Talk us through it
New Dark Voices 2 contains three novellas from divergent horror writers. Australian Brett McBean kicks off with Sins of the Father, a parable about the mistreatment of kids, blood and flesh raining down from the skies, and strange creatures seeking revenge for their deaths. American Nick Mamatas bridges the mid section of the book with a sort of inner urban decay yarn that is only of interest to the academic or the seriously deranged. First person perspective, metaphysical resolution, your call on that one. And Finally Damien Malfi presents a sort of update to John Carpenter's The Thing, cross pollinated with Alien, and points out yellow snow isn't the only danger in Alaskan fishing waters.
Review"Evaporated the town? Incinerated every living creature? Turned them into flesh and blood rain …?" - TonyI guess I'm allowed a little whinge over New Dark Voices 2 considering Editor Brian Keene starts his introduction to the volume with a whine about not getting paid. Well hell I don't get paid either to write these reviews but that's not what I want to whinge about. The fact was when heading into this gig I was promised Aussie horror writers, and lots of them, and now suddenly it's a U.S publication with U.S writers. What's that about! So by and largely this review is of a Brett McBean novella with some final comments on the other two "bonus" yank pieces just to round things out. No doubt you can score a fuller review elsewhere on the net. McBean starts his story with a ray of hope, let's let some sunshine in before those dark genre storm clouds gather, Tony his protagonist is on the way home to the small town of Gainesville after spending some time in self detox. Seems Tony appreciated the booze and hadn't run across a drug he didn't liked. Now totally "clean" Tony is heading back home to take up a new life with his wife and young daughter. McBean opens his novella with a statement of hope and the feeling that passed sins have been overcome, or at least that's what Tony is hoping for. McBean hits the normality button with a strong hand, naturally that horror chaos bell has already chimed for the reader. Naturally since this is a horror story things have to move into dark territory pretty quickly. Tony finds his hometown lacking in actual townsfolk, as McBean lays down a barrage of bouncers for the reader to weather. For some reason the fact that each house has a television turned on is important as is a large number of lottery tickets both in houses and going feral in the streets. Tony quickly finds he's alone with whatever took place in the town and starts trying to piece together what could have happened, no matter how far fetched. Eventually Tony will run across the novella's second character, a young boy named Shaun, and some light will be shone onto the puzzle the author has presented us with. This is great stuff and all, a mystery wrapped up in pending storm clouds, but regular McBean devotees may be wondering when the Laymon factor will kick in. Rest assured the author hasn't decided to write a Miss Maple detective yarn here, McBean has a rain of blood and flesh going down just to wash the landscape in gore. This leads to the final part of the novella and one readers will either find amusing or a complete gross out. I rather found it amusing to be honest, I'm being careful to avoid spoilers here, but be warned the Author does add a touch of pathos to ensure we're not going to get out of his story without having to face some sort of an impact. Once gain McBean proves he knows the pulse of horror and simply goes for the jugular with a development that is both preordained and yet quite shocking when you think about it. Sacrifices need to be made, but were they worth it in the aftermath? Can a person make up for past actuals or is it just fated to be a drop in the bucket? McBean isn't telling but you get the feeling things beyond Gainesville aren't going to be an improvement to the blood washed streets of the township. As we have come to expect McBean writes in an accessible style that doesn't cause the reader to over extend themselves in trying to decipher what is on the page. The Author's writing remains accessible throughout with an eye to keeping the novella moving without losing any sense of time and place. The Author isn't above throwing in an "in" joke, see page 30, "He stopped at the McKenzie farm, the Hood farm, the Kroenert farm, and the Livings farm". But you can read Sins of the Father without worrying that you may be missing out on something. For regular Star Trek original series devotees there's a certain similarity between Sins of the Father and an episode involving Kirk and the crew. McBean is aiming for something entirely different to the writers of the voyages of the starship Enterprise and I can report no Hispanic characters were killed during the writing of the novella. New Dark Voices 2 is entirely worth adding to your collection on the basis of the first tale so what do the bonus stories hold for us? Nick Mamatas provides the middle story Eliminate the Improbable, told in the first person and very much set in the supposed decay of U.S urban environment. Whether or not this story works for you, it's very much a navel gazing exercise, is your call. I found it to be the least enjoyable of the three stories and did not take much from it as things conclude in a metaphysical left field swing that really doesn't do much for the average reader. Our final tale is infinitely more acceptable, Damien Malfi's Borealis, if you are prepared to get past the clear influences that pretty much dominate things. In a sort of hybrid that equally owes a debt to Alien, The Thing, and any number of horror yarns set in the Arctic, an interesting enough story unfolds of what happens to the crew of a fishing trawler when they pick up an other worldly creature. End of day, and to avoid being accused of being a total whinger, I really enjoyed McBean's contribution to the book, found the Mamatas piece to be simply illegible in a horror sense, and at least enjoyed Malfi's concluding ice bound tale. New Dark Voices 2 remains a worth while investment if following the rise of a new voice in Australian horror, otherwise you are definitely better off checking Brimstone's back catalogue. The book should be available from amazon.com, Down Under specialist stores, and horror-mall.com.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Worth picking up for the McBean novella.
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