...the Soul of Wit

Enjoy the new short reviews!

Night Society by Ambrose Ibsen
With ten standalone books and twelve series consisting of about three books each (these are approximative numbers I found in a quick research, there may in fact be more), it is quite safe to say that Ambrose Ibsen is one of the most industrious horror authors of our time. And an underrated one too... Even though Night Society, an oddly emotional story of three guys who are looking for a thrill decide to meet up in an abandoned house to tell or show the others something scary, will never be my favorite book ever, it is one that I appreciate. When the shown scary things start to seemingly come true and mingle into their lives, the friends, I'm using this term loosely here, have a fall out with terrible consequences. My only problem with this book, which in fact isn't a problem at all, is probably also its whole point: Night Society is first and foremost a commentary on loneliness and social isolation and on the second plan a horror novel. So when one of the characters' very sad life was presented and his need for company very much reflected on his actions, it kind of upset me and that feeling overshadowed others I might have had. I indeed think Ibsen is a great horror author and I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the monsters, still this book will stay in my memory as a sad one, not a scary one. I totally will read other books by Ibsen though and am excited about that.

Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay

I was really reluctant about reading this book, mainly because I really was and am tremendously sick of reading about viruses. But viruses characterize the setting to Survivor Song; a rabieslike virus spreads around North America, and it spreads fast. After an incubation time of approximately one hour the infected turn into what we living call a Zombie. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been for Tremblay to release a book about viruses in the middle of a viral pandemic. In a world without COVID19 we would read this book, some concepts like herd immunity would still be uncharted territory then and we would curl our lip, think "How interesting!" and keep on reading a work of fiction. Under these circumstances one reads a book like Survivor Song on a whole different level though, some of that fiction actually happening right now: an overstrained health system, conservative gun owners doing incomprehensible things...
The thing with Zombie fiction is that it all starts the same and a few really ingenious writers or directors can make something truly remarkable out of it. Now I don't think Tremblay does that here ("That's because they're not Zombies but infected people", his protagonist Ramola would say) but Survivor Song still ended up being an incredibly engrossing book for me in which I felt kind of home, if you know what I mean. Maybe that is because I really like Tremblay's writing and his style may have a familiarity that reminded me of a more careless time in our lives. I ended up rooting for every single main character in this book, despite knowing they are doomed from the start. The "body-horror-in birth" ending is monumental and surprisingly Tremblay does not resort to ambiguity this time, proving he's versatile enough to rock an absolute ending. A special treat for me was the anti-antivaxxer rant in the middle of the novel, I really enjoyed that one.
We will read this book for our Otherland online book club in October, excited about that!

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Even though very dialog driven, I liked this book as a quick read which does not require much concentration. Be warned though, this is a thriller, or a mystery book and not really horror. And actually it is two books in one: Well, for once there is Maggie Holt's story who, after the death of her father, inherits the "haunted" house she has spent 20 days of her childhood in and about which her father wrote a book. On the other hand there are passages from said book written by father Ewan Holt. Is he telling the truth though? I like the fact that even Maggie herself compares the things happening to her to Scooby Doo-tricks, and that comparison is spot on. I'm always in for a good haunted house story and the ending really surprised me, which is something not many books succeed in.

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnipp

"Until recently, I’d never have dreamt the world could keep turning without me."

Jack Sparks, investigative journalist, social media star, egoist, atheist, sceptic, individualist, black sheep of the family, self-centered asshole, king of unreliable narrators and soon to be possessed? On a quest to write a book that debunks the supernatural, Sparks attends an exorcism in Italy which he firmly believes is a scam organized by the Vatican, and during the event succumbs to a loud and disruptive laughing fit. This does not only prevent the exorcism from being completed, it doesn't go well with the other attendees either, unleashing several kinds of horror. What happens next is a fever-dreamy, time and mind bending, frenzied journey which will take him and you somewhere and sometime completely unexpected, confusing but also somewhat very logical. The Last Days of Jack Sparks is truly genre busting as it redefines the term ghost and the ways in which the devil works, all the while exploring the human psyche's ways of trying to make sense of it all. Highly recommended read!