Simon Clark (1)

I think this is the first of the second set of NewCon Press novellas, but I bought all four at once so I’ve not been reading them in order. Not that it makes any difference, as I found the first three I read not very satisfying, and this one unfortunately is much the same. It was also full of typos, and one page completely mixed up the characters’ names. But that’s by the bye. The story is set in London during the Blitz. A man, a minor poet from Yorkshire who now works as a show more screenwriter for a government-sponsored film unit, a protected occupation, is attacked one night by a soldier on furlough, who threatens him for his supposed cowardice with words that sound more like an eldritch curse. Things start to happen that convince the protagonist he is indeed cursed by something or someone supernatural. Then he stumbles across two old gents in a pub who claim to be Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson – their story is they’re real and Conan Doyle only adapted their case histories – and they offer to take on the protagonist’s case. There’s far too much here that doesn’t fit together all that well. Being hunted by some sort of demonic soldier, fine. During the Blitz? Okay, it’s a bit much, but never mind. But then throwing in Holmes and Watson? It’s too much. It weakens a story that was already strong enough on its own. Setting it during the Blitz allows for some good descriptive passages, although it’s not essential for the plot to work; and there’s a bittersweet ending to the Holmes and Watson elements, but I’m not convinced the latter was needed. Unfortunately, this does have the effect of making Case of the Bedevilled Poet feel like a short story padded out to novella length. The fact I’ve found all four of these novellas unsatisfactory is likely chiefly down to the fact it’s not my preferred reading genre. Fans of dark fantasy or horror will probably get much more out of them then I did. But at least they make a nice set. show less

The Ghost Monster is the nickname the kids of a small English town have given to a mosaic of a creepy man in a mausoleum in an old cliff-side graveyard. The mosaic is a legend among the town, and an elderly man who is a descendent of the man in the picture swears that the pictures houses the soul of that terrible, evil man, and that it must be maintained and kept in perfect condition at all cost.

The problem? Coast erosion is eating away at the cliff at a rapid pace, so fast that the show more mausoleum will tumble into the sea in the matter of days. No one believes the crazy old man and his wild stories about evil spirits, but strange things have been happening in the town, and things only get darker and bloodier with every piece of soil that falls away from that graveyard.

I'll admit I went into this with a fair amount of reservation. It's not that I haven't read good books in the leisure horror compendium, but more often than not that are quite bad. This one isn't terrible and it's not poorly-written, so I guess that makes it better than average, right? I'm not wowed by it, but it did suck me in while reading it. I kind of hated one of the subplots involving two brothers and their crazy mother, but I really liked the main character and that helped speed the book along.

I probably won't be recommending this to anyone, but overall I'd say I enjoyed the ride. show less

While this isn't quite as good as his amazing Stranger, In This Skin kept me glued to the couch, lounging around and being lazy all day as I read. (Like that's anything new but hey, saying this book is good gives me a believable excuse)

The plot is complex, unsettling, covered with a mysterious, dreamy-like atmosphere. Wiggling around in this foggy soup are characters that stand out, with credible motives for their actions, realistic goals, and I cared about each. The 'creatures' were shivery show more and unique.

As for the pace, In This Skin started out with swift, hard kicks, never letting up, ending with a final bang that could be

felt through the entire length of my spine. Clarks writing style is not weighed down by unneeded 'pretty phrases' - instead he's focus, determined, and powerful.

The only real flaw I can see is that sometimes the characters are a bit dumb, but hey, not much is perfect. This one tantalized my mind and kept my blood roaring through my ears - what more could a horror reader ask for? show less

Nailed by the Heart is the first Simon Clark book published in the U.S. This English writer impressed me with Strangers and since then I have been picking up his novels whenever I find them. He can be a bit hit and miss and the main thing that suffers with his writing, from the three books I’ve read, is that sometimes plot holes can be ignored and things don’t always sum up well, but he gives his all in dishing out the goods in the horror genre. Here the plot is outlandish and fun, show more different enough to work for sure, and in the end almost everything is answered, yet a little mystery is left to let the imagination roam.

The novel is set in a small New England town where a close family ­ Chris, Ruth, and their six year old son David ­ have bought an old sea fort to convert into an inn for the tourist force that’s about to take grip of the town. Immediately they’re captivated by the place and its residents, feeling they’re welcomed with open arms. What they don’t know, though, is that the town is aware of an old religion around the fort that never quite died out, one where an ancient god is about to resurface. By the middle of the book, everyone is packed together trying to fight away forces of unrelenting terror ­ pale, sadistic warriors that live in the sea and have now come to claim the power of the gods for themselves.

The plot is nothing rehashed and familiar, but instead is actually different and refreshing. The sea is used in horror lots of ways, but usually not quite like this. Having the small coast serve as a smorgasbord for undead killers and blood thirsty gods always makes unsettling reading. It starts strong and ends just as harshly, keeping the pace going. All characters are well written and enjoyable, where one cares what happens to them, especially the family with the sweet, endearing boy that doesn’t annoy. It’s filled with strange little clues of things to come, all ominous symbols of terror just beneath the surface, things the reader can’t possibly understand but that will all be explained eventually. By the center of the book, everyone is gathered together to try and fight the superhuman force, losing the battle every step of the way, with the outcome of losing equaling something much more horrible than just losing their lives.

Clark seems to love writing about end of the world scenarios, and his writing style is professional, eerie and unique. The atmosphere is fresh at times, you can almost breath in the New England air, but creepy as hell at other parts, with the white faced beings representing a mind-numbing threat. Clark does the wise thing by keeping the assailants mysterious and slow, even to the characters in the novel, and by only letting small smudges of information leak out about it, rather than immediate revelations. He also doesn’t focus only on the villains, but also on the god, the fort, the symbolism of dreams, the family structure, the hostility of differences between the townsmen, and of course growing friction erupting from claustrophobic surroundings. These always work together wonderfully to produce a powerful situation where one roots for the survivors more than anything else.

When violence does occur, it’s brutal and terrible, with the body count on the medium side. This book didn’t need more corpses, but it never shied away from the horrible encounters either. Suspense is greatly build in select scenes, with the characters portraying the right amount of terror, emotion, and grief. The end has a neat little twist that made me smile, wrapping up the book in an almost perfect way. The book combines mythology, religion, superstition, and modern day survival skills with a glowing result. If I had to say something bad about it, I’d say that sometimes a few things seemed forced along the way, but nothing that hurts the plot enough to bring it down a star. If you want to read a truly strange, wonderfully eerie creation, Nailed by the Heart is it. show less