Under Stones (2010)

Author Bob Franklin
Publisher Affirm Press
Length 220 pages
Genre Collection
Blurb None Listed
Country

Disclaimer: Please note this review reflects the opinion of the team at ScaryMinds and should in no way be construed as representing the views of the AHWA Shadows Award Judges. This review is for the edification of ScaryMinds readers and does not constitute a “literary criticism” or any other criteria the Shadows Judging panel may take this year.

While I'm personally involved in the Shadows Awards this year I would point out that my review following in no way reflects my opinion of the source material from an Awards perspective.

Talk us through it

Bob Franklin's debut collection presents us with twenty four tales of the macabre ranging in length from flash pieces to pretty much novellas. The stories contained within the collection can possibly termed yarns of unease rather than pure horror, though supernatural fans will be pleased that not everything is from a common human experience perspective.

Under Stones forms part of Affirm Press' Long Story Shorts series and was one of the first three titles published from 350 submissions. More importantly the collection is the first horror release by Affirm, and given the exacting standards the Publisher clearly has we can only cross our fingers that further dark genre titles might be on the agenda.

Ready to explore the rocky shoals of another dark imagination?

Review

“That's sick. You're not right in the head, Shaw.” - Gary

When I picked this one out of the ever growing Shadows queue I immediately recognised the name Bob Franklin and then had to ponder who the hell Franklin was. One of my erstwhile colleagues could tell me Bob was well known as a comedian down south and had appeared in a number of television shows, including but not limited to The Librarians and Stupid Stupid Man. Naturally this meant nothing to me but it did get me researching, possibly a dangerous development in itself, and I finally made the connection that had eluded me, Bob Franklin played Matthew Travers in The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce! Which in a round about fashion demonstrates someone can be well known for something else but I only care about their dark genre involvement, our site our rules kids. A Comedian writing horror isn't something you run across every day, or year for that matter, so what did I think of the debut collection Under Stones? Actually I should also mentioned that I recognised the story Bag Limit from issue two of Midnight Echo, and had singled it out for praise at the time, see the evidence is right here.

This review might be surplus to requirements due to Under Stones being picked up by the wine and cheese set in a big way. We're talking wall to wall review time kids in the literary magazines and supplements, and some name Reviewers have gone down market to dabble in the dark genre. End of day what the flock do those people know, we're here to dig out the marrow from the chewed bones.

Bob Franklin while definitely trawling dark genre waters writes in a style that isn't quite what you would expect to be reading in a penny dreadful. It's unique and drags you in kicking and screaming while forcing the reader to contemplate what the written word is saying. Franklin doesn't give up the delights easily here, the reader is going to have to commit to the relationship and become involved in the developing plots of each story, some more so than others. The Author is like the demented offspring of Roald Dahl and Ramsey Campbell, and would appear to be totally unrepentant in being so. It's a heady mix and stands out from the crowd for those ready and willing to run with a collection that isn't going with the standard party line.

Franklin brings European stylings to effective Down Under tales of unease, it's a lethal combination and something you might want to keep from those with a more tender outlook on life.

The majority of the stories are told in first person narrative form, so you are right in there with the characters as they each meet a turning point in there lives. Of course that just might be the last turning point some of them ever reach, Franklin is nothing if not original in plotting out the resolution to his stories. A few readers may have a problem with first person as not a lot of the Author's characters are actually likeable in any sense of the word. There's a feeling, in a sort of Tales From The Crypt fashion, that most of the venal or self centred characters are reaping what they sowed previously. And lets face facts here kids, there is a certain amount of satisfaction to be gained in that if we want to be honest. Bob Franklin presents us with characters who take the worse aspects of human character, those are the ones we pretend we don't have, and puts a mirror up to the reader's face. It's the Romero adage, we are them and they are us. So no you are not going to come away from Under Stones with the glow of true romance's first bloom. Then again vampires don't sparkle in the sunlight, they burst into flames, suck it up learn to live with it. Bob Franklin presents some hard hitting stories here where we are not only the victim but the actual monster as well. I'm just going to come out and say it, best used of first person narrative form in Australian dark genre this century. The Author knows what he's about here.

I would love to give you a trite and highly intellectual answer as to what Bob Franklin's stories are about here, but I'm afraid I can't. Under Stones is like a box of chocolates with razor blades in the centers, you just never know how sharp the blade is going to be. There's certainly stories dealing with the supernatural, (Egyptian monsters, ghosts etc), but there are also stories dealing with characters on the thin ice of sanity. We even get the occasional foray into psycho territory, don't expect to meet Jeff Lindsay's Dexter however. Franklin weaves his magic with the horror being present, sometimes the atmosphere is so thick you could carve it with a knife, but not being the real focus of the stories. Nasty stuff goes down but the Author stays solidly focused on character rather than situation, it's marvellous stuff and I was certainly enthralled by it all. So someone jams an irritating kid into an enclosed space, we find out later the result of that in an almost throw away paragraph, the focus is on how the character came to his action and what the result of his action meant to him later. The horror is almost secondary and a number of stories in the collection could have worked as mainstream literature, and there's a certain amount of terror involved there if Franklin ever does go mainstream. The Author recognises how the dark genre works and avoids the pitfalls lurking between the feet of novice writers.

One of the things that may strike readers pretty quickly is the very English nature of the narrative style, the stories here are more in the James Herbert proper style of prose than the Robert Hood colonial style. And if you don't think there's a difference then you need to read a lot more dark genre from decent Writers in the field. So while a story might be set during a road trip from Melbourne it could quite easily have been dropped into the home counties of England without missing a beat. Not entirely sure any other Author would have approached the Vampire tale in quite the way Bob Franklin does here. Anyway, and before I digress completely from the garden path and end up knee deep in bracken, there's a good reason the stories appear more old country than colonial, the Author hails from Hillingdon England and only touched down in Melbourne in 1989. You could say England's loss is Australia's gain perhaps. Interesting mix of style and setting then, it's something unique, and before you starting asking about D. H. Lawrence, you can stick your copy of Kangaroo up your bum. Bob Franklin is a much more interesting writer than Lawrence could have ever hoped to be.

Clearly, given Bob Franklin's background as a comedian, there's a few shaggy dog tales in the mix, but they don't overwhelm and are more a light break from the over all doom and gloom going down. A sort of ray of sunshine on a cloudy windswept day while reading in front of a fire. Please note I wasn't rushing off to slash my wrists or anything after finishing Under Stones, just don't expect any Knight's in shining armour or Van Helsing type savants rushing to the rescue. Franklin deals with everyday flawed characters who are forced to face up to their short comings in one fashion or not. Limited Opportunities has a trick in the tale that I'm sure will bring a smile to the reader's face, so it's not doom and gloom.

Overall I had a lot of fun with the collection and would rank Under Stones as required reading for anyone wanting to delve into Down Under dark writing. We're claiming Bob Franklin by the way, he's an honorary Aussie. There isn't a single story I would highlight as being a stand out, there's no weak links here, with the collection as a whole being the stand out. Fingers crossed the Author has a follow up book in the works, I'm first in line on release date to grab a copy.

Under Stones is available from the official Affirm site right here. Not sure of the availability down your local book store but rock on in and mention they should carry Bob Franklin's book rather than wall to wall Stephenie Meyer, or do book places no longer have social responsibility? At $24.95 Under Stones is pretty good value for the money, my suggestion is get something happening on the ordering front today yo!

ScaryMinds Rates this read as ...

  Strong must have collection for dark genre fans and those wondering about the recent rise in horror.