characters willingly and root for good to triumph, with the symbolic and figurative images working with, rather than against, us to navigate the plot’s path.

In truth, my experience with Moby Dick has been fraught with impatience and frustration. I have repeatedly had my fill by chapter 34 (basically just barely cracking the book open) and chucked the thing for months at a time. But the book, like the whale, is too big to ignore. I entered Ford’s take on Ahab with trepidation but was well-rewarded for my effort. Not only did Ford create accessibility to Melville’s ideas, he added a delightful extended metaphor on the relationship between novels, creativity, and reality. What we find in the pages of good literature is essential for the soul and for society. The fictional inhabitants of the Nantucket shores provide greater truth as an antidote to “real” housewives of Jersey Shore. show less

I loved this collection for its matter-of-fact storytelling style combined with fantastic events. Every story wraps its unexpected events inside a comfortable, lull-the-reader-to-feel-safe tone that makes the reveals more eerie and wonderfully unexpected when they come. I loved the first-person stories most for their narrative playfulness--the stories kept surprising me.

Summer vacation has come to an end in Arbenville. Soon friends Henry, Maggie, and Russell will return to their prospective colleges as seniors. Currently, Henry is working as caretaker for the historical Humboldt House, a job as exciting as watching grass grow. When Maggie, now into archaeology, enlists his aid in an amateur dig, his reluctance is only half-hearted.

Maggie wants to hone her budding skills by excavating the outhouse of the Prewitt mansion, a deserted home on the outskirts of show more town. Since they don’t have a permit, this has to be done at night.

With Russell in tow, the three find nothing of value, until Maggie digs up an ornamental apothecary bottle and eventually the intact skeleton of a baby – but with tiny horns. Meanwhile, strange noises seem to emanate from the empty house, Henry’s dad tells him of being chased away from the mansion decades earlier by “something,” and their research – aided by a part-time college professor of dubious authority – begins to turn up connections between the Prewitt family, that patent medicine, the house museum where Henry works, and possibly an unsolved series of violent 1920s murders ascribed to a killer dubbed the Twilight Pariah.

Disturbing the skeleton throws each of their lives into a living hell. Can Henry, Maggie, Russell & the rest of their crew put the past to rest before the Twilight Pariah kills again? Well, you must read to find out...

The Twilight Pariah is a wonderful horror novella that is creepy, funny, and poignant. A great mix of Indiana Jones, Grady Hendrix, and Stephen King and would easily make a wonderful film. show less