Fiction Reviews
Darkness Beckons
(2024) edited by Mark Morris, Flame Tree Press,
£12.95 / Can$21.95 / US$16.95, pbk, 295pp, ISBN 978-1-787-58729-8
First we had A for After Sundown, and then B for Beyond the Veil, and C for Close to Midnight, and now we have D for Darkness Beckons, the fourth in Mark Morris’ annual anthology series from Flame Tree Press. Actually, Elemental Forces, book number five in the series has also been published and as I write this, the submission window for the sixth book in the series is currently open. To his credit, Morris opens his anthologies to less well-known names. Hence in the roll-call for Darkness Beckons there will be some of the usual horror suspects, and some names with which readers might not be familiar.
Some of the well known names appearing here from the horror community in the UK and beyond include: Nina Allan, Stephen Volk, Angela Slatter, Peter Atkins, Reggie Oliver, Mark Gatiss, Eric LaRocca, Simon Clark, Helen Marshall, Ronald Malfi, and Simon Strantzas. If gold stars are to be awarded for best titles then they have to go to “A Face Leaving No Traces” by Brian Evenson, “From the Man-Seat” by Reggie Oliver, “If Your Soul Were a Pitchfork I’d Despise You” by Eric LaRocca, and double-stars go to Alyssa C. Greene who has come up with the wonderful title (riffing off Edgar Allen Poe slightly) “Facts Concerning the Disappearance of the Orloff Six”.
But what about the stories? Well, the horror genre is a broad church with regard to styles of writing and subject matters. Styles can range from quiet horror all the way through to splatter and gore fests; while subjects can range from the supernatural, supernatural creatures such as vampires and ghosts, haunted houses, and that old favourite/chestnut, the “you-don’t-want-to-go-there” story. Morris has tried to come up with a collection of stories embracing different styles and themes, and for any editor in his situation he is probably in a no-win position as readers are probably not going to like every story, and will have favourites, or think “is that it?” and be disappointed in some tales.
In the “is that it?” category might be Mark Gatiss’ story “The Late Mrs Applegarth” telling the story of a man who always dines on the anniversary of his marriage even though his wife is dead. He goes to a restaurant, orders meals for two people, but this time something different, nay, chilling happens. Gatiss’ story is only two pages long, and I think would make a great little (very) short film. I wouldn’t say they were any duds in this collection, but there were maybe some that I would categorise as being “just okay”.
As for those that are more than “just okay”, mention must be made of “Facts Concerning the Disappearance of the Orloff Six” by Alyssa C. Greene which as the title suggests concerns a group of young people retracing the steps of another group who went missing on a hike in Northern Maine. It has always been my experience never to retrace the route of people who have gone missing as there is usually a good, or bad, reason for that happening, and so it is here. Reggie Oliver’s “The Man Seat” is an unusual title about an unusual subject – men’s changing rooms in a fun, and well-written tale. Someone else you would expect to deliver a well-written tale is that story master, Stephen Volk, whose “Under Cover of Darkness” concerns the removal of a memorial to a famous local, now discovered to be a paedophile. You don’t need to read between the lines to know who this story is really about. Nina Allen’s “Saint Barbara” give us a story of two women. One younger and lonely, who becomes obsessed with an older woman she meets at an event. A friendship ensues, along with deeper, darker feelings. Allen’s story is a masterclass of short fiction, and the ending is brilliant. While Allen is perhaps better known for her science fiction output, we actually get a science fiction story from Helen Marshall about a terraforming engineer heading to Mars in “Il Crepuscolo”.
I could go on, but I won’t, suffice to say that some of the stories are melancholic, sad, poignant, and shudder-inducing, if not downright weird and a little bit bonkers, like I said horror is a broad church. On the strength of this anthology, I’ll certainly be looking out for more from writers such as Ally Wilkes, Lucie McKnight Hardy, Carly Holmes and Sarah Read, who were all new to me. Recommended.
Ian Hunter
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