Where Darkness Dwells

I purchased the Twice as Dark e-book, which also includes the novel The Nightmare Within, but I really didn't want to wait til I finished the second novel before writing a review of Where Darkness Dwells.

This book is certainly aptly titled because it is a very dark story. And it is clear that the darkness of which Krisch writes has many dwelling places, including the human heart. Beneath the surface of Coal Hollow there lie two undergrounds. One is the Underground Railroad which transported slaves to freedom. The other Underground leads to eternal imprisonment and damnation while giving a mockery of paradise and eternal life.

Yes, it is a story of contrasts. Light (sunlight) and darkness; good and evil, hope and despair, the living and show more the undead, religion and myth. It is a novel where sometimes redemption is only achieved through the ultimate of sacrifices. Where eternal life is a curse and liberation can only be sought through death. Where evil and good live on and continue to battle beyond death.

The people of Coal Hollow are complex. They are flawed. They are weak, afraid, or simply vain and selfish, and yet in spite of this are also capable of supreme sacrifice and heroism. There are touching (and heartbreaking) scenes in which goodness shines through in the darkest of places in this novel. Choices are made: some refuse to be tempted and flee while others take up arms against the evil that emerges from the Underground to drag the living down to Hell. Yet no character's action is without cost.

This is a very dark,and ultimately heroic and redemptive novel that escapes the nihilism that tales of this type often fall prey to. And it is not soon forgotten. A scene of a child searching for a home, a scene of young parents sacrificing all for their baby, and a scene of eternal suffering and damnation that would chill Dante himself run through your imagination long after the last page is turned.

Yeah, I probably need to read a book about puppies right now; but I will remember this book for a long time and will be reading more by Glen Kirsch, both now, and I am sure through the years. show less

It's like wandering through a city shrouded in thick fog, in clinging mist. The shapes seem familiar, you almost recognize them for what they are, but when the mist clears briefly, you glimpse that it was not what you thought it was and see just enough to know that it was something else. These brief glimpses are like a puzzle you forget that you are working on. With each new piece that falls into place, the picture becomes clearer, but you still don't know what that picture is. You were given the pieces without having the box to use as a guide.
Sentient zombies, the first thing that came to mind when I had some real idea of what dwells in the darkness of the Underground. It was shortly followed by a thought of it being more like a show more variation of the Black Pearl's curse from the Pirates of the Caribbean, but sentient zombies is what still comes to mind when I think about it.
This would make a truly fearsome horror movie, and although it doesn't have a traditional happy ending, the way it does end is fitting. show less

This book has so many layers that it's difficult to sum up my thoughts in a couple of paragraphs. Enthralling, is a good word to start with. We're introduced to handful of characters at the start that, on the surface, don't seem connected. But it doesn't feel disjointed at all. The characters are unique and each of their stories captivating on its own. As the book moves along, we find the connections. The plot unfolds with intensity, moving more quickly with each page.

While this book is definitely suspense, paranormal and horror at its best, beneath it all is something else entirely. Set in the 1930s, we see the prejudice of the era and the difficulties of life back then. We explore the quest for immortality and the extremes people show more will go to live forever. We look at fate and hope and trust in the face of misery.

Glen Krisch handles this all with ease, weaving the characters and stories together in unexpected ways that had me forcing my eyes open so I could continue reading. This is an excellent book and Krisch is an author to watch. show less

Glen Krisch contacted me about doing a review of his novel, Where Darkness Dwells, and I was absolutely intrigued by the synopsis. It reads as follows: Summer, 1934. Two boys, searching for a local legend, stumble upon the Underground, a network of uncharted caverns. Time holds no sway there; people no longer age and their wounds heal as if by magic.

By morning, one boy is murdered, while the other never returns. Below a town ravaged by the Great Depression, an immortal society thrives, built on the backs of slavery and pervasive immorality.

I'm a sucker for underground worlds to begin with, fascinated by abandoned mines, subway systems, and the like, because who knows what flourishes down there? Well, Glen Krisch apparently knows. And show more it's nothing nice, that's for sure.

The story catches you right from the start, when Jimmy and George sneak out of their homes at night for one last adventure. The entire book is peopled with rich likeable characters that are fully drawn and display a wide depth of emotion. Cooper, the transient who feels pulled to the town, and one house in particular, is especially well developed. He has a full back story that gives us insight into his motivations. I'm also partial to Jacob Fowler and Ellie Banyon, the siblings of the missing boys, and the only children who play a large part in the book.

While, on the surface, the daily lives of these characters are being played out, dark characters exist underneath the town in a system of caverns and mining shafts. They exert their influence on the town and its people in horrific ways. I've seen some reviewers call them zombies or vampires, but I really don't think there's an easy classification for the monsters Glen's created. They don't decay in the underground and they have way more thinking capacity then any zombies I've read about. They don't drink blood or consume flesh like vampires, although the above ground air and sunlight do have a negative effect on them. No, Glen's monsters are original, but just as horrific.

The novel is definitely a battle between good and evil, but its not just the good townsfolk vs. the evil under-dwellers. Its also a battle of justice vs. the evil men do. Its a social commentary on the evil that men inflict on one another.

The novel is set in the 1930's and is rich with historical background. Its grounded in the gritty realism that was life in the depression era. And it travels even farther back, to the days of slavery and the plight of runaway slaves, those who helped them, and those who hurt them.

It was a great book. I highly recommend it to all horror readers. I think fans of Scott Nicholson's would definitely enjoy it, as well as fans of Dan Simmons. I look forward to reading more of Glen's work. show less

I received the opportunity to read and review this novel through the Members Giveaway program; I am grateful to Mr Krisch for the gift.

Classifying this novel to myself, I would call it horror for the thinking person. More than simply a zombie novel, with imagery that is not for the faint of heart (yet is not gratuitous), I was swept in by the archetypal search for the mysterious fish and invested by caring about the fates of the characters. Part ghost story, part horror, part sociological fable, Krisch captures the reader and navigates a never-dull plot line that reveals so much while never fully playing its hand.
The only thing that kept me from a five-star rating were several typos that seemed pretty glaring - they stuck out even show more though I was totally immersed in the story. However, I would just chalk that up to editing issues, and it did not detract from the overall stark beauty of this novel.
I have enjoyed reading and reviewing this work, and look forward to reading anything and everything that Mr Krisch writes. show less

Where Darkness Dwells is a Depression era horror novel that takes place in an old mining town in Illinois. Mining had been discontinued years earlier, the company having pulled out and moved on to a richer vein, so those remaining till soil, grow fruit and do their best to ease their black lung coughing. Cooper is a former librarian turned self-seeking hobo, who comes to town while travelling back to his parents in Chicago. He's drawn to an old house, decides to stay a few days in town and becomes embroiled in the mysteries of disappearances, town folklore and all too human darkness.

To say this is a zombie novel would be inaccurate - the monsters in this have more in common with the Irish Sidhe* (with a touch of the vampire's weakness show more to sunlight), luring humans into their hollow hills with promises of eternal life. What makes the monsters in this effective, however, is their humanity, positive or negative (or both, depending on your definition of monster.) The themes of evil triumphing where good men do nothing is hammered home in the guise of several characters, and the theme of the revenant past and its corruptive bigotry, prejudice and barbarity of slavery

Overall, this is a good book and more meaty than some ebooks I've read, weighing in at over 250 pages. The descriptions were excellent, and the characters convey their feelings well. The horror in this book is not atmospheric in origin, any sustained feeling of creepiness or dread is the sort that ends in abruptly in violence, rather than psychological tension. More the horror of the evil that men do to one another than a sense of supernatural awe/dread; there are moments of depravity, brutality and malicious cruelty. There is very little (if any) humour and only glimmers of joy, and it could actually be the absence of those things that resulted in my having mixed feelings when reading it; I enjoyed the story, but just couldn't connect with it. There were also too many things that just felt out of place or were glossed over, some characters felt like they were included for a cheap effect to display barbarity or to wrap up a loose end. I may have been a bit pedantic when reading this, but a few other things just felt deeply improbable (the library holding the job during the Depression, for example.) The epilogue could be a bit more clearly written (I had to reread it to make sure I understood what happened, which broke the flow.)

3.5 stars (or 4 in the case of whole star ratings.)

Review copy supplied by the author as part of LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program.

* To further this thought of Irish/Celtic-ness, even White Bane, the legendary fish, has the feel of Celtic legends associating fish with sacred wells, healing and knowledge. Yes, I am that kind of nerd. show less

I haven't read much in this genre besides a few Clive Barker books, but I definitely enjoyed reading this one, so much so that I had to finish it within a couple of days. There are several layers of secrets about the town and its inhabitants that will keep your interest going until the end. I think having the story take place in the 1930s and with flashbacks even further back in time was bold, but well executed and tied well with the story. I feel I got a real taste of both the place and the era, even though I'm from Europe and I've hardly spent any time in the Midwest.

I am unsure whether the use of the supernatural "above ground" benefited or hurt the story, but in some cases it might have been unnecessary. Personally, I would also show more have preferred a different ending, an ending that would match the darkness and cruelness of the underground. Finally, there were a couple of minor loose ends/questions left unanswered, but nothing serious enough to detract from the book as a whole.

All in all, very good work and highly recommended especially for genre fans. show less