Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions

Langan redeems himself. After absolutely loving The Wide Carnivorous Sky and The Fisherman, I was more than a little disappointed in Corpsemouth. The stories in that book were all too similar in their autobiographical nature, and the wonderful creativity of Carnivorous Sky (where each story boldly ventured out in a different direction) was gone. I decided to give him one chance with this book, and I loved it. He's back to his widely creative ventures. Some of these are real bangers. "My Father, Dr. Frankenstein" is one of the most original creative pieces I've read, probably, ever. "Snakebit, Or Why I (Continue to) Love Horror" is almost up there with the first in that it's a metafiction combination of a treatise on his love of the show more genre and a fantastic horror story at the same time. (The fact that it never decides to be more one or the other might frustrate some readers, but think of it as the sweet and savory combination of chili powder in your hot chocolate.) "Lost in the Dark" blurs the lines between reality and fiction in that he, himself, appears as a character interviewing a filmmaker about a movie she made (all of this is made up) leaving you with a strong desire to fire up Netflix and see if the film is available to stream. And if you want something a tad more traditional, the rest of the stories in this book won't disappoint. show less

"Around us, the air is laden with the conversation and laughter of our fellow diners, but I am talking to you, directly to you, telling you a story that is only for you."

That quote, more than anything sums up the genius of John Langan's writing. He can go deep into a character, or spin the most fantastically weird situation, or relate a scene that could be straight out of your own life, but all the time he's doing it, he's talking to you, directly to you.

Langan writes with a comfortable intimacy that draws the reader in. He shows us the mundane in a new way that makes it interesting, before shattering that mundane with an incredible dread.

And this is why I'm so enamoured with Langan...he scratches that horror itch that many horror show more authors blithely pass right on by as they detail gory scene after gory scene... Langan slows down and allows you to feel the dread of possibility, the fear of what might happen, of what occurred in that dark area you couldn't quite see clearly.

The front half of this book is stacked with brilliant story after brilliant story. The centrepiece story, "Natalya, Queen of the Hungry Dogs" didn't quite hit as I'd hoped it would, and while I wasn't crazy about "Alice's Rebellion"—mainly because it takes a LOT to get me to enjoy anything ALICE IN WONDERLAND-related these days, I did appreciate the underlying message. And, while "Snakebit" was interesting, and had some great bits, it felt like it had overstayed its welcome a bit (though the quote at the beginning of this review does come from it).

Even with all that, the weakest of the stories here still had a lot to love, and the first eight are each knocked-out-of-the-park homerun exercises in horror storytelling. show less