Post by nickmontelongo on Jan 7, 2014 20:39:05 GMT -6
A brotherhood of psychopaths are waiting for the word to begin their reign of terror. A Nazi soldier finds himself embracing the ways of the gypsy. The lives of two American icons hold dark secrets.
Mort Castle is one of the best horror writers around, which is exemplified in his collection New Moon on the Water (an expanded edition of his 2002 collection Moon on the Water). Castle writes consistently good fiction (not just horror). He has written the horror novels The Strangers and Cursed Be the Child. Besides having written for comics, Castle teaches writing and has edited On Writing Horror, which is a very handy guide if you are an aspiring horror writer.
Castle is a master of technique. One of his styles is of stream of consciousness or something akin to it, in which the prose follows the protagonist’s train of thought, which can appear to be random and dizzying at times. The result is a feverish exercise which enables the reader to share in the protagonist’s feelings. The one pitfall for this type of writing is the fact that it isn’t straightforward and might stump the casual reader. On the other hand, it does make one stop and think, which is something that the best writing is supposed to accomplish. When the writing is more straightforward, his prose is rhythmic and becomes addictive after reading a few tales.
Some of the content in this book is horror, some of it isn’t. On the horror side, there are some genuine shockers, although I hesitate to single them out because they are best experienced without any warning. A few of my horrific favorites includes “The Call”, “Healers”, and “If You Take My Hand, My Son”. Some stories have a sense of darkness to them even if they aren’t really horror. “Buckeye Jim in Egypt” deals with a conflict between good and evil has a great deal of pathos. “Moon on the Water” deals with the tragic story of a jazz musician and transcends labels: it is simply an excellent piece of fiction. “I am Your Need” is a fictional treatment of Marilyn Monroe’s life and death and was nominated for a Stoker award. Don’t pass up the chance to read this.