Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
Just finished reading Blacklands. This is another recommendation picked up from Stainless Steel Droppings RIP event and I have no regrets about picking it up. It was a gripping read.
Blacklands is primarily about Steven Lamb. Steven’s uncle was murdered by a serial killer before Steven was born. His gran has never got over the loss and spends each day sat at the living room window – she never really thought her son was a victim because his body was never found and the killer, Avery, could not be convicted for those children whose bodies were never found. Life is a bit grim for Steven and his family. His mother, struggling to cope alone with two children has moved back into the family home. She works as a cleaner barely scraping together enough money to makes ends meet. Steven is hardly the popular boy. I suppose turning up at school in pants that are too short, smelling of mildew and with fish paste sandwiches and a home haircut don’t do anything to raise popularity. He’s also invisible to a lot of people It’s as though people are afraid to be associated – his family have been touched by unhappiness and other people are afraid of the potential to be infected with the same curse. Yes, they’ve survivors but they’re barely living.
Steven, has very few friends, in fact he has only one and he has a fairly miserable existence. He’s convinced that if he uncovers the body of his lost uncle everything will be okay and he will be the hero of the day and the love of his family will be restored. So,he spends most days on the moor digging – trying to uncover anything. Basically, we have a story of loss and the devastating effects that the loss of a child has on the remaining family members.
On top of this Bauer takes us into the mind of the killer and gives us a bit of an insight into his disturbing thoughts.
This isn’t a horror story. It isn’t a thriller and it isn’t a detective murder mystery. We already know who the killer is, he’s in prison. The crimes that he committed are horrifying but they’re not primarily what the novel is about. It’s more about the coming to terms. It’s psychological and it’s about a young boy’s perception of how to right wrongs and his innocent and naive attempts to make the family a unit again.
This is a really gripping read. The style of writing flows well and pulls you into Steven’s world in a very dramatic way.
What was particularly scary about this read and makes it much more chilling than a regular horror is the fact that this is so real. It could happen, it’s like our worst nightmare and the reason for that is because it’s tangible. Coming from the North of England it’s all too easy to remember the Moors murderers and the horrible crimes they committed.
In terms of criticisms – there was one particular part of the story towards the end (concerning a shooting range – and I won’t say more because of spoilers) that I thought could be left out – it was a bit too convenient.
Other than that, I thought this was a really good read and would definitely recommend.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
7 November 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Merricat, Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Finished reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle a few days ago but didn’t want to review it immediately because I wanted to have a think about it. That isn’t a negative by the way. I really enjoyed it and it was a compelling read.
WHALINC tells the story of the Blackwood Family who live on a large estate in New England and just a short stretch from a nearby village. As the story unfolds we learn that the majority of the Blackwoods died 6 years earlier as a result of using sugar laced with arsenic. The remaining three members of the family live together in the family home and the villages harbour a deep resentment towards them, thinking that one particular member of the family has gotten away with murder.
The story is told by Mary Catherine, or Merricat, as she is known. Merricat is 18 years old although it is sometimes quite easy to lose sight of this fact and to think of her age as nearer to that of a 10/12 year old. The remaining members of the Blackwoods are Uncle Julian who survived the arsenic attack but is very frail and now uses a wheelchair and Constance, Merricat’s older sister who was tried and acquitted for the murders.
I would start by saying say that this story is beautifully told. It’s easy to envision everything that the author describes and yet she doesn’t labour the point. Her writing is simple and evocative. We look at this small family living almost in a dreamlike state in the ways of bygone years. They have a simple and almost idyllic existence, secluded away from all others – apart from the occasional intrusive visit that they suffer from one of their own ‘class’ trying to offer the hand of friendship (but more often than not displaying a sort of vulgar curiosity) or the weekly trip to the village made defiantly by Merricat as she goes to collect provisions. I say defiantly because each visit is received with ill-disguised mistrust at best and downright hatred at worst. The villagers have no hesitation in making their feelings known. They don’t like this family and more so they harbour deep resentment for what they believe to be a miscarriage of justice.
The three main characters are easy to like on initial contact although a bit puzzling. Clearly one of them is a murderer? And yet there is no recrimination or judgement. Constance is almost angelic, looking after Julian and Merricat whilst smiling lovingly and indulgingly at whatever antics Merricat may get up to. She tends her garden, grows and preserves produce and cooks for the family who still cling to their traditions -such as eating in the dining room where the terrible crime played out. Uncle Julian survived the attack but not unscathed. He’s weak and his memory is not good – he, in fact, sometimes thinks that Merricat also died during the poisoning. And then we have Merricat. As I mentioned above I think you could easily be forgiven for thinking Merricat is much younger than her 18 years. She has a wild and slightly out of control character that at first comes across as part of her childish charm but eventually starts to develop into something a little darker. Merricat seems to believe she is a witch of sorts. She practices burying things to create magic and believes that she keeps the family and estate safe from intruders by a number of ‘wards’ she has placed about the grounds. Plus, not to forget her trusty familiar, Jonas the cat.
However, Merricat’s wards are about to be tested when Cousin Charles comes to visit. Suffice to say that whilst one sister is pleased with the visit the other is not. Things quickly become ugly and events start to spiral out of control.
I won’t say anything more about the rest of the plot. I enjoyed the book very much. It was completely intriguing and compelling. It was also a little bit puzzling – although not in a bad way. I think that anybody who reads this will probably put two and two together fairly early on in terms of who actually committed the murders so it’s not trying to be a mystery or for that matter a thriller. It’s more of a chiller. Basically, we have the two sisters and the way I see it is one of them wants to live a quiet existence with just the two of them and whilst that seems a creepy sort of thing to say it’s also obvious that both sisters love each other.
Okay, being careful about what I say is not really helping this review. I think you just need to read the book. It’s very thought provoking – even the conclusion which was almost like a fairytale ending.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Just finished reading A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. This story is the touching tale of Conor, a 13 year old boy who’s mother has been diagnosed with cancer. Conor has been suffering nightmares and finding it difficult to sleep. He’s scared to go to bed at night fearing the return of the monster from his dreams. However, he receives a visit from a different monster than that which he has been dreaming of. He’s paid a visit by an earth elemental, a thing that is so old that time can no longer remember from when or whence it came. His visitor comes in the guise of a Yew Tree and he seeks the truth from Conor. He’s going to tell Conor three tales and in return he expects something much more scary. The darkness of the story is compounded by the illustrations created by Jim Kay that not only depict some of the scenes within the tale but sometimes also assist in the telling.
I don’t want to go into the plot of the book, this is only a short story and a very quick read and it would be quite easy to spoil it for others by running on about what takes place. Basically it’s a difficult book to put down once you’ve picked up and can be read really in one sitting – it really is that compelling and once you’ve started you simply have to continue to the end.
I actually liked the monster in this tale – which sounds like a contradiction in terms really. He’s dark and threatening, sometimes a little sinister. He has a strange way of talking in riddles and he demands respect in no uncertain terms and yet in spite of it I enjoyed reading his sections and listening to his stories. It had a sort of Christmas Carol type of charm to it the way in which he visits Conor to tell him these stories although the stories actual ending bears little resemblance to Dicken’s tale of redemption. Gradually the monster reveals to Conor a series of half truths and shows him that things are not always as they first seem.
This is without question a very sad read, made more poignant by the untimely death of the original creator of the concept, Siobhan Dowd, who passed the characters and storyline to Patrick Ness to complete when she herself died of cancer. I think there are very few people whose lives have not been touched in some way by cancer and yet rather than being something to fear I think this book is insightful. It gives us a glimpse into the life of somebody who is coping and living with someone suffering from the disease. It looks at the fear that we all have not only of this horrible disease but also of talking about it. I would defy anybody to not be touched by the story and I would certainly recommend that you keep a box of tissues handy. And, yet, in spite of the sorrow I came away from reading this book with something much more . It really made me think. It made me happy to be alive and made me realise that life is so short. Sorry, don’t mean to start preaching here!
I would definitely recommend. An eye opening tale.
A Monster calls – images by Jim Kay
Frankenweenie by Tim Burton
30 October 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Frankenweenie, Tim Burton, Victor Frankenstein
Just been to watch Frankenweenie, Tim Burton’s latest animation, and really enjoyed it. In fact would happily watch it again (and probably again!)
Frankenweenie is apparently an extended version of an earlier film by Burton and I’m so pleased he revisited it. It’s shot in black and white and unsurprisingly tells the story of Victor! But, in this version, Victor is a school boy, mad on science and his only friend is his dog Sparky. Unfortunately Sparky meets an untimely death and Victor, besides himself with grief, falls upon the idea of trying to reanimate his best friend.
I loved the way this was shot in black and white. It’s well lit and and atmospheric. Victor and his parents live in surburia – a surburbia that looks much like that in Edward Scissorhands. He goes to school and has a bunch of creepy looking fellow students. A young girl with a cat that dreams about the future, a hunchback boy called Edgar and best of all a science teacher (called Mr Rzykruski) – who is the spitting image of Vincent Price and has the voice of Martin Landau.
What I really liked about this was the way that, whilst this is a family film and children will enjoy the animation, there’s plenty for parents to enjoy. It’s almost like a pastiche of horror movies ranging from Gremlins to Godzilla. There’s just so much going on here and it’s worth watching just to see if you can spot the many references. But that’s not the only reason to watch. I think Burton has, for me, had a couple of films recently that I didn’t enjoy as much but with Frankenweenie I felt like he’d really hit the mark once more and it’s such a treat when he puts a film like this together.
I absolutely love The Nightmare Before Christmas and never tire of watching it. I don’t necessarily think this film will take over that spot but it’ll be sat quite high up on the list.
Frankenweenie
Image taken from IMDB
Book Covers…
Filed under General Comments
Tags: Book Covers
Today I have been invited to write a guest piece over at Dark Cargo. The theme is book covers and looks at a few random thoughts and ideas. I must admit that I’m a sucker for a good book cover, check out the book cover below which I spotted on a review over at the Little Red Reviewer – this is a gorgeous cover! Call over to Dark Cargo and join the discussion about what makes a good cover – or simply to share your favourite!
Asimov